V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

"Let me hear your battle cry, V-I-C-T-O-R-Y" I think that's how it went anyways. I heard the kids at church chanting this last week and I must say it really stuck with me... really. I cant stop thinking it. Like a song that gets stuck in your head and you can't get it out.Yep, been there for nearly two weeks now. I'm going to venture a guess and say God is probably trying to remind me of something.
It's amazing to hear little kids saying this. Man, what I wouldn't give to have had that instilled in me from childhood! Buuut I suppose thats one of the reasons why we have kids. Not so we can make them live the lives we lived, but so they can live what we couldn't. Im pretty convinced that every parent in some way, lives vicariously through their children. For me it's showing my children that they are worth something! As well as teaching them that the Holy Spirit is our helper and He gives us amazing Gifts if we ask and believe. For my husband its buying them toys that he wished HE had when he was a kid. The lego sets... its really for him ;)
I think though sometimes the childrens department at church chooses verses or stories that will also give parents a reminder of the simple amazingness of God! And the strength that God gave us to pull through.
In the Bible it says in Hebrews 12:1 to run with ENDURANCE the race that is set before us. I cant tell you how many times I've thought of that verse BUT (and maybe this is just me) theres a first part of the verse that i dont think about, and completely forget about until I look it up (you know, actually cracking open my Bible and finding "endurance" in the concordance because I've completely forgotten the scripture refrence...) it says "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us also lay aside EVERY weight and SIN which clings so closely"
If you are constantly striving for victory, and feeling like you always fall short this is for you. (Okay, and me too!) You absolutely, in no way can be victorious if you allow the baggage of life to "cling" on to you. Your past, (not a pretty one? Always reminding you of crap that you really dont want to be reminded of?) Your present, (always staring you in the face just how difficult everything is, and feeling like you are looking at a mount everest that your expected to climb) or your future (got "nothing" going for you and can't find ANY solution to make it out of this world any less dependant than when you first came into this world) thats all baggage that i must say, at different points in my life I have had! But not today! And not anymore!
1Peter 5:7 says to "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the Mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, Casting ALL your anxieties on HIM because...HE CARES FOR YOU!" Also in Matthew 11:28-30 "come to me(Jesus) all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls"
If you are human you have been burdened at some point in your life! But when Jesus says take My yoke upon you, he isnt saying he's going to give you a different burden, He is talking about walking in union with Him, and THAT is what will give you rest. Just like two ox plowing a field yoked together have to walk in unison, step by step, to make the job easier, that is what God wants. He wants to be so close to you that you and Him are knit together.
Jesus even prayed that very thing in John 17:20-22 "I ask also for those who will believe in me... that they also will be in us (Jesus, God) so that the world will believe that You have sent me. The Glory that You have given Me, I HAVE GIVEN THEM!!" WOW! Jesus gives us the same glory he recieved from God!
How can we NOT be victorious with that?! Ok, so maybe I'm talking to myself here and thats fine, but man I'm pumped! I can lay it down (and heres the key...) dont pick my burden back up! And find myself operating in the same glory of God himself, and being one with Jesus! If that doesnt scream victory... then I will give you one more thing that does: Jesus Christ died and lay in a tomb(dead) for three days, then conquering death got up, walked out of the tomb and ministered to his Disciples for 40 days as if death never happened. Now thats Victory! So with that said...
"Let me hear your battle cry, V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!!!"

Until next time :)
Sheri

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Who Am I?!

I am many things... or rather i DO many things, that seem to get labeled as who I am. Such as I AM a mom, I AM a wife, I AM a great cook (ok, I like to think that) even I AM a Christain. But more than those being titles of who i am, I'd have to say those are merely titles of what I do. And I will be honest, in the midst of my busy and hectic life of running after four kids, I often feel stripped from my own identity and feel as though I'm not who I used to be. Yet i dont entirely know who I am at this moment.
Thats how I've been feeling. Until recently. Its an up and down rollercoaster being a mom of four (beautiful and amazing) young kids. And there are days where if i have to answer one more "why?" Again i think my head just might blow up! I know who I want to be. I have this picture of supermom in my head (she actually resembles my mom in nearly every aspect!) And day to day i find myself falling short. This wonderful prayer warrior, strong, supportive, never tired, never angry, always meditating on Gods Word young looking fun and fabulous person just has not been attainable! (Ok go ahead and laugh!)
But knowing who you want to be doesnt always mean its who you are. And especially so if you dont have a clue who you even are right now! There are days when I will say to my husband "I cant do this" hoping for him to come along and say "yes you can!" And sometimes he does say that, but i think its gotten old now and he just looks at me like "you know thats not true"
Ok so, Im guilty of trying to find myself in others approval. But heres something i have found.
After several sermons at church hearing the pastor say things such as "you need to know who you are in Gods Word" or "when you know what God says about you you will never doubt again" i thought, "I've spent my entire life in church, and i know what my mom, my husband, my brothers and grandma all say about me... but what does God say?!" I must have missed the sermon on that.
I delved into searching Gods Word to see what it says. I didn't find the verses that said 'you are worthless' a 'nobody' or 'sick and pathetic' which is how i have felt at different times in my life, or even thought was what God wanted me to think about myself. What I found has transformed me!
When i was little i felt like everyone always told me i was nothing. Maybe they didnt, or maybe my brothers were really only trying to toughen my skin. But i (even though i argued) believed them. I would think if my family couldnt love me enough, then God couldnt. One day as a troubled and angsty teenager my grandma told me "you can do ANYTHING you put your mind to" it changed what i thought. After that i decided to graduate from highschool early, go to college and become a medical assistant. And i did.
It was those few words ... that someone believed in me, that gave me what i needed to push forward.
Thats what Gods Word is, its God (the one and only, the one who created you, the one who knows every hair on your head, every bruise on your body and every thing about you) saying "i know you, I formed you, this is what I made you capable of"
Just a couple verses here that showed me something that has changed me almost instantly!
I am more than a conquerer!! (Romans 8:37) "In all these things we are more than conquerers through Him (Christ Jesus) who loves us!"
I am Mighty in the Lord!! (2 Corinthians 4:8,9) "we are afflicted in every way BUT NOT CRUSHED! Perplexed BUT NOT DRIVEN TO DISPAIR! Persecuted BUT NOT FORSAKEN! Struck down BUT NOT DESTROYED!! "
I am able to do anything I set my mind to! (Genesis 11:6) "and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will be impossible for them."

How great is that! Gods people, Gods Children, the ones confessing the risen from the dead Jesus as the Son of God, are able to do ANYTHING they put their minds to. God created us in HIS image, able to do anything Jesus did! (If you know about Jesus then this should blow your socks off!) Read John 14:12. It says "Truly truly I (Jesus) say to you, whosoever believes in me will also do the works that i do, and greater works than these will he do!"
So... thats just the tip of the iceburg. But right now, Im standing strong on the Words that God says about me.
Feeling quite unstoppable and on top of the world! Ready to take it on!
But what about you? Where do you fit in?
You will find yourself burried in Gods word. No matter who you are. Believer of God or not. You are in there. And in Gods sights.

Signing out for now
Sheri

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

The First of Many

well, this shall be interesting and full of typos and gramatical errors too. that is,  if i ever complete this. being without a comuter sure is a downer and because i can only use my two inch by four inch keyboard on my phone im stuck not being able to capitalize anything or use any symbols... no smiley faces for me... i would have a sad face right there if it let me. anyways this is just a test run to see if this will work for me. i havebeen insearch of a blog app for the android and have been unable to find anything that works. anyways i must run off to make sure the kids do actually finish their food thats been sitting in front of them for nearly two hours now. i guess the taco salad was not as kid friendly of a dish as i had remembered it being. off to crack the whip....