The Winning Team

I love to hear other people's stories of redemption and forgiveness and how God radically transformed their life of sin into something beautiful that glorified Him. He is in the transformation business and I am so thankful to have been transformed. I remember in college the emptiness I felt and how I tried to fill it with all the wrong things that this world offers. My girls small group right now is doing the Beth Moore Daniel study right now (it's awesome btw) and she talks about the Babylon we're living in. The more we do this study, the more our eyes become more and more aware of the Babylon mentality around us. It's on tv, in movies, magazines, you can't even go into a grocery store without being bombarded with it. We do indeed have to be intentional if we are to live in this culture and yet not be conformed to it. I think of those college days and I remember the way it felt to be lost and I never want to be there again. The joy of knowing the Lord is beyond any temporary earthly pleasure that is so readily available all around us. Recently, I went downtown for a friends bachelorette party and I saw me, 15 years ago, in all the faces of those girls who were parading the streets and going into all the bars hoping to get some kind of attention to make them feel validated and beautiful. I don't even know the exact moment when I realized I didn't even want that kind of attention. But I know I'm glad my eyes were opened and the Lord set me free from that feeling that told me I wasn't beautiful, I wasn't worthy of love and I wasn't enough. I bet if we're honest, most of us can relate to not feeling like we're enough. But beloved, you are enough. You are a child of the most high King. He's your daddy and you have access to His inheritance. If we all knew that, really knew that and really understood that we're forgiven and He doesn't see our sin when He sees us - I think we'd live a lot differently. I know I live a lot differently now than I did before I knew that. And even now, I forget sometimes and insecurity creeps back in. But the more I know the Lord, the more the lies that so easily entagled me in the past are obvious to me as lies. It's a battlefield and we have the weapons we need to conquer. It's right there in Ephesians 6 - put on the armor God! Take hold of the victory that is already yours in Christ Jesus and tell the father of lies that he has no hold on you anymore!!!!! It's an ongoing battle and I still have moments where I struggle just like anyone else - but the good news is - we already know how the story ends. Our team wins!