You Are Perfect!

Just the Way You Are
Billy Joel

Don't go changing to try and please me
You never let me down before
Don't imagine you're too familiar
And I don't see you anymore
I wouldn't leave you in times of trouble
We never could have come this far
I took the good times; I'll take the bad times
I'll take you just the way you are
Billy Joel's words remind us that we are Perfect...made in God's image..uniquely created by God himself...indeed a miracle...short and tall...round and square...little or no hair...blonde and brunette...feisty or calm....


It is He who has created us, Just the Way We are, 
....God did not make us on a mass production line. He took great care in making us who we were meant to be. He had a purpose in mind for us even before we came into being......He knew we would sin and be helpless to live up to His expectations. He knew we would fall. He knew we would fail, but he gave us a chance. Even though we have failed Him, He has provided us with hope and a way back to Him.
Psalm 199:3, "Know ye that the Lord is God; it is He that has made us, and not we ourselves. We are his people, and the sheep of his flock."
.....You may not feel like a masterpiece. There are times when we feel anything but! Living life here on this planet is not always easy. But the Lord wants us to know how much He loves us and that He is with us even in times of despair.
If you feel abandoned today, please know that God is there. He may be just waiting for you to call on Him

Seasons of Struggle

Eat healthfully. My mood is much more stable when I say “no” to the lie that says I’ll be happy if I eat this treat or indulge in this fatty meal. Eating junk does seem to make me happy for a short period, but it’s not worth the crash that eventually comes after the initial high. Not to mention the shame over my gluttony. Eating with nourishment in mind bears physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits that far surpasses the fleeting pleasure of indulging my sweet tooth........

 Let in natural light. Light is a proven mood-booster, particularly natural light. It also has other positive effects on your health, including keeping your body clock regulated so you sleep more soundly at night. So throw open the curtains and let the sunshine in!

Be flexible. Wait…what? Didn’t I just advise establishing a schedule and a routine? Yes, having a schedule and routine as a general guideline is helpful; but holding on to them too tightly increases stress.  Life isn’t going to happen the way I plan, and acceptance of that truth brings a lot of peace. The desire of a Christ-follower is to pursue faithful stewardship of her time, while staying submissive to the God who gave us each moment of our days in the first place. If He allows an interruption in our plans or a delay in our schedules, it’s for a purpose, and embracing it as a divine appointment frees me to focus my efforts away from my frustrated plans and onto fulfilling His plan for my day.

Read more from Divine Encounter on how to beat the winter blues!

................. I’m thankful that God has equipped our bodies, our minds, and our spirits to fight against feelings that our enemy hopes will consume us and render us ineffective for God’s kingdom.

We are not always in control of what happens to us, but we can always control how we choose to react. In those moments when I choose to stop  to give thanks to God for the good in my life and stop with all the complaints,  the parts that seem bad begin to be less significant. Choose a positive attitude and thankful heart regardless of the blizzard raging outside your door!

2 Corinthians 1:9  “Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”

Oh How He Loves You and Me

Oh How He Loves You and Me

1 Corinthians 13:7-10J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

7-8a Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen.

All gifts except love will be superseded one day

8b-10 For if there are prophecies they will be fulfilled and done with, if there are “tongues” the need for them will disappear, if there is knowledge it will be swallowed up in truth. For our knowledge is always incomplete and our prophecy is always incomplete, and when the complete comes, that is the end of the incomplete.

There is No Greater Love

But the question is not just IF God loves you.

The question is, How much does God love you?

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God loved you enough to find you.

He never gave up. He never abandoned the search. He never called off his angels.
He searched until he found us.
When he found us, and saw our pitiful condition, he didn’t back away and leave us in our sins.

The Love of God

The love of God is greater far Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star, And reaches to the lowest hell;