You Are Somebody!

Genesis 1:27 (NKJV)

So God created man in HIs own image; in the image of God He created Him; male and female He created them. 

God looked out across eternity.  He saw you.  He saw everything He had created and everything He would create around you.  He saw the specific need on this earth that He would make you to meet.  He saw the full set of traits and abilities that you would need in order to complete His purpose for your life.  He knew what kind of environment that would be necessary for you to properly develop the girts He would give you.

God looked…and then He created.  He created you.  You!  And God looked at you and said, “This is good.”

Do you have the same opinion of yourself?  Do you agree with God’s opinion of you?  It’s important that you appreciate the way God created you because other people are going to treat you the way you treat yourself.  They will respect you only to the degree that you respect yourself.  If you are attracting people who don’t treat you well, I’m sorry but you are the prime suspect in that case.  What kind of message are you sending that allows them to treat you poorly? 

In order for people to treat you well, there must be something deep inside of you that sends out a signal saying, “I am somebody because God made me to be somebody.  I may not be twenty-one and wear a size seven.  I may be seventy-one and wear a size twenty-seven.  But I am somebody.”    When you send out a signal like that, other people pick up on it. 

There’s something your spirit exudes that gives you presence with others.  There’s a quality of inner strength that makes you attractive.  It causes other people to recognize you, to pay attention to you, to ask when you walk into a room, “Who is she?”  They won’t be asking because your dress is so stunning, but becasue your character is so magnetic.  Projecting that kind of strength is not arrogance or pride.  It is healthy self-esteem and the power of God’s Spirit within you. 

The way you appreciate yourself impacts everything you do.  It affects the way you sit in a classroom, or apply for a job, or talk to people at a social function, or go about the ministry God has called you to undertake.  It even affects the way you pray and the way you study God’s Word.  If you think that you are a nobody with no future and no value, you are going to pray with less power and suspect that the promises of God are for everybody else but you. 

God wants you to appreciate who He made you to be and to develop what He gave you.  He doesn’t want you to try to exchange what He gave you for what He gave someone else.  You are a unique blend of talents and giftings and character; and you have a unique destiny upon this earth.  You are somebody!                    BISHOP TD JAKES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7m0KTFFDRs&feature=related

Hello to My Sisters from Phoebedee

Hello to my sisters–I’m Phoebedee. 🙂

I wanted to comment on why  the “Women in Session” Group. This group spawned out of the necessity for women to become–BECOME all that God wants them to be and says they are. God, has an awesome perspective of His creation “the woman.” He created her to be a participator, innovator, caretaker, nurturer, exhorter, guide, and sound voice. We are not here to challenge women on points of view; we are here to challenge women to understand the vision that God has for us–a vision that has been contorted and changed so often that even in our own thoughts we’ve often lost sight of OUR VALUE and strength.

I am convinced that the ministry of reconciliation needs to also happen between women and women, men and women, along with those of different cultures and backgrounds. There is a strength that the Spirit of God gives to His people that is only at its greatest power, when the walls of separation are torn down. This separation happens on many levels: professionally, economically, educationally, environmentally, and of course spiritually.

Often the work to encourage change is done through the individuals who experience the fallout from ideologies conceived by visionless people. If I cannot speak to other women about becoming enpowered by God, how can we ever speak to those who prefer to control, limit, or remove our power. Graciously, God has given us a voice to be raised and recognized to show His blessings, His love, His Power, His Spirit, and His Grace and Mercy. This mission of God is not one that is easy, because some folk are not ready or do not even realize their own needs. But, like Isaiah, when God sent me to be a spokesperson for Him to the hearts of women, I said, “Here am I Lord, send me!” Even though the messages may be rejected, misunderstood, critized, etc., I understand that it is not about me, but for me first and then it is about what God wants. His love for us is so strong and passionate, so forgiving and covering–that He can only see the best for us, so therefore, may we only see the best for ourselves, even when it is challenging and sometimes almost impossible to look up or beyond.

I know that the God I serve says I am his daughter. And to each of you, you are God’s daughters, whom God is blessing, but wants to bless the more and use everything you have to further His agenda, which is Us!!!! I love you, because God loves me, and He wants you to love yourselves and embrace His image of you. And to my sisters who believe they’ve got it…today, but we will always need a reminder tomorrow!

Be blessed daughters of God!