2 Corinthians 12:9-10
But he told me: "My kindness is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak." So I will brag even more about my weaknesses in order that Christ's power will live in me.
Therefore, I accept weakness, mistreatment, hardship, persecution, and difficulties suffered for Christ. It's clear that when I'm weak, I'm strong.
I like the analogy of you are the portrait that you paint. I have a hard time with this one and I need to work on this but I do believe it is true. Losing weight has always been a struggle for me and the times that I have lost weight have improved this self image a lot. Now I know that God is on my side and doesn't care how big or small I am. Improve your self image and move the bar up for your expectations and good things will happen - I'm sure and I'm going to work on it!
Want to hear an inspirational message from Joel on this topic? Click Here
10 comments:
Frank, I listened to Joel's message and found it inspiring. God is on your side and so am I. No matter how big or small you are, I love you to pieces. That being said I want to say how pleased I am that we are studying the part of the book about self-esteem. I know how important it is to love ourselves and talk positively to ourselves like we would our best friend. God sees us as winners and overcomers so we must see ourselves that way. Joel reminds us that "God is a good God, and He gives good things to His children." We must go forth with the intent to specifically accomplish what we want to accomplish b/c if we have high expectations, God will guide us to fulfill our desires. We need to look at life as an adventure. We are a force of nature and we need to be empowered by circumstances rather than defeated. Who do I think I am? I think (no, I know) I am an overcomer, an adventurer, a risk-taker. I may strike out or I may hit a home run, but what matters is that I will keep swinging, no matter what.
Joel says, "You will never rise above the image you have of yourself in your own mind." It's important that we see ourselves as humans, knowing that to be human means to embrace the full experience--the highs, the lows, the sadness, the joy, the victory, the defeat, the beauty, and the ugliness. This is what I am trying to teach my granddaughters, and I think it is something we need to learn. Judith Wright says, "If we were supposed to have limited experiences, we would have been given a day, not a lifetime to learn how to live."
When we love ourselves, we have so much to give. Singles can discover the excitement of getting to know themselves as they get to know others, and can establish their standards for dating, while living a wondrously fulfilling life. Couples, rather than just enduring and staying together, can discover the huge possibilities for growing together spiritually in communication and love. Instead of asking if this is the right marriage, they would ask if they are being the right partner (the one they would want to have).
I am learning to love myself more and talking positively to myself and others. The past 3 weeks have gone more smoothly at home, I don't know if talking favorably to God is working, or if God is working with me or for me and my husband but the atmosphere has sure improved. Maybe it's the season but I'd like to think what I've learned in these chapters that God is working in our lives. It's just the beginning and hopefully will improve every day. I am happier anyway.
Jeanie,
I am so, so glad to hear that your marriage is improving. I'm sure that your favor-minded life is having a huge effect on your marriage. Joel says in this chapter how important it is for us to see ourselves as God see us--winners and overcomers so we don't "drift through life haphazardly, accepting whatever comes along.....that is not God's intent for you! God is a good God, and He gives good things to His children." I know that God will keep blessing you through the Christmas season and all the way through 2008. In fact, "surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." And surely it will follow you too. We just have to declare it and claim it.
Some of us on this blog had a wonderful Christmas dinner at the plaza in KC tonight. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory. Yum!
Holly gave me some more questions for the blog for chapter seven.
1) The bible says, "For as (a man) thinks in his heart, so is he." (Proverbs 23:7a) Explain.
2) What do you think about yourself? Do you think it differs from how God sees you?
3) Read Matthew 12:34-35. Describe your gut reaction to this statement: "The reason your self-concept is so important: You will probably speak, act, & react as the person you think you are." How does this principle apply to the way you feel about yourself in your heart?
1) The bible says, "For as (a man) thinks in his heart, so is he." (Proverbs 23:7a) Explain.
First of all, I want to change the gender so I can relate to it better. "As a woman thinks in her heart, so is she." My holiday plans unexpectedly changed so now I need to deal with the new plans. Let me tell you what happened. I had thought that my Christmas was basically over because I had spent an early Christmas with my oldest daughter Teresa and my granddaughter Jess. Only Frank's son Chad was coming for Christmas dinner. I didn't think we were going to get to see Tori and Mandy at all b/c Mandy was off on a welding job in Colorado and Tori lives quite a ways away in Arkansas. Another change was that we had planned to go to a family Christmas gathering in Nebraska last weekend but got snowed out. I had to practice positive thinking and not let disappointment ruin my Christmas spirit. I started to let gratitude reign in my heart. First of all, I reminded myself how glad I am to have a family that is safe and sound even if it appeared that they could not be with me on Christmas. I had already learned that kind of gratitude a few years back after dealing with a terrible motorcycle accident that almost took the life of my precious Tori. Secondly, I'm so glad for nature's handiwork. Even though the snow kept me from going to the family gathering and seeing my mom and siblings, it came down so beautifully and changed the landscape into a wonderful wintry white work of art. My heart felt warm inside our cozy house with the fireplace blazing. So even though I wasn't having the Christmas of my dreams, I was thankful for the Christmas I was having. Well, then, out of the blue my plans changed in an awesome way! Frank all of the sudden said, "Let's go see Tori this weekend." I am so excited b/c we are leaving to see that precious little family this afternoon! And then, his daughter Mandy called yesterday and said that she and her boyfriend are coming Sunday night. So, out of the blue, my Christmas dreams started to come true. I wonder if God granted me favor b/c I didn't get in a funk when I thought that I was going to have a lonely Christmas. Wow! Thank You, Lord. Things changed in a hurry and now I need to quit blogging and get the house clean. We are going to have a very, merry Christmas after all! I'm thinking good things in my heart.
2) What do you think about yourself? Do you think it differs from how God sees you?
I do have healthy self-esteem. I see myself as strong, optimistic, compassionate, and well able to contribute to my family, my job, and my home. I think God sees me this way too. Some of us on the blog studied a book called SEARCH FOR SIGNIFICANCE a while back, and we learned a lot about the biblical definition of self-esteem. We have been created in God's image and He has made us only a little lower than the angels. Awesome! God doesn't want us to focus on our weaknesses but rather on His strength.
3) Read Matthew 12:34-35. Describe your gut reaction to this statement: "The reason your self-concept is so important: You will probably speak, act, & react as the person you think you are." How does this principle apply to the way you feel about yourself in your heart?
The scripture says that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh". It is important to realize our value. If we think well of ourselves, we will think well of others. We will talk, act, and react according to your thoughts. That is why it is so important to realize that we are created in God's own image. God thinks so much of us that He sent His son. That's why we are celebrating Christ's birth today and tomorrow. Merry Christmas!
I came across this article, and I thought it was an excellent description of who we are.
Who You Are In The Spirit
By Andrew Wommack
"If I were to ask you 'Do you know who you are?' your immediate answer would be, 'Of course I do.' But can you imagine what it would be like if suddenly you lost all memory of your name, where you lived, who was your husband or wife, your children, where you worked, etc? It would be terrifying. There is an enormous security in knowing who you are. That is the reason people are so reluctant to change. They are secure in what they know and very fearful about what they do not know.
Well, it is also a necessity that you know who you have become in your spirit. You are a new creature in your spirit (2 Cor. 5:17), and you have to reeducate your mind to think that way before the perfect will of God will be made manifest in your flesh (Rom. 12:1-2). We are more than conquerors through Christ, but we won't benefit from that truth until we convince ourselves of it, no more than a millionaire would benefit from their bank account if they didn't know it was there. This is the condition that the body of Christ has been in. We have simply been ignorant of who we are in Jesus (in our spirits) and of the rights and privileges that are ours.
An example of this in the natural is our freedom as Americans. According to the preamble of the Constitution, we have been endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights which are guaranteed to us by the governing documents of the United States of America. There is an elected judicial system to enforce these rights. But, with these rights there are also responsibilities. It is each individual's responsibility to know what their rights are and go through the proper channels to obtain them. Millions of law-breakers have never been brought to trial because the victim, for one reason or another, didn't press charges. In many cases, I'm sure the people didn't know their rights.
During Abraham Lincoln's presidency, he signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all American slaves. But there are documented cases where slave owners hid the Proclamation, and slaves continued serving in bondage because they were ignorant of the change that had taken place. This has been exactly Satan's strategy against the church. As Hosea 4:6 says, 'My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.' And 2 Peter 1:3 says, 'According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.' If Satan can keep a Christian ignorant or in unbelief about who they have become and their rights as a child of the King, he can keep them in bondage even though the law of liberty in Christ Jesus has been put into effect!
The most effective way the devil has done this is through religious unbelief, specifically the doctrinal teachings about us being unworthy, condemned ol' sinners, saved by grace. Praise God. I was an ol' sinner, but I got saved by grace, and now I'm the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:21). I am not unworthy any longer in my spiritual man. Ephesians 4:24 says, "And that ye put on the new man [that is speaking of your born-again spirit], which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." My spirit is righteous and truly holy! Hallelujah!
But, somebody would say, "All our righteousness are as filthy rags" (Is. 64:6), and 'There is none righteous, no not one' (Rom. 3:10). These scriptures refer to our self-righteousness, which can never bring us into fellowship with God because 'all have sinned and come short of the glory of God' (Rom. 3:23). But Jesus took our sin and became sin for us so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). That means our new spirits. That's the part of us that is in Him. If you accept the first part of this verse, that Jesus became sin for us, then you have to accept the next part, that we received His righteousness. This is not a righteousness which is imparted in heaven. It will be perfected in heaven, spirit, soul, and glorified body. But as Ephesians 4:24 says, our spirits are now righteous and truly holy. Hebrews 12:23 says, speaking of the church, 'the spirits of just men made perfect.'
The spirit that we had which was dead unto God, is gone, and the new spirit which we received at salvation, is righteous, truly holy, and perfect. It is actually the same spirit that we will have throughout all eternity. It will not be changed or improved upon. The flesh part will be changed, but our spirit salvation is complete. Colossians 1:12 says that we have (past tense) been made meet (fit or able) to partake of the inheritance of the saints. In our spirits, we are now overcomers, and the rest of the Christian life, stated very simply, is renewing the soul and body to that truth. Romans 12:2 says it this way, 'And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.' Paul didn't pray that they would receive some new thing from God, but rather that they would renew their minds and prove (or make manifest to the physical senses) what was already there. God did not change us only in principle at the new birth, but we are now, in our spirits, a totally new creation. But until we first realize this and then act on it in faith, the devil will continue to oppress us. The first step in faith is knowledge. Romans 10:14 says, 'How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?' and verse 17 says, 'So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.' Ignorance of who we are in our spirits has made it impossible for us to act in faith accordingly.
Philemon 6 says, 'That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus." This verse makes it clear that your faith becomes effectual (starts working) by knowing the good things in your spirit. You could turn that verse around and not change the meaning by saying that if you don't know what's taken place in your spirit man, your faith won't work.
The religious teaching that most people have received today has either taught or left the impression that there isn't any good thing in us. We've been taught that the way to activate the power of God in our lives is to keep our unworthiness and weaknesses continually before us. This is characterized by what I call the 'false humility attitude' among many Christians. You will hear statements such as 'Without Jesus, I can do nothing,' which is totally true, but it is not balanced by the truth that 'I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.'
We need to realize that we are totally dependent on Jesus, but we have to go beyond that and realize that as we depend on Jesus, we are totally superior to any weapon the devil can use against us. We are world overcomers (1 John 5:4). Hebrews 12:2 says we have to look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, but most of us have been looking at ourselves. No wonder we've been weary and have fainted in the battle (Heb. 12:3)! As we change our attention from our own frailty to Christ's sufficiency and take our place in Him, our faith will be activated, and we'll begin to live like the King's kids that we are."
Isn't that awesome? We are royalty. Praise God!
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