Being a Godly Woman in a Broken World

I grew up in a family that believed that God exists, believed that Jesus came in the flesh, lived, died for our sins, and ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of God, making intercession for all who claim His name. To an extent, that was correct. However, in my particular family, the fruit produced didn't line up biblically. My grandparents were alcoholics most of my childhood. My parents were wild teens who had me way before they were ready to be parents. They had multiple partners, they drank, abused substances, smoked, you name it. Profanity flowed freely from their mouths as water from an open tap. Needless to say, the odds were not stacked in my favor.

God had other plans for me. From an early age I could sense the presence of Jesus near me. I experienced multiple encounters that were meant to kill me, but He showed up to protect me. When I was left alone while whoever I was staying with at the time was doing drugs or drinking, He would sit and talk with me. When I cried because I felt unloved, He wrapped me in His arms and reassured me that He loves me. I feel the love of God in such a Fatherly way. Psalm 68:5-6 says that He is: "A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,

is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land." God definitely has done this for me throughout my life. He has equally shown me the latter part of that scripture as well.

I know each and every one of you has had things happen in your life that were meant to harm you but I am here today to encourage you that God is bigger than your circumstances. I am here to tell you that as an orphaned child longs to be loved, our Father in heaven, longs for us to allow Him to love us. That may sound strange but hear me out. We have a will all our own. He will not usurp that will. More often than not we have to come to the end of ourselves to relinquish the reigns of our life and let Him take over.

How do we do that in today's crazy world? We are bombarded with all manner of things that could easily be our downfall. In these times we need to cling ever tighter to a relationship with the giver of life. You turn on the news and fear can easily flood your mind. But He is the Alpha and the Omega who knows the end from the beginning. Nothing is outside of His control. Even the devil has to get permission to try to touch God's child. And even then, He will see us through it.

The key is relationship. The Lord Jesus summed up all of the Law into two simple rules:

1). "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."

2). "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matt. 22:37,39)

Friends, if we love God first for all He is with all we are, out of that love all goodness flows. If you love God, you see your own worth in His eyes. Then you can love yourself as His child. Then and only then can you look at those around you and see that we are all struggling with something. It could be childhood traumas, bad relationships, we could have suffered abuse even, maybe worse. The Father longs to shower us with His love. He isn't some hard to please deity that requires sacrifice, He wants genuine loving relationships with His children.

If you aren't sure where you stand with God, I want you to know His ears are ever ready to hear your heart cry out to Him. Message me, I will pray with you. This is just an installment in a whole series I'll be working on. Next time we will be discussing social media and the trappings thereof. Til then, you are important, you are loved.

Be Blessed by Being a Blessing