MESSY NEW YEAR TO YOU!

I made some crazy choices last fall and I’m living with the fallout! I lined up a contractor to put in new wooden floors throughout our living area. Fortunately, I didn’t get too carried away and have them re-do our two bedrooms.We’ve lived with chaos for nearly six weeks—it involved me emptying and moving every file cabinet and drawer to whatever available box and basket I could find. The mess I still have to conquer is finding, organizing, and refiling all the talks, articles, and other ministry “stuff” I’ve created and collected over the years.  My triumph today was dumping the files in my laundry basket on the floor – and telling myself the end is in sight! (And the floors are beautiful).So Happy New Year to YOU!  May you not make crazy decisions—but if you do, I hope you enjoy the end result!Sometimes our mess is physical, and sometimes it comes from what we choose to think and tell ourselves.With 2018 unfolding, let me encourage you to tackle the messy emotions that result from negative, untrue, and faith destroying thoughts about yourself and God. To experience joy, confidence, and hope, learning to SPEAK GOD’S TRUTH TO YOURSELF is essential.   At a missionary conference in Kenya a few years ago, I told a woman doctor friend about the book, To Pray and to Love, by Roberta Bondi. I lent her my copy which she found enormously helpful in her state of emotional burnout, self-accusation, shame and guilt at not being superhuman.Have you ever struggled like her?

• Do you say things to yourself about yourself that you would never say about someone else?
• Have you ever wondered why you tear yourself down when God says you are a precious, unique being, loved and valued by Him? And that He wants you to be His friend?
• Could it be that your view of yourself is based on the good or bad opinions of others?

If you find yourself on the receiving end of your own accusations, those of someone close to you, or the Evil one himself, determine to stop calling yourself names or otherwise punishing yourself. This is NOT what God wants for you.

• Let it sink into your heart and mind that God wants to free you from the pain of feeling a failure, unloved or unlovable.
• Ask for His help to catch your automatic put-downs and to stomp on the lies that cause such pain. 
• Instead, repeat what God says about you: You are mine. You are precious to me. Nothing can separate you from my love, ever!

My prayer for you in 2018 is that you will find freedom from whatever oppresses you, and that God’s love will become the power that frees you.Qu. Have you struggled with negative accusations? Will you share what has helped you?Many blessings,    Photo: Graphic Stock Photo