Him:

Week 3 has come! By this rate I hope you know your true value and you are on the journey to being confident in who you are in Christ. Let us pray before we begin to see how we are viewed in God's eyes:

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Dear Heavenly Father:

Thank you for another day and another chance to spread Your name. Lord, continue to renew my soul and reveal to me who I am and how to share it with the world. I pray that I do not face trials alone, but to respond with Your grace and mercy. May I found beauty in weakness and flourish in Your goodness.

You are the God of gods, King of kings, and Lord of lords.

I love you always. In Jesus Name I pray;

Amen!

 

Read:

Ephesians 1:1-14

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Stop and Consider:

 

"Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes" (Verse 4, NLT).

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God. The Creator of life. The Creator of the earth. The Creator of the human race. He alone makes things beautiful. He has entrusted us with grace and courage. And He created YOU. He is YOUR dad, YOUR anchor, YOUR best friend. "For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts" (1 Thessalonians 2:4, NLT). 

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I love when Paul says, "He alone examines the motives of our hearts." Wow, no scientist can do that, that's for darn sure! He knows our temptations. Our thoughts. He knows the direction we will step into. Whether good or bad, He still pursues us and loves us. Think about it: He knows that in the future we will do something terrible, either to our neighbor or ourselves. He knows it will hurt someone but He loves us still. I know we hear that a lot and it can be cliche in the life of a Christian but this thought never seems to make sense to me, that someone would love me even though they know EVERY SINGLE THING about me. But it proves that even though we exult so much hatred and un-forgiveness to those around us, He will never do that to us. He is a God of grace, not of sense. We do not need to know the why's or how's of life because He is the why and the how. There will be a point when we will come running back to Him, when finding out He was right next to us the whole time.

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So why can't we find comfort in the unknown and in our identity? It's because of sin that our insecurities seem more powerful than knowing we are precious, desirable, pure, chosen, lovely, and valued. The world praises the young and beautiful, the talented and wealthy, the privileged and popular. With that being said, if you're not one of those traits then the world doesn't care about you? How silly this is but our world is a silly, evil place so not shock there. Now God loves the old, poor, powerless, outcast, and unwanted. He created us from the inside out NOT from the outside in. "But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9, NLT). 

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We were created to please Him and nothing else. Followed from The Christian Post, Pastor Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church, says, "God did not make you to be what somebody else wants you to be. God didn't make you to be what your parents want you to be, what your girlfriend or boyfriend wants you to be, what your spouse wants you to be or your boss or your friends want you to be." Often times it is hard to hear voices creeping inside our brains saying, "This is what success looks like," "You should major in this," "You should rethink your decision." Many times we hear these voices as well, "You should quit while you're at it," and even perceive to be someone we are not. It is all pre-judgement. For example, Mary Magdalen was a prostitute. Whenever people saw her, it was as if she had the Scarlet Letter sowed on her chest. Yet, despite her foolish ways, Jesus still hung out with her, spoke to her, and even shared meals with her. She found herself transformed and renewed by the faith which in turn saying goodbye to her old ways. Although she had changed, she was still seen as the prostitute. Now Mary had two options: 1. Allow the opinions of others define her. OR 2. Shut out the world and take in what Jesus saw her as. This is often the case for most of us today. We tend to care more about what others think rather than God. Quit that!

 

The Ultimate opinion comes from Him. There is only room for one opinion. Would you rather have someone who knows nothing about you judge you or have the One who created you judge you to increase purpose into your life? One of my mentors had posted this quote on her Facebook, inspired by Warren Wiersbe, saying, "God's love for His own is not a pampering love; it is a perfecting love. The fact that He loves us and love Him is no guarantee that we will be sheltered from the problems and pains of life. After all, the Father loves His Son to drink from the cup of sorrow and experience the shame and pain of the cross. We must never think that love and suffering are incompatible. Certainly they unite in Jesus Christ." God isn't going to pamper us into something we are not. He is going to invite us know the true essence of our beauty and the root of our personality so we can fully see Him in ourself. We need to be willing to believe what He placed deep within our hearts and shine the creation He molded us in.  The world is going to pamper us, no doubt. But that is worldly love, not eternal love! The world shows us a manipulative love that one day is pampering and the next day is judgement. It isn't consistent. 

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God has made us, "accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6). With that acceptance comes, "inheritance until redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of HIs glory" (Ephesians 1:14). If we simply hold onto the Truth about what is said about us rather than the evil, then we would save so much energy that could be used to praise and worship the One who loves us so dearly.

 

I am grateful and He is gracious. Happy Day!

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XO: Ken

 

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Devo Time:

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1. Grab a journal and a pen and write what have you believed what others have said about you?

 

2. Today, right now, what do you need to begin to become confident in yourself with?

 

3. Write a letter to someone who needs to know the essence of their true self and give it to them.

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