Today God put an awesome word on my heart for me to share with all of you. I have been thinking about this for a while and I didn't even realize it was because God wanted me to share it with you until this morning.
Photography is my passion! I love pictures, I love taking pictures and I love looking at the world with the eye of a photographer. I am currently taking a class in Photography and our first project was due last night. We had an in class critique and let’s just say that the teacher didn't say what I wanted her to say. She wasn't impressed with my favorite pictures and all the hard work I put into everything. She was more impressed with the pictures that I didn't really even want to use for my project. I left class feeling a little down wishing that I could have gotten more approval from her. I wanted her to say "GREAT JOB RAY!!" I'm not going to lie I wanted the entire class to say that! Lol! How many of you have been there? You wanted someone to say great job or you were just seeking their approval/acceptance in an area of your life and you didn't get it. It hurts. It makes you question yourself and wonder if there is something that you could have done better. This usually happens when you're seeking acceptance and love in a relationship, at work and even at school. We've ALL been there. My friend in class asked me "Why do we care so much about what the teacher is going to say about our work?" and I told her "Because she's a professional! Everyone else that has been looking at our pictures haven't been. They've been our friends and family, and they don't know the first thing about photography, so hearing what she has to say means a lot." I had no clue that God was saying "HELLO NISIA!!! I'm right here! I'm a professional, you have my approval and love and that's all you need."
Why are we all so focused on gaining the acceptance of the world? Our husbands, friends, boyfriends, family, the list could go on forever! We are all guilty of this. We want people to like us, and love us and think we are AWESOME! J But you know what ladies, God thinks we’re all that, and as the old saying goes- we are all that and a bag of chips! J lol! God is always proud of us, if we are living for him! He always loves us, even if we aren’t doing what we are supposed to be doing. (A prayer that I memorized to help me: Psalms 19-14 “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You. Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.” Love that prayer!)
I realized this morning that I’ve been seeking approval and love in so many areas of my life. Wanting great feedback on this blog, my school project, wanting people to like me and love from my husband. I was thinking about the blog last night and asking God to bring us more followers and asking him to let us receive more comments and then he asked me “Why does it matter if they respond to your post? Isn’t the point of all of this for them to read it and know about me?!” I felt so convicted because I was turning this entire situation to be about me wanting feedback on what I have been writing, but it’s been God using me. These are his words not mine, his story and vision not my own. Of course it’s always nice to hear what people think about what’s being said on the blog and it’s nice to know if you’re actually helping someone, but I would rather have a thousand readers than a thousand followers. Just because we have followers doesn’t mean they are actually reading the posts.
God’s Word
1st John 2:15-17 “Don’t fall in love with this corrupt world or worship the things it can offer. Those who love its corrupt ways don’t have the Father’s love living within them. All the things the world can offer to you- the allure of pleasure, the passion to have things, and the pompous sense of superiority do not come from the Father. These are the rotten fruits of this world. This corrupt world is already wasting away, as are its selfish desires. But the person really doing God’s will- that person will never cease to be.”
How do you think this world would change if everyone sought only God’s love and acceptance? I think it would change not only our world, but everyone’s self-esteem! So many of us seek the affection, love, support and approval of the people around us and we begin to rely on them for our own happiness. We begin to rely on their reactions to situations to decide whether today will be a good day or a bad one. Please stop doing that! Don’t rely on anyone else for your happiness. It starts with YOU! Love yourself and know that no matter what happens God loves you.
It says in 1st John 4:7-12 “My loved ones, let us devote ourselves to loving one another. Love comes straight from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and truly knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because GOD IS LOVE! Because of this, the love of God is a reality among us: God sent His ONLY SON into the world so that we could find true life through Him. This is the embodiment of TRUE LOVE: not that we have loved God first, but that He loved us and sent his unique Son on a special mission to become an atoning sacrifice for our sins. So, my loved ones, if God loved us so sacrificially, surely we should love one another. No one has ever seen God with human eyes; but if we love one another, God truly lives in us. Consequently God’s love has accomplished its mission among us.”
How beautiful is that!!! God is love! There is NO love greater than his! He sent his only UNIQUE son to die just for us. God’s love is not only powerful, but it’s unique too! It’s different than any of other type of love we will ever experience. I think a lot of that scripture is saying show God’s love to everyone around you, including yourself! If you love yourself and believe what God says about you (we are made in HIS image, therefore we are BEAUTIFUL) then what the world thinks of you won’t matter as much. We must stop looking to things and people to fulfill us! If this doesn’t change we will be some unhappy, disappointed people. Our lives will seem miserable because we aren’t getting the love we deserve. Seek God’s love! It doesn’t change based on what you’re wearing today, if you’re big, small, tall, short or whatever it is! He always loves us. He KNOWS we are beautiful because he made us! Anything God created is beautiful, especially if it’s in his image! J Heard this song this morning and it made me cry! God is awesome! Please check it out… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sonjpHbeDQ 'True Love' Phil Wickham :)
Love yourself; seek God’s love and most of all LOVE GOD! Love as hard as he does, but don’t put anything or anyone above him! I truly pray that this spoke to some hearts today as much as it spoke to mine. None of these changes will happen overnight. They will take time and it has to be something that YOU really want.
**Update**
Brandy, my mom and I will be discussing a time for our first bible study (mingle time! J) . I’m hoping we can have it here in the next couple of weeks! We will post more details on that as soon as we have them! Also, please notice the “Prayer Hotline” lol, info on the right>>> I posted it yesterday so please feel free to use it anytime!
Please stay encouraged, inspired and motivated and help someone else do the same today! JThanks for your love and support ladies!! Keep reading! J
Raynisia NagelA Woman After God’s Own Heart
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