Tag Archives: healing

October 8, 2012 · 7:56 AM

Back Seat Drivers

My wife and I took a road trip this weekend. The two of us were in the front seat and our toddler was in the back seat. All throughout the trip she would talk to him, play with him and occupy him while I drove. There were a couple of times when she was playing with him when a car in front of me had braked. I too applied my break. When I did, she would look up or turn around to see a car in front of me with their brake lights on and she would let out a yelp and brace herself with the dashboard. We laughed because it was unusual for her to do that.

After doing this a couple of times, I told her, “I got this. Trust me. I knew he was going to brake and I was prepared.” I explained that I had taken defensive driving classes plenty of times (don’t ask why) and that they taught me to look 10-20 seconds ahead to where I was going. As a passenger though, she wasn’t occupied with what was ahead. She kept getting startled and scared by what kept popping up in our path because she wasn’t looking ahead. She was looking behind mostly or right in front of us.

I think a lot of us live life that way. We are either constantly looking back while our lives are moving forward or we are so concentrated on what is right ahead of us that we fail to look ahead. We get caught up when something pops up that we didn’t expect and let out a yelp. We see brake lights in our path and grab our dashboard in fear. We get preoccupied with everything around us without looking ahead to where we are going.

When we do that, I can hear God say, “I got this. Trust me. I knew this was going to happen.” Instead of trusting Him though, we become a backseat driver to Him. We tell Him He should have braked earlier. He should have warned us. We question why He’s taking this road instead of that one. We tell Him to slow down or to speed up. Our lack of trust in who He is and in the plan for our lives begins to show up when we do this.

It kind of reminds me of the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. The son who had left was returning home after he squandered all that was given to him. While he was walking, he was so concentrated on what he would say. He worried if he would be received and was practicing over and over what he would tell his dad when he got home. He was doing this so much, that he wasn’t even looking ahead. He didn’t know where he was, but his dad did. He was still a long way off when his father saw him and ran to him.

God is always looking far off ahead of us. He knows our path and His plan for our lives. While we are looking down or behind, He is looking ahead and preparing. When things happen suddenly, it may cause you to grab the dashboard and scream because you are unprepared for it, but He is not. Trust Him to do the driving His way. Just because where He is taking you doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t mean He has fallen asleep at the wheel. Trust Him with your life and try not to be a backseat driver.

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October 5, 2012 · 7:09 AM

Serving Others

My Wednesday night church class is starting a new series based on the book “Servolution” by Dino Rizzo. I’m excited about it from what I’ve heard. There is a pastor in Baton Rouge, LA who has built his church on serving others. I believe that’s how the Church should be operating anyway. Meeting people’s physical needs is what opens the door and allows us to meet their spiritual needs.

In the business world, you can’t sell a customer something until you first take care of the need they walked in the door with. The same goes for people who walk through the doors of our churches or live in our communities. If we don’t go out or help them with what is most pressing in their lives at that moment, how will they ever be open to hearing the Gospel? Please don’t think I’m implying that we “sell” the Gospel. I’m not even suggesting you try to share the Gospel right after you help them. Your actions should preach the Gospel.

When we go out and do things for others, they will want to hear what you have to say. For too long, we’ve preached with our words and not our lives. People have tried standing on street corners holding signs that tell people they are going to hell. People have protested other people’s lifestyle’s. People have stood on street corners and gone door to door to witness. What we have rarely done is love with our actions. The world will never hear our message unless we tell them with our actions. They will never see Jesus unless we live our lives like Him.

In Matthew 20:28, Jesus said that He did not come to this world to be served, but to serve. Somewhere along the line, we adopted the ideology that we are to be served and we quit serving. That’s not the precedent Jesus set. We are to love others through serving them without expecting anything in return. When your love for others is genuine, you have no ulterior motives. If you help someone and immediately start witnessing, they won’t see that as genuine. They will think you only helped them or took an interest because you wanted to witness.

When you serve, you are witnessing. You are expressing the love of Christ to others in a way that is both meaningful and real. Your actions will speak louder than your words ever will. St. Francis of Asisi once said, “Preach at all times. Use words whenever necessary.” That stands true today. Serving others is a way to preach at all times without using words. When you serve, they will want to know why.

One of Jesus’ last acts of service was to wash the disciples feet. He even washed the feet of Judas whom he knew would betray him that night. We shouldn’t serve only people who we think will treat us well. We should be serving even those who wish us harm. Romans 12:20 in the Message says, “If you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink.” How much more meaningful will it be to that person and to others watching when you serve others who may not like you?

For the Church and Christians to be effective in today’s world, we must learn to serve others unselfishly. We must give of our time and talents to others to benefit them. When we learn to do that, it will benefit the Kingdom. I’m excited to see how God changes our group, our church and others as we learn to serve. Mother Teresa said, “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Don’t look to find big things to do for others so you will get noticed. Find small things that will make a big difference to others and do it with the love of Christ. If you do, two lives will be transformed; theirs and yours.

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October 3, 2012 · 7:48 AM

Be Strong and Brave

I have an old song stuck on my head today. It says, “Be bold. Be strong. For The Lord, your God, is with you.” It’s a great reminder that no matter what you are facing today that The Lord is with you. If He is with you, then He is for you. The Scripture says that if God is for you, who can be against you? I don’t know what your facing today, but I know that God wants you to be bold and strong because He is with you.

There are times when the storm, battle or mountain that we face seem too big. It may look like it will consume you and there is no way to survive it. I assure you that you can survive it. With God on your side, how can you be defeated? I’ve learned that I may get banged up, scarred or bruised through whatever I’m facing. Just because that happens, it doesn’t mean that God is not for me or that I can’t survive it.

We were not promised that we would walk through this world without getting scars or face problems. In fact, Jesus said in John 16:33 that in this world we would have many trials. That doesn’t sound like life will be a bed of roses if we follow Jesus. He guaranteed that you will fight battles, face mountains and endure storms. The good news is that He didn’t stop the conversation there. The very next thing He said was, “Be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. (AMP)”

Yes, you are going to face some things that will seem like they will swallow you up. They may consume your every waking thought and cause you to lose sleep, but take courage, He has overcome this world and has conquered those things that seem like they’re about to conquer you. You can rest assured in the promises of God, in who He says He is and what He says He’ll do.

You don’t have to lose sleep or waste energy worrying. God sees you in your battle, He’s watching you in that storm and He’s got His watchful eye on you as you climb that mountain. He will give you the strength you need in your time of trouble. He will hear your cry from Heaven. He will come walking to you on the water while the storms of life rage in order to walk with you. If you get scars or bruised up in the process, use them for His glory. Show them proudly and let others know that when you were at your lowest, when you were beat down and when you thought you couldn’t survive another day, God came to your rescue.

Psalm 31:24 in the Message version says, “Be brave. Be strong. Don’t give up. Expect God to get here soon.” That’s exactly what I need to hear when I’m struggling and fighting what seems to be a losing battle. I love how it ends with “expect God to get here soon.” You may feel like you are fighting alone, but hang on. God is on His way. Expect Him to get there soon. It will be at just the right time and not a minute sooner. Don’t give up while waiting. Be strong and brave.

Here is the link to a YouTube video of the song mentioned at the beginning.

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October 1, 2012 · 7:50 AM

Small Details Matter to God

Do you ever find yourself trusting God with some parts of your life and not others? For me, I trust Him with the “big” things in my life, but don’t always rely on Him for the everyday mundane things. I figure He’s too busy or that there are others who have more significant problems than what little thing I’m facing today. I make my decision and move on. I don’t give a second thought to it until later when something in my life goes wrong and I start to trace it back to where it started.

Zig Ziggler said that if you take care of the small things, the big things will take care of themselves. Big things happen as a result of the small decisions we make. Knowing this should make it easier to get God involved in the “little” things in our lives. Believe it or not, God cares about the little things. He cares about the details of your life. To Him, there are no “big” things or “little” things. If it is in your life, He’s interested and wants to be involved.

I have a friend who had an important interview a couple of weeks ago. He was dressed nicely and was wearing a pink shirt. I said, “Nice touch with the pink shirt. I heard that pink denotes confidence and has a calming effect.” He replied back, “No it doesn’t. It means I don’t trust Jesus.” After asking what he meant, he explained that he had researched what to wear and found that more people say “yes” to someone wearing pink. He was more caught up in the details of what to wear than if this interview was God’s will.

He was right. There are so many areas in my life, and I’m sure in your’s too, where we don’t trust God. We get so caught up in what we can do to create a better future, to get a “yes” from an interview, to get someone to go on a date with us or to provide for our family that we leave God out of the equation. We forget that our steps are ordered of The Lord and not of ourselves. He is the one who directs our paths. Our job is to simply take the steps on that path. Somewhere along the line, we started to think that we made the path too.

When we are more concerned about the details than in trusting Him, we lose sight of what He wants to do in our lives. We get so worried about the little things that we fail to see His hand in the big picture. When my wife or I go on an interview, we always pray before hand. It typically goes like this, “God, if it’s your will for us to have this job, we trust you to make it happen. We realize that there is nothing we can do to keep us from getting it or to make us get it if it is in your will.”

By placing it in His hands, it takes the pressure off of us. I don’t have to worry about what color shirt to wear or how to style my hair. What I have to worry about is trusting God to do His thing and I just need to show up. Even if I feel like I bombed the interview, if God’s desire for me is to have that job or position, then He will make it happen. I just need to trust Him.

What areas of your life are you failing to trust Him with? What things are you doing that you think He wouldn’t be concerned with? He wants to be involved in the details of your life. There is no aspect of your life that God is not concerned with. He wants you to consult with Him and to trust Him with the little things too. He has a plan for you and failing to trust Him in the small things can result in having to trust Him to fix the big things. Let God worry about the details. Walk in faith today and trust Him.

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September 25, 2012 · 5:59 AM

God’s Faithfulness

I’m not sure why I am constantly surprised by the goodness of God. There are times where I am just caught off guard at His faithfulness. I look at my life and I see all of my short comings and wonder why God would choose to bless me and to pour out His love on me. I know that I am unworthy of any gift that He gives, yet He still opens up the windows of Heaven and pours them out.

I think that’s one of the areas where it is hard to understand God because our minds try to rationalize Him as a human with human behaviors. We know the we are spiteful and hold grudges and we expect Him to. When He doesn’t, it blows our mind. I love how the psalmist put it in Psalm 36:5 when he said that His unfailing love is as vast as the heavens and His faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. It is so deep and so wide that we can’t begin to understand it.

I always want to rationalize it and understand it rather than to accept it and abide in it. I want to break it down and figure it out instead of just trusting in it. I think David understood it. He knew of the power that God has to forgive and forget. He relied on it and knew he was in trouble without it. You wonder how can an adulterous murderer like himself be a man after God’s own heart? Well it’s because he understood God’s ability to forgive and to forget.

It’s beyond me how He does it. I try to be a man after God’s heart and I fall short. I seek to be like Him and I find I’m more like myself. I try to do what He asks and I end up doing what I want. I start off working hard to please Him, but in the end, I do what pleases me. That’s where God’s faithfulness kicks in. II Timothy 2:13 says in the Amplified version that even if we are unfaithful and untrue to Him, He remains true (faithful to His Word and His righteous character), for He cannot deny Himself.

How is that possible? How can God remain faithful and true to us when all we seem to do is our own thing rather than His? It’s who God is. He is a God who loves us more than our doubts, our mistakes, our short comings and our fears. He is patient and kind. His love knows no end and is not conditional. He is not human and is not limited like we are. Once we remove those human characteristics of who we think He is and accept His divine nature, we can begin to get a glimpse of who He really is.

There were several in the Bible like David and Paul who got a glimpse of that. I don’t think it is reserved for just them though. God wants to open Himself up to you and me and to give us a glimpse of who He is. We fight and push back because we are unworthy. I think that when we finally realize how unworthy we really are though is when He has us right where He wants us to show His faithfulness and love. Don’t push back away from it. Swim in that river of his love that is as high as the clouds and is as vast as the heavens. Accept that you aren’t worthy and trust in His love for you anyway.

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September 24, 2012 · 7:29 AM

Raw Dependence on God

Today I celebrate the ninth anniversary of hitting rock bottom in my life. I know most people may not celebrate such a day, but for me it created a raw dependence on God. Up until that point in my life my faith was something I talked about. On that day it became something I lived. When there is nothing in your life worth living for, you learn to completely depend on God.

At that moment I was broken and recognized that I had tried to live my faith and my life on my own. I couldn’t do it. I needed God’s help. God’s strength. God’s intervention to live out my life and faith. My raw dependence on God began that day and I’ve learned to trust Him ever since. I don’t celebrate the bad things that happened. I celebrate that they woke me up to the life I was meant to live.

Many of us never get to that point of raw dependence on Him. We continue living our faith on our own strength. We were not made to do that. When we try to do that, we fail. I think that’s why so many people lose their faith or refuse to trust God with their lives. They have been living under the illusion that living out their faith in God required their strength. It was never meant to be that way.

Paul said, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” He knew what it meant to have a raw dependence of God. He recognized that life in Jesus is nothing something done in our strength. It can only be Christ, who lives in us, that can accomplish that. We try and we fail every time. For most of us, we think that is just how it’s supposed to be. The problem is we weren’t made to wander in the desert. We were made to live in the promised land.

The Israelites experienced God’s grace and forgiveness when they left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea. As they began to live in their new freedom, they met with God along the way. He gave them the Ten Commandments to show them how to live. He lead them to the Promised Land to give it to them. When they looked and saw the giants ahead, they said, “We can never beat them.” They were trying to do things in their strength, not in God’s.

Out of all of them, there were only two who recognized that it was by God’s power they had been delivered from their bondage. It was nothing they did. It was God who had led them and would provide what it took to live in abundance and to overcome. They were the ones who were permitted in and reaped the rewards of all God had for them. They were the ones who knew in their strength they were nothing, but in His strength they were more than conquerors.

Many of us live our lives in the desert peering into the promised land. It scares us and that fear prevents us from experiencing all that God has for us. For many that wander in the desert of uncertainty, we think back to the life of bondage we had and remember how secure it was. I think many people who live and wander in the desert wonder about their faith and struggle with it because they aren’t experiencing what God planned for them. They want to return to the life they knew rather than to fully depend on God.

Maybe that’s you today. You always thought that God had more for you, but you feel like you are just wandering aimlessly through the desert of life. If you could live the life God wanted you to live in your own strength, it wouldn’t be faith. Romans 1:17 says, “The just shall live by faith.” It doesn’t say by their own strength, it says “by faith”. What areas of your life and faith are you trying to live out in your own strength? Trust God to do what He has done and said He will do for you. Let Him take you across Jordan into the Promised Land of all He has for you. If you do, you will celebrate that day every year too. I guarantee it!

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September 18, 2012 · 7:52 AM

Sowing Without Reaping

What kind of heritage are you leaving your family? Have you thought about that? It’s not something that you do when you are old. It’s something you accomplish with the bulk of your life. How you live now affects the future generations of your family. Each of us were handed a heritage from our parents. Some of us received a good heritage while others received a broken, empty heritage.

Whatever heritage you were given, it is your responsibility to create one for your kids. You have to be aware of the seeds you are planting in their lives. There is a Greek proverb that says, “A society grows when old men plant trees whose shade they know they’ll never sit in.” What are you planting now that you know you’ll never reap the rewards of?

That’s a tough question. For many of us, we have grown up in a world where we live for the moment and not the future. We think, “I wasn’t given anything and I made it. Why would I do anything for someone else?” At work, we always talk about setting the customer up for success. Does the customer have everything they need to be successful once they leave? I’d ask, does your family have everything they need in order to be successful once they leave the nest?

It’s not just monetary things I’m talking about here. Yes, leaving your kids the gift of financial freedom is great, but have you taught them how to manage what you’ll be giving them? If you haven’t, what you’re leaving will be gone soon. What about a spiritual inheritance? Are you leaving your kids and future generation a heritage that will last for generations? What are you teaching them with your lifestyle now that will reap rewards later? Are you just taking them to church so that someone else can teach them “what’s right” or are you teaching them a godly example at home?

It is not the church’s responsibility to teach your children about God or what it means to be a Christian. It’s your responsibility. The church’s role is to reinforce what you are showing them and to provide a group of people who are like minded to help you along the way. If you take them to church and live contrary to the teachings of the church, your child’s faith probably will not last. Actions speak louder than words.

King David left his son Solomon a heritage. David knew that God would not allow him to build the temple. David didn’t just tell Solomon he wanted him to build the temple instead. He drew up the plans and bought all the supplies to build the temple. He knew the value of planting the seeds for something he would never get to enjoy. After he gave Solomon all of the supplies and plans, he then blessed him, prayed for him and charged him to do well.

In I Chronicles 28:8-10, David gave Solomon the things he needed to be successful spiritually which is more important than setting him up monetarily. He said, “Learn to know God…, worship and serve Him…., if you seek Him you will find Him…, take this seriously because God has chosen you…., be strong and do the work.” That is an amazing charge and heritage to leave your family. If you haven’t already done so, begin to do the work of leaving a good, godly heritage for your family. You may not get to sit in the shade of the trees of heritage you plant, but your future generations will be blessed and successful because you did the work now.

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September 14, 2012 · 7:31 AM

Hymns of Glorious Praise

Lately I’ve been thinking back to my childhood and remembering what church was like back then. It wasn’t so long ago that there were pews in churches and they weren’t built for comfort either. Every church had altars at the front that were built for comfort because you would spend time on them praying. On the back of every pew was a hymnal. The name of ours was “Hymns of Glorious Praise”.

I remember being bored out of my mind in church as a child. When I was done counting the ceiling tiles (or knots in the wooden ceiling at my grandfather’s church), I would flip open that hymnal for some reading. Mostly I would flip through to see what the oldest written hymn in there was. I can’t remember the name now, but I do know it was on page 27!

All of this thinking got me to remembering the words I read on those pages and the words of the ones we sung. They were powerful words written by great men of God. I’m not saying that today’s worship songs are not powerful or written by men of God, but there was something about the hymns that made them last so long. Think about it. “Amazing Grace” was written by John Newton in 1779 yet almost everyone knows it. I can barely remember what we were singing in 1979.

So yesterday, I asked on Facebook for people to share their favorite hymn and their favorite line from it. The response I got was overwhelming. It reminded me of songs I had forgotten and brought back lots of memories. I thought I’d share some of the ones with you that were posted on my wall and either bring back some memories for you or at least let you read some powerful lyrics.

One of the favorites that was posted was “How Great Thou Art” was translated from a Swedish poem. There was one verse that stood out though. “Oh Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder consider the worlds thy hands have made; I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder – Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee, how great Thou art.” When is the last time you looked up into the sky, looked at all of creation and just worshiped God because of the awesome display of His power? We should look at it and cry out in wonder. David did in Psalm 19.

Another one, as mentioned above, was “Amazing Grace”. If you don’t know, John Newton was a sailor and a slave trader. One day while at sea, his ship sailed into a terrible storm. The ship sprung a leak and began to sink. When he called out to God for help, a piece of cargo drifted and covered the hole in the ship which stopped the leaking. He began to read scripture for the rest of that journey and accepted Jesus as his savior. He later penned the words, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch (a miserable person) like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found. Was blind, but now I see.” If you’ve accepted Christ, that’s your story too. That’s why it resonates with all of us.

The last one I’ll share is also one of my favorites. “It is Well With My Soul” was written by Horatio Spafford in 1873. He and his family were going to Europe for a trip, but he was delayed for business purposes. He sent his wife and three daughters ahead of him. On their way, their ship caught fire and sank. His wife survived, but his three daughters died. He got a telegram from his wife that said, “Saved alone.” When he sailed to meet her and passed over the spot, he was overcome emotion and wrote, “When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well with my soul.'”

I’m not sure many of us can endure what he did and respond that way. In life’s most difficult circumstances, do you call out to God, rely on God or praise Him? These men did and wrote their prayers down. I think that’s also why we relate so much to these. They are prayers that we can pray and sing from deep within our souls. With that being said, I’d like to know what’s your favorite hymn and line that you relate to?

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September 5, 2012 · 7:46 AM

Surviving the Wilderness

When I was a teenager, I was involved in a scouting program that my denomination has. One of the merits that we had to earn was the Survival badge. There were several things we had to do to get it. The last thing we had to do was to go on a survival camp out. My commander Jamie took a group of us about 45 minutes away, explained to us that we had been in an airplane crash, what the rules were and that he’d be back the next day when we gave the distress signal.

When he left, I became the oldest person in the group of teenagers. We were out in the wilderness alone. Later I would find out that Jamie wasn’t too far off. He wasn’t just going to leave a bunch of boys out in the wilderness by themselves! Thinking we were alone until morning, I got to work. I knew that we only had a certain amount of daylight left. I built a shelter, gathered wood, started a fire, pulled some string and stink bait from my survival kit, made a hook out of wood and set a line in a pond nearby.

Jamie did what God does when we are in the wilderness of life. He prepared us for what was coming. He gave us the tools we needed to be successful in a time of survival. He taught us how to trap food in the wild, clean it, cook it and how to build a shelter. God prepares us as well. When you are in the wilderness, survival is key. You need to eat spiritually. Get into God’s Word and hear His voice through scripture. Surround yourself with others who can help you survive. They will be your shelter.

The next thing Jamie did was to take us to the wilderness to test us and to show we learned what he had taught us. God allows us time in the wilderness to put into action what we have learned. In Matthew 4:1, the Bible says that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted, tested and tried. God knows that when you put into practice the knowledge you have been given, it becomes skill. In those times, God proves to you that you can survive with Him.

While we were in the wilderness of East Texas, we felt alone out there. That’s true of us when we go through things in life. It can seem like God is no where near us and that we are left to survive without Him. That’s not the case though. Just like Jamie was for us, God is near by and is watching you, keeping you safe and making sure you are taken care of. It may not feel like it, but He is there. He sees you, He’s prepared you and now He’s watching over you.

The last thing Jamie said before he left was that when we had survived the night, we needed to send up a distress signal and he would come for us. God knows you can survive the night in the wilderness and is waiting for you to signal Him to come rescue you. In Psalm 91:14,15 the Lord says, “When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue them.” He made that promise to you.

If you are in the wilderness today and are trying to survive, know that God has given you what you need to survive. He has given you shelter (Psalm 91:1). He has given you the tools to survive (Psalm 119:105). He is right there with you. He will not leave you nor forsake (abandon) you (Hebrews 13:5). When you have survived the night with His help, He will come to you and minister to you. You are not alone. You can and will survive this.

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September 4, 2012 · 10:32 AM

Raise someone to life

“You are not a failure.” Those were the words my brother spoke to me at one of the lowest points in my life. When my world came crashing down and everything I had done fell like a house of cards, I felt like a failure. His words to me changed what I thought about myself. He saw beyond the temporary circumstances that I was facing and spoke to who I was.

Proverbs 18:21 says that death and life are in the power of the tongue. You have an opportunity each day to kill someone or to resurrect their life just by the power of your words. What you say matters. Even your off the cuff comments that seem like jokes can cut someone to their core. I know because I’m guilty of it even though I’ve made an effort in my life to speak positively of and to others.

Making that change and effort in my life has started to show its fruit through my son. One of my his favorite words is “bravo.” He learned that word before he learned the word “no.” I get excited every time I hear him say it because I know that he is learning to praise others even at an early age. Bravo is such a simple word, but it speaks volumes to the person who hears it. Bravo. You did an amazing job. Bravo. You are an exceptional person. Bravo. You deserve praise and I’m giving it to you.

Words are powerful. We don’t really grasp how powerful they are until someone speaks something to or about us. When your parents, spouse, relative or boss says something good to you or about you, it lifts your spirits and your day. They may never know how they changed your life or perspective just by saying a simple phrase that told you how amazing you are.

In the same way, you may never know the lives you’ve changed or touched by the words you’ve said. Look for the good in others. Jesus did. He looked at Peter and said, “Upon this rock, I will build my church (Matthew 16:18).” Jesus knew that Peter would soon betray Him. He could have easily said, “This guy has wasted the last three years of listening to me. He is going to deny that he even knows me.” That would have been devastating, but Jesus doesn’t do that. He speaks life to us. He sees in us what we don’t see.

When we feel like a failure or life has us down, God looks beyond that. He sees you for who you are. You are His child, His creation, His masterpiece. Yes, you are God’s masterpiece! You were created by Him in His image. You were fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). When God sees you, He sees who He made you to be and calls it out in you just like He called out the rock that was in Peter.

Just as God has chosen to speak life to you, you can speak life into someone else today. People are often negative because thats what they hear from others. Maybe no one has ever spoken life into them and they are acting out the way that someone has spoken to them. People believe what others say about them. Bypass the negative in someone and see what God sees in them. Speak to that in them and tell them bravo!

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