Today's Truth "As [a man] thinks within himself, so he is." Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV)
Friend To Friend Have you ever wondered why it is so easy to
believe the lies about who we are rather than
God's truth?
Maybe we are not sure what God's truth is?
And where do those lies come from?
It all began in the Garden.
After the sixth day of creation, when God looked at all He made, He pronounced, "It is good."
But something went terribly wrong. The enemy crept into God's perfect world and deceived His image bearers with lies.
And while God's Holy plan has restored what the serpent destroyed, the enemy continues to tell us lies even today.
The enemy tells us that we are worthless, powerless, failures we are not good enough, smart enough, or competent enough to succeed.
And it is not the truth.
When God created the world and all that is in it,he stocked the seas with marine life and the skies with all tht flies, when He ignited the stars in the night sky and placed the sun to light the day and the moon to illumine the darkness -
He did so with words. "And God said ... and it came to be" (Genesis 1:3-26).
God spoke and what was not became what is.
"By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the
breath of his mouth.(Psalm 33:6)
Amazingly, when God created man in His own image, He gave us that same powerful tool.
He didn't give words to monkeys, zebras, rabbits or dogs.
He gave words to man.
Our words have potential.
In fact, the Bible tells us that "death and life are in the power of the tongue." Proverbs 18:21 (NASB) Our words become the mirror in which others see themselves.
Our words impact all of our family, friends, and the world.
But some of the most powerful words we speak are the ones that no one hears ...
the words we speak to ourselves.
We can speak life to ourselves and we can speak death to ourselves.
Our minds think about 130 words per minute and our mouths (women) speak about 25,000 words in a day. Now that's a lot of words!
A considerable amount of those words are spoken or thought to ourselves.
Most of this self-talk is harmless, such as what will I fix for dinner? or where did I put my keys? But some are destructive.
Saying, "I'm so stupid," "I'm such an idiot," or "I'm never going to be good enough," can create habitual destructive thought patterns that can paralyze a person into inactivity. Negative self-perceptions repeated over a period will brand themselves into our minds and eventually become our reality.
If you repeat an unbelief or lie enough times, you begin to believe it.
"Nobody loves me," "I don't have any friends," or "I'm so ugly"
becomes your reality ... even though it is a false reality.
You can become stuck in the house of mirrors looking at a distorted reflection of who you really are. The negative destructive lies of the enemy are like a tar baby. The more you play with it, toy with it, embrace it, the more you get stuck to it.
Each time we speak a lie about ourselves, we become more bound to it. "As [a man] thinks within himself, so he is" (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV)
When we look into God's mirror, His incredible love letter to us we call the Bible, we discover the truth. God does love you (Colossians 3:12)
You have an entire cloud of witnesses cheering for you (Hebrews 12:1).
You are God's masterpiece ... a work of beautiful art (Ephesians 2:10).
You are good enough because Christ lives in you (John 14:20).
You are a chosen, holy, dearly loved child of God.
That's the truth.
Let's start seeing ourselves as God sees us. In one of John's letters, he wrote,
"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth" (3 John 1:4). I believe that God has no greater joy than to know that His children are walking in the truth.
When we are walking in the truth, the lies are exposed.
We can recognize the lie, reject the lie, and replace the lie with truth. Then, and only then, can we be all that God has created us to be and do all that God has created us to do.
We can experience the abundant life that He planned all along.
I believe that God has great plans for us all --
His Word promises that He does. "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).
But many of us are not experiencing the abundant life because we don't know who we are.
We have believed the lies that we are not good enough, unloved, unworthy, and unforgivable.
We have been looking in distorted mirrors for far too long.
God wants us to look into the only true mirror that will tell us exactly who we are, what we have, and where we are as a child of God -- His Word.
It is the key to living the victorious Christian life.
It is time to start believing the truth.
It is time to hear God say,
It is time to hear God say,
"You are my ________, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
Let's Pray Dear Heavenly Father,
I have believed the lies of the enemy way too long.
This year, I am going to renew my mind with the
truth of Your Word and begin seeing myself as You see me.
...Your chosen, holy, and dearly loved child.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.
Now It's Your Turn
Have you believed the lies of the enemy rather than God's truth?
Do you see yourself as God sees you?
Bondage, comes in so many forms; quiet, loud, seen and unseen
I am free and must mirror that belief?
My truth for 2009
To be what God wants me to be !
The week in review
Wednesday night was another jam packed service. Georgia was the falcilator of the Exdous chapter. Exdous is a book we all think we know front and back. God always seems to reveal secrets just at the nick of time.
Another view about the OLD is aways interesting.
Around 50 people attended.
Marvin Hull will teach this coming Wednesday service.
Margaret will begin the prayer service promtly at 6.oopm
The Vine prays that we will see you there.
Fly By The Seat Of Arbramn's Pants
Is a group that meets Sunday afternoons at 3.30pm. in the youth room.
The Vine is told that it is an exciting, in depth look at Daniel through
the Knowledge of Kay Authur.
Dixie is the contact person and can reached at 817-219-6338 for any futher information.
All is welcome.
Most everyone stayed and was joined by 15 others for a jammed pack Beth Moore study of Pslams, Stepping Up.
Linda Harvey leads this group, begining at 5.00 pm in the Education building.
Linda 's contact number 817-579-1713
They are just 1 week into the study and there is still plenty of time to come and enjoy learning. Psalms is such a beautful book, men and women all atend.
OKEY DOKEY THEN
The way to Go for the week goes to.......
The Worship Team.
What a great team Gateway Community Church has.
With this group of musicians and singers we are blessed.
If you know of a way to go:
Let The Vine Know Any of The Various Ways
Let it always be said
GET INVOLVED..INFORMATION PARTNES.. CONNECT -THE-VINE
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