Winning the Race

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Happy and blessed Monday!

No one has probably noticed but there has been a whole lot of competition going on lately!  The Winter Olympics, with all of its triumphs and heartbreak and then there was some sort of football game last night too.  All the athletes have trained for years and some, their entire lives to get to this point.  All in hopes of the big win.

Have you ever considered that we are in a competition that we have been training for too?  It’s a marathon that we are running and the win is HUGE!

From the time we walk, talk and begin to learn, we are training.  Our early trainers are our parents.  They, hopefully, teach us the basics.  They also, hopefully, begin our training as we begin to know Jesus.  When we know Jesus, we know the prize is an eternity with Him.

As we mature, we are influenced by so many things, some good and many really bad. Peer pressure is rampant and young people can be cruel.  That’s why, as part of our training, a good church, youth group and supportive parents, ministers and peers are important.

When we become adults, so many things in our lives are set.  This is an important time because we not only continue our training, we also influence others and can act as their coaches as they train too!  It’s important that we understand how crucial our marathon is.  It’s not just our race, it’s the urgent call to help others run their race, be an influencer!  It’s knowing, without a doubt, that we are ready to meet Jesus and prepare others to do the same.  A tiny seed can grow into a mighty tree!

No one, ever, promised us the race would be easy.  There will be hard work and heartbreak.  Sometimes, exhaustion sets in.  The key is to never take our eyes off the prize!  Visualize crossing the finish line and being greeted with “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:23)

Every single day brings us closer to eternity.  Are we running the race as trained athletes, ready for the prize?  Are we a living example of who Jesus wants us to be?  We may be the only Bible someone ever reads.  Lastly, are we consistent in our faith or does it come to a standstill once we go home and close the door?  I don’t want to disappoint my eternal Father!

My prayer is that you train fully and look towards the prize. We may never be “worthy” but we can be winners of the race for all eternity!

Pray Unceasingly!!

Lois!

Day 5 – Jump Start Your Confidence in Christ

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Today is the last of the 5 Days to Jumpstart Your Confidence in Christ and I want to close by teaching you one of the skills that will help you so very much on this journey you’re on.

I’m talking about the skill of taking your thoughts captive and making them obedient to Christ.

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 10:5

I’ve worked with thousands of women trying to lose weight and one of the most common struggles we talk about is the simple act of stepping on the scale.

The scale itself is not judgmental. It’s a bunch of neutral pieces and parts, without opinions or judgments, that does its job by telling us how much something weighs. That’s it.

But the women I work with don’t see an arbitrary number (and I sure didn’t used to either!). They feel embarrassed. Humiliated. Shamed. Vulnerable. Like that scale is pointing an accusing finger at them and calling them:

  • fat.
  • A failure.
  • Unattractive.
  • Unlovable.

And, once again, your feelings are always valid…but is it true?

I know how those thoughts can come out of nowhere, blindside you, and ruin your day, BUT you are not a victim of your thoughts. They do not have to tear down your confidence.

Just because you think it doesn’t make it true.

In an ever-changing culture where every “truth” seems to be relative these days, God’s Word is our source of ultimate, unchanging, grounding Truth.

Whether it’s stepping on the scale or starting a new career, if your thoughts about yourself do not line up with God’s Word, take that thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.

When you hear yourself think, “You failed again…you’re such a loser.”

Don’t just blindly accept that to be true. But it’s also not very effective to tell yourself not to think that (like telling yourself not to push the red button…it’s all you can think about!).

What works far better is recognizing the lie and replacing it with God’s Truth.

You may say something like, “God, I feel like a loser right now because I messed up yet again, but Your Word says that Your grace is sufficient for me and your power is made perfect in my weakness. I am not a loser. I am redeemed.”

Even when that “I’m such a loser” thought feels like your automatic response, you always have a choice to redirect your thoughts back to God.

And, my friend, that is how you grow in joy and confidence in Christ.

  1. You believe that what God says about you is true.
  2. You separate your roles and actions from your identity.
  3. You own your mistakes and weaknesses.
  4. You trust Jesus to fill in your gaps.
  5. And you stay alert and watchful of your thoughts, taking them captive and making them obedient to Christ.

If you have the Prayer Journal Bundle, go through the Take My Thoughts Captive worksheet. If not, use a journal to write down any thoughts you need to take captive and use God’s Word to make them obedient to Christ.

This isn’t an overnight fix. It takes time to retrain your thoughts but, thankfully, both the Bible and neuroscience agree that it’s fully possible with time, intentionality, and repetition.

If you go through the exercises and don’t feel any different, don’t give up. Keep working to align your thoughts with God’s Word.

Cling to the hope you have in Jesus, knowing you are enough because He is enough.

Thanks so much for joining me for these 5 days of jump starting your confidence in Christ.

You’ll hear from me again soon with more Bible verses and encouragement to continue to grow in joy and confidence in Christ.

Blessings,

Becky

Day 4 – Jump Start Your Confidence in Christ

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I get so excited about sharing the second half of the activity we started yesterday (confessing your sins/mistakes) because I’ve found this is where so many people get hung up.

Most of us (especially those of us struggling with our confidence) can easily rattle off a long list of ways we fall short. Focusing on your mistakes alone will just destroy your confidence even more.

So….then what?

The second step of confessing is asking for AND accepting God’s forgiveness.

When we are minimizing, justifying, stuffing, and blaming someone else for our poor choices, it doesn’t take away the consequences of our actions. It exacerbates them. The people we hurt are still hurting, we are still relying on our actions to earn our worth, and we aren’t growing or healing ourselves either.

And, often, we end up carrying more and more shame that isn’t our burden to bear.

I know it can feel like we’re helping the situation or helping ease the other person’s pain by continuing to beat ourselves up, but that’s where the world has it wrong.

Shame keeps us stuck with our eyes focused on ourselves while Christ-like love keeps our eyes focused outward (on God and people around us) and gives us a desire to do better.

It’s common to hear “you are bigger than your mistakes” in today’s self-empowering world, but I’d like to edit that phrase to say “God’s grace is bigger than your mistakes”.

Instead of getting stuck beating yourself up over your mistakes, own them fully (like we talked about yesterday) then ask for God’s forgiveness.

“God, I’m so sorry for snapping at my husband yesterday. Please forgive me for my impatience and help me to show him patience like You’ve always shown me in Your perfect love.”

Lifting up your sin to the Lord is not evading responsibility. It’s recognizing your limits and trusting that God will bring beauty from your ashes.

The other part of this that is so often missed is accepting God’s forgiveness and walking forward in freedom.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

Do you believe this is true?

And do you believe it’s true for you?

Then you can hold your head high, confidently knowing you are imperfect and also knowing you have a Savior you can rely on to fill all of your gaps.

It really is that simple but I also know how difficult it is to change the way you think when you’re used to defaulting to tearing yourself down to earn worthiness.

Accepting forgiveness feels too easy, like we’re not working hard enough to earn it…which is exactly the point and that goes right back to your identity in Christ.

You did nothing to earn it. You don’t have to work to keep it. It was a free gift given to you. What a beautiful Truth to rest in.

Today, spend a few minutes journaling about where you have gotten stuck in the past in the process of accepting God’s forgiveness and walking forward in freedom.

Tomorrow, I have another tool that will help you do just that.

Talk to you then,

Becky

Day 3 – Jump Start Your Confidence in Christ

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Being an imperfect person is really hard.

It’s really difficult to accept that, even with the best intentions and all of the effort we can muster, we still hurt people. We still make mistakes. We still cause damage. We still have areas of weakness where we just aren’t very good at something.

And, if we let the enemy tell us that’s the end of our story, we’re left feeling discouraged, defeated, and hopeless and it prevents us from living in the freedom that Christ died for.

The wonderful news of Jesus is that your mistakes and weaknesses don’t define who you are.

It is true that you fall short. You sin. You hurt people. You’re not great at everything. AND it’s also true that your mistakes can never be bigger than Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for you. You can never out-sin His grace.

He died on the cross to take away our sins, but often, we won’t let go of them so we never actually feel the relief of that weight being lifted off of our shoulders.

So, the question is – how do you live in that freedom?

First, own the fullness of your mistakes and weaknesses & do what you can to fix them.

This is hard.

It takes a lot of strength to acknowledge and confess our shortcomings.

It’s uncomfortable and a lot of us are in the habit of knowing our mistakes happened but trying to:

  • minimize them
  • justify them
  • defend them
  • stuff them
  • or point a finger of blame at someone or something else that made you do it.

And low self-esteem makes it much harder to accept responsibility for our mistakes or acknowledge when we aren’t good at something.

If we already felt like we weren’t good enough to begin with, then adding a mistake or weakness on top of that can feel like too much to bear.

The shame of that mistake labeling who we are is overwhelming.

But when you truly believe your core identity in Christ, shame loses its power.

Admitting our mistakes and repairing what we can brings light into the darkness.

This applies to little things (like accidentally bumping into someone’s arm at the grocery store or not being able to do a push-up) just as much as it applies to big things (like being unfaithful to a spouse or struggling to tell the truth).

It is only when we can admit the fullness of our mistakes and weaknesses that we can experience the fullness of God’s grace.

Don’t miss the beauty of confession.

When you are in the habit of immediately taking full responsibility for your mistakes and readily owning your weaknesses, you:

  • build your confidence in Christ
  • deepen your relationship with God
  • strengthen your relationships with the people around you
  • give yourself permission to be human

Trust that it’s okay to fully admit and own your mistakes because God’s power is perfected in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9) and they don’t define who you are.

Being able to acknowledge your mistakes, do what you can to repair them, and lift the rest up to Christ on a daily basis is such an important practice for growing in confidence in Christ – that’s why I included the “Confession” section on the daily prayer journal sheet in the Prayer Journal Bundle.

Use that prayer journal sheet today, making sure to fill in the confession section.

I like to use the words, “I am so sorry for _____ (losing my temper with my son, snapping at my husband, overeating again, not trusting You in my finances, etc).”

If you don’t have the Prayer Journal Bundle, just use your own journal or sheet of paper to write down your confessions. But this is only the first part of the activity!

Tomorrow, I’ll explain the second part that is necessary for us to be able to experience living in the freedom Christ offers us.

Talk again tomorrow!

Becky

Day 2 – Jump Start Your Confidence in Christ

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Becky at So Very Blessed <becky@soveryblessed.com

Today, we are going to talk about separating who you are from the things you do.

In our culture, we are quick to take on the label of our actions as our identity.

  • You tend to leave a trail of crumbs around your plate after every meal? You’re a messy eater!
  • You like to paint? You’re a painter!
  • Lost a couple of soccer games in a row? You’re a loser.

Not all of those labels are bad by any means but it becomes problematic when we take them on as our core identity.

Your core identity is what we talked about yesterday – the things the Bible says to be true of you as a child of God.

Your core identity cannot be changed. It is true about you in every season of life, in every relationship, and in every situation. It’s what determines your worth. It is who you are and you can’t change it (which is wonderful news!).

Your career, hobbies, roles, quirks, personality traits, and patterns are your roles, activities, and behaviors…NOT who you are.

They can absolutely describe important parts of you but they can also change throughout your life based on decisions you make or transitions in your life.

I’ve been a sign language interpreter and an entrepreneur. I’ve been single and I’ve been married. I’ve been childless, pregnant, and a mom. I’ve failed in my weight loss 100 times and I’ve also succeeded in losing 100 pounds.

All of those things were true at one point in my life and, through all of those seasons of my roles and behaviors shifting and changing, my core identity stayed the same.

Your roles and behaviors don’t define you as a person, whether they are good or bad. They just recognize certain parts of things you do, interests you have, patterns of behavior, etc.

They are not the whole of who you are.

When we struggle with self-esteem, it’s because we are letting our roles and behaviors become more important in defining who we are than our core identity – who you are in Christ.

Today, I want you to think about the roles and behaviors you have that cause you to feel most insecure.

  • Maybe you are insecure about words you’ve said to your kids that make you feel like a terrible mom.
  • Perhaps you’ve made mistakes at work and feel like an inadequate employee.
  • It could be that you’ve regained weight you’ve lost and you feel like a complete failure.

I want you to write those things down in your journal or on the “My Unshakable Identity” journaling page in your Printable Prayer Journal Bundle.

Don’t worry, that’s not the end yet!

Today is about being aware of the things we’ve allowed to define who we are but the good stuff, the next step in building your confidence in Christ, is coming tomorrow!

Tomorrow, we are going to talk about the actual steps of how to believe your core identity in Christ above all, especially when you make mistakes.

Until then,

Becky

4 Steps to Defeating Your Giants – Pastor Rick Warren

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Happy and blessed Monday!

I pray your week is starting out with joy and the full confidence of the Lord!

Have you done a faith check this week?  I’m not talking about your literal faith in God.  I’m talking about the daily walk and knowing He is with you every step of the way.  On a good day, there is no problem, but what about a day when everything that can go wrong, does?  When the giants seem to triple in size and seem insurmountable.  When no matter how hard you try, there is always someone waiting to tell you it’s wrong.  What about then?

It’s on these days that I sometimes forget that I can’t do it alone and try to anyway.  That’s instant defeat.  When I just put my faith in God and call on Jesus that I receive peace.  Do I always get the results that I hoped for?  Well, no.  Can I handle it when I don’t?  Yes.

Face the giants with the full armor of God and just see what happens.

6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.  Hebrews 11:6 NIV

Pray Unceasingly!!

Lois

 

4 Steps to Defeating Your Giants

Pastor Rick Warren

God wants you to be a person of great faith with a great dream and a great life work. But first, you need to defeat the giants in life that hold you back.

How do you begin? You start by doing the four things David did to defeat the giants of delay, discouragement, disapproval, and doubt in his life. If you want to be a person of great faith—with a great dream and a great life work—do these four things too:

Remember how God helped you in the past. When you remember the ways that God has helped you in the past, you have confidence for the future.

Use the tools God has given you in the present. Don’t wait for something you don’t have—money, education, or connections. Use the tools God has already given you to face your giants with confidence.

Ignore the dream busters. Encouraging yourself in the Lord does not mean just having a positive mental attitude. It means cultivating a bedrock trust in God’s grace, provision, security, and power.

Expect God to help you for his glory. God will use anyone who trusts in Him and expects to be used by Him—not because of who you are but because of who He is.

{Day 1} Jump Start Your Confidence In Christ – Becky at So Very Blessed

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Becky at So Very Blessed <becky@soveryblessed.com>
Sun 2/6/2022 9:22 AM

 

Who you believe you are affects everything in your life.

It affects how you see yourself, how you see others, the thoughts you think, the words you say, the decisions you make, and the actions you take.

It affects who you marry, how you eat, how you work, how you parent, and how you interact with the checker at the grocery store.

So, who do you believe you are today?

Throughout the course of the Bible, God paints a pretty beautiful picture of who He created you to be.

  • God says you are a masterpiece. (Ephesians 2:10)
  • You were fearfully and wonderfully made on purpose and for a purpose. (Psalm 139:14)
  • He says He delights in you. (Zephaniah 3:17)
  • You are worthy. Valuable. Bought at a price. (1 Corinthians 6:20)
  • You are a light in a dark world. (Matthew 5:14)

As you read through those things, do you believe they are true about you?

Or do you believe you are the exception to the rule? (I unconsciously believed this for a very long time.)

It’s so much easier to believe things like – You’re fat. You’ll never be able to do that. You’re too much to handle. You’re destined to fail – than to believe you are beloved just for being you.

Why is that?

Because the enemy is very sneaky. He takes snippets of the truth and twists them to make you feel shameful, condemned, and broken beyond repair.

My friend, those feelings are valid but they aren’t true.

If the enemy can convince you to live small – to stifle your gifts, to stay quiet when you have great things to say, to live safely inside of your comfort zone without stretching and growing – then he is going to prevent a lot of God’s goodness from being spread to the world through you.

Today, I want you to write down a list of 5 things God says about who you are with the Bible verse to back it up (for example – “God says I am worthy. – 1 Corinthians 6:20”).

You’re welcome to use the examples I wrote above or any others from Bible verses you know. I also included a list of over 35 different “I am” statements about your identity in Christ included in the Printable Prayer Journal Bundle.

Believing your identity in Christ is true is so important that I include it in my daily prayer time with God (which is why that section is built into my daily prayer sheets and why I included the “I am” statements in the bundle).

Remind yourself who you really are and remind yourself often.

Tomorrow, we’ll talk about another way to strengthen your identity in Christ when the world tries to define you differently.

Blessings,

Becky

Grab your Printable Prayer Journal Bundle here

27 Bible Verses On Identity – So Very Blessed

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Happy and blessed Monday!

By now, you may be familiar with Becky, So Blessed amazing journey.  She is one of my favorites.

Unfortunately, because of space, I had to edit out her commentary on each scripture and they were beautiful.  If you are interested, I encourage you to got to https://soveryblessed.com/bible-verses-identity/ for the complete text.

SO many of us who have struggled with our weight, have also struggled with self esteem issues.  This is also the case, too often, even without weight struggles. Becky addresses this with honesty and openness.

May you be blessed too.

Pray Unceasingly!!

Lois

Becky, So Very Blessed

I don’t know about you, but I often let all kinds of things tell me who I am.

I let a rejection from a job application tell me I’m not good enough.

I let the number on the bathroom scale tell me I’m not worthy of being loved.

I let a mistake or a rude comment from a stranger tell me I’m a failure.

I unintentionally let all kinds of random things in life define who I am…

But do those things line up with what God has to say about you?

It’s a choice to root your identity in Christ alone and that is my deepest desire for you – to know Jesus and to know who you are in Him.

27 Bible Verses On Identity

If you’re struggling with low self-confidence, read these Bible Verses on identity to be reminded of the Truth of who God says you are.

This topic is so near and dear to my heart because I struggled for so many years to know who I was and, because of that, I was relying on other people to define my worth.

Unfortunately, that led me to have terribly low self-esteem. I ran to food for comfort and ended up 100 pounds overweight, which then led to bullying, which destroyed my self-confidence even more.

Even after I accepted Jesus as my savior when I was 15, I measured my worth by the opinions of the people around me. I tried my hardest to fit in and please people the best I could.

Then I ended up in an emotionally abusive marriage for 6 years, which left me feeling like an empty shell of a person. It felt like I’d hit rock bottom and I had nothing left, which is a beautiful place for God to bring beauty from our ashes.

So, I started from scratch, building my identity on a new foundation – Christ. Instead of only relying on others to define me, I started digging into God’s Word, desperate to believe that what He had to say about me was true, even when I didn’t feel like it.

And, slowly, I grew stronger. More confident. More worthy.

I felt less frantic, more peaceful, and more steady.

My foundation was strong and my identity was built on Christ alone. Not my works. Not my efforts. Not anyone else’s opinion of me. Just Jesus.

That is my hope for you, as well.

  1. You are a child of God. (1 John 3:2)

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

  1. You are a co-worker of God (1 Corinthians 3:8-9)

The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

  1. You are a light (Matthew 5:14-16)

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

  1. You are a masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10)

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

  1. You are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

  1. A temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.

  1. You are blameless (Colossians 1:22-23)

But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

  1. You are blessed (Ephesians 1:3)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

  1. You are bold (2 Corinthians 3:12)

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.

  1. You are chosen (Colossians 3:12)

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

  1. You are delighted in (Zephaniah 3:17)

“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.  He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

  1. You are enough (Colossians 2:10)

…and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.

  1. You are forgiven (Acts 13:38-39)

“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.”

  1. You are free (Galatians 5:1)

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

  1. You are gifted (1 Peter 4:10)

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

  1. You are holy (Ephesians 1:4-5)

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will

  1. You are justified (Romans 5:1)

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

  1. You are loved (Romans 8:38-39)

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.

  1. You are made great by God (Psalm 18:35)

You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great.

  1. You are never alone (Deuteronomy 31:8)

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

  1. You are pleasing (2 Corinthians 2:15)

For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

  1. You are redeemed (Colossians 1:14)

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

  1. You are righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21)

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

  1. You are saved (Ephesians 2:4-6)

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus

 You are set apart (1 Peter 2:9)

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

  1. You are valuable (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.

  1. Wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well.

Compassion

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Happy and blessed Monday!

Our pastor reminds us often that we need to communicate with people.  Just ask how they are and it can open a conversation of what really might be going on in their life   There is so much hurt around us and so many who have no one to listen.

So many just need a listening ear and a compassionate heart.  To be compassionate, we must feel the suffering of others.  That is a blessing and also, very difficult.  It’s pretty easy to say you will pray for them and walk away.  If compassion is actually feeling someone else’s suffering though, can you really just walk away though?  Maybe God put you in that place, at that particular moment, to be His hands and show His heart. 

Matthew 22:39 tells us that the second greatest commandment is to love others as ourselves. That’s a powerful statement.  How can we show compassion for others this week?

Pray Unceasingly!! 

Lois

Lysa TerKeurst 

 What if moments of compassion are actually epic moments of battle?

Colossians 3:12 reminds us, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

I can’t help but notice that compassion is listed first. It’s from a heart of compassion that kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience naturally flow. These are the qualities I want flowing from my heart. I imagine you want them flowing from yours, as well. That’s why we must ask ourselves…

When people see us, do they see the compassion of their Creator?

People are walking around with way more hurts than we can ever imagine. And they need to know God’s compassion is alive and well and winning the epic battle in good versus evil. People need to know redemption is more than just a word.

May the unending compassion He has shown to us flow back through us. 

What does it mean for a person to give their life to the Lord? Billy Graham

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Happy and blessed Monday!

I had been waiting for my “God nudge” for this week when I read this.  It got me immediately because, don’t we all have someone we love that just can’t surrender?  They acknowledge the Lord, believe in God’s existence and sometimes, can really talk a good line, but it is all show.

I have friends and family that talk the talk but just can’t let go to walk the walk.

I get it.  I have even been there.  There was a time in my life that I felt my sanity was based on holding on to my control of my life.  I had a time that I had no control and never knew what the next day might bring.

The change came in the realization that only when I turned that control over to Jesus Christ did my life finally take on full meaning.  THAT’s when things began to fall into place and THAT’S when I finally gained the peace that I so desperately sought.

 I am not perfect.  I still slip and fall but I KNOW, without a doubt, where my strength and hope comes from.  All I have to do is let go and let God!

 Philippians 4:6-8  NIV

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

My friends, if you haven’t really surrendered your life to Jesus, you haven’t known true freedom or true peace!  I was always afraid that if I didn’t hold on to that control, my life would never go right.  Instead, I found that until I surrendered control, my life wouldn’t go right!

Thank you, Jesus for your grace and mercy.

Pray Unceasingly!!

Lois

 

What does it mean for a person to give their life to the Lord?

From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Q: What does it mean for a person to give their life to the Lord? – L.S.

A: A police sergeant once asked what the secret was to living a victorious Christian life. While there is no magic formula, if one word could answer it the word would be “surrender.” To surrender means to give in or give up, to let someone else have power and control. While people do not like this idea, the truth is that to walk as a faithful Christian and follow the Lord, we must give up our wants and seek what God wants and live for Him and follow His commandments, praising Him along the way. Surrender comes when we believe that Christ will come into our lives and give us His mercy, love, and forgiveness.

How is this done? The answer is to hand God the controls; the control of the mind, the heart and the will. Rather than choosing to do what we want, we listen to God and read and study His Word that will guide us in the decisions we make. We give every situation to Him and look for His hand to direct us along life’s pathway.

It is not enough to tell Jesus one time that we love Him and want to obey Him. It is a lifetime journey. Do we see growth in our lives? Jesus said that if anyone desires to follow Him, thy must seek His will and follow it (Luke 9:23). Daily surrender is the key to daily victory.

When we open our minds to God’s Word, we open the door for the Holy Spirit to do His work in us, and we are filled with assurance of His presence each step of the way.