Recently I was shown the video for the new Dove Commercial. In the commercial a woman enters the room and is asked to describe herself to an artist that never looks at her. He proceeds to draw the portrait of the woman based off of her description. Once he is finished she leaves and another individual enters the room. The second person has meet the woman who just left and they too are asked to describe her to the artist. He begins a second portrait of the woman based off the second individuals description. Once complete the two portraits are placed side by side and the woman returns. When she views the two portraits it is obvious which one is based on how she sees herself and which one is how others see her. In every case the woman realizes how truly beautiful she is.
Now imagine that you were asked to do the same thing. You enter the room describe yourself to the artist and a portrait is created. Now instead of another person coming in after you God enters the room, sits down and starts describing you to the artist. How truly different would the portraits be? I am sure the portrait of me that is based off of God's description will differ greatly from the one based off of my description.
It is so much easier for us to see the bad and believe the negative then to see the good and believe the positive. As I have stated in a previous blog, God created us in His image and when He looks at us He calls us His creation good. Who are we to call His creation bad?
Instead of seeing your flaws and short comings ask God how He sees you? Gaze long and hard at that portrait until you see yourself the same way. Everything may not be perfect and you may even feel overwhelmed at times but know that God has it all covered. Allow Him to fill you with His peace, joy, and assurance. Know as well that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are beautiful a true master piece!
I have attached the link to the video and below that I have Jason Grays song Remind Me Who I Am. Daily allow God to remind you who you are to Him.
Have you ever noticed that the enemy loves to attack us when we are most vulnerable and his best area of attack is in our minds? Most of the enemy's attacks are the same as they have been in the past and in areas where victories have occurred. So why do we continue to experience attacks in the same area? I believe that the enemy cannot come up with anything new to attack us with and even though we have experienced victories in these areas it is still a sensitive vulnerable area that has caused us the most hurt and pain.
These attacks seem to occur on a regular basis in my own life. The enemy knows my weak spots and where I am most vulnerable. The seed of a wrong thought is planted and immediately doubt and unbelief enter the picture. The enemy whispers in my ear that this situation will not work out, what you want will never occur, just give up now it is no good, God is not going to do what He said He would do. I begin to remind the enemy of who God is, what He said He would do, and begin to declare God's word and promises over the situation. At this point the enemy's voice becomes louder as he tries to force me to look at the problem and how things are in that moment. He tries to lie to me telling me nothing will ever change for the better.
He knows my weak and vulnerable spot is with rejection. While I have experienced freedom and victories in this area it is still where he loves to attack the most. It is where the wrong thoughts begin to occur as is the case in what happened recently. I recognized the attack for what it was, an attack from the enemy, and immediately began declaring God's word and promises over the situation. But has I declared the enemy's voice continued to get louder and louder until he was screaming "it is never going to change, those you want to be in a relationship with do not want to be in a relationship with you." Finally in desperation I cried out to God declaring I was tired of the trip around this mountain, I was tired of listening to these lies over and over again. To be honest I was just plain tired of looking at this mountain and going around it. Even though the mountain had shrunk and the trip had become shorter it was no longer a trip I wanted to make.
When I am unsure of where to go in God's word to gain victory I begin with my go to verse, 1 Corinthians 13. Love is the answer for everything. Have a difficult boss, love is patient love is kind and as one translation declares love is not provoked. Begin to declare these things over yourself and the situation and all of a sudden your boss is no longer a problem. As I read this chapter words began to jump off the page at me. The first was I was bankrupt without love. I was going around this mountain because I had a love deficit. Hello, what a simple solution to the problem. I just needed a fresh infilling of God's love in me so I could walk in love towards those around me, even the ones I was feeling rejected by. How simple yet profound.
How could I walk in love towards anyone, especially those I was feeling rejected by, if I was not full of God's love? As I began to focus on God and love on God He began to fill me to overflowing with His love. Did the thoughts go away, not really but the voice that was speaking them became so quiet I no longer heard it. As I began to focus on God and allow Him to fill me with His love he began to do what only He could do. He began to turn the situation around. The ones I had felt rejected by began seeking me out, they began to contact me and I suddenly realized that what I had been declaring was beginning to take place. God was blessing me with new friendships and relationships. Because God's love for us is so great He loves to do good things for His children and bless us beyond measure.
In the midst of this attack I received an assignment at church to mediate on 1 Cor 4:20. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. The Message translation phrases this as an empowered life. When I first read this verse I began asking God how to live an empowered life. So while God is good to bless He is also good to answer and teach when we ask. He began to show me after reading 1 Cor 13 that love equals power. In order to live an empowered life you must learn to love. Think about it, in the beginning of 1 Cor 13 it states we can do all sorts of great and powerful things but without love it is nothing. This puts some fear in me because I want to do great and powerful things for God but I want them to be done with His love flowing through me.
I believe Heidi Baker states it the best to live a life of love we must love God and love the one in front of us. We cannot even begin to live an empowered life without first loving God, because if we do not love Him and receive His love then we have nothing to love others with. When we love God and allow Him to fill us full of His love then we will have an overabundance of love available to flow through us. I believe God gave me a great vision to illustrate this. In my vision I saw myself standing with God standing over me holding a pitcher. When I was an open vessel He was able to pour His love into me but when I was closed then the love bounced off the closed lid and hit the ground useless. Be an open vessel so He can fill you full of His love!
Below I have listed 1 Cor 13 from the message bible and the different translations of 1 Cor 4:20. Below all that is the song The Proof of Your Love. Praying this blesses and encourages you and makes you realize how great God's love is for you.
1 Corinthians 13
The Message (MSG)
The Way of Love
13 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
2 If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. 3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others,Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything,Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
11 When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good. 12 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! 13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
