Tag Archives: God

It’s Thankful Thursday and Today I Am Thankful for Me

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While growing up I was poor, dysfunctional and very chubby! This awareness did not come to me until I entered first grade.  Even at age six, it did not take long to figure out others did not want to be around me so much.   It did not take long to figure out that I did not have clothes and shoes as good as the majority of kids in my school. I learned first-hand the pain of feeling less than because I overweight.  Often I was the subject of many jokes especially from guys.

I was embarrassed at who I was and wanted to be anyone but me.  That thought process followed me around into high school, college and even into my married life and pastoral ministry.   I spent a good bit of time and energy trying to hide all my flaws and inadequacies, and over time it wore me out!   It stole any joy that I tried to have It ripped away my confidence that God actually wanted to use me.  I would compare myself to other pastors’ wives, speakers and leaders, and always came up short.  For years I never did anything in the church and hated going to social gatherings.  In my mind I was neither gifted nor a sought-after friend.

One day the light bulb came on for me.  If I was going to overcome this negative disposition, I had to believe what God said about me.  What did His Word declare about my life?  The following verses are just a few that revealed how God felt about me.

I knew you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart for me before you were born.  Jeremiah 1:5

  • I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  Psalm 139:14
  • For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. – Ephesians 2:10
  • God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.  Ephesians 2:6

As I began to repeat and proclaim those verses, I realized that God did not ask me to be anyone but me transformed by His Spirit.  BUT, that must be accepted by faith.  (But the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. Hebrews 4:2)   I must choose to believe that God is, that He made me and that He truly accepts me.   That can only be done through faith.  If you try to reason it out, you will not be able to accept it.  Faith must be mixed with the Word!  That which we receive from God is received by faith in God and His Word.

My heart is pained as I see how many people, women in particular, are losing the image of who they are in Christ.  As we walk down the toy aisle and see the skinny dolls, or as we stand in line at the checkout and see the airbrushed picture of a “star”, it is easy to feel inferior.  Or, if we see that gifted woman, who seems to have it together at home, church and work, it is so easy to sink emotionally when we look at ourselves.

As Christian women we answer to a higher calling than trivial pictures on a magazine. We look to the Lord for our worth, and our acceptance.  Here’s the great news: God loves us. He adores us! He created us to be wonderful, different, and nothing like the world’s call to be skinny and perfect.   God calls us to be His sons and daughters. The Almighty God loves us – loves you – just the way you are. And you are beautiful to Him!

So today, why not stop and thank God for you!

It Might Be Time For A RE-MINDER

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166730_182789265202903_1206918220_nI love dividing words to really grasp their meaning.  Words like nothing, NO THING.  Nothing is impossible with God – and NO THING is impossible with God.  Today I am focused on remind, RE-MIND.  Our thoughts lives can wreak havoc on so many levels.   As a child of God, when our minds are bombarded by thoughts that do not line up with the Word of God, we must RE-MIND.

When someone or the devil puts the thought in your mind that, you are nobody, it’s time to RE-MIND with what God says. God says you are His child and none of His children are nobodies.   1 John 3:1 (NIV) “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

When you are tormented with the thought that you are not going to make it, it’s time to RE-MIND:   Philippians 1:6 “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.”

When your head is saying you have sinned so badly, God is finished with you, it’s time for a RE-MIND-er:  Psalm 103:  “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons ALL your iniquities…”

When your mind is saying, the doctor can’t do anything else, RE-MIND with Psalm 103:”Bless the LORD, O my soul,  And forget none of His benefits; Who heals all your diseases.”When your thoughts are filled with, “God does not hear my prayers.”  Let’s do a RE-MIND:  Jeremiah 29:12: (NIV) “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”

What is your mind saying to you today?  The Word is filled with RE-MIND-ers.  It might be time to get the Word of God out and RE-MIND yourself who God is and who you are!

EN-couragement

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I recently spent three nights in a motel in Columbus, OH.  My schedule made it necessary to arise and shine early each morning!  I would go down to the breakfast room at 5:30 to get my anointed cup of coffee and read over my message.  There were two women who stocked the breakfast area, and they told me their day started at 4:30.   As I watched hotel guests eating breakfast, very little thought seemed to be given to these women.  It was not a “limelight” job.  God spoke to me to bless them daily with words of thanksgiving and praise and I did.  The last morning I felt God leading me to bring them a gift of thanksgiving.  As I placed it in their hands, I thanked them for a job well done.  I thanked them that I had fresh coffee so early in the morning.  They begin to grin and you could almost see their shoulders lift up.  I could see them in the back room, and as we say in the south, “they were tickled pink!”   I honestly think I was more blessed than they were.

We often think of great ministries or ministers as those who stand up front, those in the limelight.  I have certainly known great men and women of God who have gifts requiring them to stand in the limelight.  But, there is a ministry that is so needed in life today, and it’s a great ministry that all of us can do.  Don’t even take a spiritual gift test to see if you have it!  It is the ministry of EN-couragement!

Everyone, from babes to senior citizens, needs EN-couragement. To EN-courage is to put courage into someone. To DIS-courage is to take courage out of them.   You don’t have to go to seminary to have a great ministry!  Be an EN-courager!  Today speak a kind word; tell someone you appreciate them; say thank you to your boss; tell that nurse how much you appreciate her care;  tell a child how glad you are God made them; post on someone’s Facebook  complimenting them.  If you will look around today, you will have many opportunities to have a great ministry – the ministry of EN-couragement.

Show the love of God by being an EN-courager.  Make a point of putting courage into your spouse, your children, your friends, the clerk checking you out at the grocery store, the teller at the bank, the single parent and countless others.  Be a blessing today through .  Go out of your way to do it, and one wonderful thing that happens, is that in blessing others you will be blessed yourself.

“The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life …”  Proverbs 10:11