Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Friday 02/04/2011)

Is That What You Think, Then That Is What You Are!

Proverbs 23:7 (Amplified Bible)

⁷For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. As one who reckons, he says to you, eat and drink, yet his heart is not with you [but is grudging the cost].

            I use to be ashamed of the fact that I had been married more than once.  When I was growing up there was such a stigma attached to being divorced and when I became one that was a part of this statistic I became ashamed of who I was.  I let the words of people become my destiny and become who I was.  I allowed the saying “what’s wrong with you,” to become a part of my daily thought, which set me up to take a lot of stuff off of a lot of people because my thinking was messed up.  I let the events of my life and the words of a few box me into a state of mind about myself that I in some way was unworthy, or that I was broken more than most.  I have a friend, whom I love dearly who has these dynamics going on in their life.  They assume because of things that transpired in their past that it somehow disqualifies them from having a good life filled with good things, good people and love from people that may be vastly different than they are.  What a lie that is, and it is one that so many of us buy into almost daily…

            John 3:16 says, “For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten ( unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.”  If God loves us just that much, and thought enough of us, and thought that we were valuable enough to send His son to die for us, why wouldn’t He then want us to live a good life, and have love that exemplifies His love here in the earth?  In Hebrews 2:6-7, the Bible says, “It has been solemnly and earnestly said in a certain place, What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You graciously and helpfully care for and visit and look after him?  ⁷For some little time You have ranked him lower than and inferior to the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor and set him over the works of Your hands,” If God thinks enough of us to place us over the earth and for us to have dominion here in the earth, why would He not want to entrust us with things that are good, even great? He is not a God that wants us to think less of who He made us to be.  Yes we are flesh and blood and we make mistakes, but that is what repentance, salvation and His redemptive power is about.   Who are we to think less of ourselves than God has created, fashioned or ordained us to be?  We are made in God’s image, and we are fearful and wonderfully made (Genesis 9:6; Psalms139:14).  Our past does not dictate our future and our future is not a direct result of our past. It is grace that makes us and molds us into what God desires for us.  There is a saying that every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.  We need to be mindful that God is ALWAYS in control, and what we receive and how we get it, is on him, but it is on us and the way we think of what God says about us and what we believe about ourselves.  Grace is God’s unmerited favor that means it is favor that is not earned.  There is nothing you can do if God wants to you to have it. There are responsibilities that come as a result of Him entrusting us, but it is about Him, not us!
            God loves us and He desires that we prosper even as our soul prospers.  He wants the best for us, and He knows just how to give it to us, but we have to be in the mindset to receive it.  We have to understand that no past mistake, no lifestyle, no lack of or abundance of, can dictate our worthiness; God does that all by Himself.  We have to begin to renew our mind and our thoughts; understanding that if God thinks I am worthy and that I am entitled then there is nothing anyone can say to convince me otherwise.  That is why we must know God in spirit and in truth and know the Word of God so people, and the enemy can never convince of us we are less than who God says we are and that we deserve less than what God says we deserve!