Q – What do you recommend in scripture or prayer to help someone get released (& peace) from the bondage of low self esteem related to body image and eating disorders?
A – Try this scripture mashup. For an even stronger experience, try reading it out loud.
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O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know me, O Lord;
You see me;
And You examine my heart’s attitude toward You.
I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
You have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in Your book?
I know your sitting down, And your going out and your coming in, [click to continue…]
To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power (2 Thessalonians 1:11)
There are two basic ways to pray for somebody. There are “issue” kinds of prayers, and there are “always” kinds of prayers. When somebody asks you to pray for his Uncle Jack because he’s having gallbladder surgery Monday, that’s an issue prayer. It starts with the reason, or the issue.
To stay in Your presence, with a heart full-ready to hear your voice…
Yielded and trusting as You’re breathing life into these old, dry bones…
Oh, what joy! This sweet surrender!
To watch for Your smile while the rest of the world is sleeping…
Dreaming with open eyes of the beautiful hope to spend endless days with You…
Oh, what hope! This sweet surrender!
I am that one who had lost his way, who spent his whole fortune in search of illusions…
But now I treasure the Faithful and True – the stubbornly real – the everlasting prize…
Oh, what life! This sweet surrender!
If I close my heart, may it be to my pride and selfish ambition.
If ever I fall, may it be into Your strong arms of grace.
Whenever I miss the mark, may I miss on the tender side of love.
If I dream the impossible dream, may it be in delicious faith.
If I do the ridiculous deed, may it be with contagious hope.
Whenever I miss the mark, may I miss on the sweet side of surrender. [click to continue…]
The other day Laura Kate, age 4, decided (again) what she wants to be when she grows up. She wants “the person who dumps those big piles of dirt.”
The other day I, age 53, decided (again) what I want to be when I grow up. I want to be the author of a book on leadership.
She’ll think of other things she wants to be when she grows up, and I’ll think of other things I’ll want to be when I grow up. I guess when either of us quits thinking of who or what we want to be at a point of maturity, it’ll be time to die.
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There is only one person who gets to measure love by obedience – that’s Jesus. All the rest of us have a different standard.
In my job I encounter a lot of difficult people in situations. I’m having a hard time seeing them in God’s eyes, so how do you love unlovable people?
Well, you’re already a step ahead of most people because you used the word “love” as a verb. The reason most people have trouble loving difficult people is because to them “love” has something to do with a feeling, and they’re waiting around for the feelings to change. All the while Stanley Steamroller is still on a roll right over you, or Oliver Obnoxious is still giving you all the reasons you should feel inferior.
Grrrrrr. God loves you… but He doesn’t have to put up with you every day.
Can you imagine what it would be like to be on the other end of a frustrated phone call all day, every day? Or to work at a Customer Service counter where, no matter who shows up, there’s a problem and they aren’t happy about it?
Can you imagine being a server in a busy restaurant on Sunday when the after-church crowd comes rolling in?
Oh. Then there’s the bosses. The coworkers. The neglected or needy friends. The family member. And those are supposed to be for you! I remember one place I used to live. I didn’t have any enemies that I knew of. My friends made me want to leave town.
How do you feel love for people like that?
Another problem with loving difficult people is that we tend to wait until we’re face-to-face with them before we head to the love dispenser. By then it’s too late. [click to continue…]
You can walk it out. You can stand there and look humble while people tell you that you’ve got it. You can make corrections when you stand convicted of the need for some changes. You can use it to plead with God or The Man (whoever that is) for justice or a raise or something. You can even dare to mention it when you run for political office.
But you are not equipped to be the architect or builder of an integrated life – yours or anybody else’s.
This is no self-improvement process, friends. You can’t build integrity into your life by getting more information, imitating somebody else, or rigidly keeping a code of conduct. You can’t get it with an extreme makeover, a friendly takeover, or a cosmetic rake-over.
Integrity is an inside job. It’s the result of a transformational process that takes your dis-integrated self and changes you through and through by a power that is not your own.
That said, just as an office building is designed and constructed according to a set pattern, so your Master Designer and Builder follows a blueprint for building wholeness in you. And while you don’t have the power to do this yourself, your faith and submission to His work can help speed the process.
Each of these stages builds on the other, and I believe the order matters. And yet, these are all lifetime pursuits that we’ll never perfectly achieve this side of heaven. Designing and building a life of integrity involves: [click to continue…]
I’ve lost count of the number of times I have written this word – much less said it (at least to myself). It was a complete waste of time.
I’ve kept a journal for 17 years now (something I highly recommend), and there’s no telling how many times I confessed to this feeling. But not once did it ever create my future, solve a problem, or breathe life into a situation. In fact, it’s more likely to be a sign of defeat, discouragement, or slow death.
It may be a legitimate feeling. But if feelings are designed to prompt us to action, the only thing this feeling ever prompts us to do is make excuses, whine, or wave the white flag. In small doses it may be a call to action. But in standard use, it’s emotional poison, and I hate it.
So I’ve decided to lock this word in a vault and reserve it for special occasions. I may let it out every once in a while, but only with a chaperone. I suggest you do the same.
Promise. It’s one of the most charming words in the English language.
Do you realize that so much of what we experience, of what we know about God, of our spiritual maturity, and of our success or failure in the Christian life has something to do with how we respond to the promises of God? Peter says, “And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires” (2 Peter 1:4).
But what do you do when you are standing on the promises and it doesn’t turn out like you expected?
What do you do when you wait on the Lord, and all you get in return is more waiting?
What do you do when you know – you know you’ve heard from the Lord about a specific situation, and it just doesn’t happen?
In short, what do you do when you’re disappointed with God? [click to continue…]
