Religion has made people impotent instead of empowering them. Love frees! Christ told us to go do greater things than He did, yet most of the people who say they are His followers are pew warming or trying to make everyone cookie cutter copies of what they think righteousness ought to look like. We forget its the heart God looks at not the outward appearance. Religion has made people fearful and afraid they cannot police themselves because they are too evil. Instead of recognizing God has made them righteous through Christ sacrifice. Shalt nots don't make people holy, they are merely like telling a kid "no". Immediately they are looking for a way to do what they have been told not to and get away with it.

Religion also tends to tell people there are no do-overs. I disagree. God told us His mercies are new every morning. We're given countless opportunities any given day to re-think or re-consider our words, actions, thoughts and overall choices. Granted once we've acted on something, its out there with potential repercussions, but there is also that wonderful thing called GRACE that helps us to redeem, restore, repair or repent (change our mind), thus making future actions look far more favorable. Now if we can just work on that every day for every area of our lives, it really will make the journey an adventure not a chore.

This image as well as the background of the blog page remind me that daily we co-labor with God to bring to pass our hopes and dreams and His plan. We are told in Psalm 37 that if we delight ourselves in the Lord and trust in Him, He will give us the desires of our heart. Let me qualify that. I think Proverbs 16:3 in the Amplified Translation says it more clearly: "Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed."

The thing to remember is ultimately all our heartfelt dreams and desires come from God. We may push and pull and try to make God do things our way or think things could happen differently or faster than they do sometimes, but He does see the end from the beginning. If we push, we may get what we want and pay the price for Him to fix it. I have done that; jumped in with both feet in total abandon and dearly paid while He worked it all together for my good.

We think godly things are like going to the mission field. They can be, and if you are called to be a missionary, you won't be happy anywhere else but where you're called. For most of us our mission field maybe in our own neighborhood or even our home. They are not heathen! They just may not know yet they are loved and special in God's eyes. That's what we are are all truly called to do, to be a light where we are, and let ALL people know God loves them as they are; as He made them. If they have any changing to do, that's up to Him to show them and help them with.

God and I have a part to play, a piece of the puzzle, that free will that He gave us to help decide our path. We all have a part to the overall Big Picture, the part of the puzzle that is uniquely ours alone; our fingerprint.

Play your part well today. Love God today, because He always loves you, and love everyone you meet, not just the nice and easy ones. We all have hopes and dreams, and there may be someone's who have been dashed by harsh words. You can restore those dreams by reminding them they are still there. Hope goes a long way. That's what it's about, playing your part and restoring hope in someone else so they can  play theirs. The finished product is sure to be a beautiful picture we all co-created together with God.

A question we need to revisit is this? In ancient times tribes looked out for one another, hence the phrase, "It Takes a Village". This was taken from the story of two African children who were orphaned and in the commotion separated. When the older sister was able to begin searching for her sibling she found he was being cared for in another part of the village, just as she was being cared for in the part of the village where she had been taken.

This is a lovely story but in our transient and sometimes volatile times our neighbors may change overnight and even worse, we may not know or trust them. As children of the Creator, whatever you call Him, it would behoove us to think again. The people who were very present in my life 20 years ago, even 10 years and surprisingly 5 years ago has drastically changed. People I felt vitally attached to, saw often or spent countless hours laughing, talking, in one another's homes has changed. Who is my neighbor?

When I fell on hard times and didn't know where to turn, the people who helped me and took me in were my neighbor. There are many kind, moral people out there. We may not live or believe exactly as they do, but that's okay. They are our neighbor and dare I draw from an old Sly and the Family Stone song, "Everyday People", to stop looking for the things that make us different and look for the things we agree on. All people want the same basic things, those supposed "Inalienable Rights" to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I won't stop your pursuit if you don't stop mine, and who knows someday you may need to know who is your neighbor.....and I'll be here.