The word broken rarely belongs to a positive connotation. When my bank account is empty and I realize I am "broke," I never feel spectacular. When the auto-repair man calls and says that an expensive piece on my car is "broken," joy is not an emotion present in my soul. Hearing people label my family as "broken" because my parents are divorced, does not bring peace. And having a "broken" heart over boy who will never even know or care, makes me feel insignificant. Your heart probably feels depressed and broken for me. I share with you this information, not to search for pity, but to simply reveal that brokenness affects us all and that's the truth. Being broken financially, emotionally and physically often makes us ask "WHY?" Why me? Why do i have to hurt? If there is a God, then WHY do I have so much crap to deal with? In the moments of brokenness, it's hard to see anything that's not broken. In those moments it's hard to find joy.
Believe it our not Our Heavenly Papa rejoices in our brokenness. His rejoicing is not because he is happy we are hurt, no, he is happy because brokenness is a portal to see him as a comforter and savior. In the "Sermon on The Mount," Jesus says "Blessed are those who are poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven."
Our Heavenly Papa longs for us to be joy filled and have everything we desire, but if we never experience those moments of being financially depleted or having our hearts betrayed by those we loved, we would never realize our need for a savior and a comforter. When our hearts break our Lord is there holding us, weeping with us and telling our spirits we are "blessed." A state of brokenness is not meant to be a constant, it is a stepping stone to growing deeper in love with our PAPA. When we begin to realize we are not meant to live a broken life we will begin to see the comforter and Savior that our Lord is and that we were beautifully made.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
A Beautiful Rejection
Being rejected sucks! There is no polite way of wording it- It just sucks! No one likes to wake up every day and be reminded of failures, because often that is EXACTLY what a rejection feels like. That denial letter from the school you were hoping to get into, that polite call saying, "I'm sorry you don't qualify," that talk " I love everything about you, but it's just not for me," these are all rejections that SUCK! Sitting in a pile of rejection feels as if you are sitting in a pile of you know what. In these moments it's so difficult to see the greatness our Heavenly Papa has planned for us. Rejection is the fertilizer to our insecurities, allowing them to flourish.
In the Bible, a love letter written just for us, there are countless stories of men and women who faced rejection. Jeremiah was called at birth to be a prophet of the Lord and speak to the people, but nobody followed him. Despite his failure of being heard, he remained faithful. Shadrach, Meshach and Abenego were rejected in to a fiery furnace because they refused to worship another God and because of their faithfulness the Lord rescued them. Jesus Christ, our Beautiful Savior and friend, was denied 3 times by the very apostle he poured into and to add salt to the wound he was taken to the cross to be rejected by the rest of the world. Because Jesus complied with OUR rejection, we do not have to be rejected. Rejection is inevitable, especially when you make a decision to pick up your cross daily and live for the King. When rejection comes our way may we turn to the Lord for strength and allow HIM to flourish rather than our insecurities that remind us we will never be enough. Our Heavenly Papa says we are enough and will NEVER reject our commitment to him. When we recognize that there is ALWAYS an acceptance letter waiting for us in the Kingdom of Heaven, we will begin to see we are Beautifully Made!
In the Bible, a love letter written just for us, there are countless stories of men and women who faced rejection. Jeremiah was called at birth to be a prophet of the Lord and speak to the people, but nobody followed him. Despite his failure of being heard, he remained faithful. Shadrach, Meshach and Abenego were rejected in to a fiery furnace because they refused to worship another God and because of their faithfulness the Lord rescued them. Jesus Christ, our Beautiful Savior and friend, was denied 3 times by the very apostle he poured into and to add salt to the wound he was taken to the cross to be rejected by the rest of the world. Because Jesus complied with OUR rejection, we do not have to be rejected. Rejection is inevitable, especially when you make a decision to pick up your cross daily and live for the King. When rejection comes our way may we turn to the Lord for strength and allow HIM to flourish rather than our insecurities that remind us we will never be enough. Our Heavenly Papa says we are enough and will NEVER reject our commitment to him. When we recognize that there is ALWAYS an acceptance letter waiting for us in the Kingdom of Heaven, we will begin to see we are Beautifully Made!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
A Beautiful Fall
Those days are going to happen. The days when we know we have gone against what we believe and what we are told to do. It's inevitable that we will have days we are for this world and not for our Heavenly Papa. When those days happen, you don't feel your best. I know I don't. When I have those moments I can't bear to look at myself because I don't feel very Beautiful or very worthy of my Heavenly Papa's love. I recently wrote about disappointing people and how that leaves us feeling worthless, but what hurts even more is disappointing My Heavenly Papa.
I am writing this and all i can hear in my head is "I will Always love you." Tears are falling down my face. There's that Grace and Mercy.
Our God loves us so much. He sent his one and only son to pardon our sins! We are his treasures, regardless if we feel like a treasure or not. Many of us have sins we are not proud of weather, they are in the past or in our future. We must do our best to live righteous and pure lives, but we must remember WE ARE HUMAN and because of that we have a beautiful savior to catch us when we fall. We will fall, but he will makes us pure as snow. It is impossible to live a perfect life as Jesus did, but that's what wer are called to strive for. In our striving we will have those days when we live for this world and we will need the Holy Spirit to wash us pure and when it does our hearts will be humbled and we will see that we are beautifully made.
Monday, August 1, 2011
I HATE to let people down. I don't think any one does. It's not fun to know people are disappointed at you and it's even less fun to hear the disappointment in their voice. Recently I let some dear friends of mine down and it was not a pleasant feeling. I had did my best to do a favor for them and I failed at it. The result was them feeling frustrated and angry, for good reason though. In that moment I felt less than my best. In fact very far from my best. I did not feel like a beautiful, responsible, well-put together woman. I felt the exact opposite. I was doubting my worth.
In moments where people are disappointed or angry at us it's hard to see worth in ourselves. When we feel people are throwing stones of judgment and anger at us, hurt and fear become the resonating feelings in our heart. The sad truth is this how many view our Heavenly Papa. All they can picture is mighty power holding a stone telling them in anger, "YOU DID THIS AND YOU DID THAT." Our Papa is a judge, but not like that. Because many picture this mean God they think that He is constantly angry and disappointed at us, so they are constantly living in fear or unworthiness or worse just become numb to God all together. In John 8 there is a story of Jesus that clearly shows our Papa is not wanting to throw stones.
Jesus was speaking in the Temple at Mt. Olives one day, when the pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in the act of adultery. They said to Jesus, "this woman was caught in the act, the law of Moses says we must stone her." The woman was indeed guilty and I'm sure her feelings were of embarrassment and fear, with very little self worth. Jesus responded to the pharisees, who had stones in their hands, by bending down and writing in the dust. There are many assumptions about what was written, but no one really knows. After he is done writing he stands up and says, " All right stone her. But let those who have never sinned throw the first stone," he then went back to writing in the dust. He stood up once more and the woman's accusers had scattered. It was just Jesus, the only man with the right to stone the woman, and the adulterous woman. Did he stone her? He did not! He simply said to her " Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more." THAT is our Heavenly Papa! He does not look on us with stones of disappointment and anger, he looks in our eyes with grace, love and mercy! WOW!
In our lives we are going to have many times where we let people down and they will be angry, but we must remember that their anger has nothing to do with our worth. No matter how disappointed you make some one our Heavenly Papa will look you in the eyes and say "Neither do I condemn you." When we realize that he just wants to show us Grace and Mercy, we will begin to discover that we are Beautifully Made.
In moments where people are disappointed or angry at us it's hard to see worth in ourselves. When we feel people are throwing stones of judgment and anger at us, hurt and fear become the resonating feelings in our heart. The sad truth is this how many view our Heavenly Papa. All they can picture is mighty power holding a stone telling them in anger, "YOU DID THIS AND YOU DID THAT." Our Papa is a judge, but not like that. Because many picture this mean God they think that He is constantly angry and disappointed at us, so they are constantly living in fear or unworthiness or worse just become numb to God all together. In John 8 there is a story of Jesus that clearly shows our Papa is not wanting to throw stones.
Jesus was speaking in the Temple at Mt. Olives one day, when the pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in the act of adultery. They said to Jesus, "this woman was caught in the act, the law of Moses says we must stone her." The woman was indeed guilty and I'm sure her feelings were of embarrassment and fear, with very little self worth. Jesus responded to the pharisees, who had stones in their hands, by bending down and writing in the dust. There are many assumptions about what was written, but no one really knows. After he is done writing he stands up and says, " All right stone her. But let those who have never sinned throw the first stone," he then went back to writing in the dust. He stood up once more and the woman's accusers had scattered. It was just Jesus, the only man with the right to stone the woman, and the adulterous woman. Did he stone her? He did not! He simply said to her " Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more." THAT is our Heavenly Papa! He does not look on us with stones of disappointment and anger, he looks in our eyes with grace, love and mercy! WOW!
In our lives we are going to have many times where we let people down and they will be angry, but we must remember that their anger has nothing to do with our worth. No matter how disappointed you make some one our Heavenly Papa will look you in the eyes and say "Neither do I condemn you." When we realize that he just wants to show us Grace and Mercy, we will begin to discover that we are Beautifully Made.
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