The Blame Game....DON'T DO IT!

I have had a lot going through my mind the last few weeks! This one just happened to be impressed upon me today as I was reading Malachi.  WARNING: for those who don’t know me all that well….I sometimes am a little blunt J  Really all it is the simplicity (I’m not real deep lol) of common sense mixed with truth and passion ♥  So, read at your own risk J  I have found along the way that you learn SO MUCH MORE when you get it out of your mind that there is only ONE WAY to speak, preach, teach, write, study, learn, etc.  You know that old commercial “I’m gonna wash that gray right out of my hair!”  Well, to the same tune sing, “I’m gonna wash that religiosity right out of my mind!” Sooo, maybe not. Ha. Ok………

Malachi, the last of the Prophets in the Old Testament, was sent to the nation of Israel after they were back in the land after captivity. The people had not learned the lessons they should have from the Babylonian Captivity. They were sent into captivity as punishment for their sins, and now they were doing the same things all over again. Malachi was sent to encourage and comfort them, but to also rebuke the corruption of the priests, the neglect of God's Temple, and the personal sins of the people.

Guess what?

Just like many of God’s people today, they were sitting around the campfire having a pity party. They had the attitude that because things weren’t going “their” way, life hadn’t gone as “they” had planned, and they hadn’t accumulated all “they” felt they were entitled to, that there was absolutely no way God could even care about them, let alone love them.  BUT…the very first thing God says to them is, “I HAVE loved you.” And what is their response…”HOW have You loved us?” (…like God actually HAS to “prove”  or explain Himself).  God asks them, “Where is the honor due Me? It is you, O priests, who show contempt for My name.”  Sarcastically they respond, “How have we shown contempt for Your name?”  The sarcasm continued on and on….and so did their excuse making.

The fact of the matter, in order to justify their sins, ignore the fact that the problem was within their OWN hearts and their OWN disobedience, they did what so many people do. They blamed God.  The Israelites had turned God’s discipline into a lack of His love for them. They lived every day of their life just going through the motions (hence the Babylon mentality). In their eyes His discipline was equal to the “wrath” of God.  In their self-righteousness they cringed at the idea of being rebuked by anyone, even God. They got so caught up in their circumstances and the “poor me” mentality that they drifted out of His presence, out of relationship with Him….and blamed Him for it.

BUT, to those few who have eyes to see outside of the ring of selfishness in order to see the Savior.  To those who will cling to Him in the midst of desperate circumstances. To those who, on the worst day imaginable, will praise His name like never before. To those who will trust in Him and believe Him at His word no matter what. To those who fear the Lord….

“A book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and meditate on His name.”  God remembers those people.  (Mal 3:16)

“They shall be Mine. On the day I make them jewels (special possessions). I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.”  He promises them a share in His grace. (Mal 3:17)

“But to you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healings in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves (expresses great joy).”  Mal 4:2

One day we will all stand before a Holy God, and I know one thing for certain. He won’t hear one of our excuses. We excuse our way out of serving (in church and outside of church…even our spouses). We excuse our way out of giving (giving until it hurts, and for some parting with your money at all). We excuse our way out of being nice (just because you think a hateful attitude will intimidate people… it doesn’t, it just makes people not like you). We make excuses for our sins (there is no justification for sin). We blame others for our circumstances (a bad attempt at an excuse for being lazy and for neglecting personal responsibility).  We say we just “can’t” because of what happened to us in the past (which He tells us to look forward so why are we looking backwards in the first place…give us THIS DAY our DAILY bread….fresh bread, Baby, fresh bread is the goal here! lol).  And what happens is we sit around day in and day out, as Sugarland says….”now it’s poor me, why me, oh me, BORING…the same ole’ worn out blah blah story…” J   When we live in yesterday, when we reject God’s discipline, when we play the blame game, when we sit in our lethargy and dwell on all the bad stuff…...PLEASE don’t actually expect anything to change. There is absolutely NO rationale in that mindset. Contrary to the new age Church of What’s Happenin’ Now…. God is not our personal genie.  When you KNOW GOD….there is no excuse…so don’t blame Him. Not trying to minimize the pain at all, but He gave us a free will, that of which He will NEVER take away from us. That is why some people will go to heaven and some people will go to hell. He will never force anyone to accept Him. He will never force anyone to be in a covenant relationship with Him. He will never force anyone to love Him. He will never force anyone to trust Him, believe Him, or have the faith in His promises.  But because He LOVES EVERYONE….He does extend the invitation to all who will listen….but because of the free will He gave us, unfortunately there are some people who will not accept His invitation.  God gave us our VERY OWN LIFE with our very own Will free of charge…..and it’s ultimately up to US (individually) as to what we do with it.  

Praying we become a body of believer’s who won’t settle for the blame game, who will be unlike the Israelites and refuse to live a life with a Babylon mentality..... that we will be those few who will rise above our circumstances in order to not glorify ourselves, but to glorify our King. I pray we each have a endless well of His joy inside of us that will rise up and overflow into the lives of those around us, letting them taste and see that....He really IS that good ♥

Forever His ♥