"God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, and now you can call God your dear Father"
Galatians 4:6
You are in God's family.
The spirit of Jesus is in your heart if you accept Him.
You are the daughter/son of a King.
You can call God, who created the universe and mankind, your Father.
Since you are a child of God, everything He has belongs to you.
You are an heir to everything that Christ has been given.
Galatians 1:3-4 - Grace and peace is yours from God, from Jesus, who died for your sins, who came to rescue YOU from this evil world.
Jesus loves you so much. He is your rescuer. He WANTED to rescue you and has, He died for your mistakes, in your place, and grace and peace is YOURS through Him and will never be taken away.
"Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything."
2 Corinthians 6:5
You ALWAYS have something to offer, because it is not you that you are offering. It's God in you and God is everything.
The power that you have within you is greater than any power in the world. Greater than satan's power. Because the Holy Spirit dwells within you and is connected to God and to Jesus. Jesus has overcome the world and defeated satan. God is the ultimate, reigning power and authority over everything. The power you have IN YOU is the same power that rasied Jesus from the dead.
Galatians 1:1 - Your call is from Jesus Christ Himself and from God the Father.
Whatever you are called to do, it is a calling from God, not human authority. So nobody can tell you that you can't do it, nobody can change that calling or put it down. It is a special, unique calling from God, just for you. If He called you to do it, you can and will do it.
Galatains 1:6 - The ultimate calling, called by God Himself, to share eternal life with Him - all because He loves you and wants to show mercy. God is continually showing you mercy, giving you chances, so you can be with Him eternally. It's the desire of His heart. How could any of us turn away from that? How can our response be anything but love and devotion?
God has gone to the ends of the universe and back, He has given everything, planned everything, sacrificed everything, just so you can live your life according to His purpose, just so you might know Him and be saved, so you can have eternal life, and in this life, a better life. He has done it all just for you.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Acceptance
During the first years after accepting God in my life, learning that I was accepted and dealing with insecurity was something I had to overcome. I was always a very insecure person, though people would say I was confident, inside I had low self esteem. Always comparing myself to others, always trying to be better and improve myself. And once I became a Christian, the struggle with my past started immediately. I questioned that I could be a Christian. I questioned that God could use me. I thought I was too messed up, had made too many mistakes. Would people accept me and love me once they found out about my past?
What I want to share here is some moments in my life with God so far that have been turning points in this area.
In the first 2 weeks after I made my decision to begin a life with God, there was a bit of a youth concert held at the church I had started attending. I went along to it and it was my first experience with God's acceptance. One of the bands sang this song, and I hung on every word. It was about someone who was questioning that they were any good to be used by God, they had a tainted past and didn't think they were worthy or able, or that God could possibly give them a fresh start. I knew exactly how that felt. It was what I'd been asking myself. But the chorus brought hope, it told the truth. I can't remember the words exactly but it talked about God coming along and forgiving everything, every little mistake, every big mistake. It said that it wasn't anything we could do but it was something God did when Jesus died on the cross. It said that yes, God could use me, He could make me new and I could start all over again. It was such a relief to hear it. God knew, they sang that song for a reason.
Further on down the track, I decided to get baptised. At this point, when I gave my testimony, I didn't go into as much detail as I do now, but I said enough. My whole family were there and all the church. After I had shared my story and after the service, so many people came up to me, telling me how much my testimony had touched them, and had given them hope. I was amazed and here came the first realisation that God could use my past. I didn't have to be ashamed of it or live in regret, but rather I could bless others by sharing my story. Another turning point.
Months later, I was at a youth conference. I'd been struggling with a particular area of acceptance. The thought of telling my future husband about my past made me feel sick. I understood that God could use my past and use me, but acceptance from people, from that one special person, was something I couldn't believe. I thought nobody would want me. God broke through that week. At the end of one of the sessions, God started dealing with this issue. I broke down and gave it to God and He showed me that He fully accepted me, He loved me unconditionally and loved me regardless. It made me realise that it didn't matter if nobody else in the world accepted me, because Jesus did, and that was everything. But it also gave me confidence that God had somebody who would be able to deal with my past and still love and accept me. It was like a huge weight had lifted off me.
There was quite a few times I was asked to share my testimony at church/youth events. Each time God challenged me to share a bit more. It came to a point where one night, God told me not to hold back, to bare my soul. Scary ask! There were people there I didn't know and people there who were close to me but didn't know the full story so I was scared of what reaction I might get. But I got up and shared everything, not holding back. After the service that night, God blessed me and showed me His grace and acceptance yet again. My friends told me that they loved me even more and admired me even more. People who didn't know me that well came up to me and startng sharing about their lives. They could relate to what I'd said. It was so amazing. Praise God that He can use everything for good.
Over the last couple of years, I've been through quite a testing time. I've had a lot of lessons to learn, a lot of issues to deal with, and have been through the fire. It was a time that God really started to prune away all the rubbish. It was a tough time, not just for me, but the people who were closest to me. I didn't make it easy for them, but through it all they stuck by me, accepting me, loving me, challenging me, speaking the truth in love and showing me amazing grace. Those people were an incredible example of God's character and have pulled me through and helped me grow. At my ugliest, they loved me and gave me grace and encouraged me to get up and keep going. Again, God was showing me that He had more for me, that no matter what, He would accept me and He would provide people in my life who also accepted me. And this isn't an ok to not learn the lesson or to treat people badly or anything like that. I'm just saying that you cannot go so far that God's grace can't reach you if you are willing to turn back to Him. His grace and acceptance was only poured out when I made a decision to turn around, to apologise, to repent, to come back to Him. Those decisions didn't make me worthy of His grace or of the friendship of those around me, but rather it was because of God's unfailing love and His decision to give me another chance. It is by God's choice that I am made worthy.
I've started to really hit a major turning point when it comes to self esteem and acceptance. It didn't happen overnight, I had 19 years of wrong thinking to unlearn, but I can confidently say that God has been so faithful and that I am at so much of a better place than I was. I have moved forward and grown. I am now beginning to love myself, to realise my potential (because it is God's potential and He has created me with an incredible vision in mind), I am more confident inside, I am more postitive and trusting, I compare myself less and less and I'm learning who I am in Christ. Sure it hasn't always been easy, there's been some times in the last couple of years I wanted to give up, I couldn't see it ever getting better, I couldn't see myself ever being able to be who I'm meant to be. But God loves us too much to leave us where we are (something someone told me when I was going through all this!). And it's true, He sees the potential in us, He sees the dreams He placed in us, He sees the impossible as possible and He won't leave us in a hole or let us get away that easily. So keep going! I am so blessed to have had some amazing people surrounding me over the last few years. God is everything I need, but He uses people as well, and without these people, I couldn't have done it. It gets better, for a while I didn't believe it, but it does, and there's nothing you can do that will make God not love you or not accept you. His grace is neverending, it will never run out, He wants to show you an amazing life if you let Him. Don't ever give up, don't ever believe you're not good enough. The God of the universe, who created the heavens and the earth, created you. It says in Psalm 139, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made, how marvelous are Your works". That's you, fearfully and wonderfully made, a marveouls work, bursting with God's dreams and potential. The reason I named this blog "Daughter of A King", is because that's who I am, I am royalty, and so are you, you are the sons and daughers of the King of Kings and you have been promised to share in His inheritance, in His love and grace, in His riches and blessings. Rise up and accept the title! Come forward and accept His gifts! He has decided you are worthy.
What I want to share here is some moments in my life with God so far that have been turning points in this area.
In the first 2 weeks after I made my decision to begin a life with God, there was a bit of a youth concert held at the church I had started attending. I went along to it and it was my first experience with God's acceptance. One of the bands sang this song, and I hung on every word. It was about someone who was questioning that they were any good to be used by God, they had a tainted past and didn't think they were worthy or able, or that God could possibly give them a fresh start. I knew exactly how that felt. It was what I'd been asking myself. But the chorus brought hope, it told the truth. I can't remember the words exactly but it talked about God coming along and forgiving everything, every little mistake, every big mistake. It said that it wasn't anything we could do but it was something God did when Jesus died on the cross. It said that yes, God could use me, He could make me new and I could start all over again. It was such a relief to hear it. God knew, they sang that song for a reason.
Further on down the track, I decided to get baptised. At this point, when I gave my testimony, I didn't go into as much detail as I do now, but I said enough. My whole family were there and all the church. After I had shared my story and after the service, so many people came up to me, telling me how much my testimony had touched them, and had given them hope. I was amazed and here came the first realisation that God could use my past. I didn't have to be ashamed of it or live in regret, but rather I could bless others by sharing my story. Another turning point.
Months later, I was at a youth conference. I'd been struggling with a particular area of acceptance. The thought of telling my future husband about my past made me feel sick. I understood that God could use my past and use me, but acceptance from people, from that one special person, was something I couldn't believe. I thought nobody would want me. God broke through that week. At the end of one of the sessions, God started dealing with this issue. I broke down and gave it to God and He showed me that He fully accepted me, He loved me unconditionally and loved me regardless. It made me realise that it didn't matter if nobody else in the world accepted me, because Jesus did, and that was everything. But it also gave me confidence that God had somebody who would be able to deal with my past and still love and accept me. It was like a huge weight had lifted off me.
There was quite a few times I was asked to share my testimony at church/youth events. Each time God challenged me to share a bit more. It came to a point where one night, God told me not to hold back, to bare my soul. Scary ask! There were people there I didn't know and people there who were close to me but didn't know the full story so I was scared of what reaction I might get. But I got up and shared everything, not holding back. After the service that night, God blessed me and showed me His grace and acceptance yet again. My friends told me that they loved me even more and admired me even more. People who didn't know me that well came up to me and startng sharing about their lives. They could relate to what I'd said. It was so amazing. Praise God that He can use everything for good.
Over the last couple of years, I've been through quite a testing time. I've had a lot of lessons to learn, a lot of issues to deal with, and have been through the fire. It was a time that God really started to prune away all the rubbish. It was a tough time, not just for me, but the people who were closest to me. I didn't make it easy for them, but through it all they stuck by me, accepting me, loving me, challenging me, speaking the truth in love and showing me amazing grace. Those people were an incredible example of God's character and have pulled me through and helped me grow. At my ugliest, they loved me and gave me grace and encouraged me to get up and keep going. Again, God was showing me that He had more for me, that no matter what, He would accept me and He would provide people in my life who also accepted me. And this isn't an ok to not learn the lesson or to treat people badly or anything like that. I'm just saying that you cannot go so far that God's grace can't reach you if you are willing to turn back to Him. His grace and acceptance was only poured out when I made a decision to turn around, to apologise, to repent, to come back to Him. Those decisions didn't make me worthy of His grace or of the friendship of those around me, but rather it was because of God's unfailing love and His decision to give me another chance. It is by God's choice that I am made worthy.
I've started to really hit a major turning point when it comes to self esteem and acceptance. It didn't happen overnight, I had 19 years of wrong thinking to unlearn, but I can confidently say that God has been so faithful and that I am at so much of a better place than I was. I have moved forward and grown. I am now beginning to love myself, to realise my potential (because it is God's potential and He has created me with an incredible vision in mind), I am more confident inside, I am more postitive and trusting, I compare myself less and less and I'm learning who I am in Christ. Sure it hasn't always been easy, there's been some times in the last couple of years I wanted to give up, I couldn't see it ever getting better, I couldn't see myself ever being able to be who I'm meant to be. But God loves us too much to leave us where we are (something someone told me when I was going through all this!). And it's true, He sees the potential in us, He sees the dreams He placed in us, He sees the impossible as possible and He won't leave us in a hole or let us get away that easily. So keep going! I am so blessed to have had some amazing people surrounding me over the last few years. God is everything I need, but He uses people as well, and without these people, I couldn't have done it. It gets better, for a while I didn't believe it, but it does, and there's nothing you can do that will make God not love you or not accept you. His grace is neverending, it will never run out, He wants to show you an amazing life if you let Him. Don't ever give up, don't ever believe you're not good enough. The God of the universe, who created the heavens and the earth, created you. It says in Psalm 139, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made, how marvelous are Your works". That's you, fearfully and wonderfully made, a marveouls work, bursting with God's dreams and potential. The reason I named this blog "Daughter of A King", is because that's who I am, I am royalty, and so are you, you are the sons and daughers of the King of Kings and you have been promised to share in His inheritance, in His love and grace, in His riches and blessings. Rise up and accept the title! Come forward and accept His gifts! He has decided you are worthy.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
My Story
I thought that my first post on here should be my story. That way I can let you into my world, into my past, into who I am.
My parents separated when I was about 5 or 6 years old. So I don't have a lot of memories of Mum and Dad together at home. I remember one particular time when they were fighting, I was hiding in the door of the hallway, scared and upset. Dad moved to Melbourne when he left, about 3-4 hours from where we lived in Hamilton, Victoria. That day opened up a huge hole in me that I spent the next 13 years or so trying to fill. It's a hard thing to cope with and understand, watching your Dad pack the last of his things in his van and leave. It was hard for him too. Not that I realised that at the time, it was only years later, looking back on the letters he wrote us, saying how much he missed us and wanted to be with us, did I realise how much he must have hurt. But before that, I just blamed him for leaving. I never knew what a normal marriage should be like, I never knew what it was like to have Dad at home, and I often got jealous of kids who had their Dads around.
Through primary school, I was the teacher's pet, the 'square', as I got called. The popular people used me for answers and help for schoolwork, and to make their friends feel bad when they were kicked out of the group for a while. I went along with it, because I felt it meant I was accepted, even if it was all fake and only some of the time. The rest of the time I was teased. Don't get me wrong, I had some great times in primary school, and became best friends with a girl who I see as my sister still to this day. But being teased so much and not having Dad around didn't help my self esteem or trust. When I got to high school, I was so desperate to fit in. I was always trying to better myself, I didn't view my self as good enough. I didn't measure up and was always trying to. On the relationship side of things, I had boyfriend after boyfriend. I felt secure when I had one. I felt like having a boyrfriend would make me whole. Not so. I was used, dumped, cheated on and did everything I could to keep hanging on to them. I had set myself no boundries when it came to how involved I got, and thought it was the norm, that giving all of yourself was how you showed love and how you held onto relationsips. Wrong again. There was even one relationship I was in that I allowed myself to be kept a secret, so his popular friends wouldn't know, while he continued to use me for what he wanted. I didn't know any better.
Drinking was a part of my high school days of course. I drank to be confident, I drank to have fun, I drank to drown out pain. I don't like thinking about the times I drank too much.
All of this worked together to make me one huge mess. I got depressed during my final year of school and went on medication for a while. I came out with confidence issues, trust issues, control issues and insecurity issues and scarred.
After finishing school, I started working full time. It was in this year that I began to question my existence. Because it was purely that, existence with no purpose and a life of mistakes and regrets. What was the point? It was the same thing, day in day out. I was empty. My friend came to my rescue. We'd been friends through the second half of high school and were very close. She's a Christian, and while I always admired and respected her faith, it wasn't for me. She never preached at me or tried to change my mind. She just purely stuck by me through all my ugliness and downs, she accepted me where I was at, loved me and remained such an amazing example to me in her decisions, morals and faith. At the time I was starting to question, I was also in yet another relationship, but one that I wanted to do differently to the others. My friend gave me the book 'Boy Meets Girl' by Joshua Harris. A book about relationships, but God centred relationships. I'd always refused to believe that there was this one God in control of my life. I hated the thought. But as I started reading, God had me. I was wanting a better life. And this book was showing me ways of having a better life. At first I felt guilty, my life was a mess and I was making some pretty ordinary choices. This book made me realise that. So I started to think about God and how He might fit into my life and how I might be able to have a better life. I wasn't sure. Around the same time, The Passion of The Christ came out. I wanted to go see it(unsual for me - but now I see God was doing something). I went with my Christian friend (who was so excited!). As I sat and watched the story of Jesus unfold on that big screen, I was overcome with such grief and sorrow that I hadn't felt before. I cried my eyes out. I'd never really seen or heard the story of what Jesus did before. Sure I knew about Easter, Jesus on the Cross, etc. But it nothing more than a fairytale to me. Up on that screen, I realised I had seen the greatest love I would ever know, and the greatest sacrifice I would ever know. I went home that night and cried and cried. I knew immediately I had to give something back to Jesus, that my life had to be for Him, because I put Him on the Cross, my choices and way of life had driven the nails into his hands and feet. I was mocking Him. Though I had that realisation that night, it took me another couple of weeks to really make the decision. I was too proud, I struggled with the fact that it would be so embarrassing going to church. But God had a hold of me and wouldn't let go. I couldn't hold off any longer. I hadn't said a word to anyone about my thoughts, it was all battled out in my own head. One night, I just made the decision that I was going to give this a go, I was going let God into my life and live for Jesus, so I just prayed a simple and awkward prayer in my bedroom that night, I can't even remember what I said. But the next day, life was different, I felt different, I had joy and excitement, the sky was bluer, the grass greener. I told my friend and my mum I wanted to start going to Church (I wasn't game enough to say I believe in God out loud!). And so I did. What a journey it's been since then, but I think this is enough for now. I hope some can relate.
My parents separated when I was about 5 or 6 years old. So I don't have a lot of memories of Mum and Dad together at home. I remember one particular time when they were fighting, I was hiding in the door of the hallway, scared and upset. Dad moved to Melbourne when he left, about 3-4 hours from where we lived in Hamilton, Victoria. That day opened up a huge hole in me that I spent the next 13 years or so trying to fill. It's a hard thing to cope with and understand, watching your Dad pack the last of his things in his van and leave. It was hard for him too. Not that I realised that at the time, it was only years later, looking back on the letters he wrote us, saying how much he missed us and wanted to be with us, did I realise how much he must have hurt. But before that, I just blamed him for leaving. I never knew what a normal marriage should be like, I never knew what it was like to have Dad at home, and I often got jealous of kids who had their Dads around.
Through primary school, I was the teacher's pet, the 'square', as I got called. The popular people used me for answers and help for schoolwork, and to make their friends feel bad when they were kicked out of the group for a while. I went along with it, because I felt it meant I was accepted, even if it was all fake and only some of the time. The rest of the time I was teased. Don't get me wrong, I had some great times in primary school, and became best friends with a girl who I see as my sister still to this day. But being teased so much and not having Dad around didn't help my self esteem or trust. When I got to high school, I was so desperate to fit in. I was always trying to better myself, I didn't view my self as good enough. I didn't measure up and was always trying to. On the relationship side of things, I had boyfriend after boyfriend. I felt secure when I had one. I felt like having a boyrfriend would make me whole. Not so. I was used, dumped, cheated on and did everything I could to keep hanging on to them. I had set myself no boundries when it came to how involved I got, and thought it was the norm, that giving all of yourself was how you showed love and how you held onto relationsips. Wrong again. There was even one relationship I was in that I allowed myself to be kept a secret, so his popular friends wouldn't know, while he continued to use me for what he wanted. I didn't know any better.
Drinking was a part of my high school days of course. I drank to be confident, I drank to have fun, I drank to drown out pain. I don't like thinking about the times I drank too much.
All of this worked together to make me one huge mess. I got depressed during my final year of school and went on medication for a while. I came out with confidence issues, trust issues, control issues and insecurity issues and scarred.
After finishing school, I started working full time. It was in this year that I began to question my existence. Because it was purely that, existence with no purpose and a life of mistakes and regrets. What was the point? It was the same thing, day in day out. I was empty. My friend came to my rescue. We'd been friends through the second half of high school and were very close. She's a Christian, and while I always admired and respected her faith, it wasn't for me. She never preached at me or tried to change my mind. She just purely stuck by me through all my ugliness and downs, she accepted me where I was at, loved me and remained such an amazing example to me in her decisions, morals and faith. At the time I was starting to question, I was also in yet another relationship, but one that I wanted to do differently to the others. My friend gave me the book 'Boy Meets Girl' by Joshua Harris. A book about relationships, but God centred relationships. I'd always refused to believe that there was this one God in control of my life. I hated the thought. But as I started reading, God had me. I was wanting a better life. And this book was showing me ways of having a better life. At first I felt guilty, my life was a mess and I was making some pretty ordinary choices. This book made me realise that. So I started to think about God and how He might fit into my life and how I might be able to have a better life. I wasn't sure. Around the same time, The Passion of The Christ came out. I wanted to go see it(unsual for me - but now I see God was doing something). I went with my Christian friend (who was so excited!). As I sat and watched the story of Jesus unfold on that big screen, I was overcome with such grief and sorrow that I hadn't felt before. I cried my eyes out. I'd never really seen or heard the story of what Jesus did before. Sure I knew about Easter, Jesus on the Cross, etc. But it nothing more than a fairytale to me. Up on that screen, I realised I had seen the greatest love I would ever know, and the greatest sacrifice I would ever know. I went home that night and cried and cried. I knew immediately I had to give something back to Jesus, that my life had to be for Him, because I put Him on the Cross, my choices and way of life had driven the nails into his hands and feet. I was mocking Him. Though I had that realisation that night, it took me another couple of weeks to really make the decision. I was too proud, I struggled with the fact that it would be so embarrassing going to church. But God had a hold of me and wouldn't let go. I couldn't hold off any longer. I hadn't said a word to anyone about my thoughts, it was all battled out in my own head. One night, I just made the decision that I was going to give this a go, I was going let God into my life and live for Jesus, so I just prayed a simple and awkward prayer in my bedroom that night, I can't even remember what I said. But the next day, life was different, I felt different, I had joy and excitement, the sky was bluer, the grass greener. I told my friend and my mum I wanted to start going to Church (I wasn't game enough to say I believe in God out loud!). And so I did. What a journey it's been since then, but I think this is enough for now. I hope some can relate.
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