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The Value of You
Let's begin with the meaning of value. Value is a principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable. Now with that being said, I want to encourage you to develop within yourself the principle, standard, and quality that is worth having. Yes you heard me correctly, develop within yourself. Our value can not be given to us by someone else. It is strictly up to us to do what's necessary to have great value and allow God to shape us into the person He has in His plan for us to become. The value we develop comes from our morals and conduct. How we behave, how do we handle ourselves in adverse situations and circumstances.
What is my value? This question can be hard sometimes to answer. Especially when we don't understand or have confidence in the person we are. There are so many aspects we must look at in order to clearly be able to answer this question. We can't be so easily invoked to latch on to someone else's perception of us, neither can we be so easily intrigued to become who someone else may have worked hard to become themselves. Our lives are designed to be lived according to our own path and our own direction. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that we just automatically know what we are supposed to do. Neither are we able to successfully gain the wisdom and insight needed without the help of the Lord God. But what I am saying is that, we owe it to ourselves to be the best and all we can be. One's identity is not determined based on who someone else is. We can't even allow who our parents may have been or other family members to affect how we feel about ourselves. Each and every one of us is destined for our own path. The path we walk on should only be based on the path that has been specifically designed for us.
You have the power to change your circumstances. Yeah, yeah, I know it sounds easier said than actually doing. But it is true. The only reason we allow ourselves to become victim to our circumstances is when we choose not to see better for ourselves or choose to remain lazy and not want to do better for ourselves. In either case, we are living beneath our privileges. God never designed for us His children to live beneath the privileges and blessings that His word talks about. But just like anything else worth having, to have a better life you have to work hard to have a better life.
So often I find that some people tell themselves that their lives will always be the way it is. When the truth of the matter is that the changes needed to take place to change the present circumstances, lies on the inside. It's the inner man that has the ability to tell the mind that it needs to change. And it is the eyes that enable what is seen to become more positive versus remaining negative. These things that I speak of, are not hard. It just takes a well made up mind of the individual. Only then will change be able to take form and shape you into the person that God has always destined for you to be. Our lives go through various stages as it takes shape to become the life that we will ultimately end up living. The hard thing sometimes, is the beginning. With the way this world is today, we want things right now, when we want it. And in many cases the media has made life seem as though things can happen just like that. But what the media doesn't show is that even for the person(s) who has "arrived", they had a beginning process also. We can't allow the fact that when we see other people at their highest point, make us feel like our lives mean nothing. We have to remember that there's a process for gaining wealth, prosperity, love, self-empowerment. All these things takes identifying, planning, follow through, and constant re-evaluation.
So I encourage everyone to be proud of the fact that you are alive and well. Be willing to accept what God has allowed in your life up to now and what will come in the future. Yet understanding that your lives are in the making process and knowing that you have the power as to how you allow the process to affect you. Don't be so quick to hook up to the negative and let the positive go astray. Remember the more positive you do the more positive you will receive; and the more positive you see, the more positive you will give out. You have to decide what caliber of life you want to live and go after those things that cause for you to excel and move forward. All the while never forgetting that the Lord is with you as long as you allow Him to be on your team. Stay with Christ or get back to Christ. Let your church's ministry be an effective part in the growth and development of your spiritual learning. It's a true fact, that you don't have time to waste away trying to live life according to the world's standards. Your value says that you are worth more than that. Time really doesn't wait on anyone, so it's up to you to decide how wisely you use the time that you do have. The Lord has given you strength, endurance, and the ability to use your minds to accomplish great things. Make sure you never loose sight of the fact that God is with you. And remember the value of you is what you make it to be!!!
From one youthful soul to another
Cara Terrance
To be or not to be!
To be or not to be is really the question. Meaning will you decide to pursue the will of God and be all that He has for you to be or will you choose to lay dormant and let life pass you by missing the countless blessings that's in store for you. We all know that God is definitely a work ethic kind of person. Basically to expect to get something for doing nothing is truly a lost cause for those who really believe that. We have been made in the image of God therefore letting us know that in order to reap a harvest we have to first plant one. God has blessed each and every one of us with various talents and gifts. And with those we have been conditioned to bless others as well as ensure success for ourselves and our families as long as we do the right thing. It's not always easy to determine what we should or shouldn't be doing in the sight of God. But as we allow the Holy Spirit to take the lead and guide us we will be sure to walk in and capture the territory in which God has designated for us to dwell. There is no mistake that God has chosen you to be the best. There is no mistake that He has set up in your life's path to accomplish great things. But you have to be willing to do the work that is needed to complete the task designated specifically for you to do. Then you have to see yourself as being able to receive the blessings that God said in His word is available to you understanding that your labor is not in vain.
We must be careful that we don't get weary in well doing or be discouraged by the trials and tribulations that we face on our journey called life. These things have been designed to teach, mold, shape, and make us in to the women and men of God we are suppose to be by design. The fact that the trials come shows us how much faith God has in His children to pass the test and come out victorious. If you think about it, the enemy is the one who plays on our emotions of past and in some cases present situations that causes us to deter from where the Lord is trying to take us. And then sometimes it's even our own self that we allow to tell us that we can't do this or we can't do that. Failing to realize if we couldn't do it, why would the thought even present itself in our minds? I really don't believe that God plays with our emotions like that. I do believe that He has placed in each and every one of us something that only we can bring to the table. It is up to us to seek Him and determine what that is. Then we have to pursue, capture, and activate that which has been placed at our hands to do.
So you see why to be or not to be is really the question. You have to ask yourself, am I going to be all that God has for me to be or am I not going to be all that God has for me to be. This could be a simple question with a simple answer for someone who has made up their mind to serve the Lord or a simple question with a hard answer for someone who hasn't made up their mind to serve the Lord. Ahh, I think we've just found the area of interest here. It takes a well made up mind to serve God. There really isn't time for up and down or being with God one day and away from Him the next. Now because He is a loving God, He won't leave you or forsake you, but think about it like this. How would you feel if someone you loved only dealt with you when things were going good, but the minute things got bad, they could care less if you were around or not? Now imagine how that makes God feel when we treat Him the same way. When we make the choice to serve God completely and for real, it shouldn't matter what may come up in our lives, we still have to know that we are yet in the right place by serving God anyway. In order to receive the blessings that God has stored up for us, there is only one answer that will always be the right answer in any given situation or circumstance, in any good or bad place. And that answer is to choose God. He is the only way that we will be able to succeed in the process of life and be able to live.
In closing today's thought I encourage all of us to make the choice to be all that God has purposed in our lives to be. We only have one choice to make and His name is Jesus. We can't allow the things of this world and the enemy to destroy our character, our personality, our spiritual connection to God, and our well-being. God has purposed in His heart that we are His children and He wants what's best for us. Now it is up to us, to let Him show us what that best entails all the while expecting and knowing that THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!!!