One thing that I have had a lot of issues with recently is how I view myself. I don't like to tell myself how important I think I am, or build myself up, because it breeds cockiness. Or at least, I think it can. Even so, if I did like to build myself up, I never really needed to. I always had a bunch of people telling me how much they cared for me, or they would be building me up. I have the best friends in the world, and I don't get to talk to them anymore because they have mostly all gone to college and started the beginning of their adult lives. They are gone, and I've adapted to it.
After my last year of school with them was over, I went off to Work Crew. Where I was in the same place for a month with people who did nothing but tell everyone what a good job they were all doing, because they were literally the best people ever. We all became such great friends, and even now, about 6 months after we've all been home and then some have gone to college, or their separate ways, we are all great friends. We tell each other how much we love each other all the time. I love that, because that is what makes life great. Thing is, now that I don't get to talk to them one on one very often, I have kind of lost it a little, and talking with them, let alone being able to see one of them would just make my year! I'm used to having people around me all the time to tell me good news or something.
After I got back though, it seemed everything was over.
I didn't think I had that many people who would be my real friends anymore. I had a few friends still in Roanoke, that I barely get to see, and if I do see them it's not really ever getting anywhere in which we can really get intentional with each other. We can't be as real as I'm used to, and I miss that.
Here's the thing I didn't realize then that I realize now, that I don't understand why it didn't come to me sooner.
The God that I had last year, that told me I am the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and so many other great things, was the same God at Work Crew, and even now, the same. He is not gone, so why do I still act like I need to seek man's approval? I think it's because I've fallen into the trap of taking God for granted. The fact that He died for me to be able to take away my sin. The fact He rose again 3 days later for me to be able to have a real relationship with Him. He's alive, and with me every day. I think I could really use a little refresher, and part of my problem could be that I don't really ever see our groups talking about these things anymore. I know that God's word will never fail, but I think that one of the reasons that I got through things like Work Crew and the first three years of high school is because we constantly looked into the Word to be able to see what God says He loves about us.
Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
The first sentence in that verse tells us one of the best things ever. God created us in His image. He loves us so much that we were made in His image to look like Him. Another thing he did was He gave us the entire earth to rule over. We would rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky and all the animals of the world. He trusts us enough to give us free reign over everything He just created. If that's not love, I don't know what is.
Psalm 139:13 -14, 17, 18
“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. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.”
This one of the most well known Psalms there are. It's so refreshing though. God literally was forming us while our mothers were pregnant with us. We were still be shaped by Him, before we even had a personality or and idea of what life really is. Even more, it says so in this verse that God makes more thoughts of us than He does grains of sand on the earth! I'm no math major, but there are A LOT of grains of sand. This just tells us straight up that it's a lot.
Isaiah 49:15-16
“Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.”
This is one of those verses which God tells us that even if it were possible for a mother to seriously not have any love for her own child, that He would still love us perfectly. He tells us that our names are each written on the palms of His hands. For me, that's one of the greatest things to hear.
Luke 12: 6-7
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
The Lord knows so much about us that He even knows how many hairs are on your head. For some, that might not be many, but I know at least for me, that's a lot of hair! One of the silly things, but it's still truth.
1 John 3:1
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”
If there isn't a verse that sums it all up better, this would have to be it. We are God's Children, and even though it says the people of the world don't know us, it still says that God loves us so much that He calls us His children. I think that's a win.
Romans 8:37
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us
The Lord has made us conquerors. "Of what?" you ask? Well He made us conquerors over death, because He Himself conquered in with Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. We are conquerors over the earth, becaue like I said earlier, God's people were the ones chosen to rule over the earth. We are also conquerors over sin, and the devil. Because we have Jesus Christ working in our lives, we are no longer bound by the bondage of slavery, or sin. Satan can not harm us, death can not hold us.
I just think this could definitely help someone out. I know I've needed it
No comments:
Post a Comment