UNTITLED

I got caught up in watching a movie on Disney Channel this morning "Akeelah and the Bee". It has been on several times lately, and I have seen bits and pieces of it; today I watched the entire movie. It was a good movie about a little girl in a less than fortunate neighborhood who overcame her life situations to make it to the National Spelling Bee.

There were several parts that caught my attention; but one part caught my curiosity and challenged my thinking of God and how we live life. It is a quote by Mariannne Williamson (whom before today I knew nothing about... I don't watch t.v. often, and don't keep up with much outside of my little world - it is busy enough in my little world - lol). Before I show you the quote, let me tell you what I read in one article about Marianne Williamson... it said that she has become well known by those who want to learn more about God without embracing Christianity. Hmmmm... Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life; and no one comes to the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6). So it is impossible to embrace God without embracing His Son, Jesus Christ.

The term "Christianity" has become almost taboo in recent years. It seems that we are known more for what we are against, than what we are for. We are accused of being intollerant, yet we are picked on more than any other religion. There are many Christian organizations out there that are truly serving God/Christ with their lives by giving of themselves to help others. After Hurricane Katrina hit, it was said that without the "Church" more lives would have been lost; people would have suffered for much longer, because it was the Christian Churches who reached out first and the most. Yet what the media waits for is for a "Christian" to fall, and we all do at some level, at some time, because we are human; then they blast us for being hypocritical. Yet every day, Christians are serving God, helping humanity, giving, loving, serving, etc... and it goes unnoticed or underappreciated.

Being a "Christian" or follower of Christ is very simple, yet very misunderstood. The Bible says to "believe with your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you will be saved" Again... notice "Jesus" is Lord. I don't know what Marianne Williams believes, because I just heard of her today; but I do know that it is a very popular idea today that people want to serve "God" without accepting Christ. What they really want to do is to hold onto their lives, say that they are "spiritual" and ultimately hope to go to Heaven; but they don't want to "give" their life to God. Mark 8:35 says "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the gospel will save it."

The only way to get to God is to accept His only son Jesus Christ. When a person loves Jesus, he/she wants to give of themselves to serve God, because of all He has done for us. It is a change of heart, a change in the way we think, the way we view the world and everything in it. People who have not truly come to know God in a personal way... to be loved by God and to love Him back, can not see how or why we think or act the way we do. It does not make sense to them, because it is foreign.

OK... here was the quote:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

There is some truth to this quote, and that is what caught my attention to begin with. Then as I began to study it, I saw it in a different light:

Notice "you are a child of God" "we are all meant to shine, as children do" "We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us" OK...I agree with all that. BUT THEN... "And as we let our own light shine" AHHHH, there it is - let our "OWN" light shine. NO, it is not "OUR" light that we should let shine! We should let the light of "GOD/JESUS" shine through us!!!

It is funny how God does reveal Himself... as I was in the very beginning of looking at/studying this quote this morning; Lauren came and sat down beside me on the couch. (For those who don't know her well, she is definately a "girly" girl. She loves to look pretty) She sat down by me and said "I'm glad God made me the way He did" I smiled at her and said "I'm glad God made you the way He did too" All during this conversation she is putting on lip gloss and trying to put it on me too - lol. She goes on to say how much she loves God and is looking forward to being baptized. I took the conversation a little farther, perhaps too far for a 6 year old to truly understand; but with this quote on my mind, I talked with La about how God did create her as a beautiful girl, and I am glad that He did, but that the most important thing is that she lets people see "GOD" in her, through how she lives her life, and ultimately how she LOVES others. I think she understood it, at least to some degree. But, I think it was God's way of speaking to me about this quote that I was trying to settle in my own mind...

God gives each of us gifts and talents... some he creates with a physical beauty, some have sparkling personalities and can make people laugh and feel good, some are intelligent in some of many ways, some can listen well, some can speak well, some can sing, some can dance, some can write, some can write music, etc. God didn't create us with these gifts/talents for them to remain in the dark, unused, unseen, ... wasted. He created them in us for us to show "HIS" light, "HIS" love, "HIS" salvation to the world. So, it is NOT for our own light to shine, but for the light of God to shine through us. :)

That is my prayer for my children, that they will let "God's" light shine through them as they grow up and discover their purpose in life. I believe God created us to love us and He desires our love in return; but He gives us gifts to serve Him, and when we do, we experience a pure satisfaction that we have glorified our Creator, and we understand that it is not about us at all, but about our God who although He is allpowerful and does not "need" us; chose to create us anyway so that we can enjoy fellowship with Him.

I pray that as people search for God, they will see Him in "Christians". That they will see God in us, not our own selfishness and failures. I pray that we as Christians will use our gifts to serve God and point the way to God through our worship, service, and love of God. And I pray that it will begin in me. That I will begin to not show my selfish side, my being "too busy" to help others, my being judgemental, my pride, my laziness, my "own" strength and self... but will rather let God live through me more and more every day, and that every day I will show someone "HIS" love. Ultimately when God calls me home, I hope I lived for Him, and not for myself.