Self Acceptance

A lot has been going through my mind lately.

I want to change the way others perceive me, but that seems to be way harder than I initially thought.

I figured I could change my clothes, my make up, the way I carry my self (you know the whole pretend I am a confident and strong woman when we all know that underneath the surface I am a terrified coward bit... lol)

But it didn't matter how hard I tried to change the outside...if the inside didn't change to match it, what good was I really doing??


That's nothing more than wrapping a trash can in pretty paper and ribbons. It may look beautiful and fancy, but underneath it's still full of rotting and smelly garbage.

While processing all this the other day, I came across a book in my closet that I didn't even know I had. It was a book by Joyce Meyer titled "Discover the Joy of Being the Person God Made You to be". I decided to give it a look through. I turned to Chapter 1 (Self Acceptance) and began to read the following:
             
                  " ...I have discovered that most people really don't like themselves. This is a very big problem, much bigger than one might think initially. It is certainly not God's will for His children to feel this way. Rather it is part of Satan's attempt to ruin us.  If we don't get along with ourselves, we won't get along with other people. When we reject ourselves, it may seem to us that others reject us as well. Relationships are a vital part of our lives. How we feel about ourselves is a determining factor in our success in life and in relationships. Our self-image is the inner picture of how we carry ourselves.  If what we see is not healthy, not true to the Scriptures, we will suffer from fear, insecurity, and various misconceptions about ourselves..."

Funny how God gives you just what you need to read at precisely the moment you need to read it!
Even though I don't completely agree with everything Joyce Meyer teaches, I do agree with what she is saying in the above excerpt.

When God created the human race back in the begining with Adam and Eve, He said it was "good". He made us "good". I mean we were creating in His image for crying out loud, how could it NOT be could?

God knit each and everyone of us in the womb to be exactly who we are.
                     Jeremiah 1:5~ "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
From the time of conception (yes, life begins at the moment of conception. I don't care what the democrats tell you. But I will save that discussion for a later post) HE has had a specific plan, just for you to accomplish! WOW!

 I have caught myself from time to time thinking, "How can they (friends, family, etc.) really love me? I'm not that smart. I'm not that pretty. I'm not that funny. I can be very annoying..." and on and on listing everything I didn't see myself 'good enough' in.
I would always (and sometimes still do) tell people that I loved them, just to be able to hear them say it back. And after they would say they loved me too, I would sometimes secretly question if that was the truth or if they were just saying because they felt like they were obligated too.
And I'll tell you what, it destroyed my self-confidence and made me not want to open up to, well, anybody. I bought into the Devil's lies that the way I saw myself was the way everyone else in the world saw me as well.

And I'm sure some of you can relate to this as well. The insecurities we have end up affecting us majorly.
We feel we can't teach that class or lead that group because others don't think we are qualified.
We feel we will never have that perfect family, husband/wife, kids, and pet because we aren't attractive enough to have a boyfriend/girlfriend.
Our friends can't really love us...because we don't really love ourselves.
Then it goes even deeper...How can God possibly love us? After all we have done to Him? After all the sin we have committed?

But when you stop and think about it, the reason we seem so unworthy compared to those around us is because we are always comparing our "behind the scenes" to their "premiere show". If you could catch a glimpse of their behind the scenes, you might be shocked to see you aren't much different after all.

So when we finally get it through our thick and stubborn skulls that God loves us just the way we are, learn not to care so much about what other people think, and learn to accept ourselves the way we are...We will be able to more effectively love others and live out the plans God has for our lives.We will feel free and no longer be bound by Satan's chains of lies!

We have so much potential and can accomplish so much if we put aside what holds us back.

Today chose to look at yourself through the mirror of God's eyes, and chose to accept yourself for you and all that you can become. Because God made you perfect, and with Him at the center of your life...everything will work out just fine :)

“You must love yourself before you love another. By accepting yourself and fully being what you are, your simple presence can make others happy.”

“The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely”

“You can explore the universe looking for somebody who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and you will not find that person anywhere.”

“The greatest magnifying glasses in the world are a man's own eyes when they look upon his own person”

 Live...Laugh...Love
Until Next Time,
Racheal <3
             

Creation Cries Holy

Have you ever just taken a moment and looked at the beauty of the world that surrounds?
My best friend pointed out to me the other day , "How can anyone look at a rainbow and not know that God is real?"
This really got my attention.
There is so much around us that when we see it, we cant help but exclaim, "WOW!"



Today at work I was rocking a baby boy, not even one yet, to sleep and he was fighting it. As he slowly drifted off I sang to him and just looked at him. He had the most beautiful blue eyes and the cutest little dimple on his chin. 

The first thought that went through my mind was, "I can't wait to have one of my own."
The next thing that went through my mind was, "How can anyone look at a baby and not realize that God exists."

Not long ago I watch a video by Louie Giglio called "Indescribable".
In the video Mr. Giglio took us on a tour through space. Showing us all the awesomeness of the galaxy and and he kept asking the same question, HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW?

Out of the entire video the shot that took my breath away the most was to picture of the all seeing eye (pictured above). If you ask me, it kind of looks like God is watching us.

In another video, he took us inside the human body. It amazed me to find out that the molecular structure that holds out bodies together (laminin) is in the shape of a cross. coincidence? i think not!

The fact that people can see all of this and still claim that the world is a result of a "Big Bang" leaves me dumbfounded!

Last time I checked if you set off a bunch , of say TNT, it creates chaos...not order.
So how can you possible claim that nothing one day for no reason at all exploded and created something?

You know what, I do believe in the idea that the world began in a big bang....God spoke it and BANG it happened.

If you were at the beach and saw a beautiful and detailed sand castle, which of the following would be your reaction:

• Wow! I wonder who made that? They did a great job!  -OR-
• Wow! something must have mysteriously exploded a long time ago and formed this amazing sand castle!

 Most of us would pick reaction number one. If you picked reaction two, i may question your sanity....just saying

So why is it that when we look this amazing universe we live in, instead of seeking for the intelligent designer....why do we give the credit to an explosion? That's just crasy!

The Bible says in Romans 1:20,
               "For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse."

 When the world finally comes to an end and you stand before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords having not excepted His free gift of salvation , and He says to you "Depart from Me you work of iniquity, I never knew you."
There will be no excuses.
"But Lord! No one ever told me!"
Even that will not be an acceptable excuse in the day of judgement, because creation show the handiwork and power of a Divine and Supernatural God.

If we fail to praise Him the rocks themselves will cry out! just as we were created to sing praise to God's name, so was the trees and sky and waters.

Just listen to nature on a quiet day. Listen to the brook flowing. Listen to the wind whistling through the tree branches. Listen to the thunder the crash.Listen to the birds chirping.

Sometimes, in my opinion, nature does a better job declaring the glory of God than we do....and that's sad.
If anyone in the final day has to use the excuse they were never told, then shame on us. We aren't exactly fulfilling or purpose to share the good news with every person, are we?

Don't get so busy with life that you fail to see the beauty around you.
Next time you see a baby sleeping, the stars, the water, a rainbow...stop and take a moment to thank God for the amazing place He designed for us to live in...and take another moment to think that if this world is so amazing, just how much better is our place in Heaven that He is preparing for us going to be?

I want creation to penetrate you with so much admiration that wherever you go, the least plant may bring you the clear remembrance of the Creator. One blade of grass or one speck of dust is enough to occupy your entire mind in beholding the art with which it has been made.

Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead He set before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that?

The whole earth is a living icon of the face of God.

Live...Laugh...Love
Until Next Time,
Racheal <3

Tolerant Tongues

I'm sure most of you have heard about the controversy going down recently concerning the fast food franchise Chick-Fil-A. It seems to be popping up EVERYWHERE gaining support from people like Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin, while losing support from the Mayor of Boston and the Jim Henson Company.
It's an insane battle right now and the main question many people are asking right now is....will you continue to eat their insanely delicious sandwiches?!?!?!

But the more I read about the topic and see pictures and event invites pop up on my Facebook news feed, the more I catch myself thinking...this issue goes a whole lot deeper than it appears on the surface.

This is more than just an issue of whether or not Chick-Fil-A accepts or opposes the idea of gay marriage, because ever since the beginning of the company the owners have been clear on their spiritual stance. Right on their website it says: "Chick-fil-A is a family-owned and family-led company serving the communities in which it operates. From the day Truett Cathy started the company, he began applying biblically-based principles to managing his business. For example, we believe that closing on Sundays, operating debt-free and devoting a percentage of our profits back to our communities are what make us a stronger company and Chick-fil-A family." 


Now, when it comes to following biblical principles you can't just pick and chose which ones you want to incorporate. you can't look at the ten commandments and say, "OK, I will not murder....but it's OK to covet my neighbor's things." 
So when the company states they are following biblical principles they can't accept something that is clearly against God. Something God says is detestable. 


Leviticus 18:22 - "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable." (NIV)

Leviticus 20:13 - "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads." (NIV)


Seems pretty self explanatory doesn't it? Wait. What? Oh that's Old Testament so it doesn't apply? Well, as wrong as that statement is to begin with...here, let me give you something from the New Testament to go with it:

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 - "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (NIV).

 OK, got a little carried away there....let's leave the homosexual defense for another post....now back to what I had originally said...there is more to this debate than wether or not the company accepts or opposes the idea of gay marriage because like it said on their website, the company as been led by biblical principles since the day it opened. So why the big up roar now so many years later? I'll tell you why.

Because in the midst of an ongoing political debate over whether or not gay should have the right to marry and the world trying to re-define the word marriage...someone stepped up and stood up for what they believe in and for that reason i applaud them.

We live in a world where it seems more and more that everyone has their freedom of speech except for the Christians.

Everyone can say what they want (as long as it is politically correct).

You know what...I am sick of having to censor what I have to say because it may upset someone.
It upsets me that whenever I or another Christian brother or sister has something to say "Separation of Church and State" is automatically thrown in our faces!!
We have to be tolerant of all the bologna that comes from the liberal agenda, but when it's our turn to speak...where is their tolerance? I call double standard on those 2 faced morons.
Sorry.... are you still reading or did I offend you? You're still here? GREAT!

All it takes for evil to grow is for good men to sit and do nothing, and that's where we are at today in our world.
The church is sitting back on their hands and watching all the turmoil going on around us afraid to stand up and open their mouths because someone might call them a bigot and tell them to shut up.  But Jesus said that if you deny Him before men, He will deny you before His Father in Heaven. I certainly don't want that to happen! so.....

TELL ME TO SHUT UP! It ain't going to do any good because if I offend you with the words that come out of my mouth...I must be hitting a nerve with you and I must be doing something right.

1 Peter 3:14 - "But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened."


2 Timothy 3:12 - "In fact, all those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

Mathew 10:22- " You will be hated by everyone because of My name. But the one who endures to the end will be delivered."

 Jesus tells us that it may not be popular to follow His teachings, but we should. And to those who endure the persecution...He promises deliverance.
And as bad as it seems right now, I believe God has something great in store for the Chick-Fil-A franchises because their founder is following Christ and enduring the storms.


They are not denying service or treating any customers in a discriminatory manner. They simply exercised their freedom of speech. Those who are rallying against them don't have a problem with the company or it's founder, or even Christians...they have a problem with God.

And the best we can do as Christians is to continuely pray for them and love them.

Yes, love the people who are persecuting us.
Yes, love the homosexuals.

Because all sin is equal in the eyes of a perfect God.  The homosexual relations of the gay couple,  is just as much a sin as murder, which is just as much a sin as my little white lies.

We are not to condone the sins up others, but we also have to realize that we aren't perfect either.
We are to leave the judging up to God. We are to hate the sin, but love the sinner.
That is what Christ would want us to do.

"All that is needed for the forces of evil to succeed is for enough good men to remain silent."

"I live in America. I have the right to write whatever I want. And it's equaled by another right just as powerful: the right not to read it. Freedom of speech includes the freedom to offend people."

"If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter."

"God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs."

Live...Laugh...Love
Until Next Time, 
Racheal <3 


PS. I will be enjoying a scrumptious chicken sandwich with my friends on August 1 (Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day) :D

Control Freak

 A quote I came across recently went a little something like this...

"One good reason to pray: God can do more in one second than what we can do ourselves in a life time."

We spend days, weeks, and months planning and plotting trying to make things perfect.
 We set wheels in motion and when things begin to get off  the track we have paved we begin to become frustrated and we cry out to God.... 

"This isn't how I planned it God! What's going on? This isn't right!"

When what we should really being doing is praying to Him and saying, "I kow things may not be going the way I planned but I am giving it to you. You are omniscient, you know everything, and all things will work out according to your perfect will."

But that's hard to do sometimes, ain't it?

I know it can be.

The Bible says in Isaiah 55:8-9,

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord. 

 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts"

We have no way to completely, 100%, understand the mind of God. We have to faith in Him and believe that His ways and thoughts are not ours, but that they are better!

So many times people say they want Jesus to be like their GPS. They want to continue to drive and have full control over their life and just want Jesus to sit there and suggest to them where to go. But if you ask me, that leaves too much room for temptation. It leaves to mush of a risk for us to say, "You know what, I'm going good right now the road is smooth and the sun is shining....I don't need Your guidance." and then to turn off the machine....But what happens as soon as a storm hits and the sky grows dark? We jump straight back to the GPS turn it on and beg it to guide us back on the right path. And how much time did we waste wondering around in the dark before we admitted that we were lost?

Instead of a GPS we should just make the decision to sit back in the passenger seat and enjoy the ride with no worries. Because God knows the path on which we need to travel. He in Jeremiah that He KNOWS the plans He has for us...plans to prosper and to give us a bright future. 

If you ask me, giving up the steering wheel sounds like the better option. But sadly, we sometimes get caught up in a struggle with our own egos, we think or ourselves as strong and indestructible and fail to see just how clueless and ignorant we really are.

It all boils down to one question.... Are you willing to surrender fully to God?

I once heard it said that we are never as strong as when we admit that we are weak.

So maybe that's what we need to do. We need to stop trying to fight for our way with our meager strength and get down on our knees and fight with prayer. Because prayer is the key that unlocks the power of Christ. 

He has great and mighty plans to do amazing things in our lives and the lives of those around us, all He wants us to do is let Him do it.

And trust me, when you give up yourself and give into Him...you won't regret it and you will be glad you did.

Control is a result of being attached to a specific outcome—an outcome we’re sure is best for us, as if we always know what’s best.

The energy of surrender accomplishes much more than the energy of control.

The great irony is that attempting to control things we actually feel less in control.

Surrender = Complete acceptance of what is + Faith that all is well, even without my input. 

Live...Laugh...Love
Until Next Time, 
Racheal <3 

The Right Perspective

They say if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

Everyone has a different perspective.

If you take 2 or 3 people and send them to lay on a hill and look up at the clouds, and point to certain cloud formations and ask them "What do you see?" and have them right down the answer...I can all most guarantee you that there would be many different answers.

 And just you may have a different perspective on a topic than your friend, God has a different perspective than most of us.

When He looks at us He sees someone who He absolutely loves. He sees someone full of potential and promise. He sees "Someone Worth Dying For".

I know we talked about this topic a little in my post "Inward Vs. Outward Beauty", but it's more than just a perspective of beauty.

While other people may only see what is currently going on...
 God sees our reasoning, our motives, and the outcome we hope to gain from our actions
He sees our dreams, our fears, and our regrets.
He not only sees WHAT we do, He sees WHY we do it.
And He also sees the future, and how our present will affect our future.
He sees the whole stair case, even though we only see the first couple steps.

I guess what it all comes down to is judging. Just like you can't judge a correct ruling in a court case with out all the evidence, and you can't make an opinion on a book based on one sentence...you can't in good conscience judge someone's entire life based on what little bit you know and see. There is so much more to people than what meets the eye.
You know who they are NOW, but have no idea what they have already gone though in life to make them that way.
We are like horses with blinders on, only able to see what is directly in front of us.

Before you judge someone based on their mistakes and down falling, trying looking at them through the eyes of Christ.
Look at them with God's perspective and look at them with love and compassion.

Get to know the people and get any preconceived notions out of your head.
Your first impressions are not always correct, and to be honest your second impression may not be right either. 

If God judged us the same way we judged each other, there wouldn't be any hope for any of us!

What if we stopped thinking about why someone couldn't do something, and focus on what they could do.
If we all looked at others with the right perspective (God's perspective), how much of a nicer place would the world be?

"Judge not lest ye be not judged."

"See that boy doing his homework in homeroom? He couldn’t do it last night because he was too busy talking his best friend out of suicide. See that girl, with her face caked in make up? She’s bullied, she needs to feel beautiful. See him, the one who wears long sleeves everyday?  He covers his arms to hide the scars. See her, with the cheap, hand-me-down clothes? Her family can’t afford food for half the month, let alone get brand names. See the girl who laughs and smiles at every little thing?  She cries herself to sleep every night. Wonder why she never lets her friends over her house?  Because she’s afraid they’ll see her dad passed out drunk on the floor, as always. See how that girl cringes at rape jokes?  She was raped. See the boy who everyone goes to for advice? He wishes someone would do the same for him. See the girl who never brings a lunch? She’s disgusted by her body. See her, with the little waist?  She goes to the bathroom and forces herself to throw up so that she can keep her waist that way. See the boy over there, see the dark circles under his eyes?  He has insomnia, he fears what he’ll see in his dreams. See that girl daydreaming over there? She has schizophrenia. See the boy biting his nails?  He has cancer and he’s wondering how much time he has left. See your best friend? She’s addicted to drugs, but she can’t tell you because you wont understand. See that boy reading all about 9/11? His parents died on that day. See her, with her phone on her at all times?  She’s waiting for a call saying her sister was found after a kidnapping 4 years ago. Don’t judge."

 

Live...Laugh...Love  

Until Next Time, 

Racheal <3

Spiritual Highs

Man, that 2 day conference that just ended was amazing! The singers and speakers gave you goose bumps and the message really applied to YOU! It's like the person on stage was looking right into your soul. They had followed you around, and was basing their message on your experiences.
When it was over, you went forward and re-surrendered your life to Christ. You made a vow in front of your close group of friends that went with you that you were going to make some changes. You promised to read your Bible more often, to pray everyday, to share the Gospel with whoever you came into contact with, and even decided to step up and fill a ministry position at church. You couldn't be any happier, for once in your life you feel like everything is going just right. You feel empowered, like you can take on anything!  You feel like you and God are closer than ever and you are totally and completely in His will.


 What you are experiencing is what is referred to as a "Spiritual High"
A Spiritual High is what you get when you have 'encountered God' so to say.
You get, just like I said above, all fired up for God...but how long will it last?

By now you are back in your hotel room, packing all your things, and dreading the drive back to reality in the morning.

You will have to actually make time to study God's Word and pray.
You will be so bogged down between playing catch up on the project you were assigned at work and playing catch up with your everyday house chores (all that laundry you packed to take to the conference isn't going to wash itself, and you know no one in your family washed the clothes in the hamper while you were gone, did they?)

But you decide, nope! I'm not going to let it get to me. I will keep the promises i made while at the the conference!

Day 1 goes by, you spend 30 minutes reading you Bible and praying AND you witnessed to the lady at the grocery store. 

Day 2 goes by, another 30 minutes spent studying and praying, and you mustered up enough courage to start a conversation with that guy you work with about Christ.

Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, and so on eah day passes and each day you keep your promises and commitments until...

By the end of the first month you are starting to slip a little. Instead of 30 minutes a day you are lucky to get in 10 minutes. You begin to stop sharing your faith openly with strangers because of that man in the park who through your tract on the ground and told you he wasn't buying your crap.

You start to think to yourself, "Man, no one told me it was going to be this hard...but I gotta keep trying."

Then something happens that you weren't expecting.
Maybe it could be you lose your job,  a family member passes away, maybe you become ill and end up on the hospital, or any other number of things happen and you begin to get angry.
you say, "Lord! What's going on here? I've been faithful. I've read my Bible. I've prayed everyday. I've even led a couple people to You. Why are you letting this happen to me?"

It's at that point of desperation you have to make a decision. Do you give up and say it's not worth it, that you don't FEEL like doing this anymore? or do you buckle down and say that God has a plan and continue to fight on?

Because honestly that's exactly what your Spiritual High is, a FEELING...and that feeling isn't going to stay with you forever. It's not like you can live at a conference, now can you? As cool as that would be, I don't think it will happen...sorry to burst your bubble.

If I only did what I felt like doing, in all honesty, I probably wouldn't get much done.
The same can be said for my spiritual walk, if I only praised God and worshiped Him and did what He commanded me when I felt like it, that wouldn't do much good.

If you think about it...I'm sure Jesus didn't FEEL like being beaten, mocked, and crucified...but He did because He knew that's what He was supposed to do. He did it because He loved us.

And if He was willing to DIE for us, even when He probably didn't feel like it and even though He knew the pain He was going to have to suffer through...shouldn't we at least chose to LIVE for Him even if it may make us a teeny-weeny bit uncomfortable?

I love the line in the song "Let Everything That Has Breath" by Matt Redman that says:

"Praise You when I'm laughing
Praise You when I'm grieving
Praise You every
Season of the soul."

Does it say "Praise you when I'm laughing and forget you in the bad times"? No.

Does is say "I'll praise You when I'm feeling good and everything is going my way and turn from you when the storms hit"? No.

Does it say "Praise you at the conference when I'm feeling all the goose bumps but go straight back to my old ways when I return home to reality."? No.

Its says to praise Him when you are laughing and to praise Him when you are grieving, No matter what you are going though, you should praise Him "every season of the soul." 

It may not always be easy, but I can assure you  it will be worth it in the end when you hear the Lord say, "Well done my good and faithful servant." So what do you say....

Can you make that decision to love and follow God regardless of your feelings?


 "It's easy to praise when all is going right, but I believe true character is found through adversity"


Live...Laugh...Love
Until Next Time,
Racheal <3