An Ounce of Confidence!

As I whipped the clear glossy white nail polish, my heart started to break. Have you ever felt that you need a disguise? Or do you wear a mask to hide the real you? Have you looked into the mirror and promised yourself that you wouldn’t be that person again but somehow you are? You put loads of make-up and nail polish on your fingers? You just want to be pretty…like everyone else. You see women flaunting their bodies and you happen to think “I wish that was me.” The way they look, all glossed up from the photo shot pictures. Why can’t that be you? So you go to extreme measures to make sure you look “your absolute best”, yet you think it is still not good enough.

I have been there, and I am still there. I think that a fresh coat of nail polish solves my problems, and that a pair of skinny jeans will help me look smaller than what I really am. I lack confidence. I am going to try to be more confident in myself because I know that God created me to be beautiful. He created me to have inner beauty that shows through my outside. I am His daughter, and to me that is just simply beautiful. From this day on forward, I am going to be more confident.

I will be confident and secure about who I am.

I will be confident that God is here for me.

I will be confident to look in the mirror.

Take off the mask and walk into the light of truth. God will be holding your hand through it all.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I am sorry for cling to the things of the world to make me feel pretty. You created me so beautiful and now I will be confident. Thank you for holding my hand through it all.

In Jesus Name,

Amen!

Irregular Accepted!

This week has been full of waiting, frustrating, and most importantly healing. On Wednesday February 2^nd, 2011 I went to the doctors. Before I went I prayed that God would help me, but instead He did way more.

1) God showered His protection over me. The verse in Psalm quoted below started out my day. I read in my daily quiet time, and my heart began to feel secure. You don’t need to feel scared or afraid because God knows what is going to happen to you. No matter what, God has given His children the ultimate protection. Yes, we will go through life’s struggles but we have God through it all.

Psalm 27:1

“The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?”

2) God helped me share my light to this dark world. The doctor asked a series of questions, and my answer for every one of them was no. She told me that makes me a “good girl”. At first it bothered me. I understand what God was doing though; He was making me His light. I praise Jesus for that experience.

3) God helped me to trust in Him and taught me how to cling to Him always. Lately I have been challenged on truly trusting God. Psalm 27:14 has been so hard to put in action. On Wednesday when these Truth words reached my eyes, I felt a revival stirring in my heart. I am going to put all fourteen of these words into practice each day of my life.

Psalm 27:14

“Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.”

Dear Heavenly Father,

I pray that you will help all of those who read this blog. Lord, if their heart is broken; use it for your Kingdom. Heal those who earnestly seek your face. I pray this blog will be used as a light for You. Help them understand what You are telling them.

In Your Heavenly Name,

Amen

Out Of Stock!

Have you ever been mean to someone who did no wrong to you? Did you think about your actions before doing? Do your words hurt others? If you said yes to any of those questions, I have the honor today to introduce you to my friend who displays only the best qualities. His name is Jesus Christ. He is loving, patient, gentle, trustworthy, compassionate, joyful, and so much more. When we feel that we have run out of the “good” qualities, Jesus never will. He has an endless supply of love. He has an endless supply of hope. He has an endless supply of compassion. No matter how much you think you have done wrong Jesus forgives you when you confess it to Him. He is patiently waiting with His arms stretched out whispering “Come follow me, my child.” How beautiful this is to me.

You see I have not been the best daughter, sister, and friend lately. When I am empty He feels me with His endless supply of fruit of the Spirit. He gives me a reason to shout and dance and sing. Now it is our mission on Earth to display the fruit of the Spirit everywhere we go. Yes, it is hard but think about this: if Jesus Christ was able to endure thee worst punishment for doing nothing wrong then we can do this. As a bonus to this we have Jesus Christ by our side the whole way. He is our friend. Embrace Him today.

Galatians 5: 22-25

^“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

Let’s pray…

Dear Heavenly Father,

I pray that those who read this blog will come to you. Lord, I pray that they will embrace you just like you do to us on a daily basis. Heal those who have anger problems, or maybe just can’t say a nice word. You are so amazing Jesus because you never run out of stock on love or patience or kindness. Remove our human ways and model us into a light for the world. Father, make them a new creation displaying the fruit of the Spirit. Thank you for the opportunity to share about you.

I love you Father,

Amen

Abandoned,What Is Left of Me?

I know it is not Sunday, but there are some truths that I wanted to blog about to get off my heart.

Loneliness: feeling sad through being without friends or company (According to the Encarta Dictionary). I am living in a lonely season right now. It is so hard to wake up in the morning; I just want to crawl under my covers and cry myself to sleep. It is so hard to be around other people because I feel broken. Every morning I wake up, slap a fake smile on and pretend that is tolerable. On the inside my heart yearns for freedom; it yearns to not be lonely but accompanied. I do not know why I am lonely; all I can say is that this is the way I feel. I like to sit on my bed and get lost in thought.

Three truths that I learned about loneliness:

1) God is holding your hand through whatever you may be going. There is no problem too big for God; He already has His hand out to grasp yours. Open you palm towards His, and He will immediately be there for you.

2) God is your friend, and He will mend the pieces of you heart to fit perfectly. He will stay up late to hug you. When I feel lonely I always close my eyes and imagine God embracing His arms around me while He says “Dear child of mine, I love you so much. Be still, and let me do the talking to your soul.”

3) God will catch your tears. Crying goes along with loneliness, and it is perfectly ordinary to shed tears. In fact God wipes His sweet, gentle hand over your face every time a tear forms.

I may have all the friends and family in the world, but You are the only One for me. Father, you comfort me when I need a hug. You love me so much that you spend time with me. Thank you Abba!

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.”

I think God writes me letters of encouragement. I thought I share one that I have thought of in hopes of encouraging you.

Dear Avonlea,

You are not alone. Take my hand, grab your cross, and come follow me. I am here for you. I know the road can get tough at times, but you can do all things through me. You see dear sweet child of mine I love you so much that I walked the Earth as a man, took thrashings, and never left you. I was here for you then, and I am here for you now.

I love you with all my mind, heart, and soul Avonlea!

Measured Teacup Of Mourning!

Two deaths occurred this week that I knew were coming. Let me explain to you what happened. I was sitting in the kitchen reading my Bible when both occurred. I knew it was coming due to prior days ahead, but I took advantage of it. Now they are gone. I am talking about Sarah and Abraham from the Bible.

I became so close to Sarah, and our friendship was just blooming….until I read Genesis 23. It broke my heart when I read of her death. I wanted to cry because I knew she would not come back. And the same thing happened when I read Genesis 25. Abraham passed away, and I thought about our journey together.

Even though I never met Sarah and Abraham, I felt so connected to them when I read their story. I started pondering on what was in their story that made me bond to them.

1) God has a covenant with Abram.

* God has promised me an abundant life, and time after time saves me from the trouble that I tangle myself in.

2) The gift of transformation

* Abram and Sarai went through a transformation process, and God gave them new names to signal that they were with Him. No, my name hasn’t changed but my life has changed. I have been saved through Christ Jesus, my Father.

3) Times of testing

* I have been on this journey for the last ten years of my life, and every one of the years has blessed me with a storm. When the hard times come do not run away from God but instead run towards Him. I know that He will have His arms open wide for you, just like He did for me and Abraham.

I know that the next time I read these passages about Abraham and Sarah I will save the moments that lie ahead.