Reputations

We all have a reputation whether we want it or not.

According to Webster's Dictionary the word reputation means the overall quality or character as seen or judged by people in general. Reputations are placed upon us by the choices we make or even reflect the paths we've walked down through life. They can be acquired by one act or by a series of actions or attitudes. Many people work hard to obtain a certain reputation while others work just as hard to change the one they have.

The best reputation that we as a Christian woman can obtain is that of "she glorifies God!"
What a wonderful thing to be said about us for that is what we are created for. According to Isaiah 26:8 this should be our heart's desire.

What about you? Is this your heart's desire? To have a reputation of glorifying God?
If you are on the path of gaining this reputation, I want to encourage you to keep up the good work. If you have found that you have somehow gotten on to a detoured path, it is never to late! Seek the Lord and let Him direct you back to the right path.

As said earlier, we all have a reputation. Even God has one. In the 63rd chapter of the Book of Isaiah, we find the Israelites remembering what God had done for them. They remembered how He brought them out of Egypt, across the Red sea, across the desert and into a peaceful valley for rest. I love how the New Living Translation reads at the end of verse 14, "You led your people, LORD, and gained a magnificent reputation."

So here's what I would like to hear from you. How has the LORD led you and gained a magnificent reputation in your life?

Can't wait to hear from you!

Cynthia

I'm Still Standing

There was a song that Elton John sang while I was in my teens.

The chorus popped into my thoughts this morning and won’t go away.  

 Do you remember this?

Don't you know I'm still standing better than I ever did
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid
I'm still standing after all this time

Picking up the pieces of my life…

I am neither a cancer survivor nor a survivor of domestic violence so why is this song ringing so loud today?  I think because I am simply trying to survive myself.

One of my worst critics is myself. So many times I am the one that holds myself back from true victory.

I am currently reading “A Confident Heart; How to Stop Doubting Yourself & Live in the Security of God’s Promises.” By Renee Swope.  I agree with Renee as she writes that many women don’t ever feel like they are good enough, smart enough or valuable enough. 

In this book so many chapter titles resonate with me.

Take a look…

When Doubt Whispers “I’m Not Good Enough”

When Doubt Whispers “I’m Such a Failure”

When Doubt Whispers “I Don’t Have Anything Special to Offer”

Do you struggle with doubt?  I do!

So much so that I have lived in the shadows of insecurities so long that I have limit myself.  Afraid to do what God calls me to do because of the doubts placed in my thoughts.

So how do we overcome this doubt and become survivors?

I think, just like Renee, it comes from living in the promises of God.  God’s Word is filled with amazing promises.

Promises like:

I will never leave you nor forsake you.  (Deut. 31:6)

If God is for us who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)

What is impossible with man is possible with God. (Luke 18:27)

I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. (Ps. 91:15)

This doesn’t even touch the tip of the iceberg.  I encourage you to search for more in God’s Word.

So I guess I now understand why that chorus from the teen years of my life is playing through my thoughts.

As I stand on God’s promises instead of my own strength…I am still standing…looking like a true survivor…feeling like a little kid.

As I was finishing this up I read a line from Warren Weirsbe’s commentary.

“God’s promises are prods not pillows.”

To be a true survivor we cannot pull all these promises around us like a warm blanket on a chilly morning and get all comfy cozy but rather we are to let them prod us to service for God.  To step out of the shadows and walk in the promises He gives us.

What are some promises you are standing on and stepping out in?

Stepping Out of the Shadows.

Cynthia