One of my favorite preachers to listen to on television is David Jeremiah. The other morning he stated "Righteousness is the exception. Evil is the norm." Isn't that sad? One day my sister and I were talking and I told her that I thought that everyone was crazy and that maybe crazy was the norm and we were just exceptional. She thought the fact that I thought we were exceptional was certainly "not normal." LOL! But look at his quote again. "Righteousness is the exception. Evil is the norm." It is terrifying! I don't want evil to be the norm and yet as I look around each day, okay, as I scroll around each day or flip through the television channels, evil is the norm. Have you seen the new ad for some horrible show on MTV and they are bleeping out every other word while these young women are speaking of who they #@$%&* that night or weekend? I want to vomit every time I see it. I want to put them over my knee, spank them with a giant buckled belt, wash their mouths out with soap and then ground them. I am a potty mouth and it offends me! It's not even their talk but what they are talking about that makes my hair stand up. Sex, drugs, violence is all just the "norm." Well it's not. Righteousness should be and instead, it's simply the exception.
I am a potty mouth. I want to be the exception. I try to be the exception and yet, I cuss like a sailor. One day I was texting my family and after I basically preached a sermon I said I wanted to hang lights in my front yard and spell out F___ COVID 19. My mother-in-law immediately chimed in saying "And you were just preaching to us?" Hmmmm. I was. And touche' grandma Cheryl. You won that one. I'm the lady writing about Jesus on a semi regular basis and yet those words just come right out of my mouth, like it's normal? BECAUSE IT IS! And I am ashamed.
I've been studying Ecclesiastes and yuck, for the record. It's hard. Luckily I have a wonderful study guide showing me her interpretations of the verses and without it, I'd be in therapy. Like sucking my thumb in therapy. I'm hoping it works on the Cowboy too because I found a verse today about a leaky roof that I plan on slapping down in front of him when he gets home from work. Even God thinks it's dumb. But I digress... today was quite interesting with regard to my mouth. Ecclesiastes 10:12-13 says "Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, while the lips of a fool consume him; the beginning of his talking is folly and the end of it is wicked madness." So I'm a fool. Super. I knew this. It wasn't new. I just don't love it when God points out my huge faults in such a bold way first thing in the morning. And I'm sick. I need a small break. Too bad says God. And I'm ashamed of myself and my behavior. Ashamed enough to knock it off? Apparently not! And why? BECAUSE IT'S THE NORM! It's accepted. It's funny. IT IS NOT.
Well I want to be the exceptional. Don't you? I need to learn to think before I speak. We all do. And, I need to stop talking like I just got out of prison. I mean, I've done some stupid things in my life but I don't think any were particularly prison worthy. Well, maybe a couple. I'm going to be a grandmother in six months or less for crying out loud and I'm embarrassed to say that I've already done some damage to my nephews and niece. Luckily four of them live far enough away from me that I haven't rubbed off on them. Thank you Jesus! Verse 20 goes on to say "Furthermore, in your bedchamber do not curse a king, and in your sleeping rooms do not curse a rich man, for a bird of the heavens will carry the sound and the winged creature will make the matter known." Do you know what this means? It means, keep your stupid mouth shut because no matter who you think you are telling in confidence, you aren't. They are going to tell your secrets. Courtney Joseph says "Beware. Words you think you are saying in secret could become public knowledge, bring dire consequences. Always measure your words and be wise even when you think what you are saying will be kept private." BE WISE! And that's the crazy part too. Most people are just blurting it out on social media, not private at all because IT IS THE NORM and we all just accept it! Well it's ridiculous.
Now we are told to stay away from people, wear a mask, etc. It's all the new normal. I don't have a problem keeping my distance if I've been sick or am sick. It's just ridiculous that we even have to be told to do that! That should be common sense stuff and yet, we are offended because in this world we live in, we just do whatever the heck we want and do not care about the consequences. Well, here's the thing. Evil may be the norm, but it has consequences. Dire consequences.
I've been reading Imagine Heaven and it's about real near death experiences and what people saw when they died. It's such an amazing book and I'm telling you what, it'll make you think before you speak and certainly before you "do." All of them describe a "life review." They all call it something specific but it's what I believe people are taking about when they say their life flashes before their eyes. And it's not just one or two folks that tell this story, it's all of them. I completely believe it to be true.
In your life review, you are standing in a room with Jesus and the only thing He says to you is "How did you love?" He doesn't give two wraps and hooey about any award you won or how much money you made but what did you do with it? How did you help people with what He gave you? HOW DID YOU LOVE? Then, every single thing you ever did in your life is in front of you in pictures, on the walls, in the air, all around you. ALL OF IT. ALL. OF. IT. Not only is every good, bad, and ugly thing up there, but it shows how it effected others. The ripple effect of what you did or said to help or hurt somebody. It's not bad enough that you were a moron, but your actions hurt others! DEEPLY. AND FOR A LONG TIME. AND YOU HAVE TO WATCH IT ALL OVER AGAIN.
Here's the kicker. While you are standing there, wanting to crawl in a hole and cry, Jesus is loving you. He is loving you so much that you feel no contempt or judgment whatsoever coming from Him. You feel nothing but love. Whoa.
The Bible tells us that we are to strive to be like Jesus. No judgment. No contempt. No sin. Can you imagine? The exception. The exception to the norm. I want to be that person. I want to be the person that makes others feel loved and smart and funny and honored. I want to be the one clapping in the stands and cheering you on to greatness. I want to support your dreams and help you achieve your goals. That's Jesus folks. He wants you to win. We wants you to be the exception.
Let's strive to turn this thing around. I don't know about you but I'm terrified to see my wall. I'm 52 years old and I'm praying that my last 48 years, because yes, I'm going to live to be 100 so I can be on a Smucker's jar on the Today show...I am praying that my last 48 is all such good stuff that it will outweigh the bad in the first certainly 25. I want to stand there and high five Jesus and shout I LOVED SO GOOD! AREN'T YOU SO PROUD OF ME???? That's who I want to be! What about you?
Am I going to screw up? Yes. I'm married to the Cowboy. I will probably say a bad word tonight. Let's be real. But, I'm trying! And I'm growing and I'm far from normal. I want nothing to do with be normal. No thank you to normal. So here's to us! The exceptions!. Let's do this! ACCEPT NOTHING BUT THE BEST! WE ARE HIS EXCEPTIONS! Go be great! Love you all.
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