Friday, October 12, 2018

Whose Daughter am I?

1Thessalonians 5:5.. "For you are all children of the light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness."

I'm not a hundred percent certain exactly what this is yet, or even what it is going to become. I know that I have spent much of my life living in a a constant state of fear. Fear of what the future holds, fear of what people may think, fear of failing, fear of being good enough for so many different things. It is a fear that has kept me from doing and becoming so much. It is a lie that has been told to me over and over again to keep me from being all that God has intended me to be. It's a quiet monster that has made it's home comfortably in the back of my mind and has made me made me believe I am not good enough and never could be....it hit me the other day...why should I be afraid? I have a heavenly father who holds the entire universe in his hands. He controls everything, why would he not have me? The Bible tells me what I am in 1Thessalonians 5:5.. "For you are all children of the light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness." Fear lives in the dark. It cannot survive in the light. I am a child of the light, a daughter of God. That is who I am. There is nothing in this world that I should fear because of who I call Father. When these thoughts begin the sneak in, and the enemy tries to close the darkness around me and consume my thoughts with fear, I am trying to remind myself...I am the daughter of a King...THE King. I am going to trust what he is guiding me to do because like all parents...he knows and wants what is best for me. I am going to strive to listen, to leap when I am afraid, and to let my voice be out there when I have been so quiet before in the back. Remember that you are his sons and daughters as well. Imagine what we could all accomplish and what we would all be able to do if we completely embraced the fact that we are children of the light?

Thursday, August 9, 2018

How Much More Worthy?

Worth is an interesting concept when you stop to think about it. We have these things, these inanimate objects that people tell us are worth this certain dollar amount. There are bags that people will pay thousands for just to carry their wallets around in. What really makes a certain bag more valuable than another one? The label on the side? That is the only difference, the label that we put on these bags. The bags themselves are all made from material. We are the only ones that create this value. .Nothing in this world is telling us that these things have this certain worth to them except for ourselves. The more that I sit here and think about this concept of worth, it is really interesting to me that anyone in this world should be made to feel like an unworthy person.
Who is it that decides what you are worth? Who is it that tells you that you are less valuable than that other person over there? I know that I am not the only person in this world who is struggling with her sense of worth. It has been something that I have never really been able to grasp.
I have felt worthless, undeserving, and just downright bottom of the barrel for much of my life. This is the self concept that has been imprinted on me by the world that I live in.
The issue with this concept is that it is a flat out lie. It is a lie that the world and the enemy has whispered into my ear for so many years. I have listened and I have believed this lie. It has stopped me and held me back from so many things. It has caused me to cry myself to sleep at night, to not sleep, to lock myself away in my apartment for days, to not be able to physically get out of bed, to not start something because it can never be good enough, to doubt my skills, to doubt my impact. It is still causing me pain. Right now.
But do you know what? Do you know what the truth is?
My heavenly father, the creator of the universe and lover of my soul, tells me that I am more than worthy. He saw me as so worthy, that he sent his only son to take the weight of my imperfect life so that I could live for eternity with him. He suffered so that I could have a relationship with him, so that I could get to know him. He listens to me, he answers prayers and tells me no when it isn't in my best interest. He sought ME out and waits patiently when I stray. I am precious to him. Anything else whispered is just not true.
We often look toward the fluidity of nature. How everything works so well, in perfect cycles. The food chain is set, and barring too much of OUR human touch, the needs of the animals are met. They have everything they need to survive in the environment that they live, they have the defenses they need to protect  against predators, and they have food and water sources they need to make sure that they don't starve. They are provided for.
It is so important to remember Matthew 6:26, "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap not gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" WE ARE OF VALUE!
God speaks only truth. We say that and we follow that. Why then is it so hard for us to accept the truth that we are of value? Nothing else he says is a lie, and that isn't either.
Even know as I type this, it is hard for me to grasp. It is an everyday battle to silence those whispers of the world and of the enemy.
Remember my friend, you are worthy, you are loved, and you are worth way more than the sparrow.
Matthew 10:31,"Fear not, therefore you are of more value than many sparrows."