Dysfunction Junction: Derailed On The Train of Toxicity!
- Rob Easley
- May 16, 2024
- 4 min read
My dear friend and counselor Darla told me long ago, "Rob, just because someone says it, doesn't make it so! Tell yourself the truth!" Back then, I was only beginning to learn the truth. Dysfunction Junction had already pulled out of the station and I was derailed out in the middle of nowhere on 'the train of toxicity'! My past was consuming me, but God carried us! Terri and I limped through it together. Letting go of failures of my past was extremely difficult for me. Trust was an issue for me, and fear was an issue with my wife. Abuse comes in so many forms, and both of us were determined to never go through it again.
Proverbs18 NLT:19 An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city. Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars.20 Wise words satisfy like a good meal; the right words bring satisfaction. 21 The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. 22 The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the Lord.
I find it interesting that these four verses are tied together. But thinking more about it, it makes perfect sense! As married men, who do we normally deflect our frustrations on? Yep, you got it. God, and our wives! Sorry, it's true. Guys, you go to hell for lying, so you better come clean!
In the world, these derogatory terms have become a reflex that many of us were taught at home by repetition from a parent, or older sibling. My dad was pretty good at damning God, and one my brothers used the term 'Jesus Christ' in practically every sentence, even though he didn't know Him or have any relationship with Him at all! Can you say dysfunction? We lived real close to the tracks too. Proverbs 22NLT 15 A youngster’s heart is filled with foolishness, but physical discipline will drive it far away. This is also a true statement, but for another time. Gotta get this train back on the tracks. We need help!
Philippians3 NLT: 12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,d but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Faith is the key! Hebrews 11: 6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Ephesians 4:14Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
New Train: New Beginning!
Matthew 8: Jesus Heals a Man with Leprosy
1Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. 2Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”
We have to approach Jesus knowing fully that He is Lord and we are in desperate need of Him! That He will make us clean!
3Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. 4Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”
As we grow more mature in Christ, and as we approach the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 2 Timothy 3 NLT gives believers some good advice. Actually it is a warning, and time to let go of all toxic baggage that may distract, or try and detain you, from your daily walk with Jesus. When the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future!
Your testimony, vision, prophecy should be one that is truthful, and will stand up to, and can be rightly divided by The Word of God! Let your yes be yes, your non be no, anything else is from the enemy I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.
1John 2: My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. 3And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior?
Are you walking with Jesus daily?
Are you on a journey through grief alone?
Ready for a new beginning?
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