Unique

I think sometimes we need to be reminded of just how unique and special each one of us is. We are bombarded with what we should look like, smell like, and behave like that we forget who we are. It seems that we are not to look our age as wrinkles are out. [have you seen the aisle that has all those regenerative lotions in it?] Your teeth need to be whiter so now the toothpaste aisle is overflowing with tubes that claim whiter brighter teeth! Don't even get me started on the diet selection that is available now. Belly fat, body fat, who knew there was so much fat to worry about!

I am all for personal hygiene but things are so out of hand and why? So we can look like the women on the magazine? Why are they the women we should seek to be like? We were each created by God. I don't think He created one and said "oops that doesn't look too good, or yikes that is a mistake!" No, God said that his creation of man and woman was "very good". There are so many verses in the Bible that tell us Who created each of us and why. In Jeremiah 1:5 it says, "I knew you before you were born and I designed YOU for MY purpose." How about Psalm 119:73 "I created YOU with My own hands," This one is very special, 2 Samuel 22:20, "He brought me {you} out into a spacious place, He rescued me because He DELIGHTED in me {you}" I have added the caps so you wouldn't miss what it says. God the created of all things delights in YOU. Just think about that for a moment. He doesn't think you need to look like anyone but you, and on top of that He delights in you.

I heard a pastor say  that "there is no win in comparison". We are not to compare our skills, our looks, our finances, anything to anyone else. Yes, we need to look our best, and be our best but we need to check to see who we are doing all this for. Not to impress the neighbor or anyone other that our Creator. Since He delights in you shouldn't you delight in being you? You are one of a kind, carefully and wonderfully made.

Coffee For Your Heart

 



Labels

Everything these days has a label. It seems that many have gone to the label that can't be chopped away with the scissors but is embedded into the fabric. There are no more pesky labels that scratch the skin off my neck or rub my waist raw. Instead, they are still there just not as painful as before.

We have labels that either we give to ourselves or others have so "generously" given us. Labels like ugly, bashful, not enough, lazy, uncaring you know THESE kind of labels. These are the pesky labels that scratch the skin right off our hearts and minds as they rub us back and forth through out the day.

I was watching an Andy Stanley video the other day that was talking about this very thing! {imagine God's perfect timing!}He mentioned some important things to think about. The only one that had the right to put a label on one of those T shirts or purses or whatever was the manufacturer, the owner of the product line, the one that created the product. Not the purchaser or the one looking at the product! Hmmm! Does that make you think a little deeper?

We are not our own. We are created in the image of God, He is the creator and only He has the right to "label" us. You don't have the right to even label yourself! Guess what He labeled us?

2 Corinthians 6:18

“I will be a Father to you,
    and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.”

 

Did you catch that label? He labeled us a "daughter" to the King. I think that makes us a "princess". This is one of those labels that is not something that is able to be cut out with a pair of scissors but is embedded on our hearts and minds. Why don't you toss out those "other" labels and believe the one that was given by the Creator. It is the only true one, the only one that counts! Live like  you believe the "label" given to you by God,

 His Child,

His Daughter,

His Princess!

 

Coffee for Your Heart



If Only. . .

Do you have certain things you like to read over and over again? I do. I am rereading the story of Esther. Awesome book of the Bible. If you are not familiar with it here is the short version.

There was this king who got rid of his queen because she wouldn't parade around in front of a group of drunk men with only her crown on. Then he had the kingdom send all the beautiful young girls to the palace to find a new queen. Enter Esther. She has a year of preparation! {now that is a lot of pampering} of course she is selected or the name of the book would be someone else. All is well in the kingdom until {duh duh da enter the villain} Haman enters the picture.

Now Haman is one of those guys whose cup is half empty, maybe even three quarters empty. The king thinks he is the greatest thing since sliced bread and that isn't enough for him because of this ONE guy named Mordecai who is a Jew and won't bow down to him.{God is the  only one to bow before}Now the rest of the kingdom bows before him but one man refuses. {the plot thickens}He convinces the king that all the Jews are a threat and that they should be wiped of the planet and the king who isn't paying much attention say ok do what you think is best. The date is set.

Haman is called to a banquet with the king and queen, just him, and they also want his presence the next day for another banquet! Now, he is so elated until he spies Mordecai, who still won't bow, on his way home to tell his wife about his good fortune. He moans to his wife all is terrific IF ONLY that guy Mordecai wasn't around.

I will let you read the rest for your self, it is a spell binder. Any way I was thinking about how sometimes we can be like Haman. We look in the mirror and say, IF ONLY I didn't have that . . . or we look at our lives and say IF ONLY  I was more like . . . Perhaps we look at our children and groan IF ONLY  they would . . .  { and you thought you would never identify with the villain}

If you have ever fallen into the trap of the IF ONLYS you are looking in the wrong direction. We need to look to Jesus and not ourselves. God is in charge. He created us to look exactly like we do. We are to compare ourselves to no one else. He loves you just the way you are. He adores you for that matter. Don't get caught up in thinking IF ONLY but praise God you are the ONLY one like you.

 

Coffee for Your Heart