Labled.

It's late.  I'm aware of the fact that I'm oh, so sleep deprived.  Which is probably why I just burst into tears as I read some of my old posts.  I know that most of the stuff in them was straight from God himself.

I could never have such great wisdom. 

I'd forgotten some of those valuable lessons I'd so painfully learned.  

Because I am valuable.

I am something to be treasured.

I make stupid, silly mistakes.

I am seen by God as the most beautiful of all creations.  

I am funny and witty.  

I'm a hard worker who will reach my dreams.

No one can label you. 

No one. 

You already wear the label of the king of kings! 

That is something so precious and valuable.  It cannot be snatched away in a moment like beauty or popularity can be.  It has to be removed personally. And even then you can always put it back on where it belongs.  God will always be there with open and loving arms.  

He doesn't change.

We do.

So we should proudly wear our labels.  Not the man made ones, those are cheap and dirty.

But the truly valuable one's given to you by Christ.

I am flawless.

I've always loved the saying, "Never judge a book by it's cover."  It's so simple and yet extremely complex all at the same time.  Recently I've felt like I can't really handle all that life has been throwing at me....Relationship problems, school trouble, just life.  And since I'm supposed to be mature and have everything under control, I can't show the cracks in my mask...Not until they get so big that everything just falls apart.  

I was thinking about that saying today, and really, a book is a great analogy for us.  

You never know what's on the inside until you start digging. 

On the outside it may be hard and very durable, but on the inside is something so fragile. 

 It can be torn and made dirty, and you can never make it like new again.  

We'll always carry the same scars but we don't have to let them affect us.  We have to look past our scars and past those of others so that we can really see who God intended for us to truly be.  We have to let Him heal us.  He's the greatest physician ever.  We can't get so hung up on how we look from the outside.  Cause that's not who we are anymore. 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

You are so cool.

Once upon a time, I thought that I wasn't good enough. 
Not good enough for a certain guy. 

Not good enough to be noticed. 

Then I realized. 

I am great.

No, I didn't become famous the next day, or get married to some mysterious guy (I'm too young for that anyway). 

I just realized that I'm just the way God planned for me to be. 

I still make mistakes, but He loves me in spite of them.  He wouldn't change the way I do a single thing.  Well, maybe the way I eat mayonnaise on french-fries. That just might kill me one of these days.

Back to the point.  DON'T change you! 

Sure, it's a lot easier said than done.  But next time you think you've found yourself lacking, remember this:

You are awesome. 

You are beautiful.

You are amazing.

You're you. 

 

There's nothing God would change about me, so why should I want to change me?

Envious

Envy.  

I feel like it's one of the best tricks of the devil.  

It can start out as something so small and then bloom into a bitterness that could possibly never be removed. It's something I struggle with constantly.  Whether it's because of a lack of confidence in myself, or because I'm just being greedy and selfish, it never fails to leave me wanting more.  

Last night when we were at a restaurant eating dinner, I found myself comparing myself to the girls who I though were around my age.  When I realized what I was doing I felt ashamed for I knew that it was not the attitude that a daughter of Christ should have.  Later, as I examined my heart I realized that I had let envy root and grow, I was no longer content with what I had.  

Envy: a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities, or luck.

It can be something as small as the shoes I'll be wearing.  Instead of being grateful that I have shoes, I'll compare myself to the world, and then become envious of it.  

1st John 2:16 pretty much sums up how I feel like I've been looking at everything lately, "16 For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world."  Proof that my heart needs adjusting.  

I need to adjust my attitude back to that of Jesus Christ.  For only then will the envy be pushed out of my heart.  

Galatians 5:24-26  "24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."  

Outcast

Do you ever feel like the black sheep of the crowd?  I know I do.  Or maybe the last one picked?  Yep, that's me.  Lots of times I feel like I'm in the wrong place at the wrong time and so I miss out on the opportunity to do something great.   Or I just won't have had the right amount of talent that someone was searching for.  I'll have missed the mark.  Sometimes, I'm totally fine with it.  I don't really want to get picked to perform, or to be the first to demonstrate a soccer drill that I don't really understand.  But then, I'll think about how many cool things I'm missing out on just by staying in my comfort zone, and I'll get offended that I wasn't somebodys first choice.  Which is dumb.  And really complicated.  I know that it's partially my own fault I wasn't chosen, but then I feel like people should be able to see through my timidity to see that, Hey, I'm really a pretty neat person, that actually has a bit of talent!  Let me disappoint you.  

They won't.  

But you know who does?  Jesus.  He sees me as the beautiful, talented, smart, funny, adventurous, witty, and crazy kind of person that I am.  And He loves me for it!  At the end of the day all I should need to know is that Jesus approves of everything I did.  And most days I fail Him, but He's full of second chances.

  

So you know what?  Stop acting, and start living.  Stop seeking the approval of others, and seek Jesus.  Because until you do, you can't truly be happy.  I know how you'll feel.  At the end of the day, you'll be so tired of putting up walls and putting on faces that there's nothing you'll want to do more than sleep.  Or cry.  Normally it's a tie.  

I don't want to be a hypocrite, or just seem like I'm bragging about my best qualities, because, hey, I've got a temper like no other, I can slam doors with the best of them.  Just ask my family.  The beauty of the situation is, we're human.  And like I've said, thankfully, our God is one of second (third, fourth, fifth, sixth, etc.) chances.  

So to end, I'll leave you with a quote from the great mind of Dr. Seuss,

"Today you are You, that is truer than true.  There is no one alive who is Youer than You."  

Lovely.

Just wanted to take a quick minute to post a couple of verses from my Bible reading this morning that I thought were beautiful.
  
Jude 1:24-25:  24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

This verse just filled me with joy and hope this morning and I hope it does the same for you.

The Thriving Life

The name of this post might as well be the Thriving Lie.  It seems as though our world has placed a very different definition upon the word.  Here's what the Merriam Webster Dictionary said about it, "to grow or develop successfully : to flourish or succeed."  One of the definitions was worse, "to gain in wealth or possessions".  To me that doesn't describe my picture of a thriving life.  

Whenever I hear the word Thriving, I always hear the popular phrase from the movie 13 going on 30.  In the movie all Jenna Rink wants from life on her thirteenth birthday is to be "Thirty, Flirty, and Thriving".  Then when she magically wakes up as "thirty, flirty, and thriving" she realizes it's not all it's cracked up to be.  Her thriving lifestyle is nothing that I want my life to be like, and Jenna realizes that she doesn't want hers to be that way either in the end.  

But seriously!  Why is a thriving life measured by success and wealth?  In my book, a thriving life is one where I can see the fruit of my spiritual labors.  Where I'm not just living from social event to social event.  Matthew 7:20 says, "Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."  How will we be that light for Jesus if we don't have anything to show for it?  This has been one of the harder things for me.  Every now and again I'll wake up and realize that I'm not doing anything worthwhile for God.  That I am just living for me, and for all the things that the world has placed value upon. Things like, being popular, wearing the right clothes, being in on all the latest stuff (which is a sin in itself.).  In all honesty, no one is going to remember if we wore Nike shorts or off brand ones.  Or if we scored the goal on the last soccer game.  If we were the center of attention at the last party.  It doesn't matter.  

Our life can be so meaningless.  But only if we let it get that way.