Your Worth is Far Above Rubies!

I have been learning some wonderful things on how to find the value in yourself.  If you are like me, you have one area of your life that makes you feel lower than dirt.  It could be that you don't have as much money as you would like, your past could be a bit dodgy, your skin color may be darker than you would like, or you may be heavier than most people consider appropriate.  All these things can make you feel less valuable than you really are.  So what is the true measure of your value as a person?

According to the devotional I read through today with Joel Osteen, the true measure of my value can be found in God.  God found me so valuable that he sent his only begotten son to come and die so that he could have me. Hence Paul says "You were bought with a High Price" and that price is the blood and death of God's son Jesus.  That said, my value is defined by that act of self sacrifice and not by how much money I have, how beautiful I am, how brilliant and all the other things by which we define our worth.

I don't have to struggle to be accepted and found worthy by God.  I am already accepted in the beloved.  I am so valuable that before God ever said that first "Let there be" he had thought of me, planned my existence, how I would live my life, what I would look like, how much I would weigh etc... and he chose me!  Can you imagine that? (Ephesians 1:4, Psalm 139:16) Every single aspect of you was carefully thought out by God.  Why then do people feel the need to point out things about you and say "This is not good?"  I dare say that it is all good.  All of it.  Even your weaknesses and your mistakes may have been meant by the enemy for evil but God means them for good.  How comforting!!!

It takes the burden from us and puts it on God.  So I don't have to make all A's in school to be worth something.  I don't have to look like a model to be acceptable and lovable.  I don't have to have a certain net worth to actually have value.  I just have to be me.  The person God created me to be.  The person I naturally gravitate to when I am in the Lord.  That's all there is to it. 

Just as salvation is not by works, our acceptance in the beloved is also not by works.  We receive it in faith.  Our value is not by works.  It is received by faith.  I am valuable.  My worth is far above rubies not because of what I look like or what I can do, but because God says so!  He thought so highly of me that he sent his son Jesus to be nailed on the cross so that I can be his.  And if God could literally die to have me, then if man cannot see my worth I think its his loss!  

Don't let anyone or anything else define your worth.  Only your creator, who knows what he has put in you, can do that.  He says you are beautiful, talented, creative, to die for, your worth is far above rubies, you are too valuable!!  Priceless!!   You are a gem!!

Who Told You That You Were Naked?

"Who told you that you were naked?" (Genesis 3:11) This is the question God asks Adam and Eve when he finds them hiding in the bushes wearing their fig aprons.  Basically he was asking them, "Who told you that something is wrong with you?"  God knew that the enemy had come over and spoken to them for sure.

I have had the enemy talk to me before and the one thing he seems to be really good at saying is that I am not attractive.  Today God asked me the same question he asked Adam and Eve "Who told you that you are unattractive?"  When I thought about it I realized that all of it had come to me by suggestion in the soulish realm.  Why do I say that?  Because the enemy speaks to you on the soulish level and not spirit.  He makes a suggestion through a commercial and all of a sudden all the dark people feel that they need to become lighter to be beautiful.  You're watching Tyra and you realize that beauty is defined as a skinny girl and even the girls they call big are really normal sized chics.  

Those suggestions begin to run through your mind and before you know it you are reacting and acting based on the belief that you are not beautiful.  In truth, God made each one of us beautiful and then he loaded us with talents, giftings, callings, excellent temperaments and so much more.  When God looked at man he knew for a fact that he had made a show stopper, and just when creation thought he couldn't do a better job, he puts the guy to sleep and creates the most beautiful creation of all, WOMAN!

Now, that said, who told you that you were too skinny, or too fat, or not intelligent enough, or good for nothing?  Did God say that to you?  If not, why are you listening to a voice other than God's?  I have noticed something wonderful about people who do not have classic good looks (by man's standard) they usually have a redeeming aspect to them.  A man who would not otherwise catch your eye based on his looks turns out to be charming, well spoken, kind and fun to be with.  Within no time you don't even notice that he is too dark, or shorter than you are, or way too skinny.  The grace of God steps in and covers his "shortcomings" so that you fall in love with him as he is.

Shouldn't we as women then be able to look at ourselves in the mirror and see what God see's?  Granted you are a little bit on the heavy side, or maybe you are very dark and yet for some, maybe you don't think your facial features are stunning in a positive way.  How about we look in the mirror and see just how valuable we are, how talented, how gifted and successful we are at the callings God has given us?  How about we invite the Grace of God to come in and cover the parts of us that we feel may not be quite so becoming?  

Do you know why God did not think that Adam and Eve were naked? Or why they had never felt naked and ashamed before? It was because the glory of the Lord covered them.  Let that same glory cover and beautify you so that you feel and look attractive not just in the spiritual but in the physical realm too.  Often I have seen guys give me a look in a manner likely to suggest interest.  In truth, I have often reacted in such a way as to make sure they know that I couldn't be bothered. I have come to realize that that was me hiding because I did not feel beautiful or attractive enough.

Well, not anymore!!  This girl will soon be dating up a storm.  I am letting myself love and be loved.  I am letting my beauty shine through in every way.  Won't you join me? 

You Missed It!

You missed it when you focused on the hips, the lips and the finger tips.
You missed it when you looked at my face and noticed the blemishes
You missed it when you thought I was not skinny enough
I am everything you need in a woman
But you missed it!

A capable, intelligent and virtuous woman who can find?
You should have looked at my capability as a wife and mother.
Knowing that one day my children will rise and call me blessed
You should have noticed that I was industrious and capable.
But you missed it!

You should have stuck around to find out that I can throw down in the kitchen
Like the merchant ships, I bring food from afar
You should have stayed long enough to see me organize and delegate
Rising early to ensure that my servant girls have all they need
But you missed it!

And when I graduated from school as one most likely to succeed
When I went into business selling purple and linen
When I considered a field and bought it from the proceeds I made
When I tasted and saw that my gain was good - you should have been there
But you missed it!

And in the evening when I gird myself with strength
Readying myself for my husband
That he may drink from his own cistern and enjoy the wife of his youth
You should be here by my side as I ready myself for you
But you missed it!

Strength and dignity are my clothing
My position is strong and secure
As I wait on my Lord for a husband
One that will see clearly – Oh that it were you
But you missed it!

It is this man whose name will be known at the gates
When he sits among the elders
It is this man who shall boast and praise me
Whose heart will have found a safe resting place
But you missed it!

Ah my brother, my friend
Charm is deceptive and beauty is vain
But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
She is the prudent wife who comes from the Lord
But you missed it!

Lost!

Words From a Grateful Heart

This psalm says it all! God has been good to me!

Psalm 34

1I WILL bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2My life makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble and afflicted hear and be glad.

3O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.

4I sought (inquired of) the Lord and required Him [of necessity and on the authority of His Word], and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.(A)

5They looked to Him and were radiant; their faces shall never blush for shame or be confused.

6This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

7[a]The Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him [who revere and worship Him with awe] and each of them He delivers.(B)

8O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him.(C)

9O fear the Lord, you His saints [revere and worship Him]! For there is no want to those who truly revere and worship Him with godly fear.

10The young lions lack food and suffer hunger, but they who seek (inquire of and require) the Lord [by right of their need and on the authority of His Word], none of them shall lack any beneficial thing.

11Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you to revere and worshipfully fear the Lord.

12What man is he who desires life and longs for many days, that he may see good?

13Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.

14Depart from evil and do good; seek, inquire for, and crave peace and pursue (go after) it!

15The eyes of the Lord are toward the [uncompromisingly] righteous and His ears are open to their cry.

16The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.(D)

17When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their distress and troubles.

18The Lord is close to those who are of a broken heart and saves such as are crushed with sorrow for sin and are humbly and thoroughly penitent.

19Many evils confront the [consistently] righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

20He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.

21Evil shall cause the death of the wicked; and they who hate the just and righteous shall be held guilty and shall be condemned.

22The Lord redeems the lives of His servants, and none of those who take refuge and trust in Him shall be condemned or held guilty.

Your time is the time of love.

“When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine,” says the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 16:8

A Walled Garden

You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; You are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.

Song of Songs 4:12

Don't urge me to leave you

"Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."

Ruth 1:16-17

Season for Singing has come!

Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
Song of Solomon 2:12

WIFE

The treasures of the deep are not so precious
As are the conceal'd comforts of a man
Locked up in woman's love. I scent the air
Of blessings, when I come but near the house.
What a delicious breath marriage sends forth . .
The violet bed's not sweeter.
MIDDLETON.-

Big is Beautiful Too!

All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you.
Song of Solomon 4:7

Dark & Lovely

Dark I'm I, yet lovely...Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun.
Song of Solomon 1:5a - 6a

Money can't buy you love!

Many waters cannot quench love,
Nor can the floods drown it.
If a man would give for love
All the wealth of his house,
It would be utterly despised.
Song of Solomon 8:7

Lily among thorns

"Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the maidens".
Song of Solomon 2:2