I'm only as good as....

Noticed this in my house yesterday.  It started me thinking and has now found its way into my Goodwill basket.

"I am only as good as the wine I drink, the hairspray I use, and the girlfriends I have."

What do you see yourself as being, "only as good as?"

So many of us struggle with self image issues and insecurities. Perhaps it's our looks, talents (or as we see it lack thereof), financial situation, personality, clique acceptance, or ministry gifts.  All of have areas that we struggle with feelings of inferiority.  Even when things are going well and we feel on top of the world, we have benchmarks in our lives that society has taught us are the judges of our success and worth.

I love good wine, love to look my best, and have amazing friends, BUT even if all of those things were not true, I am still fearfully and wonderfully made.

"I praise you because I am fearfully [to stand in awe of] and wonderfully made [to make separate, to stand apart]; your works are wonderful [extraordinary, marvelous], I know that full well." - (Psalm 139:14 NIV)

I'm not a thee and thou kind of girl, but I love the King James Version of this verse because it ends by saying, "that my soul knows very well."

Does your soul know that you are made to stand apart? That you are extraordinary, marvelous, and to be awed?

You are God's workmanship. (Ephesians 2:10)
You were knit together by God while still in your mother's womb (Psalms 139:13)
You were bought with a price. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
You are saved by grace and it is a gift from God. (Ephesians 2:8)
You are washed, sanctified, and justified. (1 Corinthians 6:11)
You are reconciled [received into favor] to [by] God. (Romans 5:10)
You are clothed with Christ. (Galations 3:27)
You are the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
You are justified. (Romans 5:1)
You are sons of God. (Galations 3:26)
You are God's friend. (John 15:15)
You are the body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:27)
You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:19)

You are more than a conqueror who cannot be separated from God's love. (Romans 8:37-39)

You have peace. (Romans 5:1)

You stand in grace. (Romans 5:2)

You are a chosen people and a royal priesthood. (1 Peter 2:19)

You are chosen to declare God's praises. (1 Peter 2:19)

You are heirs according to promise. (Galations 3:29)

You are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant. (Acts 3:25)

Remind your soul of who you are in Christ.  It's time to get rid of the, "only as good as," mentality!



Pawed

I sat down briefly on a stool this morning and, as usual, one of my dogs sprawled out on the floor in front of me and pawed at my foot wanting me to pet him.  When I didn't respond, he buried his head under a tote bag, whined, and then continued to paw my foot.

Tyson's persistence is always great entertainment for guests in my home and even my husband and I.  All he wants is our attention - a head pat or an occasional belly rub.  As I write this, I have 2 curled up sleeping dogs at my feet who are not happy because the laptop is taking up the space in my lap.


With 3 dogs in 1300sq. ft., our house tends to feel a bit like a menagerie at times.  I can't walk from the bedroom to the kitchen without tripping over a doggy entourage. Rattle a cheese wrapper and you feel like you're being assaulted and nothing creates more excitement than the knowledge that they get to come with me on whatever adventure I'm leaving for...

Something about Tyson's paw and pout moment this morning struck a chord with me.  Perhaps it sounds a bit heretical but it was such a clear - and hard to resist - metaphor that I couldn't turn it down.

Isn't that how God is with his children, pawing at us constantly just wanting us to take a few minutes and spend time with him?  Is God hopeful every time you sit down in your living room that your are going to hang out with him for the next half hour instead of turning on the TV?  And perhaps His greatest pleasure comes from the adventures that we invite Him on... or maybe the ones during which we simply follow Him?


"From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'" - (Acts 17:26-28 NIV)

"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." - (Ephesians 1:4-6 NIV)

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."" - (Jeremiah 29:13-14 NIV)

We seek and God finds... even if we feel we have been banished.  Love...

Hide me in the cleft of a rock.. besiege my heart

Our most recent excursion into the woods was illustrated by rain.  Beautiful or hated, the clouds gathered, mist rolled in, and heavens dumped water onto a thirsty land.

I love revisiting an area of the forest that I have been in before.  There are always secrets to be revisited and new treasures to be uncovered.  Our blessed secret this time was a huge rock formation called Storyteller Rock. Pictures cannot do justice to the massive expanse of rock that creates a haven of dry stone in its menacing shadow.

I started this trip with anticipation, thinking that there had to be something special waiting for me on a mountain top in the rain.  Instead, I found shelter in the cleft of the rock while I watched the lightening flash and listened to the thunder roll.

"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." - (Psalm 18:2 NIV)

"For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD." - (Psalm 27:5-6 NIV)

In the lee this huge rock, we watched the storm rage.  The wind whipped, rains poured (I believe the appropriate southern term is "gully washer"), and lightening streaked across the sky.  We were dry, we were safe - we built a fire and roasted marshmallows!  All this while seated on and in the shelter of the rock.

"Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one."" - (Isaiah 44:8 NIV)

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." ... If you make the Most High your dwelling--even the LORD, who is my refuge-- then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. ... "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."" - (Psalm 91:1-2, 9-10, 14-16 NIV)

Now think about it for a minute.  Every story is all about perspective [mental view or outlook], right?  So how else might this story have been written?

In Psalms, the psalmist sings over and over about being sheltered by or placed on a rock. Rock sometimes comes from a word meaning lofty that can mean a stronghold of Jehovah and a place of security, but another word is also used.  That word for rock finds its root in a word meaning to confine, bind, besiege, cramp, and enclose; to shut in or shut up; to fashion or delineate.

Are you roasting marshmallows in your safe place or are you too busy feeling trapped?

How often do we feel trapped in a storm, confined by God's "rules", or besieged by our circumstances?  Do we feel imposed upon by God's lines in our sand?

I can think of several times in (perhaps recent) life when my dialog would have gone something like, "It's horrible!  There is lightening and thunder everywhere!  The wind is high.  I'm terrified!  I don't see why I have to go through something like this!"  Are you wet?  "No."  Are you injured?  "No."  Did any trees fall on you?  "No!" "But I'm trapped underneath this rock and I don't know how I'm ever going to get out!"

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." - (Psalm 23:4-5 NIV)

"Through the valley of the shadow of death.... in the presence of my enemies...." Somehow that isn't always quite where I'd like my rock to be.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." - (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV)

Trust - so easy to say, but sometimes so hard to do.  

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." - (Romans 15:13 NIV)

I love how God never expects us to do anything in our own strength. 

Trust, my friends, that those lines in the sand aren't drawn to limit your horizons but to hinder your enemies.  Trust that the small corner in which you feel trapped is your safety in the midst of the storm.  Ask for the power of the holy spirit to enable you to hope.

"You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah" - (Psalm 32:7 NIV)