Ladies - how many of you have felt like what the world’s standards are, the culture’s expectations, makes you feel insignificant or like you have to be someone you’re not?
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Yeah, me too. It’s not healthy.
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Listen - God made us something special. We are unique and priceless. There is a divine purpose behind the creation of women. We are not some after-thought of God’s. We are not some mere helper, a less-than being, to man.
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No, my sisters - we have been made PURPOSEFULLY.
We have been made INTENTIONALLY.
We have been made BEAUTIFULLY.
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Whenever you doubt your worth, feel insecure in your identity, don’t understand your value, go to God’s Word. It is Truth. Whatever it says of us is true.
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Need some examples? Here’s some:
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Beloved (John 15:9, 1 Thess.1:4, 1 John 3:1)
Cherished (James 1:18b, Ezekiel 16:8c)
Chosen (Col. 3:12, 1 Peter 2:9, 1 Thess. 1:4)
Redeemed (Ephe. 1:7, Lam. 3:58)
Worthy (2 Thess.1:11, Matt 10:31, Luke 12:7)
Delighted (2 Sam. 22:20, Psalm 18:19)
Known (1 Cor. 8:3, Psalm 139:1-3)
Seen (Psalm 33:13 & 139:15-16, Prov. 5:21)
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Who we are in Christ, who God has made us to be, is nothing short of beautiful and inspiring. Read the stories of Ruth, Esther, Deborah, Rahab, Mary, the Proverbs 31 woman and you’ll see the kind of women God desires us to be.
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We were made to be women filled with grace and compassion, living with purpose and in purity, empowered with courage and strength.
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There’s nothing shameful or disappointing about being a woman like that. In fact, it’s how God created us to be - women modeled after Him. Let’s embrace that, shall we?
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#abidecollect
📷 unsplash
| LOOK UP
How often do we get caught up in what our eyes can physically see?
For the one struggling with their body image, it’s seeing the reflection in the mirror & the number on the scale.
For the one struggling financially, it’s seeing the numbers on the bills compared to the number in their bank account.
For the one struggling with not being where they want to be in life, it’s seeing their circumstances & what their life looks like compared to others.
There are so many examples of us looking with our physical eyes to physical things & getting so caught up in the appearance of it all.
This is why it blatantly tells us in Scripture that God looks at man’s heart & not the outside. It reminds us of the perspective that not everything we see is accurate & often times it’s what we don’t & can’t see that’s more important.
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Something I told myself going into 2017 (yes, I typed the correct year) was to not look down but up. Looking down makes me focus on me, on what life looks to me, on chaos & dirt & the space around me. But when we look up, we see so much more - the people around us, beauty that blossoms, the stars of the ongoing universe - things that can remind us of what’s unseen.
Scripture tells us to look up & in doing so, it allows us fresh perspective because we look for God.
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Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another | Isaiah 40:26a
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I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth | Psalm 121:1-2
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I lift my eyes to You, O God, enthroned in heaven | Psalm 123:1
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When you find yourself looking down, focusing too much on what you can physically see, look up to God. We may not see Him in any physical form, but we can know He is with us. We can trust in His loving nature that He will not abandon us. We can believe in His infinite power. He is bigger than all we can see & experience.
When we look up, may we praise Him. May we lift His name high. May we focus on Him - who He is, what He can do, what His promises are - and be ruled by His Truth and not by our sight.
📷 @hann.elaine #abidecollect
There is nothing wrong with admitting your faults - your shortcomings, imperfections, vulnerabilites, and the need for help. This is something I have to work on. As a full on enneagram type 5 with a ton of type 1 tendencies, I highly value my privacy and independence. I don’t like feeling exposed in any way shape or form and I don’t like asking for help. I’m self-sufficient and reserved, but I’m not perfect. I’m not strong all the time. There are things I cannot do alone and God knows that. He has wired me purposefully in all my uniqueness and quirks. He has designed not just me but everyone as such with their own uniqueness, and as humans imperfect by sin, He invites us to come to Him to be made whole. But in order to be made whole, all our broken areas, all our emptiness and voids, they need to be exposed, more for our sake than His, as it allows us to recognize our inability to reach perfection and be self-reliant all the time. As God knows us in deeper ways than we ever will know ourselves, He knows where only He can fill, fix, refine, and strengthen us to make us whole.
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So lay yourself out before Him. Expose yourself before God, acknowledging your need for Him to work in you. God is not going to hurt you. He’s not going to laugh or scoff at your shortcomings. He won’t push you away when you admit your lack; instead, He lovingly embraces us with His enduring grace and mercy, cleansing us with His unconditional love and restoring us back to Himself by His redemptive power. There’s no shame for us at the feet of Christ - only forgiveness, grace, and love. We are safe with Him.
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Reflection verses: James 4:10, Isaiah 57:15, Psalm 34:18, 51:17, 62:8 & 147:3
#abidecollect #abidethoughts
🌿 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge & my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler & from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, & under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield & buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. . . . “Because he holds fast to Me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows My name. When he calls to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him & honor him. With long life I will satisfy him & show him My salvation.”
~Ps. 91:1-6, 14-16 ESV
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What beautiful truth & promises that are captured in this passage. Yet I wonder, how often do we read Scripture, we study & know the Bible, but don’t truly believe it?
We don’t truly declare it over our lives?
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Do I believe He is a refuge that is trustworthy, one who will protect?
Do I believe God hears my cries?
Do I believe He rescues me & satisfies me?
Do I believe He is with me always?
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Whenever we begin to doubt God or find ourselves not fully believing in His Truth, we must abide. We must get in the Word, study it, pray it over ourselves. Find verses that declare Truth, no matter what you are struggling with - depression, anxiety, fear, hopelessness, loneliness, sorrow, doubt, uncertainty, feeling unworthy, unloved, unseen, unheard - and put yourself in the verse.
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“Because ______ holds fast to Me [God] in love, I will deliver [him/her]; I will protect ______, because [he/she] knows My name. When ______ calls to Me, I will answer [him/her]; I will be with ______ in trouble; I will rescue [him/her] and honor [him/her]. With long life I will satisfy ______ and show [him/her] My salvation.”
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What Truth do you need to proclaim over yourself?
A verse or passage you are praying?
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#abidecollect
📷 @shilohcollect
FYI- pinion: the outer part of a bird’s wings including feathers
pestilence: a fatal epidemic disease, especially bubonic plague
New devotion on @laneofroses website today! Talking about the spiritual season of winter. Here’s an excerpt: 👇🏻
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I may be one of the few who loves winter. As a young kid, I briefly lived in New England, and although I’ve spent most of my life in the southeast of the US, I still have family there and growing up would frequent it often. To quote Elsa, “The cold never bothered me anyway.” Perhaps winter is in my blood.
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There’s a term called “seasonal depression” and most people seem to experience this when winter rolls around. Winter is a season where things appear dead and the earth seems colorless - bare trees, grey skies, the grass is no longer green, most flowers are not in bloom, air is dry and at times nippy. I personally think it’s beautiful but I understand how people don’t like it. One of my most favorite parts is snow. When everything is fully covered and it’s entirely white, there is something so magical and beautiful about it. Watching it fall is serene and mesmerizing.
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There have been times when I have found myself in a spiritual season like winter. There appeared to be a lot of things dead - dreams had faded, relationships had ended, opportunities had seemingly ceased - and unlike the earthly season, I did not like it. Rather, I grew depressed. But just as with any season, it’s only here for a time. ...
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You can read the whole thing by clicking on the link in my bio and selecting the Lane Of Roses tab!❄️
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#abidecollect #faithinmylane #abideverses
Background photo: Unsplash
