Oh how much He cares for you...

 

Sometimes it’s just a word or a phrase that catches your eye or your ear, and then grabs your heart…a reminder of times gone by. It was I Peter 5:7 that caught my eye and my ear this week, reminding me of a workshop on mentor training, when the instructor gave us I Peter 5:7 as a scripture to memorize using a neat technique. You read aloud the scripture several times, putting the emphasis on the first word the first time through, then the second word the second time through, the third word the third time through, and so on…like this…

Casting all your cares on Him for He cares for you.
  Casting all your cares on Him for He cares for you.
    Casting all your cares on Him for He cares for you.
      Casting all your cares on Him for He cares for you.
        Casting all your cares on Him for He cares for you.
          Casting all your cares on Him for He cares for you.
            Casting all your cares on Him for He cares for you.
              Casting all your cares on Him for He cares for you.
                Casting all your cares on Him for He cares for you.
                  Casting all your cares on Him for He cares for you.
                    Casting all your cares on Him for He cares for you.

Not only have you memorized the scripture when you’re done, it also helps you to focus and meditate on the individual meanings of each word in the verse. It is so interesting how the word “cares” is repeated with its two different meanings in the same verse…powerful. The word “care” and all it means…to be cared for…like this paraphrase…

Whatever produces a care in your heart produces God's care for you.

Suddenly, the word “care” takes me back to 1962, I’m a little girl, nine years old, my parents have moved us from our home in Lakeland to Sebring. No friends or relatives there. Then one Sunday we go to church, we open the hymnal, and the song we sing is, No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus by Charles Frederick Weigle. This old hymn written in 1932 has a small footnote at the bottom of the page, it says, “This hymn was written on the shores of Lake Jackson in Sebring, Florida.” WOW! That was where we lived, on the shores of Lake Jackson in Sebring, Florida! Now my eyes were riveted on the words as I sang along with the congregation…and to this day, this hymn is still one of my favorites, because it was so personal, so comforting, so heaven-sent to me that day as the new kid in Sebring.

May your hearts be encouraged by this heart-warming video of Signature Sound singing, No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus

No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
There's no other friend so kind as He;
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,
Oh how much He cared for me.

Was this encouraging to you? Please feel free to leave a comment in the box below, I'd love to hear from you!

Linking up with Holley Gerth's Coffee for Your Heart as an encourager.

encouraging resurrection power words

the empty garden tomb in Jerusalem, Israel

I find great encouragement in a word study of the four different Greek words used in this Scripture for the resurrection power with which God raised Jesus Christ from the dead and toward us who believe...

…what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places…(Ephesians 1:19-20)

power (dunamis)—dynamic—it refers to intrinsic power. The gospel is dynamic, God’s dynamic, and so is powerful in the transformation of human lives. Dunamis is the same power that resides in believers because we are in Christ and He is in us.

working (energeia)—describes effectual working, efficiency or active, effective power. In this passage, energeia describes the active, energetic, productive power of God at work. Energeia describes God’s power in raising Christ, Paul instructs us that we have it, too.

strength (kratos)—refers to manifested power or power that is released, put forth in action. It is power to overcome what stands in the way. It is power which is able to overcome resistance. Kratos means strength or might, the power to rule or control, supreme authority, sovereignty.

might (ischus)—inherent power or force. A muscular man’s big muscles display his might, even if he doesn’t use them. It is the reserve of strength. Ischus conveys the sense of endowed power or ability. The idea is that it is the active efficacy of the might that is inherent in God, His indwelling strength. He is able!

As a believer, I know this is the same resurrection power that dwells in the innermost part of me, giving me strength to face every day’s challenges.

[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers] (Philippians 3:10 Amplified Bible)

I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].(Philippians 4:13 Amplified Bible)

Take a few minutes to listen to these heart-felt lyrics from “Resurrection” by Nicole Sponberg

Here I am at the end, I'm in need of resurrection

Only You can take this empty shell and raise it from the dead 

What I've lost to the world, what seems far beyond redemption 

You can take the pieces in Your hand and make me whole again

 

This is encouraging to me, because it’s not my power, but the power of the Spirit of Christ Who dwells in the innermost part of me, the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

How about you? Is this encouraging to you? Please leave your comments in the box below. I’d love to hear from you!

Linking up with Holley Gerth’s Coffee for Your Heart as an encourager!

location, location, location...



Ask any real estate agent to list the three most important things to consider when buying a home, and you’ll likely hear: “location, location, location.” That phrase has been in use at least since 1926, according to The New York Times.

However, I had a different experience with the phrase, “location, location, location.” The year was 1996. My husband, Jack, our daughter, Tracy, and I had just participated in a low-impact family ropes course. It included a series of challenges that we had to solve together as a team. There were several times that I personally didn’t see how we would solve the problem. But we worked together and we tried out different ideas until we completed the task. One of us always had an idea that worked. We learned we could relax and trust that we could figure it out together.

As the challenges came to a close, the facilitator had us gather in a circle, and asked if we wanted the final debriefing questions to be spiritual. We said, “Yes!” That’s when he asked the location, location, location question...

On a scale of one to five, with five being as close to God as you could be, where are you?

I don’t remember what anyone else in my family said, but I will never forget what I said, “I’m a one.” It was an epiphany for me, which Webster’s defines as, “a sudden realization, a sudden intuitive leap of understanding, especially through an ordinary but striking occurrence.”

I had accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior as a ten-year old child during a revival. My fingers formed a heart as I sat on the front pew after filling out the decision card. I had been enrolled in our church’s cradle roll nursery at four months of age after my parents adopted me from the Salvation Army hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. I grew in my knowledge of Jesus through Sunday School and missions organizations, memorizing many of His wonderful words of life. And yet, here I was, a busy wife and working mother feeling like a “one.” How did I get here? Jesus had not moved, but I felt far away from Him. Later that week, I heard this heart-felt song by Larnelle Harris, “I Miss My Time with You,” as the lyrics say,

…I miss My time with you, those moments together, I need to be with you each day and it hurts Me when you say you're too busy… 

I knew in my heart that prayer, time in God’s Word, and worship with my fellow believers were the choices I needed to make to move from a “one” to a “five.” I began to pray this prayer as part of my quiet time each day...

Lord Jesus, give me a heart which yearns for Your Presence, a yearning for You that draws me over and over into Your Presence, a yearning that makes only a few days without time in prayer and Your Word seem like an eternity. Give me a heart which is motivated first and foremost by a desire for You, not for what You can do for me, but a yearning for Your Presence. Give me a heart that wants You more than anything else You could give, to love You and know You more than anything in life. Give me a heart that takes what You have made known to me and makes You re-known to everyone else, a heart that makes Your name and renown the desire of my heart. Give me a heart to feel Your Holy Spirit woo me once again to the place where I meet You. In the simplicity of my prayer time, give me a heart to be suddenly confronted by the majesty of my Redeemer—the One Who is responsible for any good in me. I bow at Your Cross, and I experience anew Your forgiveness, redemption, mercy, and grace, as I sense Your blood dripping over the Crown of Thorns pressed into Your brow, onto my heart, covering my sin, I get up from my knees wearing Your Robe of righteousness as I face the day ahead, welcoming Your fresh mercies which fall like manna from Heaven, and once again move my heart. I surrender all. Morning after morning.  

For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.—Philippians 2:12-14

How about you? How would you answer the location, location, location question, “On a scale of one to five, with five being as close to God as you could be, where are you?”

Please feel free to leave your comments in the space below, I’d love to hear from you!

Linking up today with Holley Gerth’s Coffee for Your Heart as an encourager!

connecting the dots to a blessing...

Have you ever had the experience of saying, “Yes!” to something our Lord Jesus Christ has placed on your heart, and then having the veil lifted just a little to see how God used your willingness to say, “Yes!” to connect-the-dots to a blessing?

Linking up with Holley Gerth’s Coffee for Your Heart Encouragement Challenge to share one of my very encouraging connect-the-dots experiences…

The missionary from Burkina Faso, West Africa, Jay Shafto, had a table display set up at a small mission fair in my hometown. After speaking with him for a few minutes about his family’s need for a teacher for their three young children, I agreed to leave my name and contact information and take their photo prayer card and lift them up in prayer every day. Beginning in November, 1999, I faithfully began to pray for them daily. One day in January, 2000, I received a phone call from Jay’s wife, Kathy Shafto. The minute she identified herself, I shrieked, “I prayed for you and your family this morning!” She thanked me for praying for their family, and she asked if I would be willing to make copies and distribute a flyer that she had created with a job description for the teacher they needed and their contact information. I was more than willing to do such a small thing. I made 50 copies of the flyer and distributed them at my local church and continued to pray for them every day.

A few months later, I received another phone call from Kathy Shafto, in which she excitedly told me that God had used me as “His willing vessel” to connect them with Elsie McCall, a dear 64 year-old single woman who attended my church. Elsie had picked up one of the flyers I had copied and distributed at our church. She generously responded to the call to Burkina Faso, West Africa, as one of the first people to serve with the International Mission Board’s Masters Program which gives people who are 50 years and above the opportunity to work alongside career missionaries for a two-to-three year term.

During her time over eight years on the field, Elsie generously homeschooled the Shafto’s three children, Madelyn, Robby, and James. Through her teaching, Elsie was able to free up Kathy Shafto to minister along with her husband, Jay, through women’s and literacy ministries among the Bissa people of Burkina Faso. The Shaftos refer to Elsie as an answer to prayer, and so do I. “The neat thing is that it was a whole God thing,” Kathy Shafto said. “I felt God was calling me to be involved in full-time ministry. So, the only way I was going to do that was if I had a teacher. Without Elsie, I would not be able to do that."

I am still in awe at how God answered my prayers for a teacher for the Shafto family.


It gives me hope in my prayer life today, even when something seems impossible or very unlikely, I’ll say to myself, “Nothing is impossible for our God—remember how He used your prayers and willingness to copy and distribute the flyers, to connect a sweet missionary family to the teacher for whom they were praying.” The generosity of these missionaries and memory of the effective power of prayer has strengthened my faith and my belief that trusting God means looking beyond what I can see to what God sees. God already saw Elsie as the answer to the Shafto’s prayer, and He used my prayers and willingness to copy and distribute the flyers as His way to connect-the-dots to get Elsie to Burkina Faso. What an awesome God we serve!



How about you? Have you ever had the experience of saying, “Yes!” to something our Lord Jesus Christ has placed on your heart, and then having the veil lifted just a little to see how God used your willingness to say, “Yes!” to connect-the-dots to a blessing?

Please feel free to share your comments below, I’d love to hear from you!

all feelings are neutral



It is a joy for me to link up each week with Holley Gerth’s Coffee for Your Heart Encouragement Challenge. This week she asked us to share whatever is on our heart that could help someone else.

One of the most encouraging experiences for me was learning to allow my “blind spots,” those pockets of pain we stuff in our hearts, to come to the surface. A Christian counselor once helped me see that, "all feelings are neutral." She would have me draw a pie chart in my journal, writing a different feeling in each slice of pie, and then journaling about the circumstances surrounding the feeling listed in each pie piece that day. This helped me to visualize all my feelings on level ground, enabling them to come to the surface for healing from my Heavenly Father.

I learned that as adults, when we have been hurt, our imagination is wounded. As a result, alienation and belief in bad news replace belief in good news.

We may have a feeling response that can become frozen into resentment. 

We may have an anger response that can become frozen into negative reactions of rage or passivity. 

We might have an interpretation response that can become frozen in negative attitudes, perceptions, biases, and beliefs.

As a result, our imagination becomes paralyzed. Attending to our wounded imagination is a path through forgiveness.

Forgiveness expands our horizons, invites us to retrieve the positive, and work through the negative. Is the glass of water half-full or half-empty? The answer depends entirely on how you see it. “How you see it” is called “perception.” There is the story about the blind men and the elephant. Each man named and described the animal according to his experience of touching only one part of the elephant’s body. The man who held the trunk “perceived” the elephant to be a large snake; the man who held the leg “perceived” the elephant to be a sturdy tree. In the same way, we “perceive” life—depending on what our experience is. Our experiences generate our expectations and our perceptions. We interpret life experiences, and we form expectations and perceptions, attitudes and assumptions. All of this activity is the work of the imagination. It is likewise the work of the imagination to reinterpret and reform repeated assumptions and expectations.

Here are a couple of optical illusions that can help us to experience “blind spots”...  

vase or faces?

old woman or young girl?

Forgiveness demands that we take another look, so that our imagination can reframe our narrow interpretations. Forgiveness includes the decision to refocus or enlarge the context. Native Americans speak of walking a mile in another’s moccasins. When we enlarge the context, we refocus, or we see it through a wider lens. Imagination is the work of seeing through a wider lens. If we stick to a negative interpretation of an old offense, we will experience resentment whenever we think about it, or about the offender. We will never be able to grieve and let go; we will seesaw between rage and resignation; we will never allow anger to surface and put us back on the journey of forgiveness. If we insist on telling and retelling our bad news stories of the past, we simply recycle the bad news and pass it on to the next generation. We pollute the emotional environment; we remain stuck in lifeless memories instead of looking for a more positive side of things long past.

Our imagination is a powerful entity. It can cause the hair on the back of our neck to stand up, our spirit to soar, or our face to blush. Imagination is the power that holds our beliefs together; we believe with our imagination. The imagination is the wellspring of faith and hope. Our biggest and best dreams for ourselves and others rise from the imagination.

When you enlarge your perceptions, using your God-given imagination, you at least allow for the possibility of healing. You give yourself the opportunity to turn from the negative aspects of your past, to get rid of the excess baggage, and to face the journey into the future with hope.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.--Ephesians 3:20

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.—I Corinthians 13:12

Has this post been encouraging to you? Feel free to leave your comments in the box below, I’d love to hear from you!

a small thing that makes a big difference

I look forward to and am so energized by Holley Gerth’s weekly Coffee for Your Heart Encouragement Challenge. The prompt for this week is: “A small thing that makes a big difference is…”

After I read this week's prompt, I prayed and asked God to reveal to me times when He had used “a small thing to make a big difference” in my life. I was immediately reminded of a timeline template that God used to reveal to me that He had been with me all along. Over and over again, I could see throughout my life, as I would go through a crisis, the "small thing that made a big difference" in my life was the Twenty-third Psalm. It is small when compared to other Psalms, it only has six verses, and yet God has used it to make a big difference in my life, helping me experience His Peace and enjoy His Presence in the midst of every crisis.

When I wake up at 2:00am, I meditate on the Twenty-third Psalm, and gently drift back off to sleep praying...

The Lord is my shepherd;

I lack nothing.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness
for His name’s sake.

Yea, 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 runs over with blessings.

Surely goodness and mercy
 shall follow me all the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

When I am praying for others, I picture Jesus, my Shepherd, in the green pasture of the 23rd Psalm. As I pray, I take whatever concern I have, or the person for whom I am interceding by the hand, I walk out to the meadow, the green pasture, and I place my concern, or the hand of the person for whom I am interceding, in Jesus’ hand…knowing that He is sovereign, He loves me, and He loves the person for whom I am interceding more than I do. He has a plan, a hope, and a future for each of us…and I walk away, thanking God for how He is working in my life and in the lives of those for whom I am interceding. I experience a feeling of peace…as Catherine Marshall prayed, “Lord, I trust You…You know what You’re doing…I relinquish my will to Yours.”

When a brokenhearted friend calls with news of the sudden homegoing of a loved one, we pray the 23rd Psalm…

O Heavenly Father, we ask you to wrap Your Loving Arms around us today. You are close to the brokenhearted and You save those who are crushed in spirit. You are our Shepherd, we lack nothing. You make us lie down in green pastures, You lead us beside the still waters. You restore our souls. You lead us in the path of righteousness for Your name’s sake. Even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for You are with us. You are Emmanuel, God with us, we are absolutely certain, You are with us at this time. Your rod and Your staff, Your Holy Spirit and Your Word, they comfort us. You prepare a table before us in the presence of our enemies. You anoint our heads with oil, our cup overflows with blessings. Surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

The 23rd Psalm begins with David talking to someone, probably himself, as he says, “The Lord is…He restores me…He leads me. All of a sudden, when he faces a crisis, the valley of the shadow of death, he immediately begins to speak directly to the Lord, “For You are with me”…When we go through a crisis, it is a matter of talking to the Lord yourself, for He is with you, underneath (green pastures), beside you, in front of you (table), surrounding you, chasing after you (goodness and mercy), and ahead of you (house of the Lord). 

For every need presented in this Psalm, God has a name to meet that need. For every circumstance, God has a name to overcome that circumstance. David knew the Great Shepherd. The LORD comes from the name Jehovah. He is the Great "I AM." He depends upon no one. There are seven names of God paired with each verse in the 23rd Psalm:

JEHOVAH-RA’AH—The Lord is my shepherd;

JEHOVAH-JIREH—The Lord, my provider—I lack nothing.

JEHOVAH-SHALOM—The Lord, our peace—He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters.
JEHOVAH-RAPHA—The Lord, my healer—He restores my soul:

JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU—The Lord, our righteousness—He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

JEHOVAH-SHAMAH—The Lord, ever-present—Yea, 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.

JEHOVAH-NISSI—The Lord, our banner—You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies:

JEHOVAH-RAPHA—The Lord, my healer—You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows with blessings.

JEHOVAH-JIREH—The Lord, my provider—Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.


Ask people which scripture they love the most and which has meant most to them, and many would point to the Twenty-third Psalm. The Lord has used it to dry many tears and lift many out of the pit of despair and discouragement. This small Psalm deals with almost every adverse circumstance in life and how to win over it…truly, a small thing that makes a big difference, amen?

In what ways has the Lord used the 23rd Psalm to minister to your needs?

Feel free to leave your comments in the box below, I’d love to hear from you!

joy...Jesus at the center of my life

Holley Gerth’s Coffee For Your Heart Encouragement Challenge writing prompts are so inspiring to me each week! Her prompt this week is, “What brings you joy?”

We have often heard the acronym for JOY being: "J" for having Jesus first in your life; "O" is for placing others second; and "Y" is for placing yourself last. However, I recently heard a new praise and worship song, “Jesus At The Center,” performed here by Darlene Zschech, which shifts our focus to...
        Jesus at the center of our lives,
                 Jesus at the center of our marriages,
                         Jesus at the center of our families,
                                  Jesus at the center of our homes,
                                           Jesus at the center of our work,
                                                   Jesus at the center of our relationships with others,
                                                           Jesus at the center of our churches.

It’s all about Jesus. That is what brings me joy...Jesus at the center of my life...from the inside-out, from the innermost part of me where the Spirit of Christ dwells, not dependent on my circumstances. 

“When the Spirit of Christ controls our lives He will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…” Galatians 5:22-23—Living Bible

I was reminded of a quote included in the book Sherrie Eldridge and I co-authored, Under His Wings, from the book, The Art of Intimacy, by Thomas Patrick Malone, M.D. & Patrick Thomas Malone, M.D.:

"Intimacy is derived from the Latin word, ‘intima,’ meaning ‘inner’ or ‘innermost.’”  

                 Innermost—the center of it all.

I experience joy as I pray God’s Word...

“May the Spirit of Christ Who dwells in the innermost part of me, take authority over my soul (the seat of my emotions) and my body (my fleshly desires and appetites)”

          ...taken from these Scriptures...

I Thessalonians 5:23-24—May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

I Corinthians 6:17—But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

I Corinthians 3:16—Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you. 

I experience joy when every part of me--body, soul, and spirit--is surrendered to the wise, loving, and liberating authority of the Spirit of Christ who dwells in the innermost part of me--joy is the fruit of His authority.

Let's invite Jesus into the center of our lives, so that we can experience joy every day, regardless of our circumstances.

Please feel free to share your thoughts with me in the “comments” box below, I'd love to hear from you!

You're Going to Be Okay because...

In celebration of You’re Going to Be Okay, Holley Gerth’s wonderful new book, her Coffee For Your Heart writing prompt this week is: “No matter what happens, you’re going to be okay because…” 

My response to this prompt came after I watched the C-SPAN video of the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC, on February 6, 2014. I was so encouraged to hear our national leaders praising the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and sharing their testimonies about the power of prayer in their lives. There were two powerful musical performances, the opening song by Steve Green, “He Holds The Keys,” and the closing song by Yolanda Adams, “This Too Shall Pass.”

One of the many testimonies and powerful prayers included professional surfer Bethany Hamilton, known as the "Soul Surfer," who spoke about her recovery after she lost her arm in a shark attack and how her physical setback allowed her to realize her true purpose outside of surfing. "I felt as though I had lost more than just my arm," she said. "I thought that my hopes and dreams to become a pro-surfer and adventure the world were stripped away, but the faith I had in Jesus Christ gave me the strength to comprehend and lean on Him for understanding, even as a young girl"

During her speech, Bethany read her favorite Scripture:

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”--Ephesians 3:14-21

Following her accident, she recounted that God was calling her to something greater than the dreams she had for herself. Now, she serves as a role model and inspiration to young women around the world through motivational speaking engagements. She closed her testimony saying, "Because of where Jesus brought me, I have no regrets of the adversities God has allowed me to go through. As you look at me, you could think, 'Wow, have pity on her, she lost her arm to a shark.' But I look it as something beautiful. God has taken something awful and turned it into something incredibly amazing.”

After watching the entire broadcast, my response to the Coffee For Your Heart prompt is summarized by the opening and closing songs at the National Prayer Breakfast,

“No matter what happens, you’re going to be okay because…Jesus Holds the Keys and This Too Shall Pass.”

The opening song speaks about God’s Sovereignty, proclaiming that nothing comes into our lives that is not filtered through God’s Hands of love, and the closing song reassures us that in our times of trials, God’s grace is sufficient, and He will never leave us or forsake us.

Please feel free to share your comments in the box below after watching the National Prayer Breakfast video and listening to the opening and closing songs. I pray it is as much of a blessing for you as it was for me.

reflecting Who you're beholding...

Each week I look forward to linking up with Holley Gerth's Coffee for Your Heart encouragement challenge. This week's writing prompt is: “You’re beautiful…just as you are.”

As I pondered this prompt, I remembered the idiom, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” I discovered an interesting Biblical word study related to the word, “beholding” in 2 Corinthians 3:18: 

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.—2 Corinthians 3:18 NASB 

And we, with our unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord, all grow brighter and brighter as we are turned into the image that we reflect; this is the work of the Lord who is Spirit.—2 Corinthians 3:18 JB

    

One translation says, beholding as in a mirror another says, reflecting like mirrors. The verb katoptrizo can be translated either “reflecting” or “beholding"

“with unveiled face, beholding” (RSV)
“beholding as in a glass” (KJV)
“reflecting like mirrors” (JB)
“be mirrors that brightly reflect” (TLB)
“we . . all reflect the Lord’s glory” (NIV)

It seems the Holy Spirit intentionally selected a verb that would remind us to do both—beholding our Lord Jesus Christ so intently that we can’t help but reflect Him.

To behold your face in a mirror is to study, to stare, to contemplate. Jesus is the source; we are the glass. Jesus is the light; we are the mirrors. Jesus sends the message; we mirror it.

“As He is, so are we in this world”...as we behold Jesus, we are unconscious of the change in us, we are reflecting His beauty, His love for us. 

We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.—1 John 4:16-18 

Let the King be enthralled by your beauty; honor Him, for He is your Lord.—Psalm 45:11

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.—Ecclesiastes 3:11 

Christian Singer/Songwriter Ginny Owens has expressed my heart in these lyrics from her song, “Call Me Beautiful” "You call me beautiful...You call me beautiful...And say You've loved me all along...And You've always held the keys to unlock my soul...Oh, You call me beautiful."

In what ways are you reflecting Who you are beholding? As Jesus is, so are you in this world…you’re beautiful…just as you are!

You're Loved

It is such a blessing to link up with Holley Gerth each week in offering up a little Coffee for Your Heart, her weekly encouragement challenge for 2014. The writing prompt for this week is simply this: “You’re Loved”

Many years ago, I used to hear Elisabeth Elliot open her Gateway To Joy radio show with these words, "‘You are loved with an everlasting love.’ That's what the Bible says. ‘And underneath are the everlasting arms.’ This is your friend Elisabeth Elliot…” Those Scriptures remind me, "You're Loved."

I came to a place in my life where I wanted, more than anything else, to know and love God more. God is so inconceivably good. He’s not looking for perfection. He already saw it in Christ. He’s looking for affection. That’s why every lasting change will invariably be a change of heart. He’ll even supply the heart, if we’ll ask Him. To know Him is to love Him...to know and believe, "You're Loved."

Henri Nouwen, the famous author, once gave a postcard print of Rembrandt’s painting pictured below, Return of the Prodigal, to individuals who had come to hear him speak. He asked them to look at the hands of father—one hand masculine and strong, and the other hand feminine and gentle. What a wonderful way to illustrate the unconditional love God has for all of us prodigals, full of grace and truth, His open arms saying, “You’re Loved.”

Take a few minutes to watch this powerful music video about the prodigal son called, When God Ran, He ran to His son saying, "You're Loved."

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.—Romans  8:38-39 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.—John 3:16 

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.—I John 4:10 

We love because he first loved us.—I John 4:19 

I pray this Coffee For Your Heart post has been encouraging to you, if it has been, please share your heart with me in the comments below, I’d love to hear your thoughts…

You are who God says you are...

What a joy to join Holley Gerth's Coffee for Your Heart: 2014 Encouragement Challenge!

As Holley says in her challenge, “research shows that those who focus on encouraging others are happier, healthier and live longer."

As I pondered Holley’s first prompt, “What encouraging words do you want the people you care about to hear as they begin a new year?”

I asked myself, “What encouraging words do I need to hear?”

These are the words from God’s Word that encourage me, and I pray they will be an encouragement to you, too!

You are who God says you are…

In Christ, you are...

BLESSED with every spiritual blessing,
         ACCEPTED in the Beloved Son of God,
                 ADOPTED as a child of the King,
                         CHOSEN before the foundation of the world,
                                 REDEEMED by His Blood, 

                                          FORGIVEN by His Grace,
                                                   LOVED with an everlasting love
                                           and underneath are the everlasting arms.

When you feel betrayed, God says: You are BLESSED
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” (Eph. 1:3)

When you feel ignored, God says: You are ACCEPTED
"According to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. (Eph. 1:5-6)

When you feel abandoned, God says: You are ADOPTED
“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. (Eph. 1:4-5)

When you feel inadequate, God says: You are CHOSEN
“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” (Eph. 1:4)

When you feel rejected, God says: You are REDEEMED
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us.” (Eph. 1:7-8)

When you feel condemned, God says: You are FORGIVEN
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us.” (Eph. 1:7-8)

When you feel forgotten, God says: You are LOVED

“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” (Eph. 1:4) “The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” (Jer. 31:3) “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deu. 33:27)

In what ways are these words from God's Word an encouragement to you?