Responsibility

Proverbs 22:6 

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

One thing I believe is lacking in America today is responsibility. What teaches a child into becoming an independent and purposeful adult is responsibility. We have a responsibility in our actions, speech and attitudes. "The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That's the day we truly grow up." [J. Maxwell]

Who do we work for and have responsibility due to?

Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters."

“We need to realize that in all things our first duty and responsibility is to God Himself." [H. Ironside]

We need to need to yield specifically to the Lord, forsake every doubtful aspect in our life, be willing to obey fully to God's will, and believe through prayer that He will flood our spirit with His power.

"The more personal responsibility we take, the more in control we are and the more control we have, the more likely we will reach our goal as there will be no excuses to fall back on if we fail. Therefore, taking responsibility for our actions equals success."

As a child, I was taught Galatians 6:5 "for each one should carry their own load." I was not let out of household chores, because of some weakness clause. After school, I remember folding clothes while watching "The Brady Bunch" and walking as fast as I could during commercials to get them put away before the show resumed. Along with the clothes, beds also had to be made before my parents got home from work.

Responsibility was also taught on the weekends. I was the riding lawnmower driver. I was paid $10 to mow our entire 2.5 acres and you could find me mowing in my bathing suit top and shorts with my headphones on. If I wasn't mowing, I was pulling a trailer with brush from the yard or moving dirt with the blade on the front of the riding lawnmower.

I was also taught about my responsibility to my Lord and Savior. That my life was to serve and be an example for Him. Yes, I failed Him but His forgiveness was also something I shared with others.

“Everything begins with the right priorities, and right priorities begin with God." [W. Kroll]

As I grew older, these lessons on responsibility paid off. It was only I who would finish numerous after hour labs in college, whether it be chemistry or checking on my fruit flies in genetics. When I changed colleges between 3 states, I knew no one was going to figure it out for me if I was going to finish with a degree somewhere. God led me, but I had to do the work.

My attitude towards responsibility has always been that it was mine to finish in whatever I signed up for. I don't believe in or partake in the blame game. I was raised to be a doer and not as an excuser.

"The providence of God does not relieve us of human responsibility: it doesn't call for inactivity, it calls for activity." [Alistair Begg]

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Being Content

Welcome blog readers!  For the next several blogs, I am going to change the way I do my blogs.  I am going to make them more personal with a biblical theme or verse to draw from.  I will start as a child and go from there, but no promises to go chronologically in order.  I hope this will be both fun and purposeful.

Deuteronomy 5:21

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

As a child, my world was as normal as any other healthy child born into this world. I hit all the milestones with ease and was a happy toddler. As I began walking, my right foot turned in and caused me to fall more than normal.

That is when, I began wearing corrective shoes. They were white leather with black accents on the sides. I was not happy with them, because they weren't my sneakers and they had to be worn for every occasion. This was my first lesson on covetousness. I wanted to wear the 'cool' shoes like the other kids, but those shoes weren't helpful to my feet or falling episodes. "We cannot be covetous and thankful at the same time. Covetousness kills contentment, joy, and peace." I don't know if I was ever thankful for those shoes, but I did learn to accept them.

A year or two later, I was put into leg braces. Now these were both good and bad, from my perspective as a child. The good was that I could pick out my shoes and add variety. The bad was that I now had ugly, hot restraints that I had to relearn to walk with. Although the braces supported me to fall less, there were new things to learn not to covet. Such as the cute ankle socks with the ball on the back, instead I had to wear hot white knee high socks no matter the season. In later years, my friends began to wear cute shoes with heels, but my braces only allowed for flat shoes. It may sound trivial, but for a girly girl it is a real thing that you just dismiss as another thing that you just give up.

We live in a world where there is much to desire, but we must use our faith to see that we don't have to have everything our heart desires. The small lessons I learned as a child, that helpful aides are more beneficial than pretty things, have stuck with me throughout my life. There would be harder choices to come later in life, but with the same basic lesson to be lived out.

"He who is not contented in what he has, would not be contented in what he would like to have." Socrates

"Faith is the experience of contentment in Jesus. The fight of faith is the fight to keep your heart contented in Christ — to really believe, and keep on believing, that he will meet every need and satisfy every longing."

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Romans 12:12

Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

2 Corinthians 4:17
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

Do the troubles of your world ever seem overwhelming? That's the goal of Satan. We need to say as Jesus did to Peter in Matthew 16:23, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” When Satan tries to take over our thoughts and feelings, we must recognize that they are not what Christ wants for us. We must "stand against his wiles and depths, by standing always upon our guard against sin." [M. Henry]

From a friend, "Does life feel rocky for you? I know that struggle all too well, but God is greater than our circumstances! I love how God weaves different people into the tapestry of our lives. He’s a good Father."

"Be joyful in hope."

To believers, hope is a confident expectation in Christ's promises, resurrection, and return. No matter what troubles we go thru, we can be joyful by trusting in God to do what He says He will do. There is so much joy to be found in the character of God.

"Be patient in affliction."

We will all suffer heartaches, injuries, disappointments, lack, rejection, and sickness. Affliction reminds us that this world is not our home. God has prepared a place for believers that is so great, we cannot fathom it. To suffer for Christ is a privilege and we should feel honored by that call to do so.

“Be faithful in prayer."

Prayer is our always available, effective and powerful connection to God. There is no one better to whom we can take our troubles to, as well as give thanks to for who He is and what He has done. While we pray for things to happen in our lifetime, we must recognize that our faithfulness to prayer isn't dependent on being answered on our timeline. We pray for God's will and in His timing.

As for myself, I am for the most part a positive and joyful person. That joy comes from the confidence I have in God. Every struggle is working for my good and knowing that makes them easier to bear. My patience has grown tremendously through my afflictions. My trials haven't been easy, but it is God's will for me. For me to bring Him glory through my struggles is my obedient calling. I have struggles that are both seen and unseen, but God is most glorified by how I react. Do I lean on Him or my own understanding of what's happening to me? Prayer is my lifeline for everything. When the world has walked away, betrayed me, and turned it's back on me..God has always been there to listen, guide me and love me. "Therefore I do not lose heart. Though outwardly I am wasting away, yet inwardly I am being renewed day by day. "

Prayer Life

How is your prayer life?  Often people call on God on a 911 basis, when their need is great and God is a desperate resource.  Would you like to be turned to only in an emergency?  No, of course not, and neither does God.  God is available to us, 24/7 and 365 days a year, but why is He often a last resource that we go to.  Self reliance and dependency are the main faulty reasons.

What is  prayer and how does it work?  "Prayer is staying in communication with God—talking to Him, spending time in His presence, and drawing near to Him. Through prayer, we express adoration and thanks to God, we make requests known to Him, we intercede for others, and we learn more about His character and His will for our lives."  [gotquestions.org]

Pastor and author Andrew Murray provided a good description of acceptable prayer, writing that “it must be to the glory of God, in full surrender to His will, in full assurance of faith, in the name of Jesus, and with a perseverance that, if need be, refuses to be denied."

Is sin keeping you from an effective prayer life?  Unconfessed sin in your heart is a main hindrance of one's prayer life.  Isaiah 59:2, "But your iniquities have separated   you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you,   so that he will not hear."   Psalm 66:18,  "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened"

Other Hindrances to Powerful and Effective Prayer Life:

1. When we are living according to the flesh, rather than in the Spirit 

2.  When our prayers are selfishly motivated

3. A hardness of heart toward others

4. A spirit of unforgiveness toward others

5. Unbelief and doubt

6. Discord in the home

“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective”, and that the “eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer”, and, again, “the prayer of the upright pleases Him”

Ten biblical instructions concerning prayer :

1. Pray to the Heavenly Father

2. Pray for good things 

3. Pray for needful things

4. Pray from a righteous heart

5. Pray from a grateful heart

6. Pray according to the will of God

7. Pray in the authority of Jesus Christ

8. Pray persistently

9. Pray unselfishly

10. Pray in faith

 Sometimes we pray and pray, but our prayers go unanswered.  This could be God saying 'No' and we are just not listening or accepting of His answer.  Or, sometimes our prayers are made in the wrong way.  

1. We want to help God answer our prayers.   If the answer doesn’t come as soon as we’d like, our faith in Him begins to waver, and we try to fix the situation ourselves. 

2. We focus on our requests rather than on God.  Our thoughts are focused on the needs and not on the One who can meet them

3. We pray without the Word of God  When Scripture fills our hearts and minds, our thoughts and prayer requests align with God’s will, and our faith grows strong. But if we neglect God’s Word, there is no light to guide our path or to give us understanding and assurance 

I hope these thoughts on prayer help to make your prayer life more powerful and effective, as it has mine.  Peace and grace to you all.

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Push Forward

Ephesians 6:10-11, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

Have you ever needed a little extra push to get something done?  I think we all have.  Remember, the little engine that could, he told himself 'I think I can' while others told him 'to believe its true then there's nothing you can't do' and that 'winners never quit'.    Encouragement is a basic need in our lives.   Life can be so discouraging at times, so much so that we have to seek out our own encouragement.  The Lord gave us the bible to not only guide us but to encourage us.  Matthew 6:33-34, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Do you believe the Lord hears and knows your troubles?  Psalm 10:17-18, "You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed"   

Prayer works, it's just not always on our timetable.  Our prayers are heard even when they go unanswered and sometimes no answer is the best answer.  Our cries to the Lord can motivate us to seek Him more, than we do when things are going as we'd like in our lives.  

Romans 15: 4-6, "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Proverbs 21:21, "Whoever pursues righteousness and love  finds life, prosperity and honor."  This verse is one that pushes us forward on the right path. When we do the right thing and act with love with others, then it will bring you great reward.  We have to go after or pursue being Christ-like in all our ways and then our lives will be more peaceful and prosperous.  Hebrews 12: 14, "Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord."

We all need encouragement to make the most out of our lives and to avoid the snare of sin, that wants to entrap us.  1 Thessalonians 5:11, "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."    We can encourage each other: with a kind word, by our example, with an out-stretched arm, with a listening ear, with our resources, or by just sharing our faith.

As for myself, I have been encouraged by many friends in different ways along my own journey.

When I was 14 after my back surgery, I wanted to stay in bed and not move.  My aides, Missy and Tania, encouraged me with tough love to walk around the dining room and kitchen to make a training circle.  They knew that despite the pain and my complaints that this was the best path of treatment for me.  As it is with God, He helps us handle our trials, despite our complaints, knowing it will make us better and more like Him.

Just yesterday, my church friends organized an Easter parade that went thru my driveway at home.  They knew that my recent days had been full of discouragement, so they banded together to show me that they were here for me and on my side.  As it is with God, He is always with me and will never forsake me.

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