A Note to My She Speaks Girlfriends

This is something the Lord put on my heart to encourage and challenge my girlfriends who are attending She Speaks. ***But*** If you have now Idea what She Speaks is (www.proverbs31.org) and you are a woman, this might just speak to you as well!



I could squeal with delight at the thought of seeing my friends this upcoming weekend. My heart also flutters with excitement at the expectation of what God has in store because we all were preordained to attend She Speaks this very year. Our desire to serve Him via speaking, writing and leading is what binds us together as we make the trek to Charlotte, North Carolina. But, I am afraid that there is one thing that might very well derail my opportunity to hear from God and connect with my fellow ministry women.

Comparison.

Yep, I said it and I hope that you know exactly what I mean when you read that one potent word. I can be all prayed up and all dolled up as I walk through the doors, but comparison is the one thing that will turn my heart away from God and toward an obsession of “I’m just not enough.” Why is it that we, as women, do this to ourselves? I see a darling sister of mine in the most adorable outfit and that very instant my insecurity over takes me. This insecurity coming from comparison can darn well take my focus off of God and the ministry He has set for me.

Please don’t hear me say that it is bad to look cute and perfectly coordinate your outfit with your shade of lip gloss. I’m the first gal to get a thrill out of my ballet flats that go so nicely with my little pearl necklace, I really am. The fact is, no matter how well put together we are, there will always be someone one in the room that is prettier, has better hair or has that handbag that we’ve been coveting for weeks now. But, that woman I am comparing myself to is doing the very same thing with someone else. Isn’t that wild?

I think I will lean on Colossians 3:2-3 “Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
I don’t want to miss what God has to tell me this weekend because I can’t get over myself and my insecurity, do you?

So, if I get the awesome chance to meet you this weekend and I compliment you on your super cute necklace, please know that I am celebrating you and how darling you are rather than allowing my insecurity to ruin the moment. Will you do the same my friend?


love,
sarah

Boundaries for our own good

RePost: Get a Grip

If you are clicking on this site from She Seeks, I am so happy that you stopped by. This is a blog post that I repurposed as it fits so well with my topic from this week's She Seeks Inspirational Entry.

The other day I posted about clinging so hard to Christ for strength that you had white knuckles. This concept really stuck with me and the Lord gave me more thoughts on this subject.

Get a Grip (this came from my lovely mom, by the way)
When you are gripping Christ so hard, there is no way that you are holding on to other things that might bind you and hold you back from that abundant life He promises in John 10:10. These things might be fear, anger, depression, obsession about body image, insecurity, addictions and so on. When we grip tightly to these binding things we, they don't let us go. It is hard to be free!
But, the only thing that frees us from that captivity is holding fast and firm to our Lord and Savior, Jesus. You can be free from all that junk and then be free to live the life that He planned for you.

How would you like to live a life that is full of joy, peace, fulfillment and hope. Do you have a dream that He has given you for your life? You are free to live that dream when you cling to Christ.

Take a look at Psalm 63:7-8 (The Message) in closing:
Because you've always stood up for me,
I'm free to run and play.
I hold on to you for dear life,
and you hold me steady as a post.

Hold on for DEAR LIFE! That LIFE is an exciting ride-don't miss out because you are clinging to the wrong things!

Video Blog-Jump on In

Ok, the Youtube totally cut off half my face. Oh well...

Resurrection Living

Hey Friends,

If you are stopping here for the first times coming from She Seeks-welcome! I want to continue our conversation from my She Seeks {inspirational entry} about stress in light of Easter and the Resurrection.

Stress is no fun and it robs us of the joy, peace, patience, hope and so much more that God promises us when we chose to follow Him. We don't have to live with the chains of our daily stress because when Jesus died on the cross, He took our pain, sins and even our stress to the grave with Him. I believe that Jesus sweat blood in the Garden of Gethsemane because He was literally feeling the pressure and recounting the past sins and future sins/ pain of EVERY single person who believed Him to be the Christ. On that cross, I believe that Jesus took on my personal stress and your personal stress. The emotional pain He felt had to be just as excruciating as that of the physical pain of crucifixion.

So, where does this leave us now? Three days later, on Easter morning, Jesus conquered death and rose to sit as King of Kings and Lord of Lords in Heaven. All of our stress, sin and pain were conquered. God doesn't promise that in this lifetime stress will cease to exist but rather, when we hand it all over to Him and lean on His strength, He can and will conquer our troubles.

Day to day, we must recognize Him as our Risen King Victorious. If we believe that He died and conquered death, why in the world wouldn't Jesus be able to conquer our everyday stress?

Take sometime right now to praise Jesus as YOUR King who cares about you and your stress. Nothing is too small or too big to bring before the King, the Risen Victorious King.

Matthew 28:5-10 (New International Version)

⁵The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

Would you ever admit to duplicity? {no...not talking about the movie here!} Probably not, I would venture to say. Here is the definition, please take special note of the second definition:

Duplicity:noun:

1 : contradictory doubleness of thought, speech, or action; especially : the belying of one's true intentions by deceptive words or action
2 : the quality or state of being double or twofold

You know when you were in highschool and the biggest put down was to be called "two-faced?" That is basically what I am getting at. In America, this is a problem among Christians, we are "two-faced" and our lives are not reflective completely and wholeheartedly to what we say we believe. I was hit in my "two faced" forehead with this when I bounced the definition of duplicity off of Jeremiah 32:38-39:

They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them.

Please know that I am pointing my finger right back at myself with this post. But, I just want to challenge my fellow Christians to think about our lives. Do you compartmentalize your faith to just your Christian friends, Sunday morning or Wendesday night Life Groups? Here is some data from Pew Research that perfectly illustrates what I am talking about:

25% of Americans (in general) believe in Astrology while 23% of Christians do as well! (Pew Research)

Um...hello...do we see what is wrong with this picture?

You say you have conservative values...

But how did you vote in the last election (if you voted at all)?

You say want to live a pure and holy life as taught in the Bible and at church last sunday...

But, what do you fill your mind with while surfing the web or flipping the channels?

You say you believe in Jesus as your Savior...

But, is your life really changed by your beliefs?

Like I said, no condemnation here from me. These are some of the very things I have worked through in my own life. Did you notice in the verse above that God promises He will give us singleness of heart AND action? It is ours for the taking. period. I think this lifestyle of duplicity can be tiresome. Most of us know deep in our heart that our actions don't match up with what we profess and it slowly eats away at our conscience. God doesn't want us to live with this burden, but He does expect us to take the actions to live a whole hearted, sold out faith in Him. This takes work, trust me, I know. I have evaluated and re-evaluted my choices and actions over the years and I will continue to do so.

So for today, I encourage you to take time with the Lord asking Him to show you where you act "two-faced." He will not hit you over the head or wag a heavenly finger at your in condemnation, but He will show you where to start in your journey toward single-minded faith.

Stay tuned to more thoughts on this... about how our life of single minded focus benefits us and the people around us! {don't want to bogg you down to much in this one post! ha!}

Book Review-The Vertical Self

I am loving this Booksneeze book review program as I just read The Vertical Self by Mark Sayers. Wow is all I can say. This book was written in a non-preachy tone with ideas that made me rethink how I see life, my faith and my Savior.

The main premise of the book was to look at living "horizontally" verses "vertically." Horizontal living means a life of me, myself and I while also trying to please the world while Vertical living focuses on glorifying God and living under His ultimate authority. Here are a few examples taken from a table in the book on page 19-20

Vertical vs Horizontal:

God as Judge vs Others as Judge

Holiness vs Status

Eternal vs Temporary

Delayed gratification vs Instant gratification

Work ethic vs Play ethic

Self discipline vs Self esteem

Facts vs Feelings

Are you getting the picture here? Would love to know if any of these ring true in your life-if you veer more torward the Horizontal than the Vertical in certain areas.

To take it one step further, Mark Sayers writes about how Christians can live a fragmented life as they go from Vertical to Horizontal depending on their location, the people they are with or when they are at work. This is called fragmented living meaning our beliefs are scattered all over the place depending on our circumstances. "One can have an evangelical Christian worldview, a secular sex life, an economic rationalist approach to money, a conservative vote and a liberal approach to humor." page 26 All I can say is this paragraph punched me in the gut and I am rethinking my approach to life. I want my entire existence to be consistent and consistently point toward the LORD!

This book is a fantastic read. You can purchase it on Amazon or straight from the Thomas Nelson webpage.

**I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”