Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or – worse – stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

(Matt 6.19-21)

Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the the centre of your life.

Summing it all up, friends. I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious – the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realised. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

(Phil 4.4-9)

Let me start by making one thing quite clear.. I am NOT in any way advocating salvation by works! I believe that saving faith in Jesus Christ as Lord is the only means by which God has ordained that people should come into his family and kingdom. So what do I mean by the acceptance of responsibility?

Well, I was challenged recently by words spoken in a YouTube video by the author and teacher, Beth Moore, who was exhorting us as believers to take responsibility for ourselves. And by this she referred to the daily realities which we face, of choices about how we spend our time, what our priorities are, and whether or not we choose to continually reorientate ourselves towards our heavenly Father. As a beloved daughter of the King of Kings, forgiven and cherished, I can come with shameless boldness into the throne room, a boldness arising out of the security which Christ’s death has won for me. How shameful it would be if I disregarded the sacrifice of Jesus, and hung back as though something more were needed to make me welcome in my Father’s house!

Taking responsibility for myself then means to recognise that I still have a choice every day, and in every situation. Will I melt into a puddle of self-pity, making myself the victim of circumstances? Or will I recognise that as someone made alive in Christ, released from slavery to sin, I have access to the eternal power of God to transform me and to sustain me in every situation? I stand in a direct and intimate relation to this powerful and loving God, and it is to Him alone that I look for aid – not to any friend, spouse, family member or faith leader. What will I choose to do? I pray for courage and faith to stand on my own feet, putting myself over and over again into God’s hands, and affirming my surrender to His will and purposes.

He is my rescuer, and my master and I am called to be his faithful labourer – neither a spectator nor a passive unthinking slave.  As I discipline myself to live intimately with God – through prayer and growing absorption of the truth revealed to us in the bible – then I am responsibly doing what I can do, in order for God to do what only He can! I make it my business to be in the place where I am surrendered to his work, hearing his voice, and allowing nothing to prevent his word from changing my whole being.

Heavenly Father, thank you for reminding me that I am invited by you into a loving relationship, and that as your daughter, I am at home with you always. I pray that your Spirit would work in me to cleanse me from a readiness toward self-pity, towards blaming others and expecting them to fix me!

Help me to recognise that in you, I am offered transforming power, saving love, and eternal hope – and as I learn the daily habits which keep me turning towards and not away from you, this power is at work. Let me be mature in faith, that maturity which recognises how completely dependent I am on you, and chooses to seek and trust you first in every situation.

Thank you for the sufficiency of the saving work of my Lord Jesus, in whose name I pray, Amen.