THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

April 26, 2023

LIFE IN THE FOLD

I pick up my nephew's two little ones from pre-K each afternoon. It's about a 20-25 minute drive from school to their home, depending on how heavy traffic is.

Earlier this week I had a bottle of flavored water in the cup holder beside me and the little boy saw it. He said, "Letta, I'm so thirsty! I need a drink of your water." I told him that he had his cup in his backpack... but he didn't want that water.... of course! Since there wasn't a lot left in my bottle, I handed it back to him.

He drank and said, "Letta, this is good water! I like watermelon [there was a picture of a watermelon on the bottle]. This water is so tasty! It tastes like watermelon."

The truth is - the bottle did have a picture of watermelon on it; and when I first opened the bottle, it did have watermelon flavored water inside. But the truth, also, is - I had finished drinking all of that water before leaving home to go pick up the kids, so had refilled the bottle with plain old regular water.

I had been drinking from that water, so knew that it had absolutely no flavor to it. But the picture showed it was watermelon flavored, so that's what he "thought" he was drinking. It didn't matter that I told him differently, he saw the watermelon on the bottle, so was convinced what he was drinking was flavored.

Many times we do that same type of thing personally. We see ourselves as being unworthy, a failure, unlovable, untalented, of little worth.... have feelings of guilt, condemnation, beat ourselves up over past sins and bad choices.....

God will tell us differently, yet we choose to believe what we see when we look in the mirror or what our heart and mind tells us about ourself. We believe the label rather than the words of the One who created us.

God tells us that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus; yet we believe the lies of Satan that whispers in our ear that says, "But you know what you've done! Remember when you......? If people only knew about your sin, they'd lose respect for you! You're a failure!" So we go around carrying the burden of guilt and shame, when God tells us that we are forgiven! He tells us that when we repent, He forgives us and removes that sin as far away as the east is from the west AND He remembers it no more!!

We need to learn to listen to the One who created us and forgives! When those self-incriminating thoughts of guilt and shame come into our mind, we speak against them, instead of allowing them to take root. "NO! That's not who I am. The Word of God says that I am a new creation in Christ Jesus. That old person is gone and I'm made new. I am forgiven and my sins are covered by the blood of Jesus! I live in victory, not defeat!"

James 4:7 tells us that when we submit ourselves to God, then we can resist the devil and he will flee. We don't have to listen to his lies that try to fill us with condemnation, guilt, shame, and feelings of fear and rejection.

Perhaps there have been individuals who have tried to place a label on you that makes you feel inferior or like a failure or unimportant or as if you don't belong. You may feel self-conscious and lack self-confidence. You may even believe that no one needs you and you don't really matter. Those feelings may have taken root from something that was said to you in the past.

Words spoken can have an impact and we can hold onto them for years. We remember what was said, by whom, and where we were at when it happened. I've had that happen to me and many times it's a battle for me to let go and forgive! I may think I've forgiven and moved on, then something will happen or someone will say something that triggers it and I'll remember and think about it or tell someone what was said to me. Then I realize that I'm still holding onto it and haven't truly forgiven and am still allowing those words to have an affect on me. So I once again have to choose to forgive. And I do so, because I want God to forgive me. It's not always easy to do, but it's vitally important to living a peaceful life where everything is good between us and God; and between us and others.

Regardless of what others may say or what we may think about ourself, we can find the real truth about who we are and what God thinks about us in His Word. Perhaps it's time that we stopped looking at the "label" of who we think we are or what we think others see when they look at us. That label may not be the truth of who God says we are! If we are thinking negatively, hurtful things about ourself, then that's not how God sees us and how He thinks about us. I truly believe it's time that we stop putting ourselves down and being self-critical. We are often our own worst critic.

When we see ourselves as "less than" then we can't really fulfill God's plan for us, because we don't believe that we are capable or worthy or able to do so. When we worry about what other people think about us, or feel unqualified, or compare ourselves to someone else, we can't truly be the men and women that God has created us to be.

I want to see myself and think of myself as God does! His Word says that I am forgiven, worthy, His child, His heir, healed, victorious, a special treasure, cherished, loved, blessed, fearfully and wonderfully made, redeemed, chosen, free from sin, gifted, more than a conqueror, accepted, not condemned, a new creation........etc.

I pray that you will, also, see and think of yourself as God does! Believe His Word and what He says about you! Perhaps it's time we remove the "label" of what we think of ourself or of how the world may perceive us, and begin to see the truth of how God views us.

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

I have a lot of respect for anyone who can walk around all day long, constantly conscious of who God says they are. But I am in awe of anyone who can be constantly conscious of who God says people around them are.

It can be a little overwhelming to be aware of the fact that I am someone loved by God. That is a pretty awesome and wonderful thing. It's hard not to feel some sense of pride and hold onto that fact.

Once you can get that in mind, the next step is to be constantly aware that God also loves everyone we come in contact with. They might not know God, but God still loves them. They might be depressed and hopeless, but God still loves them. They might be snarky and hateful, but God still loves them. They might have worn out clothes and smell bad, but God still loves them. It is almost impossible to be hateful toward someone knowing that they are someone God loves.

ON THE MENEWE:

Homemade Restaurant Style Salsa

Blend all ingredients together in a blender or food processor, to your desired consistency.

If you like it spicier, add jalapeno juice, to taste.

Store in a mason jar in the refrigerator.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

Jon and I enjoyed listening to his dad reminisce about special memories that he shared with us during the last couple years of his life. Although Alzheimers had affected his mind in many ways, he often remembered things that happened either in his own childhood or when his kids were young. During several of our visits with him, he seemed to enjoy talking about family vacations they had taken when Jon and his siblings were young. One of Stan's very favorite memories was the year the family took a ski trip. He was skiing and had stopped to take a picture. He was concentrating on the lens cap and camera and didn't realize that he had started moving -- until it was too late. He fell and sliced his nose. The doctor let Stan look in a mirror and watch him put stitches inside his nose. Stan thought that was so interesting and said that was more fun than the skiing!

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

God didn't give you the strength to get back on your feet

so you can run back to the same thing that knocked you down. - TobyMac

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org