Don't Let Your World Set Your Self Image

Strong men and women of God must never forget the principles that the evil one wants us to forget.

Jesus and Mental Health.  Don’t get your self-image from the wrong source.

God provides everything for  His children including a healthy self-image.

The world tries to beat us down to say that we are finished.  We are not worthy of any respect.  We are losers.

God has adopted us as His children.  This changes everything.  We can be a strong example for our family because God has made us strong in Him.  On the outside things seem to be falling apart but inside we are being made new day by day.

God’s men and women through the ages have let God set their self image, not the opinions of their peers.

2 Samuel 17.

⁴³ The Philistine ridiculed David. “Am I a dog that you come after me with a stick?” And he cursed him by his gods.

⁴⁴ “Come on,” said the Philistine. “I’ll make roadkill of you for the buzzards. I’ll turn you into a tasty morsel for the field mice.”

^45-47 David answered, “You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel’s troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I’m about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there’s an extraordinary God in Israel. And everyone gathered here will learn that God doesn’t save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God—he’s handing you to us on a platter!”

Psalm 30.

^8-10 I called out to you, God;
I laid my case before you:
“Can you sell me for a profit when I’m dead?
auction me off at a cemetery yard sale?
When I’m ‘dust to dust’ my songs
and stories of you won’t sell.
So listen! and be kind!
Help me out of this!”

^11-12 You did it: you changed wild lament
into whirling dance;
You ripped off my black mourning band
and decked me with wildflowers.
I’m about to burst with song;
I can’t keep quiet about you.
God, my God,
I can’t thank you enough.

Mark 6.

6 ^1-2 He left there and returned to his hometown. His disciples came along. On the Sabbath, he gave a lecture in the meeting place. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. “We had no idea he was this good!” they said. “How did he get so wise all of a sudden, get such ability?”

³ But in the next breath they were cutting him down: “He’s just a carpenter—Mary’s boy. We’ve known him since he was a kid. We know his brothers, James, Justus, Jude, and Simon, and his sisters. Who does he think he is?” They tripped over what little they knew about him and fell, sprawling. And they never got any further.

^4-6 Jesus told them, “A prophet has little honor in his hometown, among his relatives, on the streets he played in as a child.” Jesus wasn’t able to do much of anything there—he laid hands on a few sick people and healed them, that’s all. He couldn’t get over their stubbornness. He left and made a circuit of the other villages, teaching.

2 Corinthians 4.

^16-18 So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

1 Timothy 1.

^12-14 I’m so grateful to Christ Jesus for making me adequate to do this work. He went out on a limb, you know, in trusting me with this ministry. The only credentials I brought to it were invective and witch hunts and arrogance. But I was treated mercifully because I didn’t know what I was doing—didn’t know Who I was doing it against! Grace mixed with faith and love poured over me and into me. And all because of Jesus.

^15-19 Here’s a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I’m proof—Public Sinner Number One—of someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy. And now he shows me off—evidence of his endless patience—to those who are right on the edge of trusting him forever.

Deep honor and bright glory
to the King of All Time—
One God, Immortal, Invisible,
ever and always. Oh, yes!

 

Intensive Daily Bible Reading

If you have ten minutes, read Jesus from the Gospels.

(Read prayerfully seeking guidance from Jesus for your personal situation.)

If you have thirty minutes, read Jesus and the New Testament selection.

If you have forty minutes, read Jesus, the New Testament and a Psalm selection.

If you have an hour, read all the readings.

Think of this time as an intimate conversation with your Father in Heaven.

Listen for something of His love from His heart to yours today.

Date:2/2/13

Read a chapter of Jesus : Mark 5.

Read a chapter from Acts:2.

Read a chapter from this New Testament Book:2 Corinthians 3

Read a paragraph from a Holy Spirit inspired older teacher to a younger teacher:1 Timothy 1.3-11

Read a verse about the beauty of the Word of God:Psalm 119.33

Read a couple of chapters from the Old Testament:Exodus 12,13

Read a chapter from Wisdom Literature:Job 33

Read a Psalm:29

Read a few verses from Proverbs:2.6-9