by Tracy | Bad Day Blues, Tuesdays With Tracy
What if I were to tell you that God loves you, He created you and He thinks you’re gorgeous? Would you believe me or would your mind quickly come up with all the “reasons” why this cannot be true? Statistics state that 85% of Americans struggle with low self-worth. And if you are one of these individuals you may have a hard time believing that God loves you, created you and thinks you’re gorgeous! Unfortunately, many of us treat our “feelings” as truth rather than God’s Word. And it is our “feelings” of low self-worth that can cause us to stumble in life over and over again.
Why is it that we receive the lies of the devil, but we resist the truth of God’s Word concerning our worth? I am here to challenge you today – I want you to press into God’s Truth concerning you. It is time to receive from God and resist the devil and his pack of lies! Let’s start by declaring these truths over your life today:
1. God loves me.
John 3:16 states, “For God so LOVED the world that He gave His only Begotten son that none should perish, but have everlasting life.”
2. God created me.
Ephesians 2:10 states, “For you are God’s workmanship, CREATED in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that you should walk in them.”
3. God thinks I’m gorgeous.
Psalm 45:10-11 states, “Listen O Daughter, consider and give ear; forget your people, forget your father’s house. The King is ENTHRALLED WITH YOUR BEAUTY; honor Him for He is your Lord” (NIV Version).
IF you choose to meditate on these truths today – you will have an awesome day! Although low self-esteem will not go away overnight, if you choose to daily meditate on God’s Word concerning you and determine that what He says about you is TRUTH – you will be walking in worth before you know it!
Prayer:
Lord, help me to receive Your Word as truth and resist the lies of the devil. No matter what man says about me, I can rest in the fact that You love me. I ask that you reveal to me any mindset that is contrary to what the Bible says. I want to walk in worth and fulfill my destiny. I declare today that God loves me, He created me and He thinks I am gorgeous! Amen.
*I’d like to give a “shout out” to the precious women of FBC of Alpharetta: Thank you for the honor of being with you for your 2008 “Girl Talk” Retreat. I love you ladies and hope you always remember that: God loves you. He created you and He thinks you’re gorgeous!
Photo above is from: www.freefoto.com
by Tracy | Bad Day Blues, Tuesdays With Tracy
“For You are my hope O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth. By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You.” – Psalm 71:5-6
A while back I was asked to speak to a group of teenagers at a local community center. I was thrilled to receive the invite due to my life being radically changed at the age of 16 when I surrendered my life to Christ. As the anticipation grew I began to seek the Lord about what to convey and after a few days of prayer, I had no doubt what God wanted to say to these young adults.
Upon my arrival, I entered a huge great room filled with chairs and young people engrossed in conversations and laughter with one another. I could see the remains of pizza boxes on a nearby table and the smell of pepperoni still lingered in the air. I found a vacant chair to sit and listen to the teens as they talked about the challenges of life and love. I was later formally introduced and to my amazement these teenagers sat at attention as I shared my personal story of being a depressed, suicidal teenager and how God transformed my life. I could tell by their eyes they understood the hurt and pain that I had gone through. I found out later that many of them also had gone through deep pain themselves.
I informed them that God wanted to convey something to them that night that could radically change their lives – I encouraged them to always place their hope in God and not the things of this world. This opened up conversations on how we can place our hope in other things, such as: people, circumstances, our performance, greed or selfish desire rather than in God. And as we discussed these faulty avenues of hope, it was unanimous that when we choose to hope in the things of this earth that we end up feeling more disappointed, fearful and anxious. We resolved that the only way to find true peace and satisfaction in life is by placing our hope in God. It was such an honor to share with these precious teenagers that night about fixing their eyes on God and I am thankful that each young adult prayed to draw closer to God and to place their hope in Him.
The truth is, no matter our age, it is a constant struggle for us to place our hope in God each day. As a rule of thumb – if you’re feeling frustrated, disappointed, fearful or anxious – your hope is probably in something other than God. As we choose this day to place our hope in Him, no matter what your circumstances may be at this time, you can have a confidence that God will perfect that which concerns you and you will experience a supernatural peace as you trust in Him.
Prayer:
Lord, I choose this day to place my hope in You. Help me to keep my eyes fixed on You and not my circumstances. I speak over my mind, body and spirit this day, “Be still and know that God is in control and He is moving on my behalf today.” I let go of fear, frustration, disappointment, unforgiveness and I grab onto The Hope that never disappoints – Jesus! Amen.
by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
This is my daughter’s favorite treat to unwrap!
“What I am trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving.” -Matthew 6:32, Message Translation
Have you ever received a gift so beautifully wrapped that you hated to open it? While it may have been tempting to sit the package on a shelf and just stare at it, I think most of us have too much curiosity to not open it and see what is inside! After all, someone took time out of his or her day just to buy you a gift and it would be rude to not open it – right? Yet, so many of us have unopened gifts from God each and everyday. When life gets busy we often fail to respond to God’s gift giving. We can become all consumed with going to work, running errands, paying our bills and taking care of the tyranny of the urgent that we never open the gifts God has placed before us.
According to the scripture above, we have to stop being preoccupied with getting in order to receive something. Do you mean that God wants me to relax and receive a gift from Him everyday? Yes! Let me ask you a question: What are you in need of today? Whatever you maybe facing, God has the right gift to help you overcome every test and trial. So, I encourage you to unwrap and receive what God is longing to give you. Be expectant for a gift from heaven to fall upon you today!
Prayer:
Lord, help me to stop and receive the gift you are longing to give me this day. You know exactly what I need. Forgive me for being so preoccupied with life that I fail to spend time with You. Thank you for the gift of salvation and all that it contains. I choose to receive Your joy, peace, protection, healing, favor, provision, forgiveness, wisdom and anything else You see that I am in need of today. Thank you Lord for lavishing me with more gifts than I know what to do with. You are the greatest gift I have ever received in my life and I praise you! Amen.
It’s time to rest and receive gifts from Heaven! Watch out for unexpected gifts to fall into your lap. There are gifts that have been stored up, gifts that are just because He loves you, gifts so beautifully wrapped – but you are to open them – not just stare at their beauty. Happy unwrapping!
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
James 1:17 NKJ
by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“I need Thee, O I need Thee; Every hour I need Thee; O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.” -A Hymn by Annie S. Hawks & Robert Lowry
I find myself singing the Hymn above many days when I am aware that I need an infilling of God’s Presence in my life. And while I yearn for Jesus each day, there seem to be some days that I am more desperate for Him than usual – this morning was one of those times. I admit that during my years of private practice as a counselor I felt God’s Presence each day as I ministered to the hurting and I am aware of God’s anointing on my life when speaking to women at conference’s and retreats. But as a stay-at-home mother, I have often struggled with feeling God’s Presence while handling my everyday ordinary challenges, such as, temper tantrums, changing dirty diapers, laundry and keeping the house picked up (which is near-ending task with a toddler)!
No matter where you are in life – we all need God’s Presence with us during our everyday, ordinary life. God longs to be with us each day, no matter what we are doing. The truth is that God is just as powerful within us while standing in line at our local grocery store as He is at our church. Why is it that we put God in a box and simply “open” Him up for Sunday mornings and fail to see that He is always near us? Wherever we are is Holy ground. Selah (pause and think about that for a moment).
So let’s begin to ask for God’s Presence in our life no matter how mundane our day may seem. Our prayer might be something like, “Jesus, will you be with me today while I go to work, workout at the gym, cook dinner, talk to friends of the phone, play with the kids and take a few minutes to read the Bible and pray? Help me to hear your voice and acknowledge that Your Presence is with me at all times. Amen.”
All we have to do is ASK and He will help us with our everyday, ordinary life. I don’t know about you, but I need Jesus every hour! I want to experience His Presence every moment of everyday. It is because of the work of the cross and the Precious Blood of Jesus that we have the Holy Spirit who yearns to speak to us! Oh, that we would hear the voice of the Spirit this day!
Prayer:
Lord, I ask that you be with me today. Forgive me for not acknowledging Your Presence while performing my everyday, ordinary tasks. I am so grateful that I serve a God who longs to be with me every moment of my day. I ask that You go before me today and make all the crooked places straight, create rivers in the desert and move the obstacles that are before me. As the Hymn states above, “I need Thee; O I need Thee; Every hour I need Thee; Bless me now my Savior, I come to Thee!” Amen.
by Tracy | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy
“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so.” Proverbs 3:27
*As my husband’s 40th birthday approached a few years ago, I decided that I was not going to let his typical response to dampen my plans to honor him. As anticipated, my husband was not into the “party idea” at all. But, one night while he was channel surfing I asked him who he wanted to attend his party. At first my husband looked at me as if my question was causing him pain, but finally with his cooperation, we listed twenty-three of our closest friends. And believe it or not, as the invitations went out, I began to sense that he was warming up to the idea of celebrating his birthday.
You see, I had heard that turning 40 for a man is much like how a woman feels when she turns 30 (and I had already experienced that trauma:). I remembered feeling discouraged at where I was in life and battled the thoughts of “I should be farther in life than I am.” I could see glimpses that my husband was struggling with similar feelings and I knew this party had to be more than just cake and ice cream – if you know what I mean.
As a Christian counselor I have the privilege of supporting and guiding people during the darkest hours of their life. Many individuals are perplexed that I can sit with people in their pain and not become depressed myself, but what they fail to realize is that my clients daily help me see God’s faithfulness in their lives! One life lesson I continually hear over and over again from my clients is the importance of honoring those you love before it is too late. And my party for my precious husband was my attempt at doing just that!
I asked each guest to bring with them a tribute (written words of how my husband has impacted their life for the better) and to share this with my husband the night of the party. The evening was magnificent, but when my husband and I think back to that event, we don’t remember the cake and punch, but the words our family and friends shared. My husband’s life was impacted that night and he was able to experience something many people never have the opportunity to undergo while living.
I encourage you this Valentine’s Day to honor those you love. Whether you write an encouraging note, make a nice dinner or send them some flowers to express how much someone means to you – take my client’s advice and honor those you love before it is too late. We can be mightily used by God to encourage and impact someone’s life today – now that is quite an honor!
*Published Article by Tracy Hurst, Christian Chronicle/2004
