I was walking past the mirror the other day and before I even knew what was happening negative, self-deprecating thoughts filled my mind.
Weight loss, weight gain, and two kids later – I’ve got stretch marks out the wazoo, and that’s the truth – at least the way I see it.
But.
But God stopped me in my tracks. As soon as that thought crept In, God got in my business. You see – I was talking bad about His daughter. I was talking about someone that He created.
This is the kind of self-hate that God wants to put a stop to.
This is the kind of self-hate that God will give us the power to put a stop to. Open up your Bible and read God’s written word about you.
Ladies, I’m telling you right now – YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. Look at the Montana mountains, the Florida beaches, the rushing rivers of Colorado – the same God that designed all of that designed you, and He is an amazing artist.
Maybe today tell another woman that she’s beautiful. Maybe today look in the mirror and say those same words to the lady staring back at you – and believe it.
Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. (Psalm 34:5)
Wearied by his long journey, he sat on the edge of Jacob’s well. He sent his disciples into the village to buy food, for it was already afternoon. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink of water.””
John 4:6-8 TPT
Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink of water.” When He asked this of her, He was asking for her devotion, her simple devotion. He told us to drink from his well which meant receiving everything He had to offer. Him drinking from her well meant her giving Him her everything. Her time, her interest, He was asking her to look at Him, to gaze upon Him.Oh that we get to gaze upon the One who is so worthy of our devotion!
Devotion: commitment to; being ardently dedicated and loyal
Ardently: an expression of zealous support
Loyal: faithful to a person whom faithfulness is due
Are we zealously committed and faithful to the one who deserves all of our faithfulness? Jesus is so committed to us, are we committed to Him? I prayed out loud a few months ago, Jesus thank you for your commitment. When I said that I literally began to weep over the gratitude in my heart for his constant commitment to me. Greater levels of gratitude lead to greater depths of intimacy. He’s committed to gazing at us. We always have His attention, but does He always have ours?
In the secret place, are we more concerned with how long we were in there or what took place while we were there? I’m not talking about marking off a check list while we were in the secret place, but did you gaze at Him? Did you commune with Him? This is real kingdom success, to be totally devoted to the one who is totally devoted to me. We must never confuse kingdom success. We often think our kingdom success is measured by how many ministries we start, but in all reality, its measured by how well we gaze at the Father, how committed we are to Him. True success is does the Father know me & do I know Him?
“Here’s the one thing I crave from God, the one thing I seek above all else: I want the privilege of living with him every moment in his house, finding the sweet loveliness of his face, filled with awe, delighting in his glory and grace. I want to live my life so close to him that he takes pleasure in my every prayer.” Psalms 27:4 TPT
Is the ONE thing we crave gazing at His face? To gaze means to look steadily upon. Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe in going into prayer and warring and tearing down darkness but we can’t do that if we don’t first look at the one who gave us the authority to do that.
Are we devoted on the mountain, are we devoted in the valley? Is He our everything when our plans and dreams aren’t happening fast enough? Is He our everything when we’ve been in the wilderness and we’re tired & weary? Do we GAZE when its not convenient to GAZE?Do we gaze when what we’ve prayed for doesn’t happen? Is He worthy of our attention when your season doesn’t totally make sense yet? How devoted are we? How steady is our gaze? Is it wavering based on circumstances or is it steady?
There’s a true satisfaction that comes when we give Him our full, unwavering, simple devotion & gaze. A true satisfaction in the Father, and in you.
She was so satisfied in Him that she ran back to town and told everyone what Jesus had done. She left her sin. One moment with Jesus, and she left her sin. She became one of the greatest evangelists for Jesus. She was looking for affirmation through those men & in a moment was affirmed by Jesus. That was enough for her. Her value was raised by His response. She then valued his affirmation over mans.
Jesus was also filled. In verses 31-34. He says I’ve eaten a meal that you don’t know about! He was saying, I’ve eaten from the devotion of my bride and I’m satisfied! He was pleased with her devotion, her commitment, her zeal. Know the pleasure we give our Father when we’re simply devoted, when we gaze upon Him with no agenda other than to be with Him.
Become excited again by being in His presence. He’s excitedly waiting on you. You’re not wasting His time daughter. You’re not wasting His time son.
This year has brought so much fear and uncertainty to almost everyone.
During this unprecedented year, I have found myself dealing with more anxiety than ever. As an educator, I have watched my colleagues face unbelievable challenges, criticism from every corner, and fears and anxieties that are paralyzing–so paralyzing that it sometimes makes it hard to even focus on prayers and presenting our requests to God.
Philippians 4:6 is one of my favorite verses because it reminds me of so many things when I am anxious about EVERYTHING! Repeating this verse aloud, slowly, can bring my head out of the fog.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. – Philippians 4:6 (NIV)
Read it slowly, and contemplate every phrase.
Come back to “with thanksgiving,” which essentially means to be thankful.
Be thankful…
It’s easy to forget that part of the verse.
Even when things go dark, and your attitude needs a huge adjustment, thank God. In every situation, even the scary, world-is-turning-upside-down-pandemic, we must reach deep inside to remember the things for which we are thankful, big and small.
Thank you for this day.
Thank you for your love.
Thank you for dying on the cross for me.
And when I can’t think of anything else, when my mind won’t slow down, sometimes my only prayer is “Thank you, Jesus!” I meditate on these three little words, and they bring me peace.
Thank you, Jesus!
Thank you, Jesus!
Thank you, Jesus!
When we are thankful and welcome the holy spirit into our hearts, we can face anything!
I’m currently studying the Pslams with a dear friend. First of all this study is hard. Hebrew poetry – enough said. Secondly, the Old Testament Israelites make me mad. Why do they keep making the same mistakes over and over and over?
It’s easy for me to read about the Israelites and be all kinds of judgy-judgy towards them. I quickly say I would never do that or that or that all while coddling and repeating my own little sins.
We are all sinners. The Israelites. Me. You. Every single one of us. We all have something we keep circling back to.
Yet.
Yet God forgives.
Yet God loves.
Yet God still roots for us.
Yet.
I’m so glad that word exists.
“Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.” Psalms 78:38-39
It is a common misconception that the life of a Christian should be easy. I’m not sure where that idea came from since even Jesus didn’t live an easy life. The Holy Spirit actually led Jesus into a place where He would be tempted, 40 days of no food and living in the wilderness. He was faced with temptations from Satan himself. As God’s children, should we expect any less?
Difficult times are not enjoyed. I’m sure Jesus didn’t enjoy those 40 days of battle. I believe He saw the difficult times through the lens of eternal victory rather than temporary trials as He used the Word as His weapon. Because He fixed His eyes on the eternal victory, He was able to not give in to the temptations.
A year ago, I faced a difficult journey. I had 30% of my kidney removed fully believing along with the doctor that the mass being removed was malignant. Over 2 months we lived in the “what ifs”. We were tempted to give up, to be angry, to question, to live in fear, but God…. He faithfully reminded us to not lose heart. He reminded us to keep our eyes focused on eternity. As His children, we could look on the difficult times through the lens of eternal victory rather than the temporary trial. It was quite a journey where the Word was our weapon. Praise God, my difficult journey ended in a miracle. The journey itself, though, left me with a greater trust in God and a greater vision of looking at difficult times through the lens of eternal victory.
Let’s not expect life to be easy. It wasn’t for Jesus. Let us use the Word as our weapon and view difficulties as temporary times of growth leading us to eternal victory! The lens of eternal victory gives great strength, courage, and hope!
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.—Matthew 4:1
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.—2 Corinthians 4:16-18
I’m trying to be more spontaneous. Monday when I got home from work I cleaned my bathroom floors. I know, right! Pretty crazy. Usually I only do that on Saturdays. As you can tell I’m really shaking things up.
The thing is I am such a rigid, routined person I can easily get caught up in my to-do list and miss out on what’s happening right in front of my face.
There’s nothing wrong with having a list – with being routined. There is something wrong when that list totally dictates your life. There’s something wrong when YOUR routine trumps God’s WILL.
Sometimes we need to stop the checking off of the list and just look around us. We need to look beyond ourself and our checklist.
I’m learning that it’s ok to veer off the list sometimes. I’m learning that some things can wait. I’m trying to learn that I can in fact grocery shop on a different day of the week.
I’m learning.
I hope you are, too
“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” Proverbs 19:21
I’m ok with it now, but that hasn’t always been the case. The thing is the more God becomes my center – my focus – the more I realize it doesn’t matter if I’m awkward. After all, He made me this way for a reason. For a purpose.
I said that to say this – don’t let who you think you are hold you back. I spent a long time too scared to post, too scared to speak, basically too scared to be me.
My list of awkwardness is a mile long, and in the past when I would walk into a room that list would play on repeat. Not anymore.
I don’t know what hang-ups are holding you back from doing what God needs you to do – but I’m gonna say this in my best momma voice, “You stop it right now!”
Get to steppin’ girl.
Be brave.
Go for it.
Someone needs you to be you.
God made me awkward, but everything He makes is awesome. I guess that makes me awesomely awkward.
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10
Life is busy. On top of having a two, soon to be three year old, AND a two month old- add 2020 to the mix and BUSY is an understatement.
It seems like there is just not enough hours in the day- can I get an amen?! But in the midst of the hustle and bustle of life, I want to take a moment and reflect on how GOOD God really is.
I don’t want to overlook the fact that I’ve seen God’s hand in every aspect of my life and how He has provided peace in the midst of many a storm. I want to always have a spirit of thankfulness. It’s unsettling for me to think about what life would be without Jesus. I’m so thankful for his unfailing, steadfast love.
My prayer is to every day be more like Him- let those around me see Him through me. I’ve found that by putting God FIRST above all things, He makes a way for even the busiest days to go smoothly. Where are your priorities today? Trust me- I’m preaching to the choir on this one- because life is, like I said BUSY.
It’s easy to get caught up in our to-do lists. I want to encourage you to just take a moment every morning to thank God and worship Him. Every chance we get to do so is a blessing. I pray that everyone has a wonderful week and may God bless you and keep you! Happy day!
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
What a lot of people don’t understand is that you need to keep things simple.
For example, my coach in basketball always starts out with the basics such as dribbling, passing, and shooting. He creates a foundation. With this foundation, he teaches us different positions, plays, and roles that each one of us need to do.
Also, by doing this he sees each of our strengths and weaknesses. He keeps it simple and then builds on it. He understands that to get out a message, you have to keep it simple so everyone understands.
He gets that not everyone starts at the same level and that the best way to coach, is to keep it simple.
This concept applies to most situations in life, especially when it involves beginners, and makes living a whole lot easier.
“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1:6
Don’t you just love how God can flip the script on you – often when you don’t even realize it! This year we have all experienced so much, both collectively and personally. In the midst of all the chaos and even loss, God has shown himself faithful in so many ways.
I couldn’t see it at the time, but the Lord literally began leading me on a journey, step by step, to become healthier and stronger in my body, mind, and spirit.
It all began in November when my husband and I started trying to eat healthy and lose weight. He recently turned 50 , and I was about to turn 50 in March, so we wanted to get it together to stick around for our grandkids. Once the pandemic hit full swing in April, the Lord began waking me up for prayer every morning at 3 am for 30 days. In those wee hours I would pray, worship, read my Bible, and seek the Lord until it was time to get ready for work. I had always been a night owl prior to this, so it was a major change!
After that I kept getting up early, between 5-6 am to pray, worship, and read my Bible. When July came around, the Lord put it on my heart to add exercise to my routine. On July 11th, I started getting up at 5 am to pray, read my Bible, and spend time with the Lord. Then I began to run at the track at 6 am and come back home to get ready for work.
Health is one of those things that we often take for granted or neglect until we face a major crisis. The truth is we can’t do anything for the Lord or fulfill His purpose for us if we fail to take care of our body which is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
I want to challenge and encourage you today to examine your heart and ask the Lord what simple, positive changes you can make to become healthier and stronger in your body, mind, and spirit. I promise you won’t be sorry that you did. He will show you the way – just like He did with me. This has definitely been a life changing experience for me, and I’m so grateful! Will you let Him flip the script for you?
Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit. ~ 3 John 1:2 NLT
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. ~ 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT
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