Matters of Responsibility and Light Shining

What's wrong with the world?

How many times a day do you ask that?

What is wrong with us?

I have an answer.

We have a problem with responsibility.
We like to blame.
We like to finger point.
We like to bicker.
We like to complain and cry about what someone else is or isn't doing.

The problem is not with someone else's responsibility or lack thereof;
The problem is with SELF (personal) responsibility.

When things happen in your life, take a minute and assess the decisions that you made.
Say, "Self, how did I contribute to this?" or "Self, what should I have done differently?" And then own up to the fact that you probably could have done something a little differently.

***As a general disclaimer, this isn't applicable in every situation. I do understand.
The people who were shot this weekend couldn't have done anything different. Some circumstances are beyond our control without a doubt. Kids that grow up in bad situations can't control their environment. People can't control health issues, etc. I am not talking about those kinds of situations here so we don't need to discuss the obvious.***

Now that's out of the way, I shall proceed:

Let me tell you something that you don't want to hear:
It ain't your momma's fault.
It ain't your daddy's fault.
It ain't the school's fault.
It ain't the preacher's fault.
It ain't the president's fault.
It absolutely isn't the dog's fault. (What IS that smell?)
It wasn't the gun's fault, the hotel's fault, the political affiliation's fault nor was it God's fault.

When a shooter pulls a trigger it is THEIR VERY OWN fault.
When you tattoo your face and can't get a job, it is YOUR fault.
When you are running from the police and something bad happens, it is YOUR fault.
When someone leaves the gate open...well, that is always someone else's fault. Always.
When evil and hate rear their ugly head, it is MY FAULT.

Wait. Huh? What she say?

I'm going to take a minute to address the Christians in the house. I'm gonna call them out. If what I say doesn't bother you, you must be doing it all right. If it steps on your toes, GOOD, God has been kicking me in the knees about it and you need to join this fun.

Y'all, we have been failing for generations. We have been slipping. We have compromised our values, shifted our focus, and got flat out lazy.

I'm not even talking about hot button issues. I am talking about how we have let ourselves be IN this world and not OF it. We turn a blind eye to evil. We welcome hate. We have been watching the systematic decline of God in our lives without blinking an eye. And guess what we say, "Ooohhh girl, look at her. She needs Jesus. Whew. Does she ever. I'm glad I don't have any flaws like that! My sins aren't as bad as hers."

If you are a Christian, you believe that Jesus came to this Earth, lived a sinless life, died a painful and humiliating death all so that you can have an eternity with Him. And knowing all of that, you have willingly opened your hand and let His presence slip through your fingers. And by you, I mean me. I fail daily.

God tells us that the world hated Him, so it is going to hate you (John 15:18) why wouldn't it?
He tells us the world doesn't understand His light. (John 1:5)
God says in John 16:33 that the world will suck, but never fear, He's taken care of it.

I really enjoy the book of John in case you didn't notice.

I'll take the liberty of linking to a page of verses that talk about personal responsibility here. Just so you know, none of those verses say, "Hurry, find someone else to blame as quickly as possible."

Ok, back on track. We have stopped feeling responsible for the spreading of The Gospel. (Mark 16:15)

If you want to blame someone for the decaying of this troubled world, you have to understand that you play a part. You won't change the entire world with your personal change of heart and commitment to God and His plan, but you will change the world of the people around you. You will be different and everyone around you will take notice. Your heart will soften to things and break in ways you didn't think possible.
When you truly find your home in Jesus, you will learn what it means to love others.

Sidebar: I don't like everyone. Not even close to very many people, but in Jesus I am learning to love people because they are His.

My kids do not always like each other and that sometimes breaks my heart (and my brain) but they are both mine and I long for them to get along. Can you imagine what Jesus must feel like? How many times a day is he banging his head off a wall? He's probably thinking, these kids were already the death of me once, can't they just be nice and love each other before they put me in another grave?!

Christians, we are complacent. When we see that someone else is a sinner so we don't seem to think we need to do any better because Lord knows we aren't as bad as so-n-so over there. Bar on Saturday church on Sunday. Bless their hearts.

Bless ours, y'all. Bless our hearts. SELF RESPONSIBILITY, take some. We all sinners.

It is not comfortable to be different. It isn't easy. We don't blend in when we are light in a dark world.

You know what we've done? We've made our 4 year old selves ashamed. Yes we have.

When we were 4 we sang a song: This Little Light of Mine. And we meant it, until we didn't.
And now we've done gone and hid it under a bushel and let Satan whew (blow) it out, and we have failed to let it shine. We should be so embarrassed...

I shuffled some songs tonight while I controlled the chaos that is my home, and this song came on:
Courageous by Casting Crowns. Y'all click that link and listen to it...(The movie is excellent also)

"We were made to be courageous....The only way we'll ever stand is on our knees with lifted hands."

When did we stop seeking justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God? That moment, THAT was when we not only failed God, but ourselves, our kids, our world. We were made to be courageous and we have just been cowardly. Someone might think we are different or weird or too much or too bright for the darkness and we let our light dim and flicker out.

We have to take some responsibility for the world we are living in.

If you aren't a Christian and you've managed to make it through this, thanks for sticking around. I know a lot of Christians aren't very Christian-like. They can be some pretty nasty people, I really, really know, I've grown up around too many to count. I hope that you don't base your opinions on those. I'd like to be the exception.  If you don't believe in God, that's your prerogative, you get to do that. We can still be friends. We can especially be friends if you are good people. If you know how to take personal responsibility and call it like it is, I like those folks.

Fact is, we live in a free country. We have rights that were handed down to us because people were brave and made sacrifices and shed blood for them. Freedom of religion is a favorite of mine. It is sad to watch us take that for granted.

I'm gonna leave you with a question:
If tomorrow the first amendment was amended to remove our freedom of religion and they came for your Bible and your basis of faith, how much of it would you know by heart? How much of it could you pass on to your children? If you never again had the opportunity to open that Bible that sits on your nightstand collecting dust, how useful would you be to God?

We were made to be courageous, y'all. How much courage have you shown lately?

Mountains & Valleys

Sometimes the only language we can speak is in tears.
I have words for days, but today my heart aches.

Evil has been in the world God created since Adam & Eve did their thing. Not a day goes by that I wish they hadn’t have done it. But let’s face it, you and I would have probably done the same thing. As much as I’d like to be, none of us are immune to the human condition. We are, however, called to be more.

I have a devotional that I read and sometimes share on my Facebook page. It’s called “My Utmost For His Highest.” It takes a verse or two everyday and turns it into a lesson that my heart needs to hear. It is always relevant. I’m not a theologian, just a child of God that believes the Bible is a living word when we allow God to speak Life into it. When I feel my living God speaking through His word I can’t help but share it.

The last couple of days have been about mountain top experiences.
Do you know about those?
They are the times where we are on the mountain top with God like Peter, James, and John were in Mark 9. Times when we are so close to God that we see His glory and are filled with joy and faith. Those are experiences we never want to come down from. 

Yesterday's devotional said this and it just struck a cord:
“The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain.”


On the mountain we are experiencing God. We are getting rest, basking in His glory. Coming down from the mountain is hard. We long to be nearer to God, but in the valley is where we battle for God. It is where we take our experience and spread the joy we obtained. In the trenches is where we learn lessons and share them with those who have never experienced time on the mountaintop. If you read on in Mark 9 you will see God's lesson to Peter, James, and John. He shows them why we need the valley through the man and his son who had an evil spirit. We must come down from our mountain top to fight the evil that lurks where we live. 



Life is a series of mountain tops and valleys. We have good times and bad times. 

I can't help but relate today's (October 2) devotional to the tragedies in the news. 
It is also based out of Mark 9. I'll just leave it here:




I'm going to tell you my thoughts from this morning as I woke to the Vegas tragedy. I prayed:
"God I am so sorry that your creation has fallen so far. I am so embarrassed that we, as humans, are capable of this amount of evil and hate. I know that people question your existence and intentions when these kind of things happen and sometimes my faith waivers. Help me to hold my faith firm and share it with those around me. We have seen natural disasters lately that have brought us together as a human race. We have seen you in everyday generosity and now we are distracted from you by the hate in one man's heart. I am so sorry for the human race. Please forgive us. Please help me to overcome my anger and show love."

Then as I read my devotional, I realized that today my humiliation comes from the amount of evil we have allowed into our world. The thought occurred to me that we spend so much time focused on the evil that we fail to see the good things. We are overlooking the hundreds of people who where praying. We are turning a blind eye to the people that covered others with their bodies and the responders that ran INTO the gunfire to save people. 

*John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."

In our face is a lot of evil, and it is unfathomable, but also in our face is the epitome of what God intended for us. To love our neighbor. To lay down our life for our friends. To trust in Him when we feel like there is no where to go.

One girl on GMA this morning told of her friend who was praying over the dead bodies. That thought, that gesture, moves my soul and gives me hope.  

There is good. There is good. There is good in this evil world. 

*John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid."

*John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace in the world you will have tribulation' but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

I serve a mighty God. A God that was hated and overcame. A God that was killed, yet lives. A God that is faithful even when I am not. 

We have mountain top experiences so that we can take them into the valley where there is trouble and tribulation, where we have to come face with it. Thankfully we don't have to face it alone. 

This world is full of problems, but make no mistake, those problems stem from evil, from hate, and from a self-loathing that is only created away from a God that has already won, a God of hope. 

If you don't know that God you have no idea what you are missing. 

If you are looking for joy, for peace, for love, for acceptance, or to fill a void that you can't seem to fill with anything this world offers, I have an answer. It has nothing to do with a pyramid scheme and it doesn't cost you a dime. My God offers hope and love and faithfulness. He gives peace and calms the storms. The wind and the waves know him. I wish for you to know Him as well.

God bless y'all. Hug your people. Tell them that you love them. Prepare them. It is a heartbreaking place, this world, but if we can share our joy from the mountain top, this valley becomes full of God. 

*John 1:5 "And the light sines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it."