2 Corinthians 10:1-18

Self Image -Through the Eyes of Love - (2 Corinthians 10)

9:30 PM

Today's reading is: 2 Corinthians 10:1-18

 
As a child, did your parents make you feel you were special?  Well in my case this did not happen. Growing up in a dysfunctional home made me feel rejected most of the time. So I became a people–pleaser to see if this way my parents would see me as someone special. I also tried my best to do well in school, but I was shy and clumsy so my schoolmates would make fun and this would only increase my low-esteem. I grew up comparing myself to others and wanting to be like them because through my eyes I was not good enough. Even though I tried hard at pleasing people, trying to receive their approval I was always left feeling I wasn’t good enough!

 God used a friend to make me understand how much my Heavenly Father loved me. That He loved me far more deeply than my earthly father or mother could ever love me (John 3:16). That we are precious in His sight!

Yes, you are precious in His eyes because He created you a certain way, with special abilities and special gifts. You are wonderfully made and uniquely gifted! The Bible is clear about this: 
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well”. (Psalm 139:13-14).


You are beautiful in God’s eyes! And because He designed you, He watches you. He sees the things in you that you think go unnoticed by others.


Through God’s Word I came to understand that we can choose to stop our negative thoughts and through the power of His Holy Spirit, bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).  That we are to center our mind on God’s Truths (Philippians 4:8) as long as we live.  As Christians we must remember that we are a purchased possession of Jesus Christ.  We belong to Him!  

In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (AMP), we read:  “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]?  You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own].So then, honor and glorify God with your body.” Yes, we must honor and glorify God with our thoughts too! 

As I continued seeking God through His Word I realized I had been set free from these negative thoughts (John 8:32), and now I was free to receive God’s love: the love of my Heavenly Father and I also became free to give this love back to my parents!

I became free to love myself and appreciate others through God’s eyes. So I was free to love them and accept them, too! I needed not to compare myself with others anymore. No need to measure up to anyone (2 Cor. 10:12): not by outward appearance, nor their success! 
I know for some this is hard to believe, especially if you don’t feel beautiful or  didn’t have a parent telling you how beautiful or special you  are. You might be thinking, “nothing is special about me”, “I’m a failure”… but let me tell you we are loved in such a way that we should...

 “See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, that we would [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” (1John 3:1)

We might not understand such love of our Father (1 John 4:19, Rom. 8:31-39), for someone like me… for someone like you. But you must only believe that through Jesus’ atoning sacrifice:

“And although you were at one time estranged and alienated and hostile-minded [toward Him], participating in evil things,  yet Christ has now reconciled you [to God] in His physical body through death, in order to present you before the Father holy and blameless and beyond reproach—…“ (Col. 1:21-23)

Only when you truly know you’re created in His image and you see yourself as He sees you; through His loving eyes, you come to appreciate and fully assume the gifts He has given you.

 “However, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”  For it is not he who commends and praises himself who is approved [by God], but it is the one whom the Lord commends and praises. “(2 Cor. 10:17-18 AMP)

 “In a word, let us glory in the Lord our salvation, and in all other things only as evidences of his love, or means of promoting his glory. Instead of praising ourselves, or seeking the praise of men, let us desire that honor which cometh from God only.” (M. Henry)

So this 2019 let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be for His Purpose!

Blessings my sisters!

Mari

1 Peter 3

Unfading Beauty

10:49 PM



“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewellery or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”
1 Peter 3:3-4 NIV

This past year has been a year of tremendous challenge for me. I have had to really examine my heart and admit to myself a stronghold of weakness. I have had to admit to and ask God for forgiveness. My realization and admission: I am vain. I have put way too much of my self worth in my outward appearance. Circumstances, however, have challenged me to come to terms with my vanity and deal with it. This year I have had to undergo treatment for a non-healing lesion on the very tip of my nose. Although the biopsy was a comfort because it ruled out cancer, the results were still concerning to my doctor because I had a thick growth of pre-cancer cells that could potentially convert to cancer. This year I have been through freezing of the lesion and 3 rounds of using chemo ointment to kill off the abnormal cells. Because I work in a public capacity, I have had to wear a mask or bandaid to cover my nose.  This has gone on for so long that I often forget unless someone asks me “ What happened to your nose.?” Although I wish I had not had to deal with this, a part of me is grateful because God has helped me to put more value on my inner worth and less on my outer. 

God tells us in the Bible that He doesn’t want us to put our identity in anything other than Him. When we interact with others, He wants the focus of others to be on the beauty of our spirit and not the adornments of our outer appearance. When I walk into a hospital room to care for a patient at work, I have learned to not be so concerned about my appearance. I don’t represent myself, I represent Christ and His service to others. And you know, people respond positively to genuine love, kindness, and concern. They respond to the love of Christ. 

Every role we have in life is an opportunity to serve and shine for Jesus. We never know how God can use us to positively impact others. The verse that I chose actually comes from a passage in the Bible talking about husbands and wives. When a wife’s inner beauty touches the heart of her unbelieving husband, it provides an opportunity for him to see Christ reflected in her character. “Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behaviour of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.”1 Peter 3:1-2
Wow, that’s powerful! I am grateful and blessed to be married to a believing husband and God has loved on me through him. No matter what changes to my outer appearance have occurred over the many years we’ve been together, I always feel that his love for me is rooted in his love for who I am as a person and not on my looks. It has been so helpful to have that kind of acceptance. That’s how God loves us and how he wants us to love each other. Who knows what seeds we may plant in the heart of a non-believer when the beauty of God's love is expressed through our love for others.

Self-image is important on many levels. God desires for us to have a healthy self-image. It’s self-defeating, however, to build your self worth on what is perishable and fleeting. If you choose to do so, you will struggle with anxieties, obsessions, disappointments and fears. When you focus, instead, on the beauty of Christ changing you from the inside, you will find the opposite occurs. God will strengthen and encourage you and reveal to you a lasting acceptance that never fades away. 
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” 2 Cor 4:16

I hope my story is encouraging to someone struggling with embarrassment or social anxieties that come from concern about outward appearance. I would love to know your experiences too.

Other verses to explore. 

Lisa Thayer

Self-Image {Romans 5:8}

12:00 AM


January 8, 2019

Image result for Romans 5:8

Do you or have you ever struggled with self-image?  I recall a time when I was at my job and a co-worker called me worthless.  It wasn't just once that I heard those words.  I heard it several more times from this person.  I kept this to myself – until now. 

I really had a difficult time going to work – for several years!  One day, this person said it again, and I’m sure the look on my face, or those prayers I had said, finally revealed to him what he was saying, and he walked up to me and said that he never meant it, he was just joking – all these years!  Really?  I spent a lot of years feeling like a crumpled up piece of paper laying in a mud puddle – discarded and never worth anything.  Worthless!

I kept going to my job every day wondering why God would make me endure this again.  Day after day.  Month after month.  Year after year.  I loved the days this person was gone because I knew I would get through the day without hearing “you’re worthless”.

Let’s do a little experiment.  Go get a twenty dollar bill, you know the new one you got from the ATM machine.  It’s a nice and crisp one.  How much is it worth?  “Ah, Lisa, it’s worth twenty dollars”, you say.  Ok, now crumple it up into a tiny ball and drop it into the toilet and let it sit there for the day.  Is it still worth it to take it out of the toilet?  Does it still have value?

Maybe this speaks more to you.  Have you ever found money laying on the ground?  How much did you find?  Was it worth the value that was printed on it when it was made?


I couldn’t always remember this when I would go to work, but I would often have this verse rattle around in my head; “So God created man in His own image.  He created him in the image of God.  He created them male and female.”  Genesis 1:27

God created us

In His image

Unfortunately, sin, our disobedience, our not believing and trusting what God said and how He is, caused us to become damaged and His image in us distorted.  We became crumpled just like the money.  We became dirty just like the money you found.


“But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for US.  Romans 5:8 (emphasis mine)


God does not just throw us away because we are no longer perfect like Him.  We matter so much to Him that Jesus came and died to provide a way back to God for us!

 
So when Satan used this co-worker to tell me I was worthless, I had to dig and discover and believe that my worth was never lost with God!  It was through believing that I learned to glory in my suffering (Romans 5:3-5). He is our loving Father waiting with open arms for us to return to Him for forgiveness and to be made new!

Hiding God's Word in our Heart

Scripture Saturday ~ Jeremiah 1:5 ~ He knows you!

12:00 AM

Saturday, January 5, 2019




Welcome to Scripture Saturday! This is the first of our scriptures to memorize for 2019!

 Like Billy Graham once observed, “Like Joseph storing up grain during the years of plenty to be used during the years of famine that lay ahead, we may store up the truths of God’s Word in our hearts as much as possible, so that we are prepared for whatever suffering we are called upon to endure.”

 My prayer is that this will be the beginning of an awesome year of storing up God’s powerful truths in our hearts!

 Jeremiah 1:5...

 I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations. (NLT)

 “God has a personal knowledge of those He has created. His love is specific and personal. He knows intimately those He loves and His knowledge is complete. From the very point of conception, a loving God is aware of what makes each person special.”

 On an index card, jot down some of your abilities and interests. Once you have made your list reflect on the fact that God gave you the particular bents and gifts you have because He wants to use them. Thank Him for the fact that He knows and understands you like no one else. (iWorship)

 Have a blessed day and week everyone!