Archive for the ‘Prayer’ Category

You are Loved

Monday, October 2nd, 2017

you-are-loved

You are loved by God! God thought you up before the beginning of time, with all your strengths and frailties. He knew you and called you to be His before the beginning of time (Psalm 139). God the Father loved you so much He sent His Son (John 3:16), and Jesus gave His life for you on the cross and paid the price of all the sin you would ever commit so that He could have a relationship with you. You are pretty special to God, you are unique, and He made you exactly the way He intended you to be. You are accepted and loved!

Don’t go seeking humans to love you with the love that only Jesus can offer. If you ask the Lord to fill you with His love, He will answer you. In Ephesians 3:17-18, Paul prays that we may all experience the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ. The word in the original Greek for “know” is an experiential knowledge, since there is a different word for head knowledge.

If you seek acceptance from others, if your husband seems to have contempt for you rather than love, if your closest friends betray you, if your family members disown you–none of these matters if you can access the love of Jesus and understand how loved and valued you are to His kingdom. Flawed people are born selfish, and the best of Christians fights selfishness daily. There is no way you will ever be loved by a human the way that Jesus can love you.

love-is-a-mess

Romans 5:5 says that God’s love has been poured out into out hearts, and how can that mean a cognitive understanding? No, it’s something that touches the heart and that changes who we are. ALL of the Christian life is miraculous, from true salvation that brings transformation, to the love that we can experience, to the peace that passes understanding in difficult situations.

love-art

If you have been abused, raped, neglected, or hurt in any way by others, understand that Christ was inside of you and experienced all your pain with you. He knows you like no one else can!

No matter what you’ve done, He forgives you when you come to Him, and He wipes you clean and sees you in a beautiful light. God created you just the way He wanted you and accepts you just the way you are, with all your flaws. You are loved.

People who have never been through hardship and had a great family life growing up might think that they understand the love of God. But sometimes it’s the broken who reach upward for strength that are filled supernaturally by His Spirit.

loved-by-God

“Is it not likely that many healthy, well-adjusted, productive adults from self-assured families mistake their own natural sense of well-being for the love of God, and are therefore worse off spiritually than the broken person who, beyond all expectation, has tasted the love of God by the power of the Holy Spirit?” – John Piper

If you need to experience the love of God, ask that God would remove any obstacle that is standing in the way of you truly having that love wash over you. Here is one of my favorite songs about the love of God: O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus.

I hope you know that you are loved!

If you don’t want to miss any of these posts from the series “31 Days to Regaining Your Identity,” why not sign up for my free monthly newsletter below, and follow my prayer page on Facebook.

you-are-a-masterpiece

 

My daughter and I created the artwork for this series from the course {aff} “You are a Masterpiece” by Alicia Gratehouse. If you love to do art and are discovering who you are in Christ, this is a great art course for you!

You are Accepted

Sunday, October 1st, 2017

you-are-accepted

You are accepted! It doesn’t matter who else accepts you because Jesus Himself accepts you. Romans 15:7 says, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” Jesus accepts us with all our flaws and frailties. He actually gave us our weaknesses so that God’s power might be made manifest in us because–believe it or not–God’s power shows the most in our lives through our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9).

This doesn’t mean that we should purposely sin and hurt Christ. Of course not! But if we sin, we can immediately go to God and ask for forgiveness, and it’s gone. Christ accepts you for who you are RIGHT NOW, not who you are going to be when you are dead, after you are glorified. Don’t you see? You are fully accepted and loved by God, and you can rest in that acceptance and stop striving to be good enough.

We as women tend to derive our worth from how other people view us. How people perceive us does not define who we are. God defines who we are, and if He says we are accepted, then we are accepted!

If other people have expectations of you that are impossible for you to meet, they will always be disappointed with you. But that is THEIR problem. Shake yourself free from their expectations and thrive under God’s acceptance.

you-are-a-masterpiece

We believe that maybe if we perform everything to perfection, we will be accepted by others.

But God does not expect from us more than we can do. He is fully aware that we are but dust.

You don’t have to be forced to change your personality just because someone wants you to be just like them. John the Baptist, for example, was not gracious, but God created him that way and fully accepted and was pleased with him. God created him for a specific purpose that required him to be more straightforward than most people.

Peter the disciple was brash. Just because he acted without thinking doesn’t make him evil. God purposely created Peter to be brash. Sure, he could learn to consult other people for wisdom, but being a man of action is who he was. He got things done because he could think quickly. He didn’t have to sit down and beat himself up because of who God created him to be. And yet we as women do this all the time.

christ-accepted-you

In the same way, you do not need to change everything about yourself to meet with the acceptance of the people around you. Yes, you can ask God to remove sin, but if it’s just a personality difference, God loves who you are because He purposely made you that way. How sad that we never accept ourselves for who we are so that we can become fully all that God has called us to be!

I spontaneously wrote a poem one day to encapsulate the experience I had with God when I felt accepted for the first time. After striving for years to please God, and hearing so many times that I was never good enough, my sister finally prayed with me over the phone, that God would remove whatever was standing in the way to experience God’s love and acceptance:

I am Accepted
I am accepted
God is pleased with me
No more striving
I am complete
God delights in me
I am beautiful
Loved

Waves of love
Wash over me
Every cell of my being
Is accepted
I am at rest
I am complete
Loved

You can experience God’s acceptance, too. Take God at His Word, and believe the Scriptures that never lie, and don’t feel like you have to measure up to anyone else’s expectations of who they think you need to be. If you have over-performed for years, and people nit-pick and criticize everything you do, let their words slide right off. Don’t be hurt. The only person you need to be accepted by is Christ! You are accepted!

If you don’t want to miss any of these posts from the series “31 Days to Regaining Your Identity,” why not sign up for my free monthly newsletter below, and follow my prayer page on Facebook.

you-are-a-masterpiece

 

My daughter and I created the artwork for this series from the course {aff} “You are a Masterpiece” by Alicia Gratehouse. If you love to do art and are discovering who you are in Christ, this is a great art course for you!

Prayer Basket Giveaway

Monday, April 17th, 2017

prayer-basket-giveaway

Enter to win this Prayer Basket Giveaway, and become refreshed as you spend time with the Lord with your new prayer goodies! Here are some of the items in this basket:

  1. Journal–this gold and red lined journal looks like leather with a magnetic flap in the front. It was the most expensive, most luxurious journal at the bookstore. Perfect for prayer journaling! (Retail $18.95)
  2. De-stressing Coloring Book from A Journey Through Learning–this beautiful coloring book called Keep Calm & Color On is for women to relax through coloring inspirational pictures. The back cover has 10 tips for a less stressed lifestyle. We’ve included a new set of colored pencils.
  3. Inspirational Mug–this charcoal gray mug has the Scripture verse from Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. Plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Perfect for having coffee with the Lord!
  4. Prayer Photo Album–this is a great way to pray for the people you love, by sliding their pictures into the clear pocket pages on the inside. You can also slide a small family photo into the front of this photo album, which is decorated with 3-D art that says “The family that prays together stays together.”
  5. Hope: The Promise of Each New Dawn–this small spiral book has a refreshing quote to give you hope each day of the year. You can stand it up in your kitchen window sill to remind yourself that there is always hope when we put our faith in God, who is sovereign over all things.
  6. Heart Necklace–this is to remind you that you are loved by God, and that you have value to Him, even when going through difficulties.
  7. You are Altogether Beautiful artwork–this chalk artwork is framed in a gorgeous red frame, and I created it just for you! I will be doing a series on “Regaining Your Identity” this fall, and I will be featuring artwork from an online class called {aff} You are a Masterpiece. This chalk art is one of the projects from the class.
  8. You are a Masterpiece–this 4-week e-course by Alisha Gratehouse has 20 beautiful art projects to help you see your value in Christ. It has been so refreshing to my soul! (Retail $60)

This prayer basket also includes a beautiful red scarf, devotional CD’s about overcoming hard times, a pretty pad of paper, a bookmark, and a candle.

Enter below to win this beautiful prayer basket!

(Your email will not be used for anything except to notify the person who won the Prayer Basket Giveaway!)

 

More Mothers Day Basket Giveaways:

  1. Handmade Gift Basket for Mom by Susan at The Sparrow’s Home
  2. Homeschool Sanity – My Mother’s Day Gift to You by Melanie at Psychowith6
  3. How to Be the Perfect Mother by Pat at PatAndCandy.com
  4. Mother’s Keepsake Journal Giveaway by Amy at Amy’s Wandering
  5. Basket of Blessings for a Catholic Mom by Ginny at Not So Formulaic
  6. Prayer Basket Giveaway by Susan at SusanEvans.org
  7. “Just for Mom” $150 Value Gift Bundle by Sara Elizabeth Dunn at A Mama’s Story
  8. Write Your Family Story by Ginny at Not So Formulaic
  9. iPad Mother’s Day Giveaway by Kimberly @ Brookdale House and Betty @ Peace Creek on the Prairie
  10. Homeschool Resource & Curriculum Fun Pack by Heather Woodie at Blog, She Wrote
  11. Count Your Blessings Gift Basket for Mom by Tatiana at The Musings of Mum
  12. Mother’s Day Surprise Gift Basket Giveaway from Erin at The Usual Mayhem
  13. Children’s Books & Plush Toy  by Storytime Pup Channel
  14. Homeschool Giveaway by The Unstandardized Standard
  15. Adventure Books for Summer Reading by Dee Garretson

mothers-day-gift-baskets-2017

Take Up the Full Armor of God

Friday, March 3rd, 2017

take-up-the-full-armor-of-god

We have come to the final installment of the “Unmasking the Enemy” series: Take Up the Full Armor of God. If we do not arm ourselves with spiritual weapons, we will not be able to overcome the enemy.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.” Ephesians 6:10-11 NASB

Realize that our battle is on a different, unseen realm. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” Ephesians 6:12-13 NASB

Here is the full armor of God. Put on each piece:

1. Truth (recognizing and rejecting the deception of the enemy)

2. Righteousness (pursuing personal holiness)

3. Salvation (standing secure in our knowledge that no one can snatch us out of God’s hand)

4. Faith (believing God, that His Word is true)

  • The shield of faith has to be raised in time to extinguish the darts of the enemy. In other words, we need to be able to recognize when the darts are coming from the enemy to render the darts useless and for them to fall to the ground without piercing the soul.
  • The shield of faith is the ability to discern what is happening on the spiritual realm rather than on the physical realm. If God says our struggle is not against flesh and blood, we must have the faith to believe the true nature of the battle. If we lose sight of this, we will double over in pain from the piercing darts, and we will be so discouraged that we can hardly get up. At that point (having let the arrows into our body), we need other believers to do prayer battle so that God can clear the fog and enable us to see the accusations from the enemy and discern what is truly happening so that we are not utterly destroyed.
  • “What’s so awesome about the shield is that apparently there’s not a single lie or accusation that we can’t extinguish—for God says we will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one.” – Kay Arthur

5. Preparation to share the gospel (desire the salvation of the lost and be willing to lead others to Christ)

6. Sword of the Spirit (study God’s Word to use it offensively against the enemy; specific verses against specific sins; knowing God)

Here is the video explaining the armor of God and how to use it:

To teach your children about the armor of God, go here: Armor of God for Children