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Can I Be Held Responsible for my Irresponsibility? - The Next Step
Posted by Debbie Piper, Associate Minister - Coaching & Equipping on Feb 19, 2009, 08:07
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February 8, 2009
This
is the Next Step- It is designed to allow you to take the celebration worship
experience at CCC and make some additional discoveries for your adventure of
faith.
You
can use this study in a variety of ways, read
it as a devotional, print it out and fill in your answers on the page, keep a
journal and allow the questions to spark additional thought and perhaps
additional study. Perhaps this study will create in your head and heart even
more questions...jot down what you are thinking about...ask your questions,
e-mail them to us at cccreach@aol.com
and thanks for being willing to take this study to the Next Step!
As you read through the beginning of Nehemiah’s story
(check the Table of Contents in your Bible or go to www.biblegateway.com to find it), you
find a man who holds a responsible, trusted position, serving the king.
Kings and queens today often hold symbolic, ceremonial
positions and responsibilities. Kings in Nehemiah’s day held absolute control
over their people and were often served by slaves from the nations they had
conquered. This was Nehemiah’s case.
Nehemiah was a Jewish man serving in the court of a
foreign nation that had taken God’s people captive. When God moved in the heart
of Cyrus (see 2 Chronicles 36:20-23 and Ezra 1:1-10) to allow the Jews to
return to their homeland after their captivity, Nehemiah was one of the Jews
who remained in captivity. Yet, when Nehemiah hears about the state of
Jerusalem and its people, his heart is overwhelmed with the news of their need.
Nehemiah begins to pray and look for opportunities to
become part of the solution for his brothers and sisters in need. He takes his
personal concern and grief to the Lord, humbly seeking God’s intervention.
Although he has no pertinent skill or expertise to
offer, Nehemiah makes himself available to God, willing to be used however God
sees fit. While he waits for God to make the next step clear, Nehemiah devotes
himself to prayer and to serving the master who has the authority to release
him or keep him serving in his current position.
Where is God calling you to make yourself
available to respond to the needs of others?
Throughout the Bible, we see stories of men and women remaining
faithful in their current life circumstances, seeking God in those
circumstances, and being willing and ready to respond when God calls.
We also read stories of people who used their current
circumstances as excuses to avoid God’s call.
Which group do you fit into?
Responsible|Definition
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1.
answerable or
accountable, as for something within one's power, control, or management
(often fol. by to or for): He is responsible to the president for his
decisions.
2.
involving
accountability or responsibility: a responsible position
3.
chargeable with
being the author, cause, or occasion of something (usually fol. by for): Termites
were responsible for the damage.
4.
having a capacity
for moral decisions and therefore accountable; capable of rational thought or
action: The defendant is not responsible for his actions.
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"responsible." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v
1.1). Random House, Inc. 14 Feb. 2009.
<Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/responsible>.
Scripture is clear that both men and women were
created to respond to God’s call and response + able for God’s world. The fact
that God gave us this responsibility means that we are accountable to God for
how we use our response + ability to respond to the needs around us.
How does this definition of responsibility
as “response + ability” change your perspective on what it means to live
responsibly?
Are you pursuing God’s direction in living
response + ably?
Redeeming Response + Ability
Sin has twisted our understanding of responsibility.
We may refuse
to accept responsibility for our lives, and play the victim.
We may twist our understanding of responsibility and try to control things we were never
meant to control, like God or other people.
We may run from
responsibility, shoving it off toward others and burdening them with false
responsibility and guilt.
We may hand over our
responsibility to others, choosing to blame them for our inability to live the
lives God calls us to live.
We may consciously or unconsciously take on more responsibilities than God asks us to take on, over-scheduling
our lives, making us ineffective, and keeping us from being response + able to
God’s voice when He speaks.
Which of these distorted concepts of responsibility tempts
you or describes you?
Response + Able to God
God, as the one to whom we are first and ultimately response
+ able, has the right to determine the area and extent of our response +
ability. When we pursue God and respond to our circumstances by depending on Him,
our responses reveal His life-giving power.
For none of us lives to
himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the
Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong
to the Lord… For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he
might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. You, then, why do you judge
your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand
before God's judgment seat. It is written:
" 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord,
'every knee will bow
before me;
every tongue will confess to God.' "
So then, each of us will
give an account of himself to God.—Romans 14:7-12
What do you need to give up in order to live response + ably
from God’s perspective?
Ultimately, in the midst of the people and needs that
call for our attention, God is the one who deserves first attention, sets our
priorities, and gets the final word. Are you asking Him
to show you where He wants you live response + ably?
This is what the LORD says—your
Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for
you, who directs you in the way
you should go.”—Isaiah 48:17
For whom and for what has God already given
you response + ability? Nehemiah
continued to be response + able where he was until God’s power and timing
opened the door for him to do more. Centuries later, Paul’s words echo Nehemiah’s
mindset and role model for us—
Let the peace of Christ rule
in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be
thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish
one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or
deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father
through him…Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the
Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the
Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.—Colossians 3:15-17, 23, 24
What longing to
make a difference is God placing in your heart as you pursue Him?
What obstacles are you trusting God to
overcome so that you can live your life response + ably?
To view the worship celebration related to this Next
Step, visit http://www.touchandchange.com/artman/publish/article_1593.shtml
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