APPROVAL ENOUGH

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

GOD SAYS:

“I know your value; I see you’re potential. You may not understand everything you are going through right now. But hold your head up high, knowing that I AM in control and I HAVE a great plan and purpose for your life…

Your dreams may not be turning out exactly as you’d hoped, but MY WORD says that MY ways are better and higher than your ways, even when everybody else rejects you, remember, I AM STILL  standing with arms open wide….

I always accept you.

I always confirm your value.

You are MY prized possession. No matter what you go through in life, no matter how many disappointments you suffer, your value in MY eyes always remains the same.

You will always be the apple of MY eye. I will never give up on you, so don’t give up on yourself.” – Adapted from Joel Osteen…

As a diagnosed “approval addict” this sort of approval from the LORD is so crucial for me.  I teeter and struggle daily with my battle to “find approval” from others.  I have to listen daily to the “disapproval” of so many.

“What do you mean you can’t?”  “You are not working hard enough on MY stuff.” “Your program is ineffective just look at how so and so went back to using dope.” “It’s not my problem you are out of funding, what about MY issue?” "You need to DO better."

I know it is SILLY to listen to all the disapproval's when I know that the only approval I need comes from GOD.  But I am human and some days the struggle is very real.  It can even be discouraging; even cause me to want to cash out entirely on all of the work.

Am I alone here?

Or do you struggle with comparisons or with how other’s view and receive you as well?  Do you have anxiety when you feel like you are letting someone else down or not measuring up to “THEIR standard of the moment”? 

Well if you are like me, go back and RE-READ that little excerpt and rest assured…GOD approves of us. And that is all the approval we need.

Realize that the enemy, culture and our surroundings will do everything possible to cloud that vision creating questions like:

Are we pretty enough? Fashionable enough? Smart enough? Caring enough? Resourced enough? Likable enough? Doing enough? Invested enough? Thorough enough?

Therefore when we feel like we are not good enough, we should remember that God’s love is greater than our doubts and our detractors. We must silence the sounds of condemnation and comparisons so we can hear the voice of God’s loving assurance. We must remember that He has selected us to be part of His family. That will ALWAYS serve to put us back on track and re-energize us to the calling He has for us!

So will you join me today and make a concerted effort to listen to GOD?

1 John 3:1-3 (VOICE)

Consider the kind of extravagant love the Father has lavished on us—He calls us children of God! It’s true; we are His beloved children. And in the same way the world didn’t recognize Him, the world does not recognize us either.

You catch that?  The world WON’T RECOGNIZE us, so why do we need it's approval?  I know…easily said…not so easily done.

And GOD goes on to share through John:

My loved ones, we have been adopted into God’s family; and we are officially His children now.

So if I am child of GOD, why do I need to worry about anything or anyone else's approval?

I don't. Neither do you.

For GOD says:

Jeremiah 31:3

…I’ve never quit loving you and never will.  Expect love, love, and more love!

And THAT alone is “APPROVAL” enough for today.

 

I love you all.

Freedom Church

 

Pastor GDelaney