Self-worth

My Biggest Cheerleader

“And whatever you do, no matter what it is, in word or deed, do EVERYTHING in the name of the Lord Jesus. . .” Colossians 3:17
“Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily (from the soul), as something done for the Lord and not for men.” Colossians 3:23

WHO motivates us? God or man?

If we live for people’s approval, we will not only become disappointed, but we will become bitter towards them when they fail to stroke our ego. People will fail us, disappoint and discourage us; disapprove and even reject us.

People don’t mean to let us down, but a person just doesn’t have the capacity to supply us with the emotional, spiritual and physical fuel we need. Depending on another for these needs, will quickly burn them out. But I know The One who has an unlimited capacity! The One who can supply EVERY one of our many needs.

God not only encourages us, but He equips us for a job well done. HE is our biggest cheer leader. He knows what we need before we even ask. He promises to never fail us and never leave us!

Let’s be sure we are following the plan that GOD has for us, not man. God’s way is always right; not only right, but fruitful with the rewards He has in store for us.

Click the links below for more supporting scriptures.
Mathew 6:8
Hebrews 13:5
Hebrews 13:20-21
Zephaniah 3:17

He is Thinking About You

Never doubt God’s love for you!

Godspeaks2us

“How precious it is, Lord, to realize that YOU are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me!” Psalm 139:17-18 tlb

What a beautiful scripture! Let this sink in. Take a moment right now to realize that God IS Thinking about you today!!! You’re not just a social security number. You have a name! And God called you by your name. He knows the number of hairs on your head, and He is thinking about you and loving you today! You are NOT forgotten!!

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 nkjv

If the Creator of this universe and the Savior of this…

View original post 76 more words

Are you Tuned In? Are You Listening?

george carver use this one

I got in my car on the way to work, and turned on the radio to FM. Nothing. Okay?? My display clearly stated that I was receiving radio signals from the station, but no sound. Hmmmmm. Scratching my head, I discovered that my AM stations worked fine. Hmmmmmm. Scratching my head again, I tuned back to FM, and cut the volume up as high as it would go. Faintly, I could hear the whispers of the talk radio show. Oh boy! Long story short, the FM relay wire is damaged and needs replacing.

Point is, there was nothing wrong with the Radio station or it’s signal. There was something wrong with my reception. That’s how it is with us, God is speaking (sending out the signal), will we receive it!

God speaks to ALL of us, regardless of our “spiritual status” in life!

His speaking to us has absolutely nothing to do with whether I read my Bible once or a thousand times, and absolutely nothing to do with the faithfulness of my church attendance. It isn’t about  whether I’m deserving.

But it has everything to do with the fact that God loves us…..He loved us so much that HE paid our sin’s debt SO THAT we could live an abundant, joy-filled life (John 10:10), full of all the good plans that God has for us (Jeremiah 29:11).

Now that you know He’s speaking to you……..will you tune in?

He speaks to us because He loves us. It’s as simple and as complicated as that.

 

reference for George Washing Carver by asquotes

On The Way To The Trashcan

“I’m all done,” said three year old Stella, referring to the partially eaten school lunch in her hand. She stands up to leave the table. Grabbing her plate, she starts walking over to the trash can but does something odd…..she continues to eat food from her plate. All the while she slowly walks to the trashcan.  “But I thought you were done,” I laughed to myself. That’s when it hit me.

Don’t WE do the same thing? We say, “I’m all done” what that bad habit….that addiction…..that negative talk……that unhealthy lifestyle.  “I’m all done” with fear and insecurities. “I’m all done!!!”  All the while we continue to partake or participate or engage in the very thing we are trying to dispose of from our lives.

Oh that we should be patient with one another as those around us make attempts to turn over a new leaf: saying I’m all done, yet succumbing to it one more time. Even more, we should be patient with ourselves.

We need to forgive the failed attempts, and encourage that long slow walk to the trash can! Hebrews 12:1 tells us “. . . We must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially sin that distracts us, and run the race that lies ahead of us and NEVER GIVE UP!”

Making life changes can be immediate for some, but most of the time it’s a process. In other words, THE STRUGGLE IS REAL! Don’t be quick to judge yourself or others. Mom & Dad, don’t be so harsh on your children as they struggle to make the right choices. God has equipped us to turn over a new leaf…….as many times as it takes us to get it right.

We can do all things through Christ because He gives us strength, because he wants us to succeed, and because He has good plans for our lives.  He is patient and kind to forgive our failed attempts, and He extends to us the power of His grace. Furthermore, He says to you…..NEVER GIVE UP!

I Thessalonians 5:11 Encourage & build each other up

Ephesians 4:29  Don’t say hurtful things to each other. Find something good to say & help when you can

Galatians 6:2 Share each other’s troubles & burdens

Hebrews 10:24-25  Come up with ideas to stir up love & do good things; be encouraging

I Peter 4:8-10 Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love makes up for many of your faults. . . God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God’s many kinds of blessings.

 

What I Say Matters

“Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I breathe!” Psalm 116:2 tlb

We had gone out to supper at a nice restaurant, with a pretty nice 45 minute wait. While waiting, a shadow caught my eye of someone  s-l-o-w-l-y walking toward the waiting area.  The shadow looked to be that  of an elderly person with a severely hunched back. I was already feeling sorry for this individual.

Then, the shadowy figure came into the light and I saw a father walking with his young son. This tall man was hunched over with arms around his son; and walking ever so slowly as to hang on his every word.

What could an 8 or 9 year old boy have to say to his father that is so captivating, as to garner such undivided attention in a busy restaurant? What can WE say to our Father that would garner His undivided attention?  The answer: SAY ANYTHING! SAY EVERYTHING!

“Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I breathe!” Psalm 116:2 tlb

Picturing this father and son is a great first step toward changing our image of, and our idea of who we THINK God is…………………furthermore, it’s a great first step in changing our idea of how we THINK God relates to us.

Simply put, God loves us, and He is eager to bend down His ear to listen to what we have to say. Never again let the enemy tell you that you are not important, and that what you have to say doesn’t matter. This scripture tells us differently. We are His sons and daughters.

 

He is Thinking About You

“How precious it is, Lord, to realize that YOU are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me!” Psalm 139:17-18 tlb

What a beautiful scripture! Let this sink in. Take a moment right now to realize that God IS Thinking about you today!!! You’re not just a social security number. You have a name! And God called you by your name. He knows the number of hairs on your head, and He is thinking about you and loving you today! You are NOT forgotten!!

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 nkjv

If the Creator of this universe and the Savior of this world thinks about you …….you are special and treasured beyond imagination. Don’t let the enemy convince you that God has abandoned you as a hopeless cause. This is simply not true.  Today and everyday, God thinks about you…..loves you…..forgives you……showers you with mercy and grace.

Today I pray that “you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.” Ephesians 3:18 nlt

 

Repurposed

Being born October 28, my daughter never had a huge birthday party: partly because of the conflict of Halloween festivities.  So on her seventeenth birthday we decided to make it happen. It was a BIG deal for us! We wanted it special for her, but we didn’t have a lot of money to sink into this, so we got creative. We went shopping at second hand shops and thrift stores. We saw items that had been discarded by others; items that were past their prime; items that were calling my name!

An old wooden door that once stood sentinel for someone’s home became a huge deck table.  A discarded wooden storm door from up the street, was transformed into a photo booth. I made yard signs out of old kitchen cabinet doors that were long past their prime. Empty picture frames became chic little chalk boards. A bag of various fabric remnants became a decorative garland for our fence.

I sanded, tore fabric for the garland, painted, sanded some more, and stained. The work took months of preparation. But it was well worth it. Old and unwanted items; items with wear and tear; items that once served one purpose, now served another.

The definition of repurpose:         

To give a new purpose or use to….

To change something so that it can be used for a different purpose…..

This is what God does for us when He saves us. He cleans us up and gives us new purpose. He wants to develop in us our potential, our purpose, and put us in a better place. This sounds great! It IS great. But what about when you’ve been serving God for a long time? We can begin to feel a little wear and tear….we can even begin to question our usefulness.

Everyone goes through seasons in life: when one season ends, we can feel like our purpose and usefulness is ending as well. We can begin to talk ourselves right out the next season God wants to prepare us for. “We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but God’s purpose prevails.” Proverbs 19:21. God has plans for our entire life. Just like I changed a door into a table, God changes us from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Our purpose may change, but our usefulness is never over!

God wants to repurpose our lives…..not once…..but continually: from glory to glory! As long you as you have breath in your body, know that God has a purpose and a plan for you. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Don’t Reject What God Has Chosen

We are chosen by God before our life begins. We are chosen by God before we’ve lived long enough to make bad choices and battle regrets. We are chosen by God before others have sized us up, and passed judgment. We are chosen by God before WE assess ourselves, and determine that we are unworthy. He makes us worthy, yet we can live life rejecting His plan, His blessings and His grace for us because we feel undeserving and inadequate.

God chose Moses at his birth to deliver His people out of captivity. God ensured his safety during a time when he should have been killed at birth. God prepared Moses in the ways of Egyptian culture, and later equipped him as a shepherd. Decades of preparation left Moses with the perfect resume. God chose him, prepared him and called him when it was time: yet Moses rejected himself for the job. Moses even tried to talk God out of His own plans with a long list of excuses. I’m not putting Moses down: many of us are guilty of the same thing.

We too are chosen by God. And just like Moses, God began equipping and preparing us. God chose us fully aware of our human/sinful nature, and provided a way of escape so that we can fully walk in His plan. We aren’t chosen based on merit, we are chosen based on His love for us.

Meet David. He was chosen by God to be King over Israel, but was rejected by everyone else: even his own family. This is why we must not doubt that we have been chosen by God: man will not always approve of our Christianity. And sadly, fellow Christians may reject the calling you have on your life. But God is equipping us!! He is empowering us!!

Jeremiah 29:11 has been quoted to a point that people tend to gloss over this scripture, listening half-heartedly. It seems too good to be true that the Creator of this universe would call ME; would choose ME; would know MY name and the number of hairs on MY head; and would actually plan my life to be full of joy and good things!! But it’s true; all of it. He is able to fulfill His Word, and His Word says that you and I are chosen, and He has good plans for us.

I Peter 2:9 NIRV “But God chose you to be his people. You are royal priests. You are a holy nation. You are God’s special treasure. You are all these things so that you can give him praise. God brought you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

We are His treasure; His created ones; His chosen ones. Just like Moses and David, we must accept His plan for our lives, and trust that He is fully capable to complete that which He has started in us. Accept that He wants to use us in spite of our faults; our shortcomings; our continued spiritual struggles; and our imperfections. Accept that we are chosen by Him even if others reject us.

Do not limit God by rejecting what HE has chosen. He has chosen YOU.

Related Scripture:
I Peter 2:9
Jeremiah 29:11
Luke 12:7
Exodus 3, 4

You can also find this and other devotions  posted on Your Daily Bread at the link below.

Your Daily Bread-Don’t Reject What God Has Chosen 

Learning My Value

We’ve all had moments at church, in ministry,  or at work where we felt our absence wouldn’t be missed. I admit that I’ve felt that way before. Maybe we felt that way because we weren’t “doing” anything anyway.  Ever thought: the show will go on because I’m not a contributor; I’m not needed; or I’m just there. Well, let me burst your bubble!!

“Your value isn’t in the doing-it’s in the learning!”

You aren’t valuable because of what you DO- You’re valuable because you are LEARNING to do what God has called you to do.

Never feel like your presence at a practice, a meeting, at work, or church is unimportant. You are learning something. You are learning from your leader, your Pastor, your boss. You are learning from the process. Learn all you can so that when the time comes, you will be seasoned and ready to DO the thing God had planned for you all along.

You’re time is coming!! Learn, prepare and be ready!! “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…” Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV