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Friday, March 16, 2018
Sword
Friday, March 9, 2018
Priceless
What part of you makes you you? (How is that for a sentence?)
Really - What make you - you?
Your accomplishments? Education? Personality? Opinions? Experiences? Abilities?
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (Psalm 139:14)
Just to get the confusion out of the way, the term “fearfully” here, can be defined as “in awe or reverence to God” or “Holy respect”. Let's face it - Humans were created to be pretty amazing, especially babies. Who doesn't feel better when seeing a laughing baby?
Laughing baby video
But your fearfully and wonderfully made is different from my fearfully and wonderfully made.
What if mine seems to be missing parts that some people think are essential? What if yours is unable to do things that others can do?
Are we all still fearfully and wonderfully made?
Absolutely!
God created your INMOST being. That is who you are. Nothing can change that.
You were created in God’s image for a wonderful specific purpose.
My friend, Sarah’s spinal column was not closed when she was born. It has created struggles for her that those born with closed spinal columns do not have to face. Does that define who Sarah is?
Of course not! She is not her surgeries, or wheelchair, or spinabifida. Sarah is 100% fearfully and wonderfully made. She will accomplish all of the important purposes for her life. I am so thankful for her. She and her mother are both wonderful, compassionate encouragers.
It is easy to be distracted by outward appearances.
It is easy to forget that our true value is our inmost being.
I am going to confess something to you. I had a rough couple of days of grief earlier this week. When I looked in the mirror one morning, I did not see the immense value God says that I have. I saw a red nose, puffy eyes, a zillion new wrinkles & lumpy hair. Did you see that ostrich in the video earlier? That is how I felt when I looked in the mirror.
* My friend, I have been studying the great things God says about you for five years. If I can be distracted that quickly, how much more is the vulnerability of a teenager who has never heard that his/her value has nothing to do with appearance or money or even grades.
It is time for us to get the message out!
First to ourselves, then to those around us.
Your value is not dependent on your appearance or performance. Your value comes from the One who created you and says you were fearfully and wonderfully made for a purpose.
Never forget the truth-
*** You are priceless because the One who created you deemed you of greater value than you could ever imagine.
Friday, March 2, 2018
Accepted
Accepted
Recently, I saw a video on the Internet of a cute, little lamb that was being rejected by her mother. The mother accepted her twin brother, but was roughly butting the little female lamb away. At first, I felt quite sad for her. How could any mother reject her baby, sheep or not? I know that very statement is hard for some of you to read due to your own personal pain. I am so, so sorry. But then I heard how this initial rejection was going to actually give the lamb a wonderful life. Because of the lamb's impending hardship, the shepherd decided to take her home to be personally raised by his son.
The lamb and the shepherd video
Of course, this lamb video reminded me of you. Every one of us has faced rejection. Sometimes, it is in little ways. Other times, it is huge. This is part of the human condition. But I have good news.
You are accepted!
Just like the cute, little lamb, the Shepherd saw the impending hardship you would face. He provided a way to make you His own. He accepted you.
Romans 15:7 Accept one another, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
Did you hear that deep in your heart?! Christ accepted you!
Of course, this lamb video reminded me of you. Every one of us has faced rejection. Sometimes, it is in little ways. Other times, it is huge. This is part of the human condition. But I have good news.
You are accepted!
Just like the cute, little lamb, the Shepherd saw the impending hardship you would face. He provided a way to make you His own. He accepted you.
Romans 15:7 Accept one another, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
Did you hear that deep in your heart?! Christ accepted you!
A framed copy of this used to hang in my living room
He only asks you to believe Him. Romans 10:9 says, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Meaning - You are His. You are forgiven. You are accepted.
Even better news - It also says in Romans 8 that NOTHING can separate you from God’s love. That includes you. Even YOU can't do anything that will separate you from God’s love.
So, see? You're stuck with it. You are stuck with God’s love for you.
Ephesians 1:5(NLT) says it gave God pleasure to adopt you into his own family. This is what He wanted to do.
Every one of us desires to be accepted regardless of what we may portray to the rest of the world. From birth to senior citizen, everyone desires some acceptance. We don't have to be accepted by everyone everywhere. But, everyone needs to be accepted by someone. This need seems to be magnified throughout our school years. Imagine how schools would change if children could understand this. Even if people in their very own homes or schools are rejecting these kids, the Creator of the entire universe has chosen them.
Every one of us desires to be accepted regardless of what we may portray to the rest of the world. From birth to senior citizen, everyone desires some acceptance. We don't have to be accepted by everyone everywhere. But, everyone needs to be accepted by someone. This need seems to be magnified throughout our school years. Imagine how schools would change if children could understand this. Even if people in their very own homes or schools are rejecting these kids, the Creator of the entire universe has chosen them.
He has chosen you. You are very important to Him. He accepts you.
Why is this so hard for us to grasp?
Why does the message of rejection ring so loud in our ears that we cannot hear the Truth?
Sometimes the message of guilt is the loudest voice we hear. "If only you knew me.....", "If only you knew what I did"or "if only you knew what I did...... again".
Sometimes it is the voice of another human that has either told us through their words or actions that we just are not good enough.
Other times the voice sounds just like our own thoughts, "That is fine for other people, but not me."
But I have more good news !
If you hear any or all of those voices, they are all lying.
Cover your ears! Redirect your thoughts! They are simply not true.
Ephesians 1:6 (NKJV) says “...He made us accepted in the Beloved.”
Your acceptance is not dependent on you. Woohoo! (At least in my case it deserves a woohoo). Your only part is to believe. You were made acceptable because of "the Beloved", Jesus. It is not because of who you are, what you have been through or what you have done. Nothing can separate you from God's love for you. You are accepted because of Jesus.
So please, my friend, no matter what you are facing today,
Never Forget the Truth - You are Accepted.
Friday, February 23, 2018
You Make the World Delicious!
Dinner and dessert
Well, Friend, if you need an interpreter of teenage vernacular, I may be able to help. Though I cannot speak the language fluently, I live in a house with three teenagers. I understand the words enough to get by.
Lit - an adjective meaning really cool.
High-key - an adverb meaning very or really. Example- I high-key like that dress.
Low-key - an adverb meaning a little bit. Replace with low-key if you just like it a little.
Lit - an adjective meaning really cool.
High-key - an adverb meaning very or really. Example- I high-key like that dress.
Low-key - an adverb meaning a little bit. Replace with low-key if you just like it a little.
If you are told by a teen you are being “salty”, it is not a compliment. It means you are being grouchy or speaking with a bad attitude. If my daughter says, “Mom, why are you being so salty?”, I have either just said “no” or I really am irritated about something and it's coming through in my voice.
Guess what? When God calls you salty, it IS a compliment. You were made to be salty. Salt makes so many things so much better. Of course, that reminds me of you.
Off the top of my head, I think of gargling salt water for a sore throat, de-icing roads and sidewalks in a winter storm and of course, FOOD. Salt makes everything taste better, even things you would never expect like chocolate chip cookies. It seems to be in every recipe. Ok, not all, but most. If it is not included, it changes the entire outcome of your food for the worse.
Meats, vegetables, desserts - potatoes, steak, corn - all better with salt.
But notice, salt is not meant to be alone. No one goes out to dinner and orders a big slab of salt. If you go to a steakhouse, salt is the one thing that brings out the best flavor in everything you might order.
Sometimes salt is meant to be in the background making things better even though you don't realize it is there, like in cookies or cakes. Other times, the world is well aware of the wonderful flavor that salt brings to an item, like bacon or potato chips.
Friend, you make the world better. I know you don't even realize most of the time. But it is true. You are essential to the “recipe” for this particular time. Your life impacts the people around you.
Every personality has a different purpose in making the world better. It is easy to think the only “essential salt” has a big personalities or does a lot of philanthropy work. That it simply not true! I guarantee my oldest son does not think of himself as “essential salt”. He has always been an observer. He would be considered pretty quiet most of the time. He never draws attentions to himself. He is also logical and stable (“even” is a better word - never gets overly emotional). He is also accepting/not judgmental. He is the supervising umpire for our local little league baseball. God made him the perfect kind of “salt” for this job. He not only trains and encourages the younger umpires in their job, but he handles the conflicts of controversial calls as well as angry coaches and parents who think screaming at a little league rec ball game is appropriate. It would not be an easy job for most people. He absolutely loves it. Whether he realizes it or not, he is “essential salt” to our family, our local little league, our community and the many other people he encounters regularly.
(It's hard to believe my son doesn't want me take his picture in an umpire's mask )
My friend, you are also that very essential salt of the earth. You were created to make everything around you better. The bible verse I'm pulling this from goes on to talk about salt that loses its saltiness being useless. (Matthew 5:13) . We are not going there, because that is not you. If you are tempted to just become useless & selfish …. Don't! That is all I am saying to you about that. It is just not an option. You are too important to the rest of us. We need you to make our recipe better.
Someone you may know or even someone you do not know yet, needs you today.
A smile or friendly greeting at the grocery store
A positive post on Facebook
A text to a friend who has been on your mind.
In big ways, like bacon, or in little ways, like cookies, you are the salt that is essential to making the lives of those around you better.
Never Forget the Truth: You are the salt of the earth. Your very being makes the world better.
Friday, February 16, 2018
Now is the time! I've been waiting to tell you this.
I love this picture of my husband and daughter many years ago. She would toddle over to him and raise her arms. He would lift her up making some kind of rocket noise while she giggled in delight. This picture of the love between them made me think of you.
❤️❤️❤️
Oh my friend - I have been thinking about you and praying for you. Last weekend, I thought I knew exactly what we were going to talk about today, one of my favorite subjects, FOOD. I went to bed Sunday night thinking about which pictures I would use for the post. I even made giant chocolate chip cookies for my family in anticipation of my writing this week. (Those are not my cookies below)
However, at 2 am I woke up knowing there was something much more important we needed to discuss. I knew I would broach the subject with you sometime. But, it is a Truth that seems impossible to grasp. Even the Apostle Paul says what I am about to tell you is "too great to understand fully" (Ephesians 3:19b).
This is it:
You are dearly loved - deeply, unconditionally - on your best day and on your very worst day. It does not matter what you have done or what you have been through, I am positive you are loved by the One who created the entire universe. Nothing can change that.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
Can you imagine how our society would transform if people could truly understand this? God loves you so deeply, He chose death for His own son, so you could be with Him eternally.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 1 John 4:9
So why don't we get it? Why don't we understand it? Accept it? Why do we struggle to "toddle" up to our Heavenly Father (just like the picture above) and trust the Truth of His love?
Here are 5 things that came to mind.
Distractions - They are everywhere all the time unless we intentionally block them off.
But NOTHING can separate you from the love of God.
Disappointment - When circumstances disappoint us, sometimes over and over again year after year, it becomes easy to believe the lie that God does not care.
But NOTHING can separate you from the love of God.
Devastation - You are not alone if you ask God questions when terrible things happen. There have been so many frustrations and fears expressed this week. I am writing at 5 am 2/16/18. Our country has seen pure evil the last 6 days with the death of two Westerville, Ohio police officers & a terrible school shooting in south Florida.
But NOTHING can separate you from the love of God.
Disobedience - We know our own hearts and the things we have done. It can be things we think and sometimes say. There are times the things in our past seem to big to be forgiven. Addictions and negative patterns can make us believe God could not possibly still love us.
But NOTHING can separate you from the love of God.
Distrust - Sometimes the hurt in our own lives makes it hard for us to trust anyone including God.
Oh friend - I want you to grasp this, to understand it deep in your heart. I will continue to pray that you get it - that I get it.
God delights in you. He adores you. He understands you. He is not mad or disappointed in you.
He loves you so much more than you know.
So please
Don't forget the truth - You are dearly loved.
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Change the World for the Better
I love the opening ceremonies and extra long parade of countries.
I find myself cheering on the countries that have only one or two athletes and the ones that have bright costumes and elaborate headgear.
I check out the tv schedule early to find out when to watch the events that have less fans - archery, shooting, badminton & etc. In the Winter Olympics, I have become a fan of the sweepers in the curling event.
Excellent display of curling
Excellent display of curling
No matter the sport, the Olympics celebrate unique human abilities, hard work and perseverance.
So of course - that reminds me of you 💕
What if there was an Olympic medal for compassion? Or kindness?
How about a medal for being a supportive friend, a great listener or a generous giver?
Some of you are the first to respond when someone you know is in crisis.
Other are excellent at being positive when life seems bleak.
Our gifts and talents may not be the luge or figure skating. However, "if your gift is serving, serve them well. If your gift is teaching, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously.........."(Rom 12:7-8a NLT).
Though we all have "gifts" in different areas, it takes practice and perseverance to bring out the full potential of that gift. In the same way, a natural athlete is not an Olympian without personal practice and perseverance.
It is our tough times that get us ready to shine. It is our mistakes that make us better at the things in life that really matter. It is practicing that makes our "gift" become our greatest talent.
That's my mom. She has the 'talents' of compassion, kindness, joy, generosity and selflessness. I have watched her persevere through the hardest of life's circumstances. I have watched her generously reach out to others for decades. In the midst of her worst nightmare, she took the leftover flowers from my sister's funeral and made them into arrangements for the different people she regularly visits in nursing homes and Alzheimer's facilities. No one knew she did this except my brother and nephew who drove her around to deliver them.
Now that deserves a gold medal in human kindness.
Even in times of trouble we have a joyful confidence, knowing that our pressures will develop in us patient endurance. And patient endurance will refine our character, and proven character leads us back to hope. (Romans 5:3-4 TPT)
Each of us is unique. Each has been through circumstances that equip us for excellence- maybe not Olympic excellence but human excellence. Our darkest days, our biggest challenges can be the training ground for our greatest characteristics.
As you watch the Olympics this year, I encourage you to embrace your "gifts" and recognize how important they are to the people near you.
Never forget the Truth - You are uniquely made to impact the world for the better
Thursday, February 1, 2018
Masterpiece
Welcome, Friend💕. I'm so happy you are here. Check out this outdoor cooking contraption I saw on TV. It made me think of you. Not because you are a grill master or you once had dreams to be a space shuttle astronaut, but because of the comment of the show's host. This grill is not only shaped like a space shuttle on the outside, but the inside has a large cooking chamber and flame throwers off of the back. But as soon as it was revealed there were also beer taps on it, the grill was dubbed a masterpiece. I laughed as I thought of how many men I know that would love this in their backyards.
So why does this remind me of you? Because you, too, are a masterpiece. One of much greater value than the ultimate grill or meat smoker.
Like the grill, you were created for a unique purpose. Also, like the grill, not everyone will appreciate your value.
When I hear the world "masterpiece", I picture a painting by Monet or the Taj Mahal.
Apparently, when others think of a masterpiece....... they think of a grill.
What is a masterpiece? " A work of outstanding artistry, skill or workmanship." (dictionary.com)
That is you!!!! You are an outstanding work of the Creator.
Even if right now, in your head, you are listing things you would like to change about yourself, it does not alter the Truth. God says its you..... You are His Masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10 NLT).
Who is a better artist than the Creator of the universe?
What beautiful colors!
My friend, your beauty is even greater than the sunrise. Your purposes are even more important than the grill.
I pray this week that your 'self talk' will remind you that you are a masterpiece. It is much easier for us to think this about an adorable child, a beautiful sunrise or other people than it is about ourselves. But, it's you 💕💕💕💕
Never forget the Truth: You are God's Masterpiece
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