Responsibility

There's a word that some folks do not know, nor will ever see.
It's a word that's so important:  Responsibility!
It's possible to live and not put it into play,
But you aren't doing yourself a service by keeping it that way.

Too many people can't admit the errors that they've made.
The blame for everything they do, to others is conveyed.
"It's not my fault; it's his, or hers..." they continue to insist
And the act of being responsible, is totally dismissed.

God wants us to be able to admit the things we do...
To be accountable for all those things and then to start anew.
We can't move on until we have reconciled the past
And we can't do that till we admit the errors we've amassed.

And if we keep making excuses for all the things we've done,
We're not following the will of God and His most precious Son.
It really isn't all that hard to own up to it all,
And if you do, you know that you are answering God's call.

We're responsible for all the choices we make every day;
Some distinctly black, or white, but others simply gray.
And if there's some we know were bad, let's just admit it with remorse,
Knowing when we face the truth we stay truer to our course.

I wonder just how long it's been since I have expressed
The miracles and wonders...the joy with which I'm blessed?
Of all the years of all my life, what is happening to be now
Is something that I must relate; put into words somehow.

Yet words are but faint expressions of what inside, I feel.
They cannot describe the awe in me.  My joy, they can't reveal.
One day, as suddenly as life, God placed within my mind
A seed of desire saying, "Leave the old behind."

He gave me understanding so I would know His will.
I believe that this is what He wants, that this, He will fulfill.
He gave me strength that's strong enough to bring this gift about
And reasoned with my mind of flesh, to overcome my doubt.

Impossible!  No!  Not to God!  I  dare now, to believe,
Knowing that a better life is mine now, to achieve.
This miracle is wonderful, more than I ever dreamed,
For from it much great good will flow...lives could be redeemed.

For this, I am so thankful.  More than human words can say!
I have seen the love and power God has chosen to display.
But another thing that is just as great, is what's happening in me.
My heart has lost its hardness and my blind eyes now can see.

Deaf ears hear guidance from my Lord momently, every day.
The fear that had its hold on me has fled.  It's gone away.
My life has been given meaning.  I know now, who I am:
I'm a daughter of my Father and beloved of the Lamb.

God's light has dawned within me, my only will is to obey.
I'm filled with faith and peace and love that grows more everyday.
Two miracles have happened by which I have been blessed:
The one that changed the me that was and great good, God's bequest.

So how do I as human, praise God's Holy Name?
More words don't have the magnitude, His glory to proclaim.
Therefore, they're simply, "Thank You, Lord, for the wonders that You do,
For leading me to where I am and seeing only You."

Each night when I turn out the light and close my eyes to pray,
Frustration builds within me when there just aren't words to say
How truly thankful that I am for all that You have done
In my life and all around me, and the fact You've just begun.

I need to find new, better words to praise and thank You, Lord;
New thoughts and flowery phrases need to be explored.
I want to show You all the things I'm holding in my heart
And hope that they will please You, like a lovely work of art.

You raised me from the asxhes of what my life had been
And put me in a brand, new place where I could start again.
You give me everything I need so I'm able to survive,
But more...You give me faith and trust to not just live, but thrive.

You've placed me where your beauty constantly surrounds me
And given all the things I love to always be around me.
You've taken all the pain and grief that emptied out my soul
And have given me unending joy, which fills the gaping hole.

"Thank You" are such little words and just cannot express
The greatness of my gratitude for Your love and faithfulness;
For the multitude of blessings that You give me every day;
For the knowledge that You're always there to lead me in Your way.

I'm thankful for so many things I can't even count them all
And my only way of telling You is so insignificant...so small.
But all I have is Thank You, Lord, for everything You do.
I love You and I praise You and I live for only You!

Faith is just a matter of believing without doubt;
Of absolutely knowing that God's will, will come about.
It's  sureness in our minds and hearts when we say a prayer...
That certainty within us and around us everywhere.

For nothing is impossible if we can just believe
And keep our minds and hearts on faith of what you will achieve.
The mountain that is in your path may seem to block the way completely,
But with that tiny seed of faith you can cast it in the sea.

Yet you mustn't let a weed of doubt grow among this seed,
Or it will stop the flow of good...that miracle you need.
So constantly you must affirm the wonder that will be
And put all thought of doubt and fear away eternally.

I'm centered, sound and I'm secure
          Within my Source of Good.
I believe with all the faith I have
          All things will be the way they should.

I will make myself a magnet
          And draw the good to me
And I will never doubt, or think
          That it will never be.

My hopes will always be alive
          Within my heart and soul.
I'll nurture them each day I live
          Until I reach my goal.

I believe that all the beauty
          That is in God's setting sun,
Will gently flow into my life
          Until my days are done.

"Peace!  Be Still!"  is all He said to the wind and to the waves
And suddenly there was perfect calm...the elements, He enslaves.
So if He can stop a raging storm so frightening to mankind,
He can also tame the torrests within our hearts and minds.

Why should we attempt to endure our inner raging sea
When He is there to raise His hand and give tranquility?
All it takes is just a moment to close our eyes and pray
For peace and calm within us, and the turmoil will obey.

Praise God for all the wonders He continues to bestow...
His strength when we are weakened and the peace that He makes flow.
It makes me sit and wonder how a person lives
Without taking all the blessing our God so freely gives.

There is something about people
          That I'll never understand:
How we are never satisfies
          With what's already in our hand.

We always seem to think it's greener
          On the other side,
But then, when we cross over
          Find we're still dissatisfied.

No matter what we're given,
          Or how greatly we've been blessed,
That one thing we don't seem to have
          Keeps us on a quest.

Married people wish that they
          Were back where they began;
Single people with that they
          Were sharing life again.

The wealthy know that happiness
          Cannot be sold or bought;
The poor are certain money is
          The happiness they've sought.

We've got to stop and realize
           That God has given to us all,
Everything we need to live...
          The large things and the small.
  
If we'd just count our blessings,
          I'm sure that we would find
The happiness we've searched for
           Is right within our mind.

We take the morning sunrise for granted every day,
Thinking it will be tomorrow, as it was yesterday.
And we take life for granted with that same apathy.
Just because it is today, we think it will always be.

So, as in the days of Noah, we go about our lives,
While the sin and immorality around us grows and thrives.
Maybe we do not approve of what mankind is doing,
But few step forth to show them the evil they're pursuing.

We stay within our comfort zones, not actually perceiving
That by our luke-warm attitudes, it's just death we are achieving.
But, "that's okay!"  "There's lots of time!"  "We can change tomorrow!"
"Time is something we can always beg, or steal, or borrow."

Therefore we sit and watch it...sin abounding without measure,
Indulging in the wickedness of every worldly pleasure.
Do we ever stop to realize that it could be today
When Jesus comes to reap the world and take His bride away?

Just because the promise came a long, long time ago,
Does not mean God's forgotten...that He won't make it so.
Each day more end-time prophesies are becoming evident.
How can we just ignore these things and remain indifferent?

Christ will be  returning!  Of this we may be sure.
We just don't know the year or day or hour it will occur.
But just because we don't know when, does not mean we should rest.
Lives and hearts need changing...sins must be confessed!

Are the pleasures this world offers really worth the awful price,
When Heaven and eternal life are the sacrifice?
When that day comes it will be too late...there will be no place to run.
So while there's time we must make sure we're ready for God's Son.

We can't take life for granted.  We must repent...the end is near!
We've got to have a pure heart when the Savior reappears.
We can't put off 'til tomorrow what we can do today.
Then, when that time does come, we can be carried away.

No matter how secure we are in Father, Son and Spirit,
We're still prey to the "prowling lion", so watch for him and fear it.
Evil's always waiting to devour people who believe
And if our eyes aren't steadily fixed, this goal, he will achieve.

His working are so suble within the minds of man,
Stealing our concentration from God's most perfect plan.
A problem, or a worry, or a ghost from times gone by,
All serve to gain attention and turn our gaze awry.

It's like trying to drive a car, but only looking side to side.
Without watching where we're going, with some obstacle we'll collide.
Or looking in the rear-view mirror and not the road ahead,
We'll end up not where we were heading, but up a tree, instead.

God promised perfect  peace, when upon Him our minds are stayed
And believing in "appearances" is not the message He conveyed.
You'll know when you are seemin them, if something in concerning,
For that's not from oiur Lord and God.  So learn to be discerning.

Anything that takes away the peace of mind we feel,
Is the lion moving in on us with cumming, stealth and zeal.
So quickly turn your mind and heart from things that seem to be
And focus on the Lord, who always sets His people free.

I wonder if God's disappointed in most of us today.
We choose to walk in wickedness, instead of in His way.
He must be disappointed that few of us have sought
To live our lives in righteousness, the way that Jesus taught.

We ignore the many promises that He's so freely given,
Preferring to just "ride along," not caring where we're driven.
God's there for every one of us, if only we would care.
Our troubles and our problems He would so gladly bear.

He's promised He would answer, if only we would ask.
He promised to ease our burdens...lighten ever task.
He said that He would answer every prayer, if we believe
And the pain of living in this world, He would faithfully relieve.

He said to simply call on Him if our cross grew to heavy to bear
And in the mis'ry of our heartaches, He would end the dark despair.
He said, "Knock and it shall open...seek and you shall find,"
But how many of us do not keep these thoughts within our mind.

He promised us eternal life!  What greater love is there
Than what our Lord has offered us?  A joy beyond compare.
With faith that's only just as large as a tiny mstard seed,
We could do all things in Him...accomplish any deed.

Why can't we learn to take God's gifts and use them for His good?
Why can't we gain the faith we need to do the things we could?
We can, if we will put Him first, in mind and soul and heart.
Then all His gifts and promises, to us He will impart.

Almost everyone's a prisoner
          Of something in their mind:
A habit, dream, or memory
          They cannot leave behind.

It's every bit as confining
          As a prison, or a jail,
With walls so high it seems that they're
          Impossible to scale.

A habit we no longer want,
          But we cannot expel
Imprisons us within it
          As though it were a cell.

A long-time ddream that's unfulfilled
          Can also mean oppression,
Binding us to that desire...
          Making it obsession.

A memory can chain us
          To a past that is no more,
Restraining us from opening
          A new and better door.

But we need not be prisoners...
          We can break the chains that bind us
And enjoy the blessed freedom
          Of all the good around us.

I wish that I could write a song
         Of loving adoration
That would echo from the mountaintops
          In joyous celebration

Of praise to our Almighty God
          And the Christ, His Holy Son,
For all He is and ever will be...
          For the wonders He has done.

Words of praise from other's minds,
          Everyday, I hear,
And I wish that mine could sound as sweet
          To my Father's ear.

But in travelling from my heart to hand
          The words become finite.
Not even similar to what my heart would speak
          If to Him, it could recite

Yet is it not the heart of man
          That our Father sees, hears and believes?
The place of truth in His creations
          That He lovingly perceives?

Therefore, I know my praise is known...
          That I am able to impart
All the love and adoration
          That for Hinm, is in my heart!

Every eye shall see Him as our Lord returns to earth
To gather up His people...those made righteous through rebirth.
Every ear shall hear Him...hear His shout of victory!
With the angels and the Trump of God He'll set His people free.

Every mind in Christ shall sing, for they have always known
That Jesus would come back again to gather up His own.
Every heart in Christ shall finally know the meaning of
The magnitude and wonder...the glory of God's love.

Yes, every eye shall see Him, but some will turn away
Refusing to acknowledge Him, having never walked His way.
And every ear shall hear Him, but so many will not heed,
Preferring lives of wickedness in thought and word and deed.

Woe to those whose eyes could see, but close, as if they're blind.
For Jesus will not know them and they'll be left behind.
And woe to those who listen, but do not hear His Word,
For they will surely cry to Him and they're voices won't be heard.

My heart cries out, "Forgive them, Lord, they don't know what they do,
For if they did, they would never turn away from You."
So we must always be prepared, for in the twinkling of an eye
We will all be gathered up to meet Jesus in the sky.

I want so much to be with those Christ takes when He returns.
The glory of that blessed day is the reason my soul burns.
But how could I go with Him?  Why would He take me?
The things I've done, the way I've lived aren't what they ought to be.

I want to live in Spirit with eyes only on His face,
But life, with all its troubles turns my attention to this place.
Mere existence in this world is causing me to sin,
Because I'm weak and do not trust and lack that discipline.

I thought I'd learned to trust Him, no matter what occurred.
I had the power of His strength and the promise of His Word.
I never could have made it through the sadness, pain and strife
Without the living Savior present in my life.

But now, it's like I never knew...as though I'd never seen
The wonder of the presence of the Holy Nazarene.
Is it only in my mind that I am lost and all alone;
That I feel so foresaken by the One whom I have known?

Is He really still beside me where He's always been?
Or has He truly turned away, because of all my sin?
I'm so mixed up and so confused and totally perplexed...
I don't know which way I should turn, or what I should do next.

The one thing that I need the most is to kneel down and pray
For forgiveness of the things I've done...for having gone astray.
But I'm too filled with anguish...with grief and guilt and shame
To kneel down before Him and speak His Holy Name.

Yet isn't that the reason He came to live on earth
To teach us of forgiveness and make us see our worth?
Dear God, my Blessed Savior, forgive me of my sin
And let me feel Your loving face smile on me again.