kellym40 General

Be a light, make the world shine with light

Today I want to share with you a scripture passage that has as much meaning today as in any day. The scripture comes from Matthew 5:14 and reads as follows: “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.”

With all that is going on in the world, with its current state of affairs – and really for the last several years – some of humanity has lost its way it seems. We can all act too quickly to blame others or see fault in people, but cannot see our own shortcomings. Not everyone is like this, but it appears there are people that have this mentality, or thought.

In Matthew Chapter 7, Jesus says, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” I think today’s passage (Matthew Chapter 5) reflects those words, and it is what we should all be asking ourselves. “Can I be a light the world needs?” It is possible that many don’t turn that light on for fear of ridicule or prosecution. Perhaps if we took a step, be bold (like Jesus), and let the light shine for others to see and not be like that town that is hidden, then it might give others the courage and strength to be bold as well and let more light shine upon this world.

It can be difficult I know. I struggle with this myself at times. But it is in God’s word that gives us hope, strength and courage. It is my hope that you can see that and accept His word to be a light unto this world. There are three simple ways to effectively allow God’s light to emanate through us: 1) Be an effective witness; 2) Serve others; 3) Fellowship with Christians.

Here is a simple prayer to ask for help in being that light: “Father, please teach me how to represent Jesus well in the world. Please help me to follow His ways and not my own. Please let me reflect Jesus into this broken and dark world. Amen.”

May we all be encouraged to shed light unto this world, just as Jesus did, so that we may become a united people and close the divide between us.

kellym40 General

Rioting: What’s the point?

The article is about the riots that took place in Baltimore last night and will likely continue. What’s the point?

I understand people are angry, upset, or frustrated, but is that cause enough to burn, loot, and destroy?

It’s like the riots after the verdict in the Michael Brown case or the Eric Garner case. Protesting in such a violent way does not solve anything. All it does is it leaves a city in ruins and causes numerous injuries or unnecessary deaths.

During the St. Louis protests over Michael Brown, I saw one protestor on the news say something to the effect that sometimes you have to get attention and this is the only way to get attention. Seriously?!!

The work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. accomplished a lot in his time and he NEVER used violence. In fact, if peaceful marches or protests began getting violent, King would remove himself from the situation.

There is never a need to burn a business down just because of a disagreement. That person, or persons, should be held accountable, because all that happened was another life hurt by the destruction of his or her business.

The riots in Baltimore have caused not only physical damage but now have postponed baseball, America’s past time, yet again.

Everyone just needs to take a chill pill and chill out. There are many ways instead of violence to let your voices be heard and resolve differences.

That’s my take on the situation. I now return you to your regularly scheduled activities.