Greetings Wonderful Women!
It is time, it is time! Come on; clear your head for a few minutes. That year end evaluation has been sitting on your desk this long a praise break will not hurt that process. Mute the television put your phones on silent. You need this time; God wants to tell you something.
Think back over the last few weeks, we have had family gatherings, office parties; we have attended plays, recitals, and concerts. We have shopped both near and far to make sure everyone received their perfect gift. We have covered a lot of ground but did you remember to invest some time into you? Exactly, so right now I am encouraging you to take a few choice minutes for yourself. Take a few minutes to appreciate something good about yourself then thank God for that good quality. Investing time in your self is important to your health and well-being. Appreciating the good in and about you is important because it helps you to stay focused on your goals. If you are not dwelling on what you used to do, who you used to be you have little choice than to dwell on what is at hand and who are you today, and what you are doing today. The investment of time to appreciate yourself will serve as a reminder that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. You have been hand crafted in His image; no matter what you may think about yourself, you have to admit the image of God is beautiful, powerful, confident and brilliant to name a few things. I am going to let you think about that. When it ignites in your soul throw your head back with a great big thank you Father!
Understanding who you are today and why brings up another indisputable reason to celebrate. Love, God loves you more than you can know. This love is not based on a merit system that allows you to earn it by doing extra good deeds to cancel out a bad one. It is not a bean counting system, you know “God remember that time I was nice to Sister Tellitall? I could have put her out there but I didn’t sooooo you need to do this for me”. It is not based on how good or how bad you were/are. The love God has for us is unconditional. It is without motive. It is pure. Now hold on, for all of my “free” sisters please understand that does not mean He will not correct us. It is because He loves us that He chastens us.
It does not mean He loves our behavior all the time but He loves the essence and core of who we are. For my legalistic sisters, God does allow us the opportunity to do better. He sees us as He created us. The process of admission (when we realize we are out of His will), repentance and sanctification puts us back into relationship with God. It is a continual process and as such your past is your past. We have much to celebrate because as we realign ourselves with His will we are able to extend mercy, grace and love to others because we appreciate the fact that without mercy, grace and love shown in our lives-well-things would have turned out differently.
It’s all ‘bout love,
Trudy