Be Happy With You

  Most people live their lives trying to be like someone else.  We buy in to the pictures in the magazines that this is how we should look, or this is what the cool people are wearing.  We want to do what our favorite celebrity is doing.  We want to like the things that other people like.  We want to work harder than the next guy so he doesn't get promoted ahead of us.  We want to acquire the most toys, because he who has the most wins. We want. We desire. We lust. We envy.
  We get so busy with these wants that often times, we sacrifice our happiness to get them.  The man who works non stop to achieve that social status, may have sacrificed so many relationships along the way, that at the end of his life, there is no one there to share it with. On his dying bed, his bank account balance does not matter, he will be looking for friends and family.  The person trying to be like someone else, has spent all her time believing other peoples opinions, that she has none of her own. Her life and her worth were the words written on the page of a magazine by someone who didn't even know her.
  Did you know that God made you the way He did for a reason?  You are unique, not a cheap carbon copy of someone else.  You look the way He wants you to look.  You laugh the way He loves to hear you laugh. He mad you the right height, and the right shape. He loves you so much that you were made in His image.  He loves you so much that He knows the very number of hairs on your head.  He loves you so much that He sacrificed His son for you. He wants you to have a good life.  He wants you to have victory. Jesus came that you could have life more abundantly according to John chapter 10.
  That abundant life comes from having a relationship with our Heavenly Father. Part of that relationship is loving and honoring Him.  Love Him because He first loved you.  Honor Him for all that He did for you and gave to you.  You live where you live because he gave it to you.  You eat what He has provided for you.  You work where He wants you to. The people in your life is there because He has allowed them to be there.  Start enjoying the people and things that He has blessed you with.  Be happy and content with the you, in the the now.  Be thankful and grateful for the simple things we take for granted.  The word tells us to bless the Lord at all times. That means in the good and the bad.  When we do this, we will find that we are happier with ourselves because we know that God is in control. 
  Choose to make yourself happy from this day forward. The choice is yours.

Unattractive

Unattractive

Society plays a big part in setting standards.  The general population places values and worth on people, places, standards, and items.  For example as a society, we make and break the careers of famous people by being attracted to them and what they are doing, and then support them because they appeal to us.  A certain manufacturer may put out a line of clothing that is marketed well and we buy it because it is the new trend and it may make us look good. That sports car commercial shows how attractive the driver is to people around him because he has that vehicle, so we run out and purchase it.  Everyone wants to be attractive to someone else, whether it's a friend, a spouse or someone of interest.  People have a need to feel wanted, accepted and to eventually attached to a group or an individual that makes them feel accepted and attractive.

One of the hardest things in life is to deal with is a feeling of rejection and being made to feel unattractive.  Perhaps you have been friends with someone for a long time and you feel like there is an attraction.  You build up the courage to ask this friend out, in hopes of moving further in the relationship, then they tell you that you're not liked like that. Consider a woman who's been married for years, who's husband never has a kind word to say. No matter what she does, or how hard she tries to please him, he is not happy.  This leaves the woman feeling unattractive.  I was talking to a man the other day who after years of marriage, was told by his wife that she was not attracted to him any more.  The man was devastated, for he thought he was being a good husband, and certainly, he was attracted to her.  How does one cope with such hurt?

I find in Isaiah chapter 53, that the scriptures say:

 

"He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem."

Despite the fact that this is how we perceived our Lord and savior, He still went through with the plan of salvation.  Continuing in Isaiah 53:

 Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
    Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
    for the transgression of my people he was punished.
⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
    and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
    nor was any deceit in his mouth. 

Jesus went through all this suffering so we wouldn't have to. So we can lay down all of our hurts at the foot of the cross. We can turn to Him because He already took that unattractiveness upon the cross and gave us "beauty for ashes."

He is the friend that sticks closer than a brother. He wants to show you perfect love. He will never leave you or forsake you. And most definitely, He will never make you feel unattractive.

 

Blood of Jesus

What is blood? Blood is the specialized fluid in animals that delivers nutrients and oxygen to cells while removing waste products away from those very cells.  In essence, blood is the life force.  If there is no blood, there is no life. The scripture tells it simply in the book of Leviticus "for it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof."

Jesus came to become an atonement for the sins of mankind.  The book of Hebrews states that "without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins."  He bore our sicknesses and diseases upon that cross.  He suffered and endured the pain of the cross for you and me.  He shed His precious blood which flowed from His body as He was tortured by the Roman soldiers, and then again as His side was pierced as He hung on that tree.

Recently, I cut my hand and the blood began to flow, and as the warmth of the blood covered my hand, I was reminded of the blood of Jesus, that so preciously covers us in entirety. Thank you for Your precious blood Lord Jesus, that covers a multitude of sins. Thank you for Your blood that heals and restores. Thank you for Your precious blood that makes me whole. Thank you for Your blood which makes me an overcomer.

"And they overcame him (satan) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony." Revelation 12:11

Passion of the Christ

Today when I got home from work, I turned on the television to find that the movie The Passion of the Christ was on. It usually is on television around this time of the year, since Easter is right around the corner. So of course, I had to sit and watch, and as I did, it was though I was watching it for the first time. I saw it when it first came out in the theaters, and it was moving then just as it was today. This movie is probably the best depiction of the crucifixion that I have ever seen. What I love about this movie is the fact that they portrayed a strong Jesus.

Too many movies depict Christ as meek, when in fact He is the Lion of Judah, the Prince of Peace, the Alpha and the Omega, most of all He is the King of Kings. Remember in the gospels, Jesus went into the temple and overturned tables, drove out the money changers and declared to all that His house is a house of prayer. We serve a powerful God, not one who is weak and crucified, but One who endured the punishment of the cross with strength and love. He is a risen savior who is seated in the heavens, waiting for the opportunity to receive us into His arms.

As I watched the Passion of the Christ today, it renewed and helped to strengthen my faith even more.  I cried like a baby as I saw the punishment that Jesus went through for me.  The movie did a great job, but, I imagine the pain that Jesus endured was far more than any movie could depict. I recommend watching this movie at least once a year to help you keep your eyes focused on Jesus and what He did for us. May the Lord bless you and keep you this Easter holiday.

You Are Priceless

When we think of value, many things come to mind. Someone reading this may envision a priceless work of art, while another may think of a piece of real estate. To a child it may be the coins in the piggy bank to buy that new toy.  A college student may see value as the quality of education being received for the tuition being paid.  To a bride it may be the sentiment of the wedding dress, or the jewelry that she adorns, that has been passed down through generations.  To an investment broker on Wall Street, it may be the assets within the portfolio.  Someone facing retirement may see value as the quality of life that will be lived on his or her pension.  A pastor may see value as a set of beliefs, or even a doctrine.  

The value of someone or something depends on the perception of others and how the object is esteemed.  In other words, what is it worth to the beholder?  Or, what is the price that someone is willing to pay for the object or ideology of value?  As Americans, we know the price that was and is always being paid for our freedom.  The men and women of the armed forces, who have paid the ultimate price for a land they love so dearly, have enabled the rest of us to live in the land of the free.

As a believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ, we know the value that God the Father put on us.  He sees mankind through a special pair of glasses, much like a jeweler who determined the worth of a diamond.  As the jeweler holds the diamond and spins it around, he looks through that scope to see the formation of the gem before he determines the value.  God looks at us and says "I think I outdid myself with this one." "This one is of the highest quality, it's unique, it's priceless."

The value that God has placed on you and I, is one that cannot be measured by earthly standards.  We don't have a number system complex enough to count that high.  The greatest super computers computing for a million years couldn't figure out that value.  All the gems and minerals in the universe wouldn't equal a fraction's worth.  When God says "priceless," He means it.  That is why we were not redeemed by anything corruptible.  We were redeemed by the highest quality possible, the blood of Jesus.  The blood of Jesus covers all believers who accept Christ into their hearts, so when God looks at us, He sees His son Jesus and calls us "priceless."

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