by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Luke 10:27, NKJ
As women we tend to wear a lot of “hats” everyday without even realizing it! We just know that we are exhausted each night – can I get an Amen? Within a twenty-four hour period women often fill the roles of: wife, mother, business woman, chef, chauffeur, counselor, daughter, aunt, bible study leader, school teacher, fashion consultant, friend and this is not comprehensive list by any means! It is no wonder studies have shown that women in America feel overwhelmed and dissatisfied. Needless to say, it is imperative that you take care of yourself!
Notice in the verse above that in addition to loving your neighbor (i.e. preparing meals for a family grieving, volunteering at your local church and listening to a friend in need), we are also commanded to love ourselves!
So let me ask you: Are you good to yourself? Do you take time for you or does everything and everyone else take precedence? I am going to guess that most of us reading this blog (including myself) often fall short in this area. But the truth is, if we don’t take care of ourselves – we will eventually reach the point where we can no longer function! When we find ourselves exhausted and overwhelmed, depression can creep in if we are not careful. So, if you are reading this today please know that I love you and I plead with you to take care of yourself:)
I give you permission to take care of you! Let’s start right now – I want you to think of something that you can do for yourself today… go ahead and think about it and then DO IT!
Prayer:
Lord, forgive me for taking care of everyone else, but me. I choose this day to take better care of me. You have entrusted me with a special purpose while here on earth and by taking care of myself – I WILL fulfill my destiny in Christ! Thank you God for this gentle reminder and I will love my neighbor as I love myself this day.” Amen.
by Tracy | Bad Day Blues, Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers. Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39, AMP
There is nothing you can do that will separate you from the love of God. His love for you is not contingent on what you have or will do, but it is solely dependent on the work of the cross. You don’t have to “do” anything to deserve God’s love, it has already been freely given when Jesus gave His life for you on the cross. When we give our lives to Jesus, He takes away our sin, sickness, and poverty and replaces it with His forgiveness, wholeness and prosperity for our mind, body and spirit.
No matter what you are currently going through – God loves you. You may be going through unbearable circumstances or you might have recently made the biggest mistake of your life, but God is and will forever be in love with you friend. God made you in your mother’s womb and He understands you better than yourself. It is when you are in a time of crisis or transition that you need to fall at the feet of Jesus and receive His love, mercy and never-ending grace. People will fail you, but God will never leave you nor forsake you.
There are many barriers that keep us from receiving God’s love. The enemy longs to torment God’s children with condemnation, but there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). He wants to weigh down the righteous with despair, but God has given us a garment of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness (Isaiah 61). The devil desires to oppress us with fear, but God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). All authority over the enemy has been given to us. Jesus made a public spectacle of him through His death and resurrection and it is time that you and I take our authority in Christ and declare Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Friend, you are the righteousness of God and He is deeply in love with you. As our scripture tells us above, there is nothing – no height, no depth, nothing, that can separate you from His love. I pray you rest in this truth friend and receive all that He has for you this day and forevermore.
Prayer:
“Lord, thank you for loving me – all of me. I give you everything I am and everything I am not. You know what I am going through right now and I run to You today. I am in desperate need of Your mercy, grace wisdom and love. I take authority over every plan of the enemy in my life and ask that only Your plans succeed. I declare that goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Amen.”