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Articles, opinion piece

Red and Yellow, Black and White! Precious.

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All the racist reports of late truly rial me. Stuff like the subject matter of this report causes me to ask who the true racist is? The one pointed at as being racist? Or the one pointing the finger? Top that with raising the blame card at any one race while ignoring each person’s responsibility, no matter the color is socially irresponsible, adding fuel to a fire that’s already out of control.

You know, I believe all any of us want is to be treated fairly, righteously, with respect, and equitably, as people of worth and value. Two examples from my younger years come to mind.

One involves a black man my daddy worked with. No disrespect intended in the use of the word “black”. It’s what we grew up calling one another, black and white; and I was raised to do so, not in disrespect, but as a distinguishing characteristic. We’re still called “white” today. Black, white, brown, red, etc, is fair and equitable.

Anyway, back to my dad’s friend and co-worker, Mr. Benny (given name, not sir-name) was a fellow mechanic in the same shop. He was such a nice, smart, and caring man, and daddy called him “friend”. He still gets credit today for helping my daddy quit smoking. He is a beloved man from our past.

He told daddy one day in some conversation they had, “Just call me niger. It’s what I am and have always been called. It doesn’t bother me.” Daddy balked, “I’ll call you a black man or a negro – which means black, but a niger is a worthless person; and, Benny, that’s not you.”

I am acquainted with numerous black people. Not one of those are a niger. But I know numerous white nigers that I will not run with. Worthless people can come in all colors. I was taught that being a worthless person is a choice we make in the way we live life and the person we want to be. Choose better.

The second memorable occasion happened when I was a young divorcée, working a night job at a local mini-mart. A nice looking black man came to the counter to pay out and struck up a conversation. He shortly asked me out. When I declined, he said, “What? Are you racist? Too good for me?” My facial expression was obviously shocked in a way that put a surprised expression on his face. I never thought such a thing. I replied strongly, “No. it’s just my choice to not mix. I’m simply not interested. Besides, I have a boyfriend and am not in the market.” He then looked pleasantly stunned at the straight forward honesty, and replied, “Well, ok. I can respect that.” That was that. No problem. No trouble when he came in. No trouble with others.

Today I am aunt to three, beautiful nieces, a nephew, and several great nieces and nephews that are black-white mix. They are beautiful people who add strength to our society. And they are greatly loved by my husband and me. I also have a granddaughter who is seriously dating a young black man. I haven’t met him personally yet, but I am told he is a Christian man of great worth, making a good life for himself, and for Savannah, if their relationship continues to flourish.

I am extremely upset with all the racist horror going on in our nation today. Those who are working with honest hearts of integrity to make a better world for our babies, I stand with you. But those using this situation for evil means and destruction, that is worthless behavior. And it’s not just blacks out there. I’ve seen a lot of whites in the mix as well. Racism and the rainbows of colors that could be deemed as a niger is a heart issue. Many pointing fingers reveal the truth of their own hearts. And programs that only serve to bring further separation and produce hate should be outlawed.

All on my friend lists, I know as people of worth. Knowing each makes me a better person by their influence. I am happy to work together for a stronger nation. Red and yellow, black and white, I love you!

Articles, opinion piece

The Opinion of a Momma Bear Grandmother

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I’ve never been as upset with the banter coming from the Democratic Party as I am today. I use “banter” because they have got to be kidding me!

Many of those running for the Democratic Presidency platform are talking about lowering the voter age to include my 16 year old grandchildren. That is crazy! And it shows me a desperation to win that is pitiful.

One reasoning I’ve heard from those promoting this is that teens work and pay taxes, therefore they should have the right to vote. The problem I see with that reasoning is that I know of very few teens who make enough money to keep from getting it all returned to them when they apply for their tax return. They don’t truly pay taxes because they don’t make enough to owe taxes. 🤦🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

But here’s the real issue! There is brain research out that proves what I already know from personal experience in my own life and from watching the struggle of my children and grandchildren. That is that a person’s ability to rightly evaluate consequences of actions and choices does not kick in, on average, until the age of 25.

What these people who are making this promise want are pliable brains that will willingly run with them. The problem being that when these children get old enough to fully understand the consequences of their actions, they will be stuck with it. Instead of choosing the right path in the first place, they will then be stuck trying to figure out how to fix what they took part in bringing into play.

When I was 18, I was glad to vote. It was one of those things that proved my coming of age. I was now an adult because I was allowed to vote! I did not really care about the political responsibility that comes with the privilege. I voted because I could.

It was not until I was in my late 20s that I began to appreciate the responsibility my privilege asked of me. I did not have politically active and savvy parents that taught me what to look at and how to decide, like my husband did. He was the one who influenced my growth in political wisdom.

At 18 years of age, I was stupid about world issues and for years of voting, I did so out of ignorance; and now these want to lower the age to 16. As a parent and grandparent, I will do all I can to protect my young ones from such potential for great harm to their future. This is the beginning of my fight to protect them. Forget political sides in this. Whatever your political persuasion, if you agree this is a play for votes that is harmful to our children’s future, make your voice heard. And while you’re at it, write your area representatives and let them know how upset this attack against your children’s future makes you.

Mac Thornberry: https://www.facebook.com/repmacthornberry/

https://thornberry.house.gov

John Cornyn: https://www.facebook.com/SenJohnCornyn/

https://www.cornyn.senate.gov

Ted Cruz: https://www.facebook.com/SenatorTedCruz/

https://www.cruz.senate.gov

Articles, opinion piece

The True Travesty I See

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Lying has been part of the human reality since the earliest days of creation, according to scripture. Lies exist. People lie. We see it every day. And few can truthfully say they have never lied.

People lie to protect self from getting caught or suffering loss. They lie for money; for selfish agendas; to get their way in a situation. This world is replete with reasons to lie. So when one says “yes they did” and another says “no I didn’t,” suspicions rise as we question, “Which is lying?” And when that accusation comes at a seeming strategic time, suspicions rise still higher.

In cases like this one pictured below that is in the news in these days, we can’t just say one is lying and the other isn’t without questioning things and finding truth. On the woman’s side, if she is the truth sayer, justice for her tragedy is at stake if we blindly choose to believe the man. On the man’s side, if he is the truth sayer, his reputation and life is at stake if we blindly believe the woman. Thus, finding truth is vital.

The sad thing, and the thing that infuriates me, is all the women – and men: men can be raped to – but all those who have been raped and are thrust back into their pain by watching such travesty. They hurt for those who have experienced rape and want them always to be believed, so others feel safe to come forth. I understand their point. Problem? People lie. Suspicions rise. And truth has to be sought so the innocent gets justice.

I hate when people come forth with false accusations. I hate when a true accusation is met with a cowardly response, a lie to save face by one who can’t admit their wrong and do right by those they hurt. But I really hate the pain caused to those watching, who are flung back into their pain. I hate when situations like this make others afraid to come forth. For these being hurt, the one lying should truly be ashamed, whichever it is, and should suffer the justice due.

Articles, Choice, Godly Principles, Kingdom Living, Opportunity

HE LOVED THEM TO THE END

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Opening the word, something caught my attention yesterday in chapter 13 of John that I am drawn to revisit.

“Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, HE LOVED THEM TO THE END” ~ John 13:1.

Looking closely at that wording, the footnote says “to the end” means “to the full extent.” He loved fully, all the way to the finish line. The Amplified version of scripture seems to interject that fact best.

“Now before the Passover Feast began, Jesus knew with full awareness that the time had come for Him to leave this world and return to the Father. And as He had loved those who were His own in the world, HE LOVED THEM TO THE LAST AND TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE.”

“So it was that during supper, Satan having already put the thought of betraying Jesus in the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, that Jesus, knowing fully that the Father had put everything into His hands, and that He had come from God and was now returning to God, Got up from supper, took off His garments, and taking a servant’s towel, He fastened it around His waist” ~ John 13:1-4, AMP.

Pondering this scene with knowledge of what is coming to the life of Christ next, I recognize that this is the eve of the greatest hardship of Jesus’ life. In just a few hours, He will take His disciples to the garden for a time of prayer as He prepares for what is ahead of Him. He knows that the weight of the sin of the world will be on His shoulders and that His Father will turn away. He knows the difficulty ahead, and being fully man with all the sensory receptors and emotions of any other, the stress of it affects Him. In just a few hours, that stress will leave Him crying out to God with beads of bloody sweat flowing from every pore of His body. During that time of prayer, it is said of Christ that, “He began to show grief and distress of mind and was deeply depressed” (Matthew 26:37, AMP).

I don’t know about You, but when I know something hard to cope with is coming on me quickly, depression takes hold as the body’s stress chemistry comes into play. Depression too easily hinders my hands and feet, hindering my doing what I need to do while waiting to do what I must. That was not the case for Jesus. Out of love, He sat the good example to the end.

In our focal passage it says, knowing His time was upon Him, that He loved His people to the end, all the way to the finish line, with all the fervor of love possible. Out of His love, He put on the servant’s towel and began washing the feet of the guests. Take a moment to realize, please, that among the guests present, there is Judas Iscariot, the one He knew would betray Him. Jesus loved on His betrayer. (Selah ~ Pause and calmly think on that.)

It was customary when guests entered a home that the lowest servant in the house put on a towel, get a basin of water and wash the feet of the guest. Reportedly, this was the worst job there was to do. Why?

I don’t know if you have ever tended to another’s dirty feet, but it is not a pleasant job to do. In Bible days, people walked most everywhere on dirt paths in sandaled or bare feet. Their feet got nasty. Yes, it was a dirty job; proven in part by the fact that Jesus did not just put on a towel, but he first took off His garments. He knew He would get dirty doing the work of washing feet, so He removed His outer garments to protect them. On this day, no one took it upon himself to tend to the feet of the guests. It was a nasty job and no one wanted to do it, so, as a last act of love, Jesus put on the servant’s towel and did the lowly job of tending to dirty feet.

Pondering this act of Christ, I discern several reasons for His choosing to put that towel on, instead of asking another to do it.

  1. It set an example of selfless service. Asking another to perform that particular service would have embarrassed the one asked, considering it an insult. Jesus, being guest of honor, put the towel on Himself and showed all there that love chooses to do the lowliest, least desirable acts of kindness for those loved. Love is selfless.
  2. Jesus used the opportunity to teach His followers, and us through this account, that the cleansing power of their relationship with Him is complete. Completely cleansed from all sin by Christ, we need only the touch up cleansing when a new soiling of sin occurs. Thus, as they say, it is vital that one stay prayed up with God in their battle against sin. This discourse is one proof for those of us who believe that once we enter into salvation by the blood of Christ through faith to believe Him for it, we do not lose our salvation with every struggle against the nature of sinful flesh. Our spirit is secure for all eternity in Christ. (See John 13:6-10)
  3. It is my belief that Jesus chose to do this job himself because it was opportunity for some one-on-one time with each of His disciples. I do not believe that Peter was the only one Jesus had a conversation with while washingtheir feet. I believe each one responded out of their own fleshly impulse, need, and nature; and Jesus used the opportunity to minister personal lessons all around, encouraging the growth and faith of each one, according to their
    "You gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair." (Lk. 7:44)
    “You gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.” (Lk. 7:44)

    need. This account with Peter is just the one on which we get to listen.

Beloved, a lowly, unpalatable job is not a shame for us in Christ. It is opportunity to make oneself available to God for purposes of His own. It is a chance for some one-on-one ministry time with those around us who can benefit from the perspective we have in Christ. It is love’s greatest act of sacrifice when we do the lowliest job with eternal purpose as exemplified by Christ, our Savior, King, and Lord.

What is it that He said in another example of sacrificial service? Oh, yeah!

“Now go and do the same” ~ Luke 10:37.

Articles, Holiness, Kingdom Living, Light, Overcomers

The Nature of Light

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“All things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light” ~ Ephesians 5:13.

Ponder the nature of light for a moment. What does light do? We use light to penetrate darkness and expose things hidden there. Light helps us walk through dark places without stubbing our toe, caught unaware by dangers lurking in the shadows. Light is the exposer of dangers in the night. That is a good thing, right? Then why, when God, the true Light, exposes something hidden in our dark places, do we run from the truth revealed as if that exposure is the thing that will hurt us?

My experience of the nature of God’s Light revealing a dark corner of my life, is this: that revelation exposes something that puts me or others in danger of falling away from the path God sits before us. God’s revelation of the dark place presents me with opportunity to clear out the things that cause the darkness, bringing the full splendor of Light’s glory to my living places, and setting me free from harm’s way.

“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light” ~ Ephesians 5:6-13.

Every dark dwelling exposed by the light makes that place light when we address the issue as children of Light. Seeing the things hidden in the dark is opportunity to choose goodness, righteousness and truth. Light’s revelation is opportunity to own our sin and walk free of it. However, what is it that too often happens?

Instead of seeing the opportunity God is giving us to come clean and walk free of our sin, we get self-protective and try to turn the spotlight on contributing factors. We return to the root of sin found in Adam and Eve, who, instead of saying, “Yes, Lord. That is what I did.” They said, “Yes, I did it, but that woman YOU gave me tempted me and, therefore, made me do it.” Or, “That serpent, the devil YOU allowed to enter my garden area beguiled me.”

Too often, when sin is exposed, the offender becomes defensive, putting the offended on offense, drawing the battle lines. Relationship destroyed, the true issue goes unchecked; that true issue being the thing in each individual that opens them to temptation’s snare. God reveals things hidden in the dark for a purpose: to deliver those snared from the thing within them that makes them a target for temptation. Delivering us from the root of sin, sins death no longer has hold on us, bringing glory to Himself and to His children as they follow Him in bearing the fruit of the Light.

When we become defensive, pointing fingers at contributing factors, laying blame anywhere but with our own choice made, refusing to work to recognize the thing within that snared us, we fail to own up to our responsibility. True repentance cannot come when we hold to blaming others. We may not even own our tendency to blame another, but that tendency reveals itself every time we choose to site their part in our excuse.

Blame hinders our ability to discern the pain of the one we blame. Often the things we point out as “cause” of our choice have an underlying factor to it that makes the offence we feel unreasonable. Blinders on, we fail to see the pain of the one who caused us pain. Example:

A husband, looking for an occupation he will enjoy and want to stay with, refuses to get a job digging ditches so he can provide for his family in the interim of finding that perfect position he longs to have for himself. The wife, needing security, increases her workload trying to fill in where hubby is failing. The scenario and frustration of financial issues increasing stress on the wife, she loses faith to trust hubby, no longer respecting him as head of family. Failing to meet her need for security, the husband’s need for respect goes unmet.

Worn out from work and family life, struggling to meet her family’s need, having to get up early to do all again the next day, wife goes to bed, a stress headache and exhaustion destroying libido. Hubby, frustrated at his intimacy needs going unmet, turns to pornography for his gratification. Then one day God shines His Revelation Light, unshrouding the pornography. Wife, trust and her sense of security further assaulted, tries to address the issue without the respect needed to aid her attempts. Hubby blames wife for his addiction, citing her failure to meet his need. Further attack on her sense of security, destructive words fly to ears that cannot hear, as he feels no love or respect. With one storming out the door, clothes in hand, a marriage lies dead in the dust.

Add to that a common scenario in our day: a woman in a second marriage, whose first husband hurt the children because of his addiction to porn. Fear and anger take hold, turning wife into a protective momma-bear. Only perfect love can overcome such fear. Do they have it?

Light shines in the dark places of our lives to reveal a problem. That revelation is our opportunity to own our sin and repent of it, not leaning on any crutch of blame or expectation of the other person involved seeing their part in it. True repentance is between self and God alone. It is saying, “I did it. I chose wrong and sinned against my Holy God and those I love. Forgive me and help me enter into restoration, never to turn that way again.” We will not have the right attitude of heart to repent to those we harmed or address issues with them until we first come into a right relationship with God. Only then can repentance do the things needed to correct the course.

The husband realizes he failed to meet the wife’s need, having put her into a stress that she was ill equipped to handle. He gets a job and corrects his error. The wife, trust and her sense of security growing, gets back to a work and home lifestyle that is manageable. Her security growing, respect starts the trek to full restoration with each day the hubby proves faithful. Next thing he knows, she is the one pursuing intimacy.

The Light has purpose. It is never for harm, but is always set to produce righteousness, goodness, and truth. In order to get the full benefit of God taking the time to shine a light of revelation into our darkness, we must realize the purpose of His Light.

Light protects from dark things overtaking our lives and leading us off the path to a road of destruction (John 12:35).

Light grants opportunity to show oneself strong as a follower of Christ (John 8:12).

Light reveals those who are people of truth, having the fellowship of a right relationship with God and with each other (1 John 1:6-7).

Faithfulness to walk in the Light prevents stumbling and protects us from running away from good things, offended and defensive (1 John 2:10-11).

Beloved, God’s Light reveals the problem He desires to address. The solution for situations such as the one sited in this article is this:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal” ~ John 12:24-25.

The solution is simple ~ unconditional, incorruptible love that dies to oneself in order to meet the need of those loved. True love accepts full blame for sin committed despite the part of the other that spurred bad choices set in hidden places. There is a time to address the contributing factors, but the time of sins revelation is not it. That moment is time for the one caught in sin to own their sin. If one truly loves the person they desire relationship with, they will take up the cross of self-denial and sacrifice their own desires to do what is right, good and true, restoring relationship and meeting the need of those we say we love.

True love is choice. Love is action taken for the good of the one we love, even though it leads to one’s own harm. A husband, seeing the wife’s struggle, realizing her need of security, will dig ditches 12 hours a day to meet her need. A wife, seeing her husband’s frustration, will do her part without stepping too quickly to meet her own need, giving him opportunity to step up and be the man she longs to respect. Both will do their part to meet the need of the other while trusting God to open doors of His storehouse, bringing them closer to their heart’s desire for true security and a well-deserved respect.

Light has a nature. Its nature is revelation of secret or hidden things in dark places that threaten harm to those who come near without light for their path. Its purpose is to provide opportunity to clean the dark corners of life and increase a life producing the fruit of the Light. Therefore, beloved, when hidden things are revealed by the Light working in your life, “Walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.”

God’s Light is restorative, not destructive. When our reactions to a dark corner revealing our humiliation is to lash out, we bring more darkness into play. Darkness destroys; but take courage, beloved. God’s light dispels darkness, pushing it back so it does not overcome us. Trust His Light and walk the path it reveals with faith in Him for the good He desires for us as He delivers us from temptations snare and the sin that too easily entangles us because of roots that are not set deep in the foundation of God, our Rock.

“While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light’” ~ John 12:36a.