COVERED UP IN DISCOURAGEMENT

I don't mean to sound negative but a whole lot of my friends are covered up in discouragement. This is discouraging. A sad side to this is many have accepted or assumed they are to accept a role of living out their remaining days as sub-par in life. Not!

I wouldn't know how to count the number of hits to the heart an individual takes during a lifetime....but it is a lifetime full. But this is why the God-element is so important. It is Jesus (the one He sent) who declares that he gives us life....and in abundance at that.

One of our duties as believers in this remarkable and perfect savior is to continually and perpetually prod our friends into believing the good things about life. Struggle is not our enemy. If we will set our eyes on Jesus, we will see ourselves advantaged from every setting; negative or positive. Jesus won't go down in any battle and we belong to him.

Henri Nouwen wrote, You have to keep unmasking the world about you for what it is: manipulative, controlling, power-hungry and, in the long run, destructive. The world tells you many lies about who you are, and you simply have to be realistic enough to remind yourself of this. Every time you feel hurt, offended or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: "These feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth , even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God's eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity and held safe in an everlasting embrace."

You are not God's accident in life. He specifically, intentionally chose you. Push back the tears. Fight back for your place in God's arms. You are important. The world may not tell you so; but God does.