Some of us had awesome childhoods.
Some of us had awful childhoods.

I think for most people its a mix.

Everyone has had good experiences and bad experiences in life. The question is which experiences do you bring to mind?  Not which do you remember, but which do you bring to mind? Anything can trigger a memory - a scent, a sound, an image. Sometimes the memory is great and we smile and savor it. Other times it's not great. When one of those moments you regret pops in your head, don't wallow in it. Listen to this song. Soak in God's word about who you are in Christ.

Don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Don't get caught in negative, evil, depressed, regretful thoughts. Bring good things to mind. Use God's word as a mirror, not your past.

Philippians 3:13-14
Philippians 4:8

Be still. Get your fill. Do His will.

There are no strangers

there are no outcasts 

there are no orphans of God

-Avalon

Why is that such a moving lyric? Because that is how we all feel at one time or another. We feel outcast. We feel less-than. We feel abandoned. Those feelings subside when we abide. When we become more cognizant of our connection with God, who we are in Christ becomes our primary thought. The enemy will play havoc with our thoughts and emotions if we don't slam the door shut. Kick that liar to the curb.

He is the one who was cast out. You are the one who has been brought near.
He is less-than. You are more-than! You are more than a conqueror in Christ. His head is crushed under your foot.
He is the abandoned one - he abandoned his post. You are the adopted one! God chose YOU. He wants YOU. YOU are His desire. Glory!! 

If you have been feeling less-than, cast out or abandoned, quit letting the devil play in your mind. Those are his thoughts so let him keep them. You take those thoughts captive and put in the thoughts of God.
Ephesians 1:6 - You are accepted in the Beloved.
Romans 8:15  - You are adopted by God! Cry out to Him, "Papa!"
2 Corinthians 2:14 - God always causes you to triumph in His name and we "make manifest the savour of His knowledge...in every place." More on that next time.

Be still.
Get your fill.
Then go do His will.

Set Free

You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did. 

That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don't give it the time of day. Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time - remember, you've been raised from the dead! - into God's way of doing things. Sin can't tell you how to live. After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living in the freedom of God.

-Romans 6:11-14, The Message

Who you are in Christ -

Accepted, whole, glorious.

Live like it today.

I've had so many things coming across my radar recently and they've got to spill out somewhere. Here goes.

The world has the worst product and the best advertising. Hollywood makes a lifestyle of loneliness, depression, divorce, empty sex and poor self-image look like a wonderland. Isolated on an island of loneliness, surrounded by people who think they know you, but nobody really knows you. They know your image. They think they want to be you or be with you.

"On stage, I make love to 25000 different people, then I go home alone." - Janis Joplin 

Janis Joplin died of a heroin overdose. Her life was not fun, she just made it look fun. Chris Farley...Elvis Presley...Marilyn Monroe..Heath Leger...Whitney Houston... Just google Hollywood overdoses or suicides and you'll get a list that goes on and on. Everyone outside wants what they're ADVERTISING, but you don't really want what they have. THEY don't want what they have.

More of what has been spoon fed to us through pop-culture: fashion. Why do fashionable shorts end just below the butt cheek for a lady and just below the knee for a man? Who decided that that's ok? Who decided that we should be exposed and men should be covered? Auuuggghhhh! Can anyone tell me why it's so hard to find a shirt that's cute and also covers the cleavage? C'mon. I know it can be done and it doesn't have to cost a fortune. Target, are you listening? Necklines that are interesting for a reason other than for cleavage, please. Thank you.

Christian ladies - you are beautiful. Magnificent. You are a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord. You need to know that. Meditate on that. You do not need to show the world all your goodies in order to be recognized as beautiful.  God made you for a purpose and it wasn't to be eye-candy at church. You are more than that.

I sound mad, and I am. I'm mad at the devil because he enslaves people and then convinces them it's cool and glamorous and edgy.

Life in Christ is the best of everything. The most exciting life you'll ever live is the life He has mapped out for you. The most peace you'll ever experience is in His arms. The greatest joy you will ever have is with Him. The fulfillment we all crave is only found in HIM.