GEM

Do you see these two pictures? I sure do.

It is so hard for me to see the girl on the left because she was so unhappy and covered it up with a smile. It might not look like it, but I was wallowing in self-pity, anxiety, and some really strong demons. My mind was whirling with any bad thing you can imagine and I couldn’t tame my own thoughts, much less anything else.

It’s really challenging to share how horrible I felt about life, my circumstances and my own self-worth. And, I wish I could say this was the only time I struggled, but it would be far from the truth.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

This particular instance was around the same time that I had stopped reading my Bible, talking to God and writing GEM. I had had an experience that rocked my world and I had responded with guilt and shame.

I basically went into hiding. However, I couldn’t hide too much because I still had to be a mom, wife, daughter and friend. 

Not that I was any good at any one of them at this point.  

It was such a low point in my life and just so you know, when they talk about the “dark pit” it’s for a reason…it’s freaking dark!!!

You have put me in the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and deep. Psalms 88:6

When I look at these pictures, I see two people that are very different. And, it’s not even about my weight loss…it’s about the complete overhaul that God did in my body, mind, heart and soul.

He met me right where I was and led me to a place that I could never have dreamed I’d get to be since I couldn’t see two feet in front of me.

I can’t place my finger on the exact moment that changed my life, but I do know God placed strategic people in my life so that I could find hope again for a brighter future.

Today, I want to celebrate and at the same time encourage anyone else that may be where the person on the left used to be.

I have so much more growing and developing to do, but I am truly grateful for God lifting me out of my own “dark pit” and placing me on solid ground that is steeped in worship, prayer, praise and His Word. I will never be able to get very far without my Lord and Savior and I’m so glad that He doesn’t let me!!!

I really hope that if you find yourself in a bad place, you will look to the only ONE who can rescue you from yourself.

Some Wisdom for Today: Proverbs 27:23 – Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds….

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Perfection is a LIE. A big fat LIE.

And, perfection is exactly what almost kept me from writing this post today!!! GEEZ!!! (Insert eye roll)

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. Ecclesiastes 7:20

However, I am so glad I didn’t listen to the inner voice taunting me with all of my failures and criticisms and ended up just saying, “Screw it! This may not be perfect, but I promised myself I would publish GEM on Thursdays and I AM DOING IT!”

The issue was that I lost a ton of time and momentum from dealing with the Snow Apocalypse in Texas last week. So, I’ve spent the majority of the past four days playing catch up and making sure I tied up loose ends that did not get done last week.

With all that being said, I failed to write GEM earlier because it wasn’t a priority with the list other things on my To Do List. BOOOOO….

However, here it is at 12:45 on Thursday afternoon and I find myself with a few minutes. I struggled to decide if I should continue pushing through my list or take the time to listen for God’s prodding and write my thoughts regardless of what came out.

Clearly, I obeyed God’s calling and here I am.

I think the biggest problem I have in many areas of my life is the perfection expectations of myself. Interestingly, I don’t have high expectation for my family or friends. However, when it comes to ME…that’s a whole different story.

I have lived my life either trying to be perfect or avoiding things that I thought I wouldn’t be able to BE perfect at. As I look back at the time wasted on trying to be perfect and worse, the multitude of things I missed out on, it really breaks my heart.

It saddens me because I would never want that for my children, family or friends. I would tell them to throw perfection out the window and to do the things that intrigue them, make their heart beat faster and ultimately makes them happy. I would tell them that it didn’t matter if they succeeded or failed because they would learn something through the process.

I would never expect perfection from someone else, so why have I always expected it from myself? That’s the million-dollar question.

The truth is that life is a journey, life is messy, and life is far from perfect.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. John 16:33

Those three things are exactly what I’ve learned over the past year and I’m so grateful to be learning these life lessons that come with my past experiences and personal growth. One of the most important things I have committed to work on recently is to celebrate my progress and to stop reaching for perfection.

Jesus Christ is the ONLY human that has walked this earth in perfection. He is definitely the example we strive to emulate, but he made it clear that he makes us perfect THROUGH HIM and not by what we accomplish by ourselves.

He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him…. Colossians 1:22

We will never reach the glory of perfection until we meet our Maker face-to-face and He washes us with His Mercy and Grace.

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit…. Titus 3:5

So, in the meantime, stop telling yourself that you have to be perfect. You don’t.

Stop telling yourself that it matters what people think. It doesn’t.

Most of all, stop telling yourself that God doesn’t love you the way you are. HE DOES!

Some Wisdom for Today: Proverbs 22:11 – One who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace will have the king for a friend.

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Standing with my feet in the sand looking out across the vast ocean makes me feel very small in this very big world we live in.  It also makes me realize how little control I have as the waves roll in, the sun rises and sets, and the moon and stars shine bright above.

All of these things should make me feel insignificant since my strength is weak, my influence is limited and my beauty is marginal.  However, this is a lie that the devil tries to convince me of. 

God definitely doesn’t want us to feel unimportant because He created us, knows us intimately and loves us much more than to the moon and back!

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. Psalms 139:13-16

All too often we focus on the negativity in our lives instead of seeing God’s blessings.

Make no mistake…there are more blessings than we can count even in our darkest days.  The fact that God sent His son to die in our place says that each and every one of us is valuable in God’s eyes.

We are cherished beyond our comprehension and God wants us to live freely and abundantly during our stay on earth.

It’s fascinating to grasp the concept that He knows the number of hairs on our head and cares enough about us to want a relationship with us individually. 

WOW!  Do you know how many people live in this world?  Not to mention all the people who have lived and died before us!!  Geez…talk about feeling blessed that God even knows my name is unbelievable.

But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Matthew 10:30

Refusing to see God’s goodness in our lives only hurts us and pushes us away from God and His benefits, support and help.

God says He will never abandon us, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t turn away and walk into our own desert and leave Him behind. 

I don’t know about you, but I definitely make this decision more often than I should.

Walking by ourselves only produces loneliness, depression, and hopelessness. The lack of attention on God’s blessings drives us further into the pit of despair and creates a void that will never be filled by the things of this world.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

Ignoring the inconceivable amount of miracles that God provides us destroys our joy and creates misery that will follow us all of our days until we change our ways.

Please don’t fall into this rut!!!

God’s blessings surround us every minute of every day.  We must learn to see them and thank Him for them if we ever plan to live in the confidence of God’ love and mercy.  Then we will live with a freedom and peace that we cannot comprehend!!!

May you see God’s blessings and know you are cherished!!!

Some Wisdom for Today:  Proverbs 16:7 – When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

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As many of you know, Shark Week is one of my favorite weeks during the year.  I love learning about these amazing creatures, listening to the shark attack stories (does that make me sick?) and watching the great whites jump into the air to catch their unsuspecting prey.  There are many more things I love about this yearly documentary on the Discovery Channel, but we would be here all week.

As I was watching the fascinating shows this past week, I started thinking about how much sharks can be a metaphor for sin in our lives.  They are beautiful creatures, but if you get too close you can lose a limb.

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 2Corinthians 11:14

The truth is that sin has a funny way of quietly swimming into our lives when we least expect it.  What starts out as an innocent thought or action (even ones that aren’t sinful) can quickly become factors that turn us from our Heavenly Father.

Sin then shames us and tells us that we aren’t worthy of the Love of God.

I could spend my entire life listing the countless sins that capture us, but it would never be a comprehensive list and we all know exactly what sins we struggle with.

Unfortunately, we are a sinful human race that began back in the Garden of Eden and there will never be another perfect person that roams the world with the Love of God besides Jesus Christ.

We can try all we want to (and we definitely should do our best to stay away from sin), but we will never live up to the perfection God intended for us. The good news is that we don’t have to.

Jesus took our sin away the moment He climbed up on that cross.  He suffered so that we didn’t have to.  His blood washed our transgressions – past, present and future – away.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 1Peter 2:12  

The reason why we need to be watchful of sin in our lives is because like the sharks I love to watch, sin is captivating, charming, attractive, interesting and most of all appealing to us individually.

Plus, Satan would like nothing more than for us to sin so that he can berate us and try to convince us that God’s Word and Promises are not true.

Satan is wrapped in a lovely package and he will try to persuade us that we aren’t that bad and that certain sins may not really be sins. 

However, all we have to do is read God’s Word to know what we should and shouldn’t do. 

We may try to assure ourselves that sin won’t hurt us or derail our lives that much, but before we know it, we will be eaten alive by the sharks of sin that we provoke and get too close too.  We may lose much more than just a limb.

As scary as it is to think of our lives away from the light of God, we must remember that God says that He will forget our sin if we will ask for forgiveness and turn back to Him. 

Don’t allow Satan to convince you that you are not worthy of God’s love and mercy.

Then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Hebrews 10:17

So, the next time you sin – and you will – be sure to recognize it for what it is and ask God to forgive you and lead you into His Righteousness.

Some Wisdom for Today:  Proverbs 28:13 – Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

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