Joy and Peace for a Day

"Wait with me for a while. I have much to tell you.  You are walking along the path I have chosen for you.  It is both a privileged and a perilous way: experiencing My glorious Presence and heralding that reality to others.  Sometimes you feel presumptuous to be carrying out such an assignment.
Do not worry about what other people think of you.  The work I am doing in you is hidden at first.  But eventually blossoms will burst forth, and abundant fruit will be borne.  Stay on the path of Life with Me.  Trust Me wholeheartedly, letting My Spirit fill you with Joy and Peace."  (1 Kings 8:23; Galatians 5:22-23)

I read the above devotional and the only word that came to my mind was "wow."
I recently have stepped out and done what I would call "unbelievable or unimaginable" things that the Lord has lead me to do.  I have learned that I cannot do anything a part from Christ. When I do things in my own strength, it does not go well.  I have come to realize that people see things in the flesh and quickly believe in what they see; not relying on faith at all.
It is difficult to carry out assignments from God that are irrational to the world. I have learned that when I trust Him wholeheartedly, the devil will use friends and family to stir up trouble all because of God at work in my life, but God's Spirit fills me with joy and peace. The joy and peace I am given is by Him and not as this world wants to give it to me.

Are you having a hard time walking with God and carrying out he assignment He has for you?
Be of good courage and know He is doing a work in you that no one can see; not even you.  Trust in the Lord with all your being and be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do. You won't go wrong in the care of Jesus.

~Be encouraged

Skin Deep

Have you heard the saying "beauty is only skin deep?" I have. I use to believe this. We, as women, compare our looks to how other women look. We look in the mirror, find someone who is prettier and compare our outward beauty with theirs. I am a small chested woman, with tiny feet, and I am short. I didn't like it for the longest time. My self image was not equal to what the world would call beautiful. You would not, nor will you ever, find me on the cover of a famous magazine. In my past, I would use this body to get what I wanted, I was a manipulator. But one day, I found something more on the inside.
Even though I was hearing how beautiful I was, I felt like I had a piece of lump coal in the middle of my chest. One day, I had a friend ask me to pull that lump coal out and imagine God touching it with his finger or speaking the words while looking at this lump of hard, black junk in my hands, and turning it to gold. All of a sudden, my self image was changed; not physically but mentally. It is a struggle between my ears to keep thinking of myself as something beautiful.
Recently I've had someone say to me, "you are beautiful." For the first time, I can agree with an honest response; "I am beautiful."  My appearance didn't change, but my thinking process has.

You might be looking at yourself and thinking you've gained weight, hair is unmanageable, clothes are too big or too small, that girl over there looks so put together, she is beautiful and I want to look like her.
You might be looking for your spouse, your child (ren), a friend, or a family member to validate your beauty.
Yet, they cannot validate you in that way. It will not matter if you stand in a room of a hundred people and everyone of them comes up to tell you how beautiful you are. You will not believe them and it will not change you or solidify your worth.

But take a deep look inside of your soul. Look at how you treat people. Do you treat people with kindness and a smile, or do you spew venom on them with hateful or unkind words? Do you help people in need or do you step over them and tell them how lazy they are?

I have witnessed people changing their looks on the outside, but their hearts haven't changed. They are still not beautiful, it's only skin deep. Jesus loves you. He makes all things beautiful in His time. He is working on you even at this very moment. He is working on changing they piece of lump coal in the middle of your hand to a shiny, gold, beautiful gem. That gem is you.

Release all your anxiety on Jesus, allow Him to touch your soul and heart right now. You can change your outward appearance, but the inward appearance is where God makes the changes. His word is filled with love, beauty, and affirmations as to how He sees your beauty and value.  The world will tell you what you want to hear and it will make you feel good for just a moment, but God's word will tell you what you need to know and it will last your lifetime.

~Be encouraged, your King calls you beautiful because of what is on the inside and it will reflect on the outside.