Feel like a failure?

Putting on the belt...

Hey girls! Today's post is the story of my friend Amy. Amy is an amazing, vivacious woman who is allowing God to use her in courageous ways. Her story is amazing and it's my prayer you'll be infused with hope as you read it - like I was :)

Amy says... My Lies...or what used to be my lies. 
 
I will disappoint you, because that's who I am. 
I will let you down, because that what i do. 
I will never be what you wanted me to be because I always fail. 
 
I would be the first person to tell you how much God loves and care about you, and I would believe that to be true....for you. But God doesn't love me that way. 
I never really could understand, believe, or accept His love for me. I didn't know why...I didn't think too much about it really. However, it continued to be a stumbling block for me even though I didn't know it at the time. 
I knew I wanted to know God...I knew I wanted to respect Him, honor Him, and, above all else, make Him proud. But I always felt I was falling short. 
 
One night just a few weeks ago, I was praying...and as I sat silent I felt the Lord speak directly to me - almost like he was downloading something right into my brain. 
 
He said that I could not accept His love because I felt I was a disappointment. He told me that I feel this way because of my family. He allowed me to feel the pain of their disappointment for only a moment... thoughts of so many family members thinking of me as a loser who has done nothing with her life and has little to no accomplishments to speak of. The pain was real...very raw. He allowed me to see that disappointment that my family had, so that he could show me why I feel the way I do about His love for me. I wanted to love God the way I saw other Christians loving Him. But how could I even begin to fall in love with a God I wouldn't allow to love me back? 
 
At this point I felt the Lord explain that all those things my family may have wanted me to achieve in life, were meaningless in his eyes. He called me to be me...(surprise surprise!) He said, "Where you are right now is where I want you to be." 
Wow, nothing more...nothing less. I'm not a professional anything; I don't have any fancy cars, degrees, homes, or even stories to tell...but God says, "My love is in abundance for YOU! You are right where you need to be. Those things that make you a 'somebody' in this world, don't mean anything to me."
 
I cried (ok I bawled like a baby with snot and drool too!), It was an amazing thing to feel that pain removed from me...and I didn't even know it was there! 
I know now that I AM loved. And with that I too can love! I'm still learning and growing, but its so nice to know I'm on the right path. 

Amy

Into the light...

1. Do you ever feel like a failure based on what others think (or you perceive they think) of you?

2. How do you define success and failure?

3. Are you chasing after who God wants you to be? Or are your own standards and the standards of others drawing you away from who He has called you to be?

Wielding the Sword...

Read Isaiah 42:6 - Who is it that calls you?

Read Isaiah 55:1-9 - What do these verses say about where we can find what is TRULY valuable in life? According to verses 7-9, will we find greater purpose in our own thinking? or by following God's thinking?

Read I Samuel 16:7 - How does this verse compare with what we tend to value in our culture?

Think about what Amy said - even though some may have seen her as a failure, she was right where God wanted her - and it was HIS opinion that was important. Who is God calling you to be, Warrior Princess? Are you walking in that truth? If not, ask Him to show you who He is calling you to be.

Read Isaiah 30:21 and James 1:5

I pray you walk in the truth and in joy today, sisters. You are needed. You are enough! :)

Free to Live

Putting on the belt...

So, recently a friend tuned me in to this pastor's twitter, and I started following him. Then I checked out his blog. I thought this one was SO great for us in talking about truth. Check it out and then we'll chat...

Choosing to Live

Good huh? Today is all we have. Yesterday is gone, with all of its mistakes and failures. Who knows if we'll have tomorrow to do what we KNOW we're suppose to be doing?

Stepping into the light...

1. How are the fears/lies you're under keeping you from truly living?

2. What would you do if you weren't facing those lies?

Wielding the Sword...

Read John 8:31-32 - What sets us free? Where do we find it?

Read Galatians 5:1 - Paul, here, is referring to a specific argument of legalism. For you, though, what is the "yoke of slavery" that you are burdened by? Pray and ask God to help you throw it off.

Read John 10:10 - What has the enemy stolen from you? What "fullness" is God wanting to give you if you surrender the past, your fear, your lies to Him? I linked this verse to crosswalk.com because of the study tools. Go back to the link and click on the commentaries at the right of the verse for a greater explanation of what Jesus meant by life "to the full."

Jesus wants to set us free to live. Choose to live today, sis. Be present in the battle. Love to you.

**Next post - another great personal story of truth and healing from another sister... watch for it.

Not Good Enough?

Hey, Ladies. This is a post by our friend Michelle. Michelle was brave enough to share her story with us. It's no easy task to put your heart down for everyone to read. Thanks, Michelle!

Michelle writes...

When I think through the many memories I have, I can think of many of a voice telling me "I am not good enough for......". It may have been "I am not popular enough or pretty enough to be with Jacob" (a guy I had a crush on for six years). It may have even been "I'm not smart enough to get the degree I dream of having". It may be "I am not a good mother or wife." All these thoughts have ended in me not being happy most of my life, because most of my life, I believed these lies. I do know that God's plan is already wrtitten for all of us. I believe the choices we make are based on those those plans. 

I had this lie for tweleve years. It started when I started my teenage years. I became one of the worse teenage girls a parent could ever have. The fights I had with my parents, even though most of it was my fault, I had the voice in my head saying that my parents didn't care what I said or felt. It turned me to be sucidal. I, even, ran away one night after another fight with my mother. It surfaced more when I was jealous of the realtionship my mom and my sister-in-law had. The voice in my head was letting me know I wasn't a good enough daughter for my mom, my mom had to resort to her DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. I never counted in that my mom has been close to all three of us; me and my sisters-in-law since my first sister-in-law came into the family fourteen years ago.I started to feel like I was loved when Tony came into my life five years ago. It wasn't until the Mother's Day sermon that I realized this was the lie Satan was telling me.

I am very close with my family. I have a GREAT husband, an INTELLIGENT daughter, I have 3 friends that I am close with that I trust with my life to and are awesome people who deserve the best in life. I do know I am good enough for everything.

Sincerely, 

The best mother, wife, daughter, friend, and everything else I can be,
Michelle Marcelina Martinez Cooper

Into the Light...

1. Do you struggle with the nagging feeling that you're not good enough? Not smart enough, Not beautiful enough, Not capable enough?

2. Who would be telling you that? Would the God of the universe, who created you by His own hand say such things about His own creation?

3. If God isn't saying it, then is it true?

Wielding the Sword...

Read Isaiah 42:6-8 - According to these verses, who makes us all we are called to be? Look at verse 8. Is God going to share credit? We cannot be enough on our own - but because of Jesus we are more than enough IN HIM.

Read Colossians 3:2-4 - The motivations that leaving us feeling like we're "not enough" are often human thinking rather than thinking like God. Here, Paul says we are hidden in Christ. We are not just ourselves anymore. We have the power of the Almighty God.

Read Psalm 139:13-16 - What does the psalmist say about how well God knows you? Do you believe He can complete what He has started in you?  (Read Philippians 1:6)

The TRUTH is, WITH Christ, we have the power to be made new, to be complete, to be all we were created and called to be. If you've never crossed that line of faith - confessing Jesus as your forgiver and leader of your life, you can do it right now. Just open your heart to Him. Tell Jesus you know you've been trying in your own power, that You believe He is the Son of God, that He died for you and rose again to gain victory over the wrongdoing and death that want to control you. Tell Him you want that relationship with Him. Say it like You would say it :) Then send me a comment so we can rejoice and pray with and for you. Because of Christ, we ARE enough! In Him we can walk in truth and overcome the lies. 

The Lord is with you mighty warrior... princess :)

Faith like a child?

Psalm 40 (the whole thing, but especially vs. 1-4)

Cinching the belt...

At lunch, Dax (my five-year-old) and I were talking about waiting on God to provide for our needs.

Dax - Mommy, does Jesus give people what they need right away? Or does He only help people SOMEtimes?

Mom - Well, buddy, Jesus ALWAYS give us what we NEED - but sometimes not what we WANT or WHEN we think we need it. God knows when we REALLY need things - like when I tell you you have to wait for dessert because it's not the right time - He knows what's best.

Dax - Yah... but, Mommy, one thing... Sometimes I know best too...

LOL! Isn't it typical. I mean, at first I had to acknowledge there was doubt in what I was telling my son. To be perfectly honest... in the midst of the waiting, sometimes I wonder if He'll provide THIS time! And don't Daxton's words ring true of our hearts SO often? "Jesus, one thing... Sometimes I know best TOO..."

But who are we not to trust? Even if it's a battle to do so? Who are we not to wait? Who are we not to believe? Jesus wants to come through for us, but He wants us truly trusting and waiting on HIM - not a paycheck, not a government, not a human relationship...

Into the light...

Is the enemy more likely to tempt you with the lie that a) God will not come for you/you will be abandoned? or b) That you don't need God to make things happen?

Do you have truth that you use to combat the lie?

Wielding the Sword...

1. Read Jeremiah 29:11-13 - What does God say about your future? What does He expect before you can fully understand His plan? 

2. Read John 15:4-5 - What can we do apart from Christ? Does this truly mean we can't do ANYTHING?

3. Read Psalm 18:6-19 - Is this the picture of a God who abandons His beloved? What part of this picture of God the rescuer is most compelling to you?

Even childlike faith isn't always unhindered. Faith can be a battle. God will come for us, but we only know the joy if we wait on Him, trust in Him.