High Five For Friday~ Easter, Love, and Rest

High Five for Friday Number One:

High Five for Friday Number Two:

Good Friday service this afternoon was amazing!  Pastor Carl really gave an awesome message!

High Five for Friday Number Three:

I have a hot date to Church with my handsome husband tonight!  I love marriage!

High Five for Friday Number Four:

Tomorrow, I have Church and then a Hop Movie date with my girlfriends! I just love Easter!  I am hoping for some Easter candy too!

High Five for Friday Number Five:

The past two weeks have been exhausting and busy but I'm really glad that the busyness is coming to an end and I will be able to relax next week.  God is good!

There Is Beauty In Difficult Relationships

So, over the past few months I have really dealt with learning how to let difficult people go.  I have to say that I have not really had to face too many people who "dislike" me nor have I really had a lot of enemies in my lifetime, so learning how to deal with this topic and not let it effect me or the people in my life is an amazing blessing!  I am learning how to really dig deep inside of me and know who I am in Christ and know who I am as a beautiful Christian woman and where satan means it to hurt me (it has hurt but I haven't let it get to me like the enemy wants) God is using this opportunity to help me with my confidence.  

"When you have to turn and walk away from somebody, you walk straight into the arms of Jesus." Dr. Charles Stanley

So, true.  Remember, that Christ himself was persecuted both physically and verbally.  So, if we are to be an Image of Christ than we must use moments in life to build our character and form us more into His image.  If you are facing enemies, use the opportunity to dig deep down and know who we are no matter what somebody else says or how hurtful the rejection is.  Obedience to this is one of the most awesome things!  When we walk away from hurtful situations, we walk straight into the arms of Christ for His comfort!   

"The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Proverbs 18:21

Not only do difficult times with other people give us a chance to build up our character within but it also gives us a chance to really exemplify Christ in you outwardly.  If somebody has hurt you, frustrated you, upset you, we still have to show love.  Yes, it is hard when somebody "gets" to you but remember that a merciful person does not expose a person's faults just for their own personal gain.  It is a beautiful beautiful thing when we protect even our enemies and we don't talk bad about them.  I'm not going to lie, I have had moments of "slip" ups with allowing my frustrations to get the best of me.  So, do not fret if this has been a challenge for you.  There is forgiveness, redemption, purification, and the gift of change when we lay it all down at the foot of the cross.  

"A troublemaker plants seed of strife; gossip separates the best of friends." Proverbs 16:28

We have to also be careful with "venting".  Venting is most of the time really "gossip" and for some reason people seem to think "venting" is an excuse to talk badly about somebody else but it isn't.    Gossip is hurtful and a very sinful act of the tongue!  Remember, those seeds are planted and not just with the person you are talking about but for yourself.  Gossip hurts you as well, if not more!  You might not feel the repercussions right away but eventually you will. Gossip is a very very dangerous ground to walk on when it comes to the tongue.  If you need to talk to about the "issue" or how somebody else frustrates you, talk to God!  One of the things I have learned from the amazing women in my Church is that God is the BEST person to talk to because He knows the other person as well!  He can offer you peace by not only comforting you but also speaking grace into your heart for the other person.  He loves all of us and He understands all of our hearts and where we all are and why we do the things we do.  He can give us that grace, love, and peace towards the other person that we need in order to show the love that He commands us to show others, even our enemies. We NEED Him to help us with such a huge task because this is hard.  I mean, He invented friendships for a reason, right?  There is a fine line between "discussing" and "gossip" and trust me, I'm still learning this myself.

One of the other things the Bible has taught me is to never openly confront somebody in front of others where it can cause embarrassment.  Remember, we still have to love, even our enemies.  You go to your brother or sister privately and try and straighten out the issue just between you two.  If that doesn't work then you have a choice to take another brother with you, according to the Bible, or simply let it go.  In my most recent case, I chose to just let it go and let God.  We can't give up the power to control our own happiness and so in order to keep that control of your own life and happiness, you have to hand it over to God.  Let Him deal with it.  Perhaps there are things in your heart and the other person's heart that He needs to still work on.  No problem.  TRUST HIM!  He always fights for us and for peace!  

God has invested a lot of time into you, so don't lose your worth on how somebody else has treated you or what they say about you cause you then lose joy in your life.  Our worth and value are not in what we do or in what others think or say about us, our worth is in the fact that we are children of God.  Remember, whatever we sow, we reap and this includes our thoughts.  Our thoughts are seeds, so you must continue to think positive and good about yourself and about your life and about the amazing plans God has for you.  Protect your thoughts and wrap every thought in love.  We cannot harm another with our thoughts, we only harm ourselves! 

We can't change yesterday but we can be happy, courageous, and encouraging today.  We can start again by forgiving others and ourselves and declare today the first day of the rest of your life.  God gives us the gift of u-turns and new beginnings, so utilize these gifts!  There is nothing we have done that cannot be fixed by God.  The battle belongs to Him, so let Him fight it for you! God wants us to stop talking about the days of the past and look forward and embrace the new days ahead!