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LISTEN BETTER
I think that too often we run up to God, scream out our questions, and then leaving without staying long enough to listen, we complain we’re “not getting an answer”. STAY. Wait on the Lord. Hear what HE actually says, not just what YOU assumed you’d receive.
STOP making coffee dates with God and pretending to direct when and how He can move and interact with you.
START opening up your every moment and every sense to His plan and purpose. Shush the chit chat and be still.
Exercise: While praying, start adding words like, “anything” and “anywhere” in reference to what God might bring through you and to you today. These verbal declarations reinstill in you how unexpected the goodness of God is and just how much you trust him in carrying you all the way to the end of whatever it is He’s walking you through.
“Im completely surrendered to your perfect will, God”.
Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. Psalm 25:4-5
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LOVE YOUR BODY
It’s hard for you to really love God in seasons when you hate yourself.
STOP trying to alter your body into looking like someone else’s outside.
START making intentional steps towards making the outside of your body match the INSIDE of who you are.
Exercise: imagine two versions of yourself: the ideal version and your current version.
Big nose.small head.narrow hips.wide shoulders.uneven legs.bowed knees.short nails.bushy eyebrows.
You’ll start to make a list that instantly disqualifies one from being beautiful.
Now, imagine two precious kids standing on a stage being told one is ugly and one is not, for a list of reasons that have absolutely no eternal value whatsoever.
Go back to that first mental picture of yourself: find each imperfect thing on your list and stare at it until your judgment turns into appreciation for every time your “fat” legs have given you the opportunity to travel this beautiful planet and your “flabby” arms have held creations that make you sob with happiness. How can you find so many flaws in something there is only ONE of? There is literally no comparison. YOU ARE THE ONLY YOU.
We are like the bride in Song of Solomon 4:7
“You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.”
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” Jeremiah 1:5 (1/2)
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
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FEEL ALL THE FEELINGS
….and then vent them all out. Whoever put this idea of bringing nothing but perfection to the throne of Heaven, was not honest in their evaluation of the condition of man kind. Im completely unable to achieve something that even resembles perfection without Jesus.
So what CAN we do? Cling to positivity, measure the weight of what looks negative and fully grasp how hard it’s going to be to lift it UP and OUT of your life.
STOP telling yourself and the people around you that things are only good. (Not to say God isn’t always good–He is. But we just aren’t.)
START explaining to yourself and the people around you ONE thing that you’re fighting to improve or failing to execute. Not only does this free you from the burden of pretending to not need God’s help, but it opens doors to encourage others and to also be encouraged in complete reciprocation.
We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Romans 5:3-4
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. Psalms 34:17
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PRAISE ALWAYS
All those gaps and ditches you can’t seem to fill are the special places of emptiness only completed with JESUS.
How do we replace anxiety with stability? How do we kill off fear and plant seeds that grow confidence? How do we draw near to God when we’re running from everyone else? WE BOW, WE TURN OVER CONTROL, AND HONOR THE FATHER with nothing but worship for Him and complete focus on Him.
STOP letting your weakness and insufficiency distract you from the strength and abundance of God.
START audibly marveling over the unbelievable magnificence of God.
Exercise: say phrases like, “Thank you, Lord” and “To God be the Glory” more often. Better yet, live out the back bone of those sayings.
Before you do something bold or scary, set all eyes, ears, lights and cameras on Jesus. He is settled on the throne, always in command, and unquestionably worthy of the barely countable sum total of every good human offering we can bring.
From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised. Psalm 113:3
My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long. Psalm 71:8
Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the LORD! Psalm 134:2
