Feeling Seen by @TraceePersiko

Photo by Tracee Persiko

FEELING SEEN

ByTracee Persiko 

I remember in high school when my crush talked to me for the first time in the hallway. I remember what it felt like to be stunned and looking around to see if he was really talking to me. AND he was an upper class man…that’s right!

I remember being stunned that he was sweet and a really a nice guy. Who knew he could hold a conversation and be normal. I couldn’t believe he was asking me about basketball. He knew I played basketball!?

My crush had always been this untouchable person that I would catch glimpses of between classes and at lunch. Now he was not only the guy I saw, but the one who also saw me.

Feeling seen always runs deep. It matters a lot, and is honey to the soul. 

My heart is always tender towards the Samaritan woman that Jesus talks to by the well. This woman had gone her whole life only knowing the sounds of scoffing and disdain.  She was not a respected woman. She had no friends in town and was known for being “loose” with the men. Due to her less than appealing reputation, this Samaritan woman chose the hottest times of day when no one was around to get her chores done. 

One day and one conversation with Jesus changed her life.

Jesus was a Jew who was not socially permitted to talk to a Samaritan woman. That didn’t matter to him. Jesus only saw a person to love.

While this woman was drawing water from the well, Jesus stopped and talked to her. He talked to her about life, relationships, and faith. He passed no judgments, but extends an invitation of new life and love. Jesus made her feel seen.

I don’t think it’s ironic that when the woman went back into town to tell people about Jesus that she chose these words, "Come see a man who told me everything I did. In my head I always continue the statement with, “and still loves me.”

For the first time this lost and invisible woman felt valued and known – she felt seen and accepted. Someone saw her. Someone accepted her sin and mess of a life and loved her. This changed everything.

Every one of us is a mess. Everyone is in need of value and love. Making someone feel seen changes everything. It did for me and the Samaritan woman. It’s healing.

In what ways have you experienced feeling seen?

How can you make someone feel seen?

Click here to watch Meredith Andrews' song video "You're Not Alone" 

How to be Your Own (Single) Person ~ A guest post by @DevotionalDiva

Photo by Amelia Grace Photography

How to be Your Own (Single) Person 

ByRenee Fisher 

Do you know how to be your own (single) person?  

Sometimes the hardest person to get along with is you. Don’t get me wrong there are a lot of people we just can’t get along with (ask Shelley, she wrote a book on it)! But when it comes to being comfortable in our own skin, it can be tough.

Maybe you’re afraid of being alone. 
+ Desperate Singles
+ Breaking Up With “The One”
+ Why Changing Your Significant Other Won’t Work
+ The Right Way To Breakup
+ How To Handle A Breakup
+ How To Be Your Own (Single) Person
+ Why Breakups Are Hard
+ He (Jesus) Loves You! 

Maybe I’m more co-dependent than I want to admit.  

I wrote in my new book, Loves Me Not,  

“Instead of letting my bitterness [over a breakup] get me down, my confusion led me deep into the heart of Texas.  

I decided it was time for me to be my own person. 

I moved to Texas and joined a nine-month-long Discipleship Training School called Ambassadors For Christ and said goodbye to my friends and family. I couldn’t wait to learn more about writing and the Word. I had so many more questions than answers. I thought I had heard God right about [my ex]. I thought that He said he was “the one” for me. 

I was wrong again. 

How could I be so stupid? 

I hadn’t yet learned it’s actually possible to hear what you only want to hear. It’s easy to mistake God’s voice for my own because all I could hear was the sound of my heartbreak. I understood God’s comfort, but I had yet to understand His ways.” 

Have you ever felt that way? Maybe it’s been years since you’ve been single, or maybe the pain from a previous breakup still threatens to bring tears to your eyes.  

An important lesson we need to learn along the road to adulthood is how to listen to God’s voice instead of our own.  

Who does God say that I am?  

I guarantee you--after you hear how much God really loves you and has a plan for your life-then no one else’s words, plans, or ideas will matter. Plus, it’s easier to be the version God wants you to be versus the other copies-because they’re all carbon, or fake.  

When I was in my early 20’s I had all these grand ideas of what I wanted to do with my life, and who I wanted to become.  

I never thought in a million years that serving God on the mission’s field wasn’t where God wanted me.  

Have you ever felt like a failure at serving God?  

Maybe you thought you heard the voice of God (like I did) only to find out it wasn’t where He wanted you. 

Be encouraged my friends!  

God never wastes a step on the journey towards becoming His child. Since we are made in the image of God, there’s nothing we can do to surprise Him-even when we think we’re perfect (he’s not surprised to find out that we’re not). 

I recently wrote a book entitled Loves Me Not, and I’d love for you to read it! 

I wanted to focus solely on heartbreak and how to find healing God’s way. If you or anyone you know is currently experiencing a broken relationship or a breakup--I encourage you to pick up the eBook for only $2.99. 

Here are a few benefits you will gain from reading this book: 

+ Why Guarding Your Heart Isn’t Enough

+ Can Men and Women Be “Just Friends”?

Relationships are very important to me.  

God had me wait over twelve years to meet my husband. It’s probably because God knew how long it would take to become the person He wanted me to be-instead of the person I thought I wanted to be. I can’t wait for you to read it and be encouraged.

Renee Fisher, the Devotional Diva®, is the spirited speaker and author of Faithbook of Jesus, Not Another Dating Book, Forgiving Others, Forgiving Me, and Loves Me Not. A graduate of Biola University, Renee’s mission in life is to “spur others forward” (Hebrews 10:24) using the lessons learned from her own trials to encourage others in their walk with God. She and her husband, Marc, live in California with their dog, Star. Learn more about Renee at www.devotionaldiva.com.

Sanctify Me, Lord!

Photo Courtesy of Lori Kennedy

Sanctify Me, Lord! 

By

Lori Kennedy

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.”  Romans 12:2 (NIV) 

To sanctify means to be set apart.  We are sanctified at the moment of conversion.  It has been done, but it doesn’t end.  Sanctification is the process of being set apart; of transforming into the likeness of Jesus.  Since it is indeed a process, it is ongoing and doesn’t end until we reach heaven.  The goal would be to look a little more like Him and love a little more like Him each day.  God saves us in an instant and we are His forevermore.  He places His Holy Spirit in our hearts and as this process of sanctification takes place, our want to’s begin to change and become more like His want to’s for us.   

As we begin our new lives in Christ and develop into a new creation (see 2 Corinthians 5:17), we still bring in all our old learned junk and bad habits into this relationship with us.  We bring in any lies we may believe about ourselves.  We bring in any wounds that we have not dealt with.  All that is a part of us comes along with us into this new relationship.  As God begins the process of sanctification, His desire is for us to be whole and Holy.  Again, we are whole and Holy in the instant of conversion.  But, learning how to live in that truth must be learned.   

All of our lives, we could have possibly been making decisions through a broken filter of self-protection, doubt, fear, and shame.  As we begin to become aware of this and begin to recognize in what ways our filter might be broken, we must use the Word of God to replace any lies we may possibly believe with the message of the truth in scripture.  Just like with any other application in our lives, the more we practice, the better we develop skill.  After much practice, the truth that we have replaced the lie with becomes new truth to us and we begin to restore our filter into a filter of truth.  You see self-protection, doubt, fear, and shame are not from God.

 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  (NKJ) 

Psalm 34:5 says, “Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” (NIV) 

When I think of my life ten or five or even two years ago I can see sanctification occurring in my life. I am different today that I used to be and I love that God is continuing to show Himself to me on an ongoing basis.  My yucky stuff still comes up from time to time and I still react out of a false belief or an old wound.  But I find that it’s less often, and the pity party I give myself afterwards occurs for a shorter period of time. 

My friend Shelley Hendrix says, “You don't get to choose what kind of opposition the enemy will send you, but you DO get to choose your response to it.”  As you continue upon the journey of sanctification in Christ, you will get better and better at recognizing the darts and filtering your responses through the loving Hand of Christ.  That is the hope of continued sanctification.