It's All About Me!

The world is a mess. Our nation is in crisis. Our homes are being shattered daily. The reason is because of that attitude that "it's all about me!" What I want, what I must have to make me happy, is more important than living responsibly.

I need more things...a larger house...a newer car...nicer clothes...all the latest electronics. I have to be in style and I have to be envied in order to maintain my self worth. I started out with one charge card, one mortgage. But my need to have more demanded that I spend with reckless abandon. It is so easy to do...I am inundated with offers to buy without paying...like that roomful of new furniture. I don't have to start payments on that until two years from now. So why not have a new look? Every day it seems I get credit companies wanting me to get their charge card with new introductory rates that I can't pass up. My kids need stuff to compete with their classmates.

Spending is so easy...until it's time to pay. I can't even afford the minimum due, so I get a home equity loan and catch everything up...and then I can't afford to make my payments to the lending institution. But don't blame me!! After all, isn't that what my government does...keeps spending money it doesn't have, and going further and further into debt....trillions of dollars into debt? If Uncle Sam can do it, then so can I!

I'm not happy at home. My friends all live a much more exciting life than I do. I'm too important to waste my time with the children every day. They have stuff to play with...they don't need me too. I need to find someone who sees me for who I really am...someone very smart, very beautiful, and very engaging to be with. I'm going to leave my husband. He's made me absolutely miserable. I'll get even with him. I will find a lover and I will move out of the home, or kick him out, and I will use my children to make him pay my way. Courts always favor the mothers...I can sue for alimony and child support, and if I work it right, I won't have to get a job. My "ex" may have to work two or three jobs to support me and the kids, but I deserve to be happy with a significant other in my life. The kids don't matter. They'll know it was important for me to be happy. They won't miss Dad so much after a while. After all, they're just kids.

My working friends...they all bring home "goodies" from work. They can build their own home office from the stuff they've managed to sneak out of the company office. And you should hear them talk about their co-workers. It seems that the work place is an absolute Peyton Place no matter where you work these days...including the post office!! Nobody has morals any more....it's good to get what you can before someone beats you to it. Nobody tells the truth in this era...that's for religious wimps. The clever ones know how to lie and cheat and steal. Everything is just a big cover up anyway...so why does it matter? Integrity? What's that??

Pay my taxes? What Uncle Sam doesn't know won't hurt him. Pay my tithe? You've got to be kidding!! God knows I can't hardly squeak by on what I make. I can't even afford to eat out every day or take nice vacations more than twice a year. And besides, what's God got to do with it? He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the old song says, so what does he need my measly little offering for? So what if the churches can't pay their bills, maybe they need to just shut down anyway. What good are they doing? It's just a little group of people who are out of touch with the real world. In the real world you have to scheme, push, shove, and manipulate to prove you are somebody worth taking note of. And believe me...it IS all about me! I can make it on my own, thank you! Now, just give me everything you have and shut up and get out of my way and if you don't...I'll see you in court! I know how to work the system.

...And we wonder why the world is a mess, our nation is in crisis, and our homes are falling apart? The "me" generation of the 70's has come into full bloom...the big "I" is all that matters. So we sit in our homes and watch the news and see the big black hole we are all swirling toward, yet we think somehow we'll get past this...this too will pass.

Somehow, I don't think so.

Meet Peter, the rock. Now there was one big tough he-man that always did things impulsively and impetuously. He was the one who was in the middle of everything, and didn't know when to be quiet and take his seat. Life was all about him. Why in heaven's name would Jesus choose such a person as Peter to follow Him?

You see, here's the secret. When God looks at us, He sees us as we are, but He sees so much more. He sees what we can become through His grace. In Peter He saw a man who had the personality to set the world on fire. Why would God want satan to possess that potential? So, even when Peter failed Jesus and denied Him three times, He knew that Peter would come to the end of himself and realize that he needed something more in his life to overcome defeat. Peter knew he needed a Power to pulsate through him to proclaim the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Jesus told Peter, along with others, to wait in the Upper Room until he received that Power. For once Peter listened, he obeyed, he waited...for ten days he waited. And then the day of Pentecost came, and everyone in that upper room received the promise of the Holy Spirit. His very Presence filled the whole room, and every person in that room was baptized with a Power so bold that they took to the streets and started proclaiming who Jesus really was. Peter finally realized life wasn't about his own self, and his own desires. Life was about Jesus, his own personal Savior. Only through the Power of Jesus could lives be changed...not by force, but by love.

The only way we are going to make it in this world today is through the Power of the Holy Spirit...Jesus in us...expressing His love to a world dying to know something, Someone is real and there is HOPE. There IS a better way to live. Life isn't all about me. Life is allowing Christ to live in us and through us, and allowing Him to reach others with a genuine love that the world is starved for, and doesn't even know it.

So, what am I going to do with this Power, this Person, this responsibility?

My destiny depends on how I answer that question, how I live my life.

Lord Jesus, I need you...now, more than ever. Amen!

Recap of Dec 1-3 Reading

The books I am currently reading are all listed in the side bar. I typically finish the complete batch of books prior to pulling out a "new" batch. In this particular batch are a couple of brand new books and a Christmas gift book from my son and his wife. The rest are all "reruns". I am continuing to read through my shelved books one more time before unloading them. I have several years' worth of books to reread, so it's nice now and then to have a new book in the batch.

In one particular new book it was noted that no electronic reproduction could be made in any way, shape, or form without written permission of the author/publisher. I respect that. My gut feeling is that if the other books I read were written in this day and technological age, they would contain the same warnings. Therefore, I will no longer quote from any of the books to avoid doing something illegal. Instead I will paraphrase what stands out to me, and perhaps a note about how it applies to me...or what I need to think about. I cannot say it as well as the author, so I am sorry that the actual quotes will no longer be available.

Four of the books in current listing are being read "devotionally". By that I mean I read a chapter per day from each book and comment on it in my journal. They are short, devotional size, chapters, and I feel like I'm getting a tidbit each day from each book. I also treat each book as though it is God himself talking to me about things I need to pay attention to, learn, grow in. So as much as I enjoy my prayer time with the Father, I can hardly wait to get to my four books to see what God has to say to me each day. From there I write my journal notes as I feel inspired. Perhaps I will start sharing that daily, or as time permits, but tonight I will recap my reading/thoughts from the first three days of December.

By the way, not sure I have any followers on this particular blog. I am still continuing my Reflections on Genesis Blog as I have 6-7 more posts to complete the book of Genesis. I will leave that blog up and running once I complete it, but there will not be any new posts after Chapter 50. I had two other blogs...a weekly menu blog and a Journey of Hope blog (my original blog). I shut both of those down. I was conscious that many people may not have sufficient food to eat in a week, and I felt that posting my menu was too much. I obviously eat too much food in a week, and need to cut back and think about those who are struggling with having even the basics of life. My Journey of Hope blog contained many of my earlier writings in life...papers I had written for classes I had taken, sermons I had preached, etc...as well as personal comments about my life. I am sensitive to others and tried not to post anything that would expose others beyond what they have already exposed about themselves. However, there was fear that could happen, since I am such an open book. Out of respect for family members, I shut that blog down. It was during a sad time in my life, and perhaps I jumped the gun too early, but I felt several urgings to do so...so I did. So, for now, this is my only "personal" blog in which I will share my thoughts. However, I will not be mentioning specific people or sharing personal intimate details of my family.

With those disclaimers, I am now ready to recap three days' worth of devotional thoughts:

Monday, December 1, 2008:
1. Depression affects a huge number of our society. I myself experienced clinical depression back in 1987-88. Often depression will cause us to not want to eat, yet not eating tends to only make things worse. We need to eat a balanced meal even when we don't feel like it. Also, how we respond to events in our lives has far more to do with how we feel than what actually happens to us.

2. God has made me unique. The sooner I accept who I am, and quit trying to be who I am not, the quicker I can get on with what God has planned for me to do.

3. When it comes to forgiveness, there are three areas in which forgiveness needs to occur:
-I must forgive others.
-I must forgive myself.
-I must forgive God, as He forgives me. Then I can build a bridge and get over it...no matter what has happened to hinder my advancement in life.

4. If I am going to learn to love, I must recognize that love is first of all patient and kind. I need to control my emotions so they do not control me, and practice extending mercy and gentleness to others by my kind words and thoughtful actions.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008:
1. When we think no one understands us, Jesus always understands. He is so focused on others, rather than on Himself, that even as He was headed to His own crucifixion on the night He was met by the soldiers in the garden, he took time to heal the ear of one of those who had come to arrest him. No pity party for Himself...He still sought to do what was best for others...even His "enemies".

2. A beautiful woman is one who serves others and shares in their lives, allowing God to shine through her. But she does it all without desiring recognition or reward. Her spiritual demeanor is like a fragrance to those around her.

3. Even when we think we are going through horrible persecution, bad things that seem to have no purpose other than to defeat us, God is using that time to draw us closer to Him so that we might better reflect who He is by our attitude and actions. Only through persecution of the early Christians did the church grow. What will God do through those who allow persecution to refine them and make them more in His image?

4. When it comes to love not being selfish, God's Word says it best:
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. Philippians 2:3

Wednesday, Dec 3, 2008:
1. To avoid being depressed, I need to focus on my accomplishments, not my failures. I need to be patient with myself as much as with others!

2. Each "opportunity" we go through is a time for us to learn and grow and move forward in wisdom. May I be willing to say yes and seek the positive results from the adversities in my life.

3. I must get to the place where Jesus is always my main focus. It is from Him that I receive my purpose and the power I need to fulfill that purpose.

4. Love is thoughtful. Rather than rushing ahead with the words that come to mind, think about how they will be received, and choose to say things kindly and with respect.

5. God honors faith, even faith the size of a mustard seed. He can do mighty things for those who have faith and believe.