Be the change you want to see in the world around you........

12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example,that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant[c] is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. John 13:12-16

One simple sign, one simple message, hung by the employee entrance at work. For many of us, this week with the tragedies of the traffic stop shooting, the sniping of 5 Dallas police officers has left us in shock and in emotional pain.For some of us, we're asking God those usual 'why' questions. Why God, did you allow this to happen....I thought you were supposed to be a 'good' God, but this doesn't feel good because it HURTS. We mistakenly assume that if we do right God does right and we would all be filled with a pollyannish joy, immune to the pain around us.

Be the change..... a simple phrase, I' m sure, that have people scratching their head wondering what the heck it means in a world of blessed assurance and entitlements. Yet, that phrase is a simple reminder of the incredible power that lies inside each of us who accept Jesus Christ into their hearts.

Be the change.......as amazing as it seems, when Jesus enters into our being he goes right to work, cleaning and scrubbing our innards of the pride, jealousies, lustful desires that make us see people as objects.....he rids our lives of the things that get in the way of living life filled with joy and hope.

 He makes us clean so it is easier for us to be the change that impacts the world around us.

Be the change.... means we are no longer to be 'victims' tossed to and fro, like a boat on an open sea on waves that hit like hurricane force winds wondering when those waves would toss us helplessly into the water 

When Jesus takes the helm of our ship, he becomes our captain who helps us navigate through the painful forces of life. It is tragic that lives were lost this week, and equally tragic that lives were forever changed through their own actions of the moment. Yet, Jesus can take the absolute worse tragic ending and give us a  new meaning that forever impacts the lives around us.

The girlfriend who filmed the live encounter of her boyfriend's demise, her very action may open up some serious discussion on the prejudices and racial divide that split this country. It is sad that she had to lose her loved one in the process, but rather than falling into a victim mentality she can search for meaning and get people to seriously debate this issue. 

Her tragedy may very well do more in this countries view of race relations than all the speeches done by Martin Luther King, famed civil rights leader.https://youtu.be/I47Y6VHc3Ms 

For all who have made the decision to accept Jesus into their life, you have the power to effect the world around you. People are crying right now. People are in agony over what is going on in the world they live in. Many of them may have given lip service to God, but never fully acclimating Him into their lives and still many are falling victim into the trap of learned helplessness as though they are cascading down a slide of never ending discouragement  But because of what Jesus did in your life you can come alongside them and share the hope that only Jesus has for their own life. You can lead them in the prayer of salvation, a prayer that will radically change them and give them new meaning in a world with none.

In effect, you can be the change that can forever impact the people you meet in the world around you.

Be the change in a world you want to see in the world around you....a simple, yet profound phrase that is so much needed by mankind today!