This is just a nugget I've been thinking about:
Even the most beautiful girls have ugly days, but the question is not how we avoid these days by conforming to unrealistic ideals but what we do with the days we are given and whether or not we fight for the beauty of the world's standard or the beauty of our hearts.
<3
E.C.
Thursday, 29 December 2011
Friday, 14 October 2011
Humble
Hey peeeps,
One of the MANY lessons I feel like God is bombarding me with right now is how I should not get arrogant. That doesn't mean I am and now I'm not (but I probably was or was in danger of it).
But through various things God has shown me that I really DON'T have it all together. But that's cool!
Jesus has just torn down the brick wall I've been making and just gone "Okay, so sort out your foundations and we'll begin again."
CRUSHING stuff! But being humbled (like on your knees humbled) is just the best way to be before God and despite it being uncomfortable and just so aware of how imperfect you are, God can use it to make you into something better than you were before!
What WE need to do is like Jesus told me, "sort out" the foundations. Was what we were building on before the right kind of stuff in our lives? For example, was it the good reputation we had made for ourselves? Was it the reassurance that we were popular? Was it feeling like we were beautiful? Was it because of having a good career, or good results at school?
If it was those things or anything like it, we need to tear down the walls and start over.
Imagine if you had the foundations of a house that felt secure at the time you put them there but one day the foundations simply disappeared! The house would come crashing down around you! This is what it's like with these kind of foundations in our lives. These wordly things AREN'T permanent they can just disappear sometimes! They are extremely interchangable and not reliable at all.
HOWEVER,
on the other hand we have Jesus' love. I'm sure you are aware that this is something that will NEVER EVER change! If we had our foundations just based on God's love for us, we'd have the most secure houses ever! Ever heard the story of the wise man who built his house on the rock? This is what Jesus is talking about!
So I would challenge you to not have to wait until your house comes crashing down. Tear it down yourself and bring yourself to the feet of the Father, just you and Him and let Him love you. Then use that love to begin piecing your foundations together and start again with Him by your side. It's going to be hard sometimes and it'll be challenging. But being like that with God is so special and you will NEVER regret the decision to be humbled.
E.C.
One of the MANY lessons I feel like God is bombarding me with right now is how I should not get arrogant. That doesn't mean I am and now I'm not (but I probably was or was in danger of it).
But through various things God has shown me that I really DON'T have it all together. But that's cool!
Jesus has just torn down the brick wall I've been making and just gone "Okay, so sort out your foundations and we'll begin again."
CRUSHING stuff! But being humbled (like on your knees humbled) is just the best way to be before God and despite it being uncomfortable and just so aware of how imperfect you are, God can use it to make you into something better than you were before!
What WE need to do is like Jesus told me, "sort out" the foundations. Was what we were building on before the right kind of stuff in our lives? For example, was it the good reputation we had made for ourselves? Was it the reassurance that we were popular? Was it feeling like we were beautiful? Was it because of having a good career, or good results at school?
If it was those things or anything like it, we need to tear down the walls and start over.
Imagine if you had the foundations of a house that felt secure at the time you put them there but one day the foundations simply disappeared! The house would come crashing down around you! This is what it's like with these kind of foundations in our lives. These wordly things AREN'T permanent they can just disappear sometimes! They are extremely interchangable and not reliable at all.
HOWEVER,
on the other hand we have Jesus' love. I'm sure you are aware that this is something that will NEVER EVER change! If we had our foundations just based on God's love for us, we'd have the most secure houses ever! Ever heard the story of the wise man who built his house on the rock? This is what Jesus is talking about!
So I would challenge you to not have to wait until your house comes crashing down. Tear it down yourself and bring yourself to the feet of the Father, just you and Him and let Him love you. Then use that love to begin piecing your foundations together and start again with Him by your side. It's going to be hard sometimes and it'll be challenging. But being like that with God is so special and you will NEVER regret the decision to be humbled.
E.C.
Saturday, 1 October 2011
Friday, 30 September 2011
Asking What He Says About You
Hi there,
So asking God what He says about us is pretty easy to do if we're feeling like we could believe Him. Know what I mean? Maybe you've had a really good success at something, you feel like you look great today etc.
But I think the hard thing is, is to ask Him what He thinks when you feel like at your absolute worst. It's the small quiet voice that just whispers truth in your ear that really breaks me when I'm feeling low.
God tells me "You're amazing, you're precious, you're beautiful, you're kind, you're joyful" when I might not be feeling ANY of those things!
I thought a good thing to do perhaps would be to write some of these down on some post-its (gotta love post-its!) and stick them on the side of my desk near my bed so I would see them every morning.
To be honest this was really hard because often people hate to big themselves up. And I sat there with a pen in my hand thinking "I just don't know what to write without sounding big headed" but then God said, in the way that He does, you know, :P
"You're not being big headed, you're writing truth, do you really want to alter that for the sake of seeming modest?"
So HI I was challenged. But yeah, He just gave me words and phrases about myself and I wrote them down. This was actually really encouraging and I would reccommend you do something similar :)
The crazy thing is that little list was barely a handful of the things God says about me! I cannot even comprehend xD but I think I've said this before....
ANYWAY, be encouraged, God has lots of things to say about you too!
E.C.
So asking God what He says about us is pretty easy to do if we're feeling like we could believe Him. Know what I mean? Maybe you've had a really good success at something, you feel like you look great today etc.
But I think the hard thing is, is to ask Him what He thinks when you feel like at your absolute worst. It's the small quiet voice that just whispers truth in your ear that really breaks me when I'm feeling low.
God tells me "You're amazing, you're precious, you're beautiful, you're kind, you're joyful" when I might not be feeling ANY of those things!
I thought a good thing to do perhaps would be to write some of these down on some post-its (gotta love post-its!) and stick them on the side of my desk near my bed so I would see them every morning.
To be honest this was really hard because often people hate to big themselves up. And I sat there with a pen in my hand thinking "I just don't know what to write without sounding big headed" but then God said, in the way that He does, you know, :P
"You're not being big headed, you're writing truth, do you really want to alter that for the sake of seeming modest?"
So HI I was challenged. But yeah, He just gave me words and phrases about myself and I wrote them down. This was actually really encouraging and I would reccommend you do something similar :)
The crazy thing is that little list was barely a handful of the things God says about me! I cannot even comprehend xD but I think I've said this before....
ANYWAY, be encouraged, God has lots of things to say about you too!
E.C.
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Sweeter
Hey, so one of my friends who was leading worship at a camp I was at (yep, yet another story!) introduced the band to a song called Sweeter by David Fitzgerald (check it out!) and I immediately loved the melody and everything but didn't really pay attention to the words.
But recently the song was brought back to my mind and I listened to the words and it's been stuck in my head for the past couple of days XD
Basically what I was thinking through it is how God is teaching me things and he brought it to me in a sort of picture.
So I imagine God as a LOT taller than me as you would imagine, and I'm in a crowd of people, all of whom are taller than me but not as tall as God. I'm at some form of music concert but I'm right near the back of the crowd but desperately wanting to get to the front. I begin to push my way through the crowd creating a path for myself. Now, I think that by going between these people would be the best way to get to the front. However, God who is taller and with a "higher perspective" can see that actually if I go this way I'll get to the front a better way. It's just up to me to trust Him :)
E.C.
But recently the song was brought back to my mind and I listened to the words and it's been stuck in my head for the past couple of days XD
Basically what I was thinking through it is how God is teaching me things and he brought it to me in a sort of picture.
So I imagine God as a LOT taller than me as you would imagine, and I'm in a crowd of people, all of whom are taller than me but not as tall as God. I'm at some form of music concert but I'm right near the back of the crowd but desperately wanting to get to the front. I begin to push my way through the crowd creating a path for myself. Now, I think that by going between these people would be the best way to get to the front. However, God who is taller and with a "higher perspective" can see that actually if I go this way I'll get to the front a better way. It's just up to me to trust Him :)
E.C.
Friday, 2 September 2011
He Gives Us What We Need
Hi!
This one is about God's provision so I'm going to tell you a few stories :D woop!
1. So I don't know if you've ever seen Evan Almighty? Basically there's a scene where the main character's wife is sitting in a restaurant with her three children having left her husband because he has seemingly gone a bit mad trying to build some ark. The waiter comes over and starts talking to her. She talks about her situation a little bit and they start talking about God. What she doesn't realise is, that the guy she is talking to actually is God. He says this awesome quote,
"Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?"
Such an opportunity came to me and my friend the other day to be patient. We had just made the most delicious looking carrot cake and once we had made a lot of butter icing ready to put on the cake. We knew we should wait until the cake had coolled down to put the icing on it otherwise the icing would melt, but the cake just looked so inviting and after a while we decided to put the icing on it. The cake looked nice for all of about 10 seconds until we realised that the icing was beginning to slide off the top of the cake and pool around the outside of the plate xD it didn't look so delicious then! We definitely should have waited :S
But the good thing that came out of that experience was that we would learn for next time to wait for the cake to cool down. God gave us the experience to equip us for the future! How cool??!
2. Changing the type of story now to a quick one from the Bible. I've not actually got one with me now but I will try and tell it the best I can.
There are SO MANY stories of God's provision in the Bible but I've chosen this one, not because it's better or anything but just because I really like it and it's the first one I thought of :P
It's the story of Esther. To cut a long story short, the king is looking for a wife and asks that all the beautiful "maidens" are brought to him so he can consider them to marry. Esther's uncle Mordecai, sends her forward as she is beautiful and has a gentle and intelligent personality. As you can guess Esther is picked and becomes queen. Unfortunately there is a man called Haman who is an advisor of the king. Haman has a quarrel with Mordecai and plots to get rid of him. Haman appeals to the king and asks that all the people that are the same religion to this man should be killed. Haman said that the group of people were against the king and in those days to kill people that were against the king was totally acceptable. So the King agreed unaware that it also included his wife, Esther. Mordecai got word of this plot and told Esther that she needed to do something! So Esther arranged a banquet and invited Haman along to the King and Queen's dinner table. It was there that she revealed to the King, Haman's wicked plot and that the order included killing her! In the end, Haman ended up being hung in the same gallows he had built for Mordecai.
The point is that, to do what she was called to do: save her people, Esther needed to be queen. To be queen she needed to have the right qualities for the king to want to marry her. God's plan was in it right down to the fine details. This is so comforting to know in the world today that God knows what we need and he provides us with it.
3. Again, at this camp I went to, there was a moment when I left the meeting and went to sit outside on a swing. I'd been feeling pretty emotional what with various things that had come up during the week and I just felt like I needed to sing it out. So after considering it for a while and thoroughly checking no one else was around! I started to sing my heart song to God. It was a really precious time but I didn't really feel like I was making much difference until my mind started wandering back to the meeting I was missing, There had been talk of angels and I wondered if I was missing amazing stuff happening. But then as I closed my eyes I felt God saying why to do you need to be in a meeting? I continued to worship God and as I did I felt the presence of an also worshipping angel on the swing next to me. It may have been the wind or even me having nudged it but when I opened my eyes I saw that the opposite swing was also swinging.
It was the cue I needed to keep on worshipping my Father and after it I felt completely at peace and like I had really let some things out and found a special place with God. God sent the worshipping angel down so that I would be spurred on to continue worship and just generally be with God. Perhaps if I hadn't felt that presence I may have walked away sooner?
I don't know why God sometimes does things but I can trust in Him that he totally has my back and uses it for the better :)
Just conisder any times like that in your life, you may be surprised!
E.C
This one is about God's provision so I'm going to tell you a few stories :D woop!
1. So I don't know if you've ever seen Evan Almighty? Basically there's a scene where the main character's wife is sitting in a restaurant with her three children having left her husband because he has seemingly gone a bit mad trying to build some ark. The waiter comes over and starts talking to her. She talks about her situation a little bit and they start talking about God. What she doesn't realise is, that the guy she is talking to actually is God. He says this awesome quote,
"Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?"
Such an opportunity came to me and my friend the other day to be patient. We had just made the most delicious looking carrot cake and once we had made a lot of butter icing ready to put on the cake. We knew we should wait until the cake had coolled down to put the icing on it otherwise the icing would melt, but the cake just looked so inviting and after a while we decided to put the icing on it. The cake looked nice for all of about 10 seconds until we realised that the icing was beginning to slide off the top of the cake and pool around the outside of the plate xD it didn't look so delicious then! We definitely should have waited :S
But the good thing that came out of that experience was that we would learn for next time to wait for the cake to cool down. God gave us the experience to equip us for the future! How cool??!
2. Changing the type of story now to a quick one from the Bible. I've not actually got one with me now but I will try and tell it the best I can.
There are SO MANY stories of God's provision in the Bible but I've chosen this one, not because it's better or anything but just because I really like it and it's the first one I thought of :P
It's the story of Esther. To cut a long story short, the king is looking for a wife and asks that all the beautiful "maidens" are brought to him so he can consider them to marry. Esther's uncle Mordecai, sends her forward as she is beautiful and has a gentle and intelligent personality. As you can guess Esther is picked and becomes queen. Unfortunately there is a man called Haman who is an advisor of the king. Haman has a quarrel with Mordecai and plots to get rid of him. Haman appeals to the king and asks that all the people that are the same religion to this man should be killed. Haman said that the group of people were against the king and in those days to kill people that were against the king was totally acceptable. So the King agreed unaware that it also included his wife, Esther. Mordecai got word of this plot and told Esther that she needed to do something! So Esther arranged a banquet and invited Haman along to the King and Queen's dinner table. It was there that she revealed to the King, Haman's wicked plot and that the order included killing her! In the end, Haman ended up being hung in the same gallows he had built for Mordecai.
The point is that, to do what she was called to do: save her people, Esther needed to be queen. To be queen she needed to have the right qualities for the king to want to marry her. God's plan was in it right down to the fine details. This is so comforting to know in the world today that God knows what we need and he provides us with it.
3. Again, at this camp I went to, there was a moment when I left the meeting and went to sit outside on a swing. I'd been feeling pretty emotional what with various things that had come up during the week and I just felt like I needed to sing it out. So after considering it for a while and thoroughly checking no one else was around! I started to sing my heart song to God. It was a really precious time but I didn't really feel like I was making much difference until my mind started wandering back to the meeting I was missing, There had been talk of angels and I wondered if I was missing amazing stuff happening. But then as I closed my eyes I felt God saying why to do you need to be in a meeting? I continued to worship God and as I did I felt the presence of an also worshipping angel on the swing next to me. It may have been the wind or even me having nudged it but when I opened my eyes I saw that the opposite swing was also swinging.
It was the cue I needed to keep on worshipping my Father and after it I felt completely at peace and like I had really let some things out and found a special place with God. God sent the worshipping angel down so that I would be spurred on to continue worship and just generally be with God. Perhaps if I hadn't felt that presence I may have walked away sooner?
I don't know why God sometimes does things but I can trust in Him that he totally has my back and uses it for the better :)
Just conisder any times like that in your life, you may be surprised!
E.C
Prophetic Singing
Hey there :D
So recently I've been on yet another camp but this time I was a leader, which was exciting :) I love to sing and it's something I've always been encouraged in to practise so I can worship God with it but the prophetic (basically hearing from God what He tells us to do or what is coming next) it is something I have always been a bit fearful of if I'm honest. Mainly just, "what if it's wrong, and everyone thinks I'm ungodlyor something.." etc. It sounds a bit silly but subconsicously that's what I'd be thinking and so I would hold back. Also, there's the worry that I would sound really out of tune xD which would be EMBARRASSING!
But anyway,
through various camps and stuff I would meet people and older girs/women would really challenge me to open up my mouth and just sing. It actually was really intense when you'd be closing your eyes in worship and would open them to find one of the girls with a mike under my nose ordering me to "SING!" So I was pretty scared of it xD but despite it being scary at the time I actually learnt through it not to be scared of needing to share something but just see it as God singing through me. This year was the first year I've really taken my own initiative to just get up and sing what God is telling me to sing it. And when I really listened and obeyed that's when the song would touch people and they would hear God. Also, the whole out of tune thing, doesn't really matter! One time I sang out I thought I sounded horrendous but turns out that I didn't actually sound as bad as I thought. Even if I did, it wouldn't really matter just as long as God's message had got across :)
This isn't to boast it's to encourage anyone else with a similar gifting, or even a completely different one, not to hold back because God's word is never wrong and you are definitely more than likely to bring healing to a person with the prophetic. Another example of the prophetic was, at the camp I went to, quite a few of the leaders, myself included at some points, got into the habit of prophesying over each other every night. I think it's so incredbile to get into this "culture" of prophesy. I got some words that were so spot on and you can just TELL when something is from God. Yeah to begin with its a bit scary incase you're totally wrong but most of the time you won't be, and if you are, fair enough! We learn from our mistakes :)
Happy prophesying :D
E.C.
So recently I've been on yet another camp but this time I was a leader, which was exciting :) I love to sing and it's something I've always been encouraged in to practise so I can worship God with it but the prophetic (basically hearing from God what He tells us to do or what is coming next) it is something I have always been a bit fearful of if I'm honest. Mainly just, "what if it's wrong, and everyone thinks I'm ungodlyor something.." etc. It sounds a bit silly but subconsicously that's what I'd be thinking and so I would hold back. Also, there's the worry that I would sound really out of tune xD which would be EMBARRASSING!
But anyway,
through various camps and stuff I would meet people and older girs/women would really challenge me to open up my mouth and just sing. It actually was really intense when you'd be closing your eyes in worship and would open them to find one of the girls with a mike under my nose ordering me to "SING!" So I was pretty scared of it xD but despite it being scary at the time I actually learnt through it not to be scared of needing to share something but just see it as God singing through me. This year was the first year I've really taken my own initiative to just get up and sing what God is telling me to sing it. And when I really listened and obeyed that's when the song would touch people and they would hear God. Also, the whole out of tune thing, doesn't really matter! One time I sang out I thought I sounded horrendous but turns out that I didn't actually sound as bad as I thought. Even if I did, it wouldn't really matter just as long as God's message had got across :)
This isn't to boast it's to encourage anyone else with a similar gifting, or even a completely different one, not to hold back because God's word is never wrong and you are definitely more than likely to bring healing to a person with the prophetic. Another example of the prophetic was, at the camp I went to, quite a few of the leaders, myself included at some points, got into the habit of prophesying over each other every night. I think it's so incredbile to get into this "culture" of prophesy. I got some words that were so spot on and you can just TELL when something is from God. Yeah to begin with its a bit scary incase you're totally wrong but most of the time you won't be, and if you are, fair enough! We learn from our mistakes :)
Happy prophesying :D
E.C.
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Great Verse!
Hey again, just a quick'un
Read this and loved it, something I'm gonna take with me my whole life,
"Let love and faithfulness never leave you, bind them round your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." - Proverbs 3:3
LOVE IT!
E.C.
Read this and loved it, something I'm gonna take with me my whole life,
"Let love and faithfulness never leave you, bind them round your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." - Proverbs 3:3
LOVE IT!
E.C.
A Purpose and a Plan
Hey there :)
So another thing that's been on my heart to write about is us having plans for our lives. Since before we were born since before our parents or their parents or theirs etc. were born God already knew exactly what our purpose would be. I just think that's mental! How crazy is it that there are specific things God wants us to do that only we can carry out because of the giftings and character we have been given?! Mental!
It says in Jeremiah 29:11 "The Lord says: For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." God knows these things and I used to be in a mindset that we would never know what these were until they were carried out. But recently, having gone to a camp called M:Powered, I've come to realise that actually we can enjoy discovering bits at a time with God. A quote I heard while I was there was that, to discover what our future holds and the plan God has created for us to carry out, we should look at the meanderings of our life. This basically means that all the twists and turns and good things and bad things that have brought us to the place where we are currently at could give us a clue to our future! So, say you had a really difficult family situation and you've had to learn how to communicate well with people in a conflict situation, that could signal something about what God has called you to do.
I think it's really healthy to see perhaps difficult things as a way to build your character. I know this can sometimes sound like a bit of an excuse for Christians who are trying to dismiss suffering in the world but if we are totally real and honest we can say that hard things have helped us develop as people.
The same can be said for preparing for marriage. This may sound like a strange thing to say coming from a young person who won't be getting married for a number of years but if you have members of the opposite sex you are close to for example in your family, now is a great time to learn things about them and get relationship tips sorted and grow to find ways of conflict resolution and how it is best to relate to them. Again, coming back to how useful it is to be single, these years, not only can be spent running full pelt after God but also learning and developing so that when the time for a relationship comes along in God's timing, your character is at the right place to take that step.
I just think it's amazing that God can use even the hardest situations for good. It isn't that He puts them there deliberately all the time. Sometimes He might. But I think a lot of the time, bad situations come up because God has given man free will and sometimes bad things happen. But instead of God just comforting us (which He does do excellently) but He also causes something greater than we could ever have imagined to rise from it.
To explain this practically, I heard a story of a Christian man who struggled with an addiction to gambling. God did help him to get over it and over the years he became free. However, God didn't let this go unnoticed, and now this man is involved with counselling gambling addicts himself. Because he understands the struggle he is the best man for the job! Isn't that incredible?
God wants us to live a life with no regrets. And this is not in the wordly sense of that phrase (as in, do whatever you like, you deserve pleasure! Because that is sinful and will end up hurting you in the end) But what He means by it is, that if you look back on hard times and you can see how it has helped you grow then that is the best kind of way to live.
My friend recently told me about an experience she had when she was prompted to look back on some of the hardest times of her life as if she was an observer on the outskirts of the situation. And she was asked to look for God and see where He was. She said she became really emotional when she saw that her unaware past self was stood next to God who was holding her hand throughout that rough situation. God doesn't leave us to struggle. He is always there and always has been and will be.
Sorry, I've veered off topic slightly!! But that's basically the gist of what I was wanting to say :)
E.C.
So another thing that's been on my heart to write about is us having plans for our lives. Since before we were born since before our parents or their parents or theirs etc. were born God already knew exactly what our purpose would be. I just think that's mental! How crazy is it that there are specific things God wants us to do that only we can carry out because of the giftings and character we have been given?! Mental!
It says in Jeremiah 29:11 "The Lord says: For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." God knows these things and I used to be in a mindset that we would never know what these were until they were carried out. But recently, having gone to a camp called M:Powered, I've come to realise that actually we can enjoy discovering bits at a time with God. A quote I heard while I was there was that, to discover what our future holds and the plan God has created for us to carry out, we should look at the meanderings of our life. This basically means that all the twists and turns and good things and bad things that have brought us to the place where we are currently at could give us a clue to our future! So, say you had a really difficult family situation and you've had to learn how to communicate well with people in a conflict situation, that could signal something about what God has called you to do.
I think it's really healthy to see perhaps difficult things as a way to build your character. I know this can sometimes sound like a bit of an excuse for Christians who are trying to dismiss suffering in the world but if we are totally real and honest we can say that hard things have helped us develop as people.
The same can be said for preparing for marriage. This may sound like a strange thing to say coming from a young person who won't be getting married for a number of years but if you have members of the opposite sex you are close to for example in your family, now is a great time to learn things about them and get relationship tips sorted and grow to find ways of conflict resolution and how it is best to relate to them. Again, coming back to how useful it is to be single, these years, not only can be spent running full pelt after God but also learning and developing so that when the time for a relationship comes along in God's timing, your character is at the right place to take that step.
I just think it's amazing that God can use even the hardest situations for good. It isn't that He puts them there deliberately all the time. Sometimes He might. But I think a lot of the time, bad situations come up because God has given man free will and sometimes bad things happen. But instead of God just comforting us (which He does do excellently) but He also causes something greater than we could ever have imagined to rise from it.
To explain this practically, I heard a story of a Christian man who struggled with an addiction to gambling. God did help him to get over it and over the years he became free. However, God didn't let this go unnoticed, and now this man is involved with counselling gambling addicts himself. Because he understands the struggle he is the best man for the job! Isn't that incredible?
God wants us to live a life with no regrets. And this is not in the wordly sense of that phrase (as in, do whatever you like, you deserve pleasure! Because that is sinful and will end up hurting you in the end) But what He means by it is, that if you look back on hard times and you can see how it has helped you grow then that is the best kind of way to live.
My friend recently told me about an experience she had when she was prompted to look back on some of the hardest times of her life as if she was an observer on the outskirts of the situation. And she was asked to look for God and see where He was. She said she became really emotional when she saw that her unaware past self was stood next to God who was holding her hand throughout that rough situation. God doesn't leave us to struggle. He is always there and always has been and will be.
Sorry, I've veered off topic slightly!! But that's basically the gist of what I was wanting to say :)
E.C.
Monday, 8 August 2011
What God Says About You
Hey! This is my first post so hope it goes well and is readable, haha :P
I decided to do a blog, firstly because my lovely friend started one and she is a great inspiration to me so she sort of nudged me into doing it. And then secondly, I feel like God has taught me stuff that would be valid and relevant for christian girls (and guys!) today.
My first blog is about "What God Says About You"
I realise that these days it is easy to form opinions of yourself and others that are quite negative and critiscising. The media especially, completely RIPS people apart for not being 100% perfect! Pictures of celebrity's "cellulite" magnified to enormous proportions with sarcastic and degrading captions plastered across the front pages of magazines. Is this the way we were designed to see ourselves? Never quite perfect? Always striving to become better looking?
THANKFULLY, the answer is no :)
What we all need to discover is what GOD says about us. Our heavenly Father, the Creator of everything and the All Knowing God says things about us that are true and right. We need to learn to listen and believe these things.
I have three things I wish to highlight that He says. The great thing is He says sooooo much more than this about us (His thoughts about us outnumber the grains of sand on all the beaches in the world- that's a fact) and every single thought about us is good!! So here we go...
You are pure
For some of us this can sometimes be hard to believe. There may be things in life we feel that can never be forgiven, never forgotten. Things you never want anyone to see because you are afraid that it will taint their affection for you forevermore. But God, our gracious God, sees these things. He know the deepest secrets of our hearts. Everything you ever did or ever said or even thought. He knows those things. And yet, He sees them but still loves you for them. He says, nothing you can do will make him love you less. Isn't that amazing? The reason being that when Jesus died on the cross, all of those sinful, secret, dark things were put on his shoulders. Those things don't even belong to you anymore. God has forgiven you. In Ephesians somewhere it says that we are "holy and blameless in His sight". That means we are pure. So for anyone who feels like you aren't pure, hear this, God can make you pure and whole again. You just have to accept the fact that it's who you are.
You are lovely
One thing I've been thinking about recently is what makes ME up. What do I like and not like. What are my favourite things and my least favourite. How do I prefer to learn and teach? All these things God put inside of me. Sometimes we feel like we are different and in a bad way. I know when I was 11, 12 I used to try and become like my friends. Down to tiny little things like the music I listened to and I pretended to know a certain song when I'd never heard of it in my life! Over the years I've had to learn (and I'm still learning to be honest) is to cherish what makes me different and not cover it up! If you read my "About Me" section that basically states all those things about me so I won't go into those now. But I would encourage you to think about those things about yourself and maybe write them down (that's what I would do but if you aren't that kind of person then don't, that's fine!) As we begin to discover ourselves we can also discover the best ways to communicate with God through them. You may be really outdoorsy and like creation and that's how you best get close to God. Or you may prefer solitary time in your room. Our you may love conversations with people. Either way, God LOVES those differences in you. He designed you to be unique and special. It thrills Him to see you do things you love in worship to Him. You are lovely the way you are because He made you to be. Simples.
You are beautiful
This is a biggun'! Especially in girls but this does apply to guys too. Again, the media plays a massive part in the lies we are told about ourselves. Never being good enough is not God's plan for you. God says about you that you are beautiful. This is not just about what you look like. God has created a beautiful heart inside each and everyone of us. God has put special qualities inside you that are pleasing to His eye. For example, you may be really kind. You may be caring. You may have a great passion for a certain country or people. These precious things are beautiful and should be kept safe. As easy as it is to say that and even to believe that we are beautiful on the inside it would be naive of me to suggest we should all be able to live by that even though that is the ideal situation. Firstly, when we start to discuss beauty, I'm gonna ask you this. What defines beauty? What does it mean? How do we know a person has nice eyes, nice nose and lips? I was once told it was how symmetrical your face is... To be honest I don't really get it. But where I'm going with this is that we have no real solid judge of what beauty is apart from Jesus. And God tells us we are beautiful. We are his greatest masterpiece, a work of art. Would you diss a piece of work you took hours and hours perfecting? No! You would be proud and pleased with your work. And that's how God feels about us. Not to guilt trip you at all but just to share a way that helped me, when you look in the mirror and go "YUCK!" do you think that's pleasing to God? Quite honestly I think it hurts his feelings that you are displeased with the way He created you. I know this really changed my perspective on this issue. I also think about everything God made. The stars in the sky, the ocean, the flowers, the trees. All these amazingly beautiful things. And he also made me! Wow! If we look at those and think they're beautiful then surely He must see us as that as well! Embrace your God given beauty and use it to light up the world.
Hope this has opened your eyes a little wider to what it's like to be loved :)
Later!
E.C.
I decided to do a blog, firstly because my lovely friend started one and she is a great inspiration to me so she sort of nudged me into doing it. And then secondly, I feel like God has taught me stuff that would be valid and relevant for christian girls (and guys!) today.
My first blog is about "What God Says About You"
I realise that these days it is easy to form opinions of yourself and others that are quite negative and critiscising. The media especially, completely RIPS people apart for not being 100% perfect! Pictures of celebrity's "cellulite" magnified to enormous proportions with sarcastic and degrading captions plastered across the front pages of magazines. Is this the way we were designed to see ourselves? Never quite perfect? Always striving to become better looking?
THANKFULLY, the answer is no :)
What we all need to discover is what GOD says about us. Our heavenly Father, the Creator of everything and the All Knowing God says things about us that are true and right. We need to learn to listen and believe these things.
I have three things I wish to highlight that He says. The great thing is He says sooooo much more than this about us (His thoughts about us outnumber the grains of sand on all the beaches in the world- that's a fact) and every single thought about us is good!! So here we go...
You are pure
For some of us this can sometimes be hard to believe. There may be things in life we feel that can never be forgiven, never forgotten. Things you never want anyone to see because you are afraid that it will taint their affection for you forevermore. But God, our gracious God, sees these things. He know the deepest secrets of our hearts. Everything you ever did or ever said or even thought. He knows those things. And yet, He sees them but still loves you for them. He says, nothing you can do will make him love you less. Isn't that amazing? The reason being that when Jesus died on the cross, all of those sinful, secret, dark things were put on his shoulders. Those things don't even belong to you anymore. God has forgiven you. In Ephesians somewhere it says that we are "holy and blameless in His sight". That means we are pure. So for anyone who feels like you aren't pure, hear this, God can make you pure and whole again. You just have to accept the fact that it's who you are.
You are lovely
One thing I've been thinking about recently is what makes ME up. What do I like and not like. What are my favourite things and my least favourite. How do I prefer to learn and teach? All these things God put inside of me. Sometimes we feel like we are different and in a bad way. I know when I was 11, 12 I used to try and become like my friends. Down to tiny little things like the music I listened to and I pretended to know a certain song when I'd never heard of it in my life! Over the years I've had to learn (and I'm still learning to be honest) is to cherish what makes me different and not cover it up! If you read my "About Me" section that basically states all those things about me so I won't go into those now. But I would encourage you to think about those things about yourself and maybe write them down (that's what I would do but if you aren't that kind of person then don't, that's fine!) As we begin to discover ourselves we can also discover the best ways to communicate with God through them. You may be really outdoorsy and like creation and that's how you best get close to God. Or you may prefer solitary time in your room. Our you may love conversations with people. Either way, God LOVES those differences in you. He designed you to be unique and special. It thrills Him to see you do things you love in worship to Him. You are lovely the way you are because He made you to be. Simples.
You are beautiful
This is a biggun'! Especially in girls but this does apply to guys too. Again, the media plays a massive part in the lies we are told about ourselves. Never being good enough is not God's plan for you. God says about you that you are beautiful. This is not just about what you look like. God has created a beautiful heart inside each and everyone of us. God has put special qualities inside you that are pleasing to His eye. For example, you may be really kind. You may be caring. You may have a great passion for a certain country or people. These precious things are beautiful and should be kept safe. As easy as it is to say that and even to believe that we are beautiful on the inside it would be naive of me to suggest we should all be able to live by that even though that is the ideal situation. Firstly, when we start to discuss beauty, I'm gonna ask you this. What defines beauty? What does it mean? How do we know a person has nice eyes, nice nose and lips? I was once told it was how symmetrical your face is... To be honest I don't really get it. But where I'm going with this is that we have no real solid judge of what beauty is apart from Jesus. And God tells us we are beautiful. We are his greatest masterpiece, a work of art. Would you diss a piece of work you took hours and hours perfecting? No! You would be proud and pleased with your work. And that's how God feels about us. Not to guilt trip you at all but just to share a way that helped me, when you look in the mirror and go "YUCK!" do you think that's pleasing to God? Quite honestly I think it hurts his feelings that you are displeased with the way He created you. I know this really changed my perspective on this issue. I also think about everything God made. The stars in the sky, the ocean, the flowers, the trees. All these amazingly beautiful things. And he also made me! Wow! If we look at those and think they're beautiful then surely He must see us as that as well! Embrace your God given beauty and use it to light up the world.
Hope this has opened your eyes a little wider to what it's like to be loved :)
Later!
E.C.
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