I Am..... Vs. I Feel.....

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/Co9ZypkajsQ?si=P2ntjkHR0b57DVsy

“I Am…….. Vs. I Feel……..”

Ephesians 2:10 NLT- For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

 

I have shared with you all within the past year how I have struggled with self-esteem most of my life.  Having been in therapy for the past almost 3 years now, I have learned so much about how my past and childhood affects how I am as an adult now.  Those who know me well know that I come down hard on myself when I do or say something stupid and mess up.  I talk down to myself pretty bad and my family is often reminding me that I should not be doing this.  I am not nice to myself at all when I mess up. 

 

The enemy likes to make me think that I am the dumbest person to ever walk the earth.  I find a lot of mental battles each day.  Something my therapist has really helped me work through is to remember that when I feel something, that doesn’t make it true.  I need to remember what God says in His Word about who I am.  I have had to work really hard to keep my mind positive about who God says I am.  The enemy gets VERY loud each day trying to throw negative thoughts my way about myself and how I’ve messed up in life.  He loves to constantly remind me of my faults, while God wants to constantly remind me that I am unconditionally loved and, as Paul states, I am God’s masterpiece. 

 

I am sharing this with you all today as I am confident there are people who will read this devotional and completely relate to what I am saying.  Many of you find yourselves bashing yourselves verbally and mentally each day.  You think you never do things right or amount to anything.  The enemy is very, very sly in getting us to feel dumb, stupid and worthless.  This is a LIE from Hell and we cannot believe it!

 

I know that I will battle these thoughts for the rest of my life, but I also know that God will remind me who I am in Him.  I am His masterpiece.  I am special and unique in the Kingdom.  We all need to remember that we are special and unique to Him. 

 

I’m often finding that, with a snap of a finger, I can mentally be thrown into a negative mental pit where I am bombarded with negative thoughts about myself and I get buried with those.  I’ve never thought so much about mental health in all my life before and now I have a taste of what many people struggle with day in and day out.  I want to end with more words from Paul that should remind us each day to focus on whatever is beneficial.

 

Philippians 4:8 NIV- Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

 

“I Am…….” is what God says about us.  “I Feel……” is often what the enemy says.

He's Always Available For Us

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/CruHhHcvtaE?si=pUCqYVgGQqadM7oX

“He’s Always Available For Us”

Psalm 138:7-8 NIV

Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

 

Recently, as I was sitting in a lobby waiting for an appointment, it dawned on me how much of our lives we find ourselves sitting and waiting for someone to see us.  We all have so many different appointments where we find ourselves waiting. 

 

We wait in a doctor’s office to discuss health issues.

We wait in a dentist’s office to find out if we have tooth issues.

We wait at a therapists office to talk about life issues.

We fill out an application and wait to get a response about a job offer.

We call someone, leave a message and hope they return the call.

We send an e-mail to a company and wait for a response.

 

We wait for responses from other people.  Sometimes people get back to us quickly, other times we wait for hours, days, months or years.  We leave messages and wonder if they will be returned. 

 

As I’ve continued to mull this over, I am so thankful and grateful that, no matter where we are or what we are doing, God is always available to listen to us and hear what is on our minds and hearts.  He wants to talk with us.  He’s never out to lunch or on another call.  He’s always there.  No matter where we go or what we are doing, we can approach Him and have a conversation.  Whatever needs or concerns we have, He’s right there to hear what we need to bring to Him.

 

It’s an amazing feeling to know that He always has time for us and is always there for us.  He’s not sitting there, looking at His watch, bouncing his leg, and giving off body language communicating, “Hey, are you almost done blabbing??  I’ve got things to do!”  Never! 

 

Isn’t it an amazing feeling to know that God is ALWAYS there for us and is never too busy to spend time listening to what is on our hearts?  When life is going great, He’s there for us.  When life is the pits, He’s still there for us.  We just have to call on His Name and He is right there!  He’s not on vacation with an out of office message and He’s not ghosting us. 

 

Just remember, though, that His ways are not our ways.  He won’t always respond in the ways we expect.  He’s always there for us, but so often we come with our expectations of how we want Him to respond.  Come before Him with an open heart and mind and commune with Him.  Be open to what He wants to say and how He wants to lead. 

 

It’s a great feeling to know God is always available for us, no matter what.

What You Need, When You Need It

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/cfsKi2xXQ5c?si=UpsVs8E2iojUeTN5

“What You Need, When You Need It”

Philippians 4:19

NIV- And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

 

In the parking lot at our apartment complex, I’ve recently noticed a truck from a company with a sign on the side that reads, “What You Need, When You Need It”.  That’s good advertising, but I have to only wonder if the company customer service and technical service really stands up to its claim?  Wow, we could wonder that about a lot of services we read about, right?

 

Cell phone companies claim to give you the best service, but which one really is the best?

 

TV manufacturers claim their brand delivers the best, but which one really is the best?

 

Car manufacturers claim their vehicles not only run the best, but they’ll take care of you if something goes wrong.

 

Marketing advertisements are full of promises to make our lives better and give us what we need and to never let us down.  Yeah, right!!!

 

In this day and age, we are bombarded every day with so-called promises from various companies and various food places telling us we need this and we need that. 

 

Every one of us has had our hearts shattered by some company or product that didn’t deliver what was promised.  We trusted, but then got badly burned.  The world definitely knows how to get our attention and get us to believe that certain products will bring us exactly what we need when we need it.  We’ve all fallen to so many co-called promises and they totally let us down.  This is where I like to get on Google reviews and share exactly how I feel so that others won’t fall to the same fallen promises from a certain place.

 

In all of this, we often wonder if anything is really true as claimed?  Well, I know One Who always stands up to what He claims.  God has given us His Word and it’s exactly what we need when we need it.  He always gives us what we need, when we need it.  However, we often have issues with His ways.  We often think He’s not delivering when we need it, but in reality, we just don’t understand His ways and they are always better.  We just don’t understand.  But, from all He’s done in the past, we can definitely trust what He promises us.  We just have to trust in His timing.

 

Next time you’re lured in by anything the world is offering to bring you what you need, remember that ONLY God can make that claim.  He truly gives us what we need when we need it.  He gave us Jesus Christ and He is all we will ever need.