We All Need to Be Rescued!

Today, lives are once again forever changed. In an instant the decisions of one, now will impact the lives of many. Once again we are reminded that our lives are never guaranteed a tomorrow. They are mere vapors in the light of eternity. Today, once again being a day of change, we have the choice in how we talk about what has happened, how we move forward in our own lives, or how we will place blame and resolve the situation in our own minds.

The end result in all of it is that lives were taken, not just the plus 50 people who were gunned down by an armed man locked away in the safety of his hotel room for the time being, or the 500 plus people who were injured, but reach beyond that number to see the impact of the ripples being generated world wide. Today once again America is attacked. The once "united" states will be pulled apart from both those inside and outside the country. We are talking about the extensions of the family members that will have to deal with the loss of a loved one, family member or friend. Perhaps it was someone they worked with or just some random stranger that they stood next to when the hail of bullets began to fly.

There are those lives who will be forever changed by that moment in time. The first responders who ran in while others ran as far away as they could. Moments captured by cell phones and tablets that make it difficult to watch but those ripples now reach us as well. This will be a day remembered and not a day we will want to remember. There are those who will be tragically impacted forever and it is time as believers to pray. It's time to pray because now more than ever, our country will be divided by those who will place blame on what could have been done to prevent this attack at the heart of a popular tourist destination, not 3 hours from my home. They will once again raise the issue of gun control, or tighter security measures or perhaps now guests will now have to pass screening measures when staying at a hotel. None of this solves anything but to divide us.

We are a nation divided more than ever before, race, culture, gender, religious beliefs, political affiliations, you name it, continue to divide. So where does the blame go? Not to the one that should take the heat for all of this. The one who has been dividing kingdoms since the beginning. It's not God, but Satan. He is the one who comes to kill, steal and destroy and lately it seems as if he is having a field day at not only causing chaos, but also getting people to turn away from God, shaking their fists at Him wondering why He couldn't stop this before it began. But you know what, God is big enough to deal with the blame even though He isn't directly responsible. The actions of a man's willing and sin filled heart is. You can take away every gun in the world and destroy them, but unless you get at the heart issues, people will just use whatever they want to take a life.

Look at Cain and Abel, the Bible's first recorded murder. One brother killed the other one simply because perhaps his sacrifice to God was less than accepted. The motive began in the heart. There were no guns or assault rifles then. We need to understand that despite the chaos and destruction happening all around us as never before, the Bible predicts that in the end of days, things would begin to unravel. For violence to increase, for earthquakes and natural disasters to increase, for turmoil to increase in our workplaces, families and homes. Everywhere you look, we are a divided nation, even world wide and what we need more than blame is prayer. It is the one thing the enemy wants us to put out of our minds and will tell us, what will that do? Would have changed anything that happened today or tomorrow?

Just like the ripples of what happened span out and affect us all by what happened today, prayer does the same thing. It affects everyone we pray for. It affects everyone who is connected to us. It reminds us that God has a plan and a purpose and it is not one to harm but one to give us a hope and a future. I believe God is trying to tell us that the solution to our problems it not in the governments hands, not in our own hands, not in placing blame, but can only be found in Him. I pray that lives will be changed and at some point, God will bring about good from this tragedy. That people will see that heroes rise up in the midst of tragic circumstances, people who put aside their own safety and cared for the life of another, simply because they are humans, not of who they are or who they are affiliated with.

Let us put down our divisions and find hope again. Let us not try and figure out who is to blame, but instead lift up those who are struggling to come to terms with what has happened. Let us show the world what the love of Jesus looks like in times like this. Let us first begin with prayer above all!

"When God's people are in need, be ready to help them." ~ Romans 12:13.

Time to Throw Out the Red Pen!

After days of researching information from the local library, I have put my finishing touches on my essay and it was ready to hand in. I always prided myself on my ability to write and write well. With this latest assignment from my English teacher, I had to dig deeper than a simple narrative from one of my favorite memories, or to step beyond the ability to debate the merits of some injustice in the world. I had to research information on the topic for my research paper. If you remember before the days of the internet and computers, this involved using encyclopedias, magazines, and books from the library. It was using a card catalog and manually going on a treasure hunt to find the elusive book you needed for your paper. Often times, that book was missing when you went to find it.

Probably checked out by someone else, or simply misplaced for the time being. So I had to go back and look up other books I might be able to use. There was a requirement to find at least three sources and list them on your cite works page and to make sure you didn't copy down things unless you were using them as a quote. Once the researching was complete, then you had to compile all that information into about 4 or 5 pages of what you wanted to say. I remember mine was on the Bermuda Triangle and the mystery surrounding it. I thought I had a real winner, even claiming I wanted to be one of those people that were "taken" in hopes of explaining what was really happening.

But turning in the paper was only adding more stress to what I was feeling. I had hoped for a decent grade and one that was not filled with the dreaded red pen. If you have been in a public school setting, you can probably remember those "red pen" papers. They were graded in red pen and often included hints or suggestions on how to correct your paper, from spelling and punctuation errors, to how to start a decent paragraph and included the one we still dread today, the perfect thesis statement.

I did get my paper back and was pleased by my grade, but it was still marred by those red pen corrections on it. Oh how I would have loved to get a paper back with nothing on it but a perfect A and nothing more. But then again wouldn't we all?

Life is filled with those daily papers we are required to submit. It might be running our kids to school, paying bills, heading to work in rush hour traffic, or even caring for someone who is sick and can't help themselves. Each of us every single day has an opportunity to see how we can manage through our day in hopes not necessarily for a perfect paper, but at least one with less red pen marks than we did before.

In a world where lately every where you look you can find "red pen" marks. Whether it is some crisis happening in a country far from ours, from school shootings, or what our current president is doing to help in any situation, why a celebrity who has virtually everything he could want, takes his own life without explanation; why people begin rioting and arguing in cities of what injustice they feel the police are handing out, and it seems like the more we plug in, the more "red pen" marks there are to see.

I believe we need to be the ones to make the world a better place by finding ways we can eliminate those red pen marks in life. We need to step outside our own doors and try to be better neighbors. We need to realize that there are people hurting all around us and all they are searching for is validation that they mean something to anyone. We need to find ways to make this day better by making better choices instead of looking how we can play the blame game alongside everyone else. Choose your side. Take a stand.

We need to unite more and divide less.

We need to realize that people count, not what they may do that may cause us to judge them without knowing all the facts. If you trust the media in any form, to provide that for you, You are sadlybeing led astray.  News sells and they know it. So they will make sure you see only what they want you to see. But every day people are writing different stories that the media never shares. Stories that would show us that the world we live in isn't so bad after all.

I think we need to change our perspectives, open our eyes and change our focus. Lets start focusing on the good instead of the bad, and I guarantee you, we WILL find it.

There are people all around the world looking to make a difference. One that breeds an environment of love and not hate. One that offers joy instead of despair. One that helps instead of hurts. If you truly look hard enough you can find it.

I challenge everyone who reads this to share ONE thing you did to throw out the red pen in the world. Leave a comment below so we can help change people's mind sets about what is happening around us. I know we won't make this world a peaceful place, but perhaps we can shift our minds on things above instead of the evil in the world today. If only for today.

Like Chuck Swindoll so eloquently shared in his devotional this morning, "But I've got a hunch that when the score is added up one day as we stand before our Lord, many of us will wish we'd played a lot more Risk . . . and a lot less Trivial Pursuit." What are you willing to "Risk" today?