Love Yourself

Aren’t people beautiful? You may not spend a lot of time thinking about it but I’m a photographer. It’s my privilege to find beauty in people.

[show favorite images of all ages]

I believe everyone is created beautiful. I’m not blind. I believe the word of God and it says we are created in God’s own image. Genesis 1:27 – God actually repeats this, He really means it! A God who creates such beauty is surely beautiful Himself!

It’s funny. I have no difficulty finding beauty in most everyone else. Yet I have such a hard time finding it in myself. I know that I am not alone in finding it difficult to love myself. There are a lot of contributing factors.

The longer I walk with God the more I know about Him. And honestly, about myself. Through out this series we’ve talked about His love letter to us. The more we read and understand God’s Word, the more we hear what He has to say about us. Here are a few biblical truths written about you:

• Created in His image. Genesis 1:27
• Fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14
• He loves you enough to die for you. John 3:16
• He created you as a temple for His spirit to dwell. 1 Corinthians 6:19
• Created for good works. Ephesians 2:10

I know these things. I’ve drilled them into my brain. And yet I struggle - specially in the pastoral training process. Why do I still doubt my worth?

[last week’s test tutorial experience – the voice shouting in my brain – “you’re not good enough, you can’t do this!”]

After the tutorial I was relaying my feelings of inadequacy to Rob – he realized that even though this inner voice sound just like me, I have actually mistaken the devil’s voice for my own.

The reality is that Satan is a great ventriloquist. The best actually. He can speak and it will look and sound just like you. He wants to waylay your plans and destroy God’s calling on your life. The Bible tells us that His goal is to steal, kill and destroy. Why would we listen to Him?

And yet we do. How many of us have bought into the lie that we are not good enough. That we can never change. That we are junk and we’ll never be anything more than junk.

Remember Psalm 139:14?

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

 We are fearfully and wonderfully made. That doesn’t sound like junk to me? Junk is the Emerson sound system you can buy for twenty bucks at Walmart that will break in a week. Fearfully and wonderfully made is the Bose sound system that you fork over a thousand dollars for and expect to last for decades. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, high quality craftsmanship.

Remember Ephesians 4:10?

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

We are His workmanship. The Greek word used here is ‘poem’. We are His poem. A poem is a thing of beauty and grace, a true expression from the heart of the writer. We are His poem.

We know we are made in His image, and that it is a good image. We know we are created for good works. How do we remove the voice of Satan from our heads?

I have three practical steps to shut down the lies of the devil in your head.

1)     Drive him off in Jesus name. You are a saved child of God, He has no business in your life anymore. The devil hates the name of Jesus. Remind yourself that the devil is a liar and a thief and you want no part of that.

2)     Saturate your life with the word of God. The more you read God’s word, the more you’ll know how to pray. You’ll be familiar with His promises to you. Jesus Himself used scripture to fight off Satan’s fiery darts, so this is a great example to us.

3)     Declare your dependency on and sufficiency in Christ.

When we are dependant, we acknowledge our absolute need for Him. We know that we are weak and fallen vessels. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:11 that when we are weak, He is strong. We need Him to show himself strong in us and admitting our weakness is a great starting point.

      When we are sufficient in Christ we are saying that He is more than     enough. John 10:10 tells us that the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy          but Jesus came to give us life and life to the full. If Jesus called you to do   something (school or witnessing or serving or fulfilling a specific dream)          you can trust that He is going to equip you for the task. And when you           complete it, you’ll give Him the glory.

There’s something more here though. I’ve given you practical steps to love yourself, but love is not that mechanical. It’s not a chemistry problem where you use specific ingredients in the correct order and heat it to the desired temperature and ‘presto’ you love yourself.

I wrestled with this conclusion. I honestly struggle with loving myself, but the longer I walk with Jesus the easier it has become. I was trying to put my finger on what it is that has changed, how am I ‘ok’ in Christ? I prayed and prayed about this message and this morning I finally had my ahah moment. It came to me like this…

When Rob fell in love with me, I was, for the first time, able to see myself in a new light. He loved everything about me. He was passionate, persistent, and vocal about his love for me. He insisted that I was beautiful, interesting, and important. And I believed him completely. My step was lighter, the world is brighter – all because this incredible person had chosen me to be with.

This is what we can experience with Jesus. When you spend time in devotions with Him – literally devoting yourself to Him, sharing your life with Him – you will learn to hear His voice and feel His intense affection for you.

Loving Jesus is where we learn to love ourselves.

When you are cherished by the Creator, you will see yourself through His eyes, a precious part of His creation. You’ll know there is something special about you because He says so. You’ll feel secure in who you are because Jesus doesn’t make mistakes.

Altar: [Gungor: Beautiful Things]

What did you connect with tonight?

Did you realize for the first time that satan is the liar in your head?

Maybe you realized that you can’t connect with what God’s word says about you if you haven’t read it.

Perhaps you realize you haven’t allowed yourself to fall in love with Jesus?

Maybe you have been living in your own strength.

Take a few moments here at the altar to sort these things out. Come let Jesus show you His incredible love for you.

Yesterday's Interview

Yesterday was incredible. Definitely a day that I will remember until I am old and grey. We had our Section Council, including my interview for licensing. (Janet's for ordination) I had taken my test on Thursday and it was killing me to know how I did. The council itself was great, I loved the message given on 2 Chronicles 7:14 - calling us all to fast and pray for our nation. I'm choosing to participate in that fast and I am really excited and challenged by it.

The interview went really well. I was afraid I said too much, that I was too emotional about how much I loved Jesus. But they said it was refreshing, in fact, the one interviewer said I answered all of his questions just in my testimony part. So I am passed on to the General Council for approval on my licensing. :) It was a great day and I am humbled and blessed. :)

Tis So Sweet

I have been so in love with my savior lately. Even His correction feels like love. I was thinking about it this morning and God brought to mind Rob's and my premarital counseling. I remember our dear Pastor Tom telling us that marriage made love sweeter. I distinctly recall thinking - but how could I love Rob more? So young, so naive. Now, after fourteen and half years of marriage, I think I have a better understanding of what Pastor Tom meant. There is something so cherished, so precious, about a lifetime of choosing each other daily. As the years roll by, my heart for my husband has only grown. Our relationship has deepened and sweetened over time. Our appreciation and need for one another has grown too, as has our mutual understanding.

The next thought God brought to mind is that my relationship with Him is just like that. Deepening and sweetening over time. And to think, that His relationship with me is eternal! What an incredible thought. I am so thankful for the treasure that is my relationship with the Lord. I encourage you to pursue Him with your whole heart and your love of Him sweeten over time.

No Offense

Last week we talked about God’s love. This week we are talking about our love of others. The more I thought about this subject the more I realized our largest stumbling block in loving others. Offense.

Have you ever been offended? I mean really offended?

When I was seven I got a brand new red scooter. Red was my favorite color and I had never had a new bike before in my life. Scooters were a huge trend (like heelies or iPhones) and I was completely stunned that my parents had shucked over the cash. My older brother got a grey one. But for whatever reason, the first day we had them, he took mine and went off-roading. Within 8 hours he had completely trashed it. The white rubber tires were grey and white tassles hanging from the handlebars were tattered. I cried and cried and cried.Ten years later while I was dating Pastor Rob I told him that story. It’s really hard to forget a big offense, isn’t it?

My daughter loves to say “no offense, but ….That hairstyle makes you look old.” “no offense, but Pastor Aaron knows more about the Bible than you.” “no offense, but I don’t like the way their house smells.”

Basically any time you hear Sarah utter the words “no offense” you just better brace yourself because offense is about to happen.

Offense is a problem in our relationships, isn’t it? I mean, everyone raised their hands when I asked if they’d ever been offended. We can all relate to that. Unfortunately, we all tend to hang on to that.

Just this week I’ve heard several adults (like vintage adults) talk about hurtful things that had been spoken to them as children. More than likely the offender doesn’t even remember what they said, but these adults are still carrying the weight of those words decades later.

Offense poisons our relationships. It seeps deep into our heart and destroys the way we think about a person, and eventually all people. Offense seriously interferes with our ability to love people.

Take a moment and think about the people that have hurt you or offended you. What is your relationship with them like now? If you’ve held that hurt in your heart, you likely can’t stand that person, you may even duck behind a locker when you see them. Either that or you have learned the bigger blessing of forgiveness – you barely even remember the offense and have chosen to move on in relationship with that person.

There are two sides to offense. Tonight we want to learn to handle both sides. Our scripture for this evening is found in Ephesians 2:29-32.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

First off we’ve touched on, to forgive the offense.  Verse 32 commands us to forgive each other. My dear friend said to me this weekend that ‘offense is of the devil’ – meaning that Satan wants you to wallow in offense. To allow offense to stick to you like a piece of gum on carpet – where it messes you up!

Forgiveness is unnatural and often times painful. We want to hang on to the hurtful word and turn it over and over in our mind until it’s so familiar it’s a part of us.

But Jesus taught by example to forgive. Remember when He was on the cross and the soldiers were gambling for his things? His words were “Forgive them Father, they do not know what they do.” Imagine that moment, you are dying and the very people that strung you up there are playing games for your clothes and mocking you. And yet Jesus forgave them. Just like He forgave us for all of our sins against Him. Surely no one can hurt us the way we’ve hurt Jesus, and yet He forgives.

We need to embrace His teaching and pass on the forgiveness that we have received. You might think, but they don’t deserve to be forgiven! But we didn’t deserve it either. You aren’t all that. I’m not all that! Romans 3:23 - All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Remember that we are all sinners. Don’t think you are all that. Instead of focusing on the offenders shortcomings, remember yours. We had a pastor growing up that would always say that most of our issues were within our own hearts and we could easily spend the rest of our lives just working those things through. The older I get the more true I know this to be! Your heart is a mess and you have no business telling anyone else how to get it right.

Besides, hanging on to the unforgiveness hurts us far more than the original offense. You might need to start thinking now about people in your life that you need to forgive. It may be an older sibling who bullied you, a classmate that betrayed you, a parent that has failed you.

Ask God to help you let go of the offense. And every time it rears it’s ugly head, ask again. Until you have forgotten it completely.

The other side of offense is the offender – meaning the person who is offensive, the person who hurts.

I hate being an offender. It literally makes me sick to my stomach when I know I’ve hurt someone, but that’s just my personality quirk. There are lots of people in this world who will say or do what they want to and not care who it upsets.

The thing is, we all offend, with or without intention. I have a big mouth, so this has gotten me in trouble a lot over the years. I have a couple practical ways for you to learn to stop offending people.

Don’t say stupid stuff. Look at our scripture again. Don’t let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Use your words wisely, to build others up.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another.

Be kind. Cut out the nastyness in your heart that is not godly. Stop being vicious and angry. Allow the love of God to seep all the way down into your soul and affect the kind of person you are even on the inside.

Be loyal to the absent. Meaning, if someone isn’t there, don’t talk about them. If you wouldn’t say it to their face, don’t say it at all! This is harder than it sounds and you may need to really ask God to help you in this area.

Look for the best in others. You are going to find what you watch for. Like a red pair of Toms. You don’t see anyone with them until you bring home your pair; suddenly everyone has red Toms. Look for the good in other people to a point that it blinds you to the not-so-good.

Pray for the people that rub you the wrong way. Not like “God, give them what they deserve” kind of prayers, but pray for them the way you pray for yourself. This will change your heart towards them and maybe even change them too!

Letting go of offense and refusing to offend pleases God. Our lives can be like Christ’s who was ‘a fragrant offering’ to God. My prayer tonight is that you will let go of offense and choose not to offend others.

Altar: [Band-aids - Ephesians 4:29-32]

What offense do you need to let go of tonight?

Who have you offended and what needs to change that relationship?

God's Dream

This past weekend I attended Accelerated Minister's Training in Houston. One of the speakers talked at length about realizing your dream for your life. Early on in the session she had us write our dream down on a paper and turn it in. I struggled. This entire time I've been working on credentials, I haven't really known why, other than God told me to do it. I don't have a long term dream; there's no deep desire to run to the mission field, or to start some new ministry. All I could come up with is that I want to serve in ministry hand in hand with my husband (what I'm already doing) and to be a consistent lover of Jesus and His people, to continue to grow in Him and wisdom and humility.

This has bugged me since Saturday. I'm thinking and praying, "God, why don't I have a dream? Why doesn't it matter to me where I am going? Is there something wrong with me that I'm not a visionary or a dreamer?"

I read books, a lot of books in school. Most are written by high thinkers, visionaries, dream casters. I am not one of those people. I am a work hard day in and day out and ask God to bless it kind of girl. Reading all those books can make the 'hardworker' feel less than. Well, maybe I'm not called if God isn't giving me tremendous vision and dreams for our group?

This morning I was praying and asking God about all this. What is my dream? And I realized with a start that my dream is to fulfill His dream for me. My whole life has been about obediently stepping from one task to the other, one place to the next. I haven't seen some huge vision from the Lord, but I have seen the next step consistently. And I have tried to faithfully submit my life to His will. School has been a huge example of that, just trying to say 'yes, Lord' even when I didn't see a why. Even when it didn't make sense. A year after we started Rob and I went to the two message format and I could see His hand all over that.  God knew exactly where we were headed and what we would need to accomplish His plans for our youth group.

What I love about following the Lord is that He knows where He is going. Being omniscient, He is through all time and has perfect understanding of the best course.

So this morning I submit to you that my dream is to fulfill His dream for me. I don't know what that looks like. The further along the more things solidify, but I could have never in a million years guessed that this perfect fit of a life I have at this moment would be where He would put me, but it was never a surprise for Him.

So what about being a dreamer? I think I finally have realized that being a dreamer is important, well and good, but somebody needs to be the worker behind the dream. I am perfectly content to work hard and listen carefully for the next step for His glory. I'm just so incredibly thankful that God saw fit to include unworthy little me in His plan. :)

Deep thoughts for a Monday morning, but I was blessed by it! :)


 As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.       Isaiah 55:9 

If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.    Psalm 37:24-25