Tag: God

 Your not so sweet after all!

  

Sugar is sweet, milk isn’t! (No use crying over spilt milk)
As I was getting my groceries out last night a busted sugar bag began spewing its sweetness all over my truck, our street, and yes even into my socks inside my shoes! I ended up leaving a sugar trail to my kitchen counter. Sugar all over the place!
 “We have a spill on isle LIFE People, a spill on isle LIFE!”               
It put into perspective how even sweet things we love that mean no harm can turn into a messy disaster we are left to clean up in seconds.
Sugar is sweet and helps create some awesome tastebud worshiping treats, but having it explode all over everything isn’t something that taste good or makes me happy! I had sugar on the bottom of my feet and that just feels super gross y’all! 
Thank you God for a new perspective of good things that can lead to a bad situation. 

Thank you for reminding me that when your answer is a NO to something that I really want and ask for because I think it’s “sweet” and “good,” it’s because you have my best interest in heart avoiding me a nasty and not so fun clean up down the road! 
I praise you for this Lord!
-Leigh Leigh

Get out of the way fear

PASSION NEVER DIES! FEAR JUST GETS IN THE WAY!

I for one HATE feeling FEARFUL! Fear for me would be failure, or worse wasting my time, my life, my years on something that fails.

I find it amazing that no mater how fearful I get, the fear never kills my passion, my drive, my love for something, it just makes me hesitant, afraid to pursue, and afraid to be brave or courageous enough to see it through.

What if we ignore fear? What if we tell those heavy fear frightening feelings to take a hike? What if everyone actually lived up to their own potential?

I can’t help today but to think about a life lived without fear! How would we live each day differently?

When I am left with a huge obstacle standing in my way I go to the scriptures of the Bible to find the answers. When you search fear over and over you will read…”fear not”, “do not be afraid”, “I am with you”, “I will not leave you, nor forsake you”, “Peace I give you”, “be strong”, “be courageous”, “trust me”. I find it fascinating that God is asking us to not be afraid. It has to be a very conscious effort on our own part to not allow fear to over take us. Sure we can pray and ask God to help us to not be afraid, and of course he will, but we must first take the first step out in faith trusting in him that he will always have our back, and not shrink back and become paralyzed in our own fear.

So let’s go forward and even if we are still feeling afraid, be bold enough and brave enough to do what ever it is that scares the day lights out of us, knowing God is with us every step of the way helping us push through that fear!

strong, brave, bold, fear not

❤

Leigh Leigh

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Afraid/Hopeless/Selfish, It’s never too late to Change

 

*Please pardon my absence! We are now T minus 3 days from being out of Preschool! I will have one week to maintain order in my home before the children are out of school for summer!
lovefran.com
lovefran.com

I sit here in a reminiscing mood. I don’t think I have shared with you the inspiration for this blog. Have you heard of a music group called For King & Country? They released a song on the radio last year called Fix my Eyes. Every time I would hear the words “Fight for the weak ones, Speak out for Freedom” my heart would beat fast and hard. There was a passion growing inside of my heart to share with others the love of Christ. I am just yet one voice of millions, billions, and if you know me personally a very soft-spoken voice at that, so it would only make sense that I would write and not speak out loud! Amazingly enough God doesn’t care how loud or quiet we are he can still speak through us all.

Let me share the Chorus so you can see what I am talking about:

I’d Love like I’m not scared
Give when it’s not fair
Live life for another
Take time for a brother
Fight for the weak ones
Speak out for freedom
Find faith in the battle
Stand tall but above it all
Fix my eyes on You
On You

Today as I am reflecting on the words of this song I can’t help but feel insecure. My blog tends to be an accountability for me. It helps hold me accountable to living a healthy life style from the inside out! It would not benefit you or me the least bit if I didn’t live out the topics and advice I give here on this blog!

Sometimes I feel like a fraud because I can get my feathers ruffled in a jiffy, I can have the don’t want to’s to get up and go work out, and there are days I don’t pick up my Bible.. I am so far from perfect it is pathetic, and sharing my walk with Jesus makes me feel vulnerable of harsh judgments. These feelings also make me hesitant to continue to write.

The truth is………..sometimes…………some days……

To love like I am not scared seems impossible. I am scared! I am scared that I am going to get hurt! I am scared that someone will take advantage of me or worse not accept my love as true or genuine.

Give when it’s not fair.. how many times have I shouted out loud, this isn’t fair!!!! How many times have I been angry, while smiling and bearing that big fake grin, trying to convince myself that as a women of faith I’m doing the right thing, the “Christian” thing by trying to be my friendliest! Meanwhile I am not taking the root problem to God so he can do a work in my heart, which is breeding resentment, anger, and lots worse.

Live life for another, take time for a brother… there are days I am pumped to be a blessing to someone, but I would be lying to you if I told you I never have days where I would rather lock myself in my bedroom and watch chick flicks on Netflix all day! There are days where I wish I could rush motherhood, rush work, rush life, etc.

Fight for the weak ones, speak out for freedom….how many times have I gone mute in a situation I should have been courageous enough to take a stand for someone who was too afraid to speak up for themselves! How many times have I been too afraid to stand up for myself! Those moments leave me empty inside. How many opportunities have I wasted sharing the gospel with a stranger, a friend?

Find faith in the battle…the battles that come in short spurts, or torrential downpours in my every day life. I have to admit some days I lose hope in battles I have been fighting while praying for grace to get me through. I doubt in faith when I need it the most. Why? I don’t know why! I think it has something to do with being human. Battles of being a Mom, a friend, a co-worker. I find my biggest battles usually are the ones I wage within myself in my mind. Am I doing this whole Jesus loving thing right? Am I being a light in a dark place? Salt in the world?

And the worst part of it all is some days I don’t have my eyes fixed on Jesus, I have my eyes fixed on other things like worrying about drama, attractions this world offers us, or just distractions that show up and stay a while.

Just thinking about how imperfect I am leaves me craving his love and grace more. Knowing that He knows I am imperfect , but still chose to die for me so that I would be covered in his grace, forgiveness, and love makes me love Him more. On my worst days, He still loves me the same!

We are all imperfect, no matter what calling we have on our lives. Everyone just have bad days here and there. Everyone falls short of his glory,  but everyone can still receive his forgiveness in the areas we fall short in, and everyone can receive Christ power to over come any obstacle they are facing on any given day!

So today I admit my short comings, my distractions, my desires of wanting my own control and my own way in life.

I don’t have it all together, but I know and have the One who knows how to keep me all together, and His grace is sufficient for me!

If you listen to all the words of Fix my Eyes, you learn that the song is about going back to a younger version of yourself and living a more selfless and brave life! It is never to late for you or for me to …

Love like WE ARE not scared
Give when it’s not fair
Live life for another
Take time for a brother
Fight for the weak ones
Speak out for freedom
Find faith in the battle
Stand tall but above it all
Fix OUR eyes on CHRIST

I challenge you on this Monday to live Fearlessly, Recklessly, and Radically for Christ!

 

Here is the song on Youtube!

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Hugs,

Leigh Leigh

Be sure to Follow Leigh Leigh speaks via email or on Facebook or Twitter!

A dose of Monday Motivation- Your OWN WORST BATTLE

 

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Can I get an AMEN from the crowd!? This very statement resonates deep into my heart with great conviction.

For a woman who struggles with actions sprinting after her feelings, this quote speaks so much truth to me this morning. It is such a great reminder to keep on keeping on doing what is right!

We all struggle with something raging inside of our souls. The battle within our selves are REAL. This War inside of us is called good and evil, right and wrong.

This quote reminds me of the importance of TRUTH and how it will help me win ANY BATTLE I may have within my soul!

My battles could be anything from fighting negative body image, getting along with others, laziness, discontentment, the list goes on…

There will always be what feels right and what actually is right.

There will always be what feels wrong that may actually be right. (Don’t think this is possible? Then go bless some one who despises you!)

When your battle is based on what you know and what you feel, you should always trust what you know to be TRUE! Always follow TRUTH!

Feelings are fickle, they lie, they can be a false sense of security, they can play on your emotions, they can be lifted up by others, or shut down and become numb. They put too much dependence on other people’s actions or words, and your own circumstances. Never trust your feelings, always trust the TRUTH!

What is TRUTH?

JESUS answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

And you will know the Truth, and it will set you free. John 8:32

What happens when you practice Truth?

But he who practices truth (Who does what is right) comes out into the Light; so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are-wrought with God (Divinely prompted, done with God’s help, in dependence upon Him). John 3:21

And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint. Galatians 6:9

Peace and Mercy be upon all who walk by this rule….Galatians 6:16

So no matter WHAT may come today, or this week, remember the battle will be between what you know is right and what feels right. How will you react to life in the present? Will you pursue/chase after peace and mercy by following truth, or will you trip yourself up on your feelings and land into a pit of self pity?

It all lies in your hands my friend!

Choose TRUTH!

*photo found on pinterest

xoxo

Leigh Leigh

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Secret way to Release Unforgiveness

1 peter 311

 

“Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies.” Margaret Stunt

If you are breathing, there is someone you have encountered in your life that has offended you. Forgiveness is one of most powerful weapons I believe Jesus gave us. Ephesians 4:32 tells us to be kind to each other, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven us. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.”

If you are breathing, there is someone you have encountered in your life that you have offended. We need people to forgive us just as much as we need to forgive them.

Unforgivness harbors ANGER, BITTERNESS, HATE,  and RESENTMENT. These are very dangerous to our hearts as they produce unrighteousness. James 1:20 tells us that Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. It will fester in your heart. It will become this ugly monster and the more you replay the offense over and over in your mind, the bigger the monster grows. It continues to grow until it consumes you! It consumes your thoughts, your actions, your conversations, and it steals you happiness and joy! Unforgivness really is poison!

God promises that if we will just trust him, he will avenge his children. Romans 12:19 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” I know this is easier to be said then done. I know we want instant gratification to our flesh. We want them to feel as horrible as we do in the instance the offense is made against us.

Unforgivness is a THIEF! IT steals from you!

So today I would like to share with you a little secret of mine! It’s my secret way I release unforgivness to offenses made against me. I am a tangible type of girl. I like to touch and feel things. When you think about anger you may think violence. I like to release my emotions in motion for the most part. ( Best stress release is running and working out!) That is just what “feels” good to me. So when I discovered I could make my offenses tangible and them tear them apart to shreds, it turned my intangible hurts into tangible things! Stay with me now, as I try to explain this.

It is not all about just tearing paper apart it is about seeking the Lord in prayer first!

It is about freeing myself from anger and putting into action my faith that Jesus will take care of me. With every tear, I am experessing my trust and obedience to him. He is a healer. He knows us better than we even know our ownself and he hurts when we are hurting. If you have a hard time believing this and you are a parent, then just think about how you feel when someone messes with your child? Does the word Anger strike a chord? We are God’s children, he cares about what people do to us. He promises to take care of them one way or the other in his time. He knowing all, knows the best way to handle them as well! When we act out in anger we end up just getting into trouble. We pay evil for evil and nothing good ever comes out of the situation.

HOW TO RELEASE UNFORGIVENESS (pursuing peace)

#1 Go to the Lord in Prayer. Be honest with him. Let him know you are very hurt but you don’t want to stay that way. Ask him to heal your brokenness. Ask him to have the ability to forgive like he forgives and love like he loves. If you are a child of God, you have this ability in you, through the Holy Spirit that is living inside of you.

#2 Write the offense (offenses) down on paper.

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#3 Say out loud (The offender’s name) I forgive you for (what you wrote down on the paper).

#4 TEAR up the paper and let the anger, resentment, and hurt go……yup….drop it, and release its poison from your heart.

tearit up

#5 Throw your pieces in the trash, and forget about it.

#6 If you really, really, really want to make the DEVIL mad for trying to trip you up on that unforgivness poison, then go out and bless that offender some how! (mind blown)

OVER COME EVIL WITH GOOD! Romans 12:21

When the devil tries to bring back up the offense, and it tries to sneak back into your heart, make sure that you remind yourself that you have already burned that bridge, and pray for strength to not fall back into temptation of unforgiveness.

To be honest there may be times where you are having to do this regularly with a particular individual in your life. Just know that your diligence to keep strife out of your life and peace in your heart will not go unrewarded. Pray for this person. Pray for peace in that relationship. Sometimes we just have to move on and not allow ourselves to continue to be in their line of fire of offenses. If it becomes habitual you may just have to tell yourself that the problem is deep-rooted in them, so stop taking it personal! When we give our hurts over to God and let him heal us and take care of the offender for us, we can have peace and it keeps us from getting ourselves in trouble, which breads self-guilt and self-condemnation.

Maybe today you just need to forgive yourself? You hold the power to what takes roots in your own heart. Guilt and condemnation only make us weak and bring us into more sin. 

Remember 1 Peter 3:11 STOP THE CYCLE TODAY of STRIFE and PURSUE PEACE!

Love yourself enough to stop taking the toxic unforgiveness poison!

A great book to read on forgiveness is Joyce Meyer’s book Do Yourself a Favor …. Forgive! It’s on Ibooks and Amazon. My computer is not allowing me to copy and paste the link. I will try and plus this up later.

XOXO

Leigh Leigh

Don’t forget to FOLLOW MY BLOG! Leigh Leigh Speaks is on FACEBOOK and TWITTER!

 

 

Pride comes before the fall

proverbs 165

Day 5

God is steadfast and very patient with us all. He is always waiting on us to admit we are sinners who need a savior, for those who are lost and wandering. It is easy to get a prideful spirit even as a born again Christian. There is good news for us though! When pride whelps up inside of us,  we can always go to the Father and ask for his forgiveness and he will forgive us. We must not think we are too good for reproach, or punishment. We reap what we sow. So if we reap a harvest of pride, we will be sure to sow a fall.

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We should not think we are too good to get our little spiritual behinds spanked! The Lord, like an earthly father will discipline his children as he sees fit. He has every right too as well.

You are reading Leigh Leigh’s 40 Days of Scripture. Start on Day 1, God knows all the answers to our questions, to get caught up HERE!

*humble photo credit-pinterest find

XOXO

Leigh Leigh

Examine Your Motives

 

 

proverbs 162

Day 2

Examining your motives can be a hard pill to swallow!

Have you ever been carried away with doing a good deed that you some how got lost in the self gratification, the attention, and the self serving ego spoon feeding it gave you that you actually lost track of the true reason you started your task in the first place? Take a moment to reflect on what motivates you to do good. What are you wanting in return for your good deeds? Popularity, Acceptance, money, credit, praise?

As a new blogger I have had to examine my heart several times! It is easy to get caught up on statistics and the number of page views received each day. I am super competitive by nature so when other Blogger’s post rise high in popularity it can make me a little jealous and perhaps pride driven. (This is not good and certainly not the reason I wanted to blog in the first place!) It is easy no matter what you do to not get hung up on the self servings we think we need to feel worthy that comes along with success.

My prayer before every published blog post here on Leigh Leigh Speaks is that the Lord would bless who ever reads these posts and encourages them in their faith! 

It is never too late to examine your motives and change them, go to God with your sincere honesty admitting your motives have been self serving and ask for forgiveness and a measure of grace and love to realign your motives with His will. Ask Him to drive out anything and everything that is causing you to make your wants greater then the NEEDS of the Lords Kingdom!

I am doing 40 Days of Scripture you can find out what you missed yesterday, Day 1 and make sure you come on back for the days to come!

Keep going!!Read Day 3-His Pinky Promise HERE!

40 Days of Scriptures Day 1 HERE

XoXo

Leigh Leigh

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God knows all the Answers to Our Questions

 

Day 1

Immediately after I opened my eyes this morning at a chilly 6:00am, (Texas time) my alarm clock begging me for the third time now to start my day, I reached over for my iPhone and opened the BIBLE app.

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I decided in that moment I would go ahead and dive into the whole chapter. Upon completion of reading the whole chapter I decided I would commit my next 40 days with my Blog to speak truth, God’s truth with you, my awesome readers! I am still working out, and will eventually figure out how to share that side of me in future blog posts, but this 40 Days of Scripture will be categorized under A New Life in the Scriptures on my Blog.

I want to start with Proverbs 16. I urge you to read the whole chapter for yourself and encourage you to do a little studying on your own.

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It can be used and applied to your every day life no mater where you are on your journey.

“We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer.” Proverbs 16 Verse 1

We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer. (Hmmm I don’t remember asking for his answer, it’s my life, my plans.) I have to admit when I read scriptures some days I feel like I am just staring at the words. I know they are suppose to make sense in some form or fashion, but I am blank.  I began to mediate on it and let my mind imagine, I use context clues to gather more information from surrounding verses and then I pray that the Holy spirit would give me revelation, and knowledge. We can ask for that you know! 😉

If you switch over to the Message interpretation of this Proverb it’s titled is Everything with a Place and a Purpose.

So when I read we can make our own plans, I am assuming God is including EVERY HUMAN.

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In Deuteronomy 30:15-19 God lets us Humans in on a little secret. We are FREE to make our own choice! What!!? That is awesome! We have  a loving God who would never want to FORCE himself on us or our lives, but He ultimately knows that through salvation through his son Jesus, He is the ultimate way to a real true honest life of Freedom.

God specifically specifies our choices… LIFE….or DEATH!

Life- Eternity with God.

Death- Eternal Separation from God.

“…but the LORD gives the right answers.” Proverbs 16:1

I love that this verse is the first scripture in this chapter because automatically I can see how it can be valid as a Compass for our whole lives from start to finish, but it can also be used as a compass for a particular present season in our every day life.

He is ultimately advising us to SEEK HIM FIRST. Like a compassionate Father He is inviting us to run to him with our questions so that He can answer them.

We can make our own plans yes.. we can choose LIFE or we can choose DEATH, but he is reminding us to have confidence in Him to trust that ultimately He has the right answers.

To choose LIFE would be to seek salvation through his son Jesus Christ.

To choose DEATH would be to live a prideful life believing there is no God, no Jesus, no faith, no hope, no salvation through Jesus, or maybe even turning your back on God.

Now lets bounce back to the present. Maybe you really despise your job and you really want to quit, you know deep down inside you should stay, you have a feeling that you need to stick it out. You always have the choice to quit, or you could go to the Lord in prayer and ask him which way you should turn. Should you stay, should you go? Maybe he has you there to learn a lesson, or maybe he has you there to be a blessing. Either way when He is involved and you are choosing to follow him He will work it all out for your greater good.

“We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer.” Proverbs 16 Verse 1

 

Where are you at on your journey of faith? Have you decided to make your own plans without first seeking his knowledge, his will for your life right now? Do you know Christ? Do you know your freedoms of being a Child of God?

READ HERE if you are still on the fence about this whole Jesus, God, Faith thing people talk about.

Day 2 HERE

xoxo

Leigh Leigh

Learn more about Leigh Leigh HERE. Please follow my blog and join in on the fun at FACEBOOK HERE, or follow Leigh Leigh Speaks on Twitter HERE!

We are guilty of trying to become someone we are not

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

 I have been so thrilled and eager to sit down to write this blog post.  The joy and the excitement has been jumping around in my heart like a million Mexican Jumping Beans!

Here recently I keep getting this magnificiant push, this hard drive to write about how SPECIAL YOU ARE!

I love to work out, I love to encourage other women on their weight loss journeys, however I don’t frown upon those who are just not interested in the same things I enjoy. Maybe you love the fashion world, you eat, breath, and sleep the latest fashions. Maybe you are into Make up and Hair, body building, dancing, cycling, swimming, reading, writing, hiking, sewing, crafting, budget shopping? The list goes on as to what really captivates us!

Maybe you truly are happy with who you are inside and out, or maybe you are in a season of your life where you are struggling to find out who you are. You question things, you question your own heart, motives, drives, etc..

I know I went through a season in my early 20s after I had my two children. I had completely lost my identity some where in between all the mom titles I was carrying. I lost my confidence in who I was and I was just clueless on who God had called me to be. That place is a dark and scary place to be. If you my friend are in this season I want you to know that there is a brilliant bright light at the end of the tunnel for you! Embrace the unknown to educate yourself on who God has called you to be and then dig down deep inside to rediscover who you are, who you want to be, and then my friend grow your faith and let yourself be you!

Don’t ever get carried away with trying to “fit in” that you forget that you were made to “Stand Out!”

It is so easy these days with all the Woman/Mom/Wife comparisons in the World. We are judged from our choice of clothes to the brand of water we choose to drink. It’s absolutely ridicules and actually brilliantly calculated by the Devil to cause divisions amongst us women to separate us from each other on stupid things that are not eternal or relevant to who we are on the inside.

I am pretty sure God doesn’t care if you want to use a cloth diaper on your baby or a disposable one. However, I know he cares about your heart and your intentions. If this choice brings God glory by recycling and keeping the earth clean, and this is why you chose to do it because in your heart you are convicted too and not because you don’t want others to judge you, or your afraid of their opinions, their acceptance to fit into their particular group, I say cloth on my dear!

Confession alert!! I will just tattle on myself now so you know I am not pointing fingers or picking on cloth diaper moms! The cloth diaper is just an easy example that popped into my mind first. I used to be a preschool teacher and I would look and check out what type of lunches other moms were packing for their child. I had come to the conclusion that I didn’t measure up to other moms because my child’s lunch didn’t look like their child’s. I would go out of my way to make sure that my kids lunch reflected their child’s lunch. Was it because I wanted my child to be “super healthy” like theirs? No, it was because somewhere deep inside I had a mom insecurity and I had made other moms my standard to compare myself to be like.

(Read why I gave up trying to be the PERFECT MOM here.)

We do this all the time with EVERYTHING…don’t we? Okay maybe you have never done this, I am probably just throwing my own self under the bus right now by sharing some of the dumb embarrassing things I have done in my life! 😉

It is just Satan getting into our heads tying to make us insecure on who we are as WOMEN, as Mother’s, as Wifes, as Friends, and especially Daughters of Christ!

Insecure so that we do stupid things, like try to become someone we are not to feel accepted.

The good news is WE ARE ALREADY ACCEPTED! Even in our Sin we have a God who loves us and is waiting for us to acknowledge him and to believe in him. He loved us before we loved him. He created us unique for His Glory and His own Purpose. Ephesian’s 2:10 says that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  GOOD WORKS, ETERNAL Works, that we should walk in them. I am not reading the part where we should compare and then become someone we are not, or that we should walk in someone else’s footsteps that He created for them. Oh, because it is not there!!

These silly standards that we measure ourselves up to turn into nothing eternal but only temporary. Your child is going to grow up into an adult, God willing! When he is an adult, no one will care what kind of diaper you put on his bum. Your body, your face, your hair, it will all age. We are all left with the same destiny and that is getting old and passing on.

I don’t want to waste one more second trying to become someone I am not created to be. What a waste that would be for my life God created just for me to live out!

Look at your finger prints. If God, the creator, went out of his way to give each one of us our very own set of finger prints, doesn’t this mean some thing to you about your value, your worth, your acceptance, your importance to HIM?

We are all special and unique, but as Sisters in Christ we are all connected.

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 1 Peter 3:8

Notice how there is no pressure to be the same on the outside, or the way we prepare lunches/dinners for our children, or to become a stereo type soccer mom, or an organics only mom, or the 6 pack abs mom, or the Trophy Wife, and become everybody’s BEST friend!

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I  posted this photo on my Facebook page. (Check out my Facebook page HERE!) It convicted me as to where my perspective has been lately. Let us live to be women who leave eternal gifts to our children, our husbands, our friends, and everyone else we meet along the way.

Love last forever! Acts of kindness remain within the recipient’s heart!

If you are currently chasing after something that you know in your heart just isn’t you, but because of fear of rejection you are allowing yourself to be involved or apart of it, I urge you to stop it today! Be brave enough to just be you. Be brave enough to love and accept yourself just the way you are. Also be brave enough to change the parts of you that you know you need to change for the better. You are worth becoming the best that God created you for!

Where is your heart today? Are you guilty of trying to be someone you are not? Do you know who you are?

Struggling with Identity? Check out my Confessions of a Tattoo Sleeved Mom HERE!

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XOXO

Leigh Leigh

Please follow my blog! I am on Twitter and Facebook as well!

 

 

Please Burst my bubble…

……….of moodiness!

I woke up this morning with this verse heavy on my heart.

Mark 12:30-31

Love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all you soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no greater commandment than these.”

It was like a big spiritual spanking for me as I have been very grumpy and probably hard to live with lately.

I started this blog to encourage woman and speak truth into their lives. This doesn’t mean that I am above both. I know I am not. So then I thought well maybe someone out there needs to hear this too!

I have been very negative lately about me in general.  The more I try to encourage you how beautiful you are and how awesome it feels to set goals and reach them. I have been walking around with self doubt, and a critical spirit about myself.

I just read Crash the Chatter Box by Steven Fortick and it was a great read. It made a lot of sense but obviously I need to go read it again. The truths that I learned about mindless chatter didn’t seem to take root in my heart.

I will be turning 30 in a few short months and the pressure to be 30 and fabulous is really kicking in. (Why I think you should be 30 and Fabulous sure beats me!)

Why must I live with so many pressures I (me, Ash’Leigh) put only on myself? I hate pressure. It is thick, and heavy, and smuggling. It chokes the happiness out of my spirit. It creates false expectations that I (me, Ash’Leigh) only place on myself. It is like I (Me, Ash’Leigh) am my greatest enemy, my greatest competitor. I sure do get tired of me!

There are a lot of things that I am just not happy with right now with myself but I will not bore you with the details. They are silly anyways but because I have sat and highlighted them in my mind, blowing them up like a Ginormous sized Advertisement Billboard, they have became HUGE and daunting to me. We have a tendency to do this!

Mark 12:31 brought some clarity to my bad attitude lately. I am not really upset with everyone around me. I am lashing out in grumpiness because I am not happy with myself. I am not truly loving myself.

Are you lashing out and taking anger out on random strangers or the ones you love?

Here are some signs to look for.

Unexplained Moodiness.

Unexplained grumpiness towards your children or your husband, friends, family.

Extreme irritability with the WORLD and everyone in it.

Feelings of doubt and insecurities on several areas in your life.

Speaking negative remarks about yourself to others. Example: “I could never do that, I am not smart enough.”

Letting how your body fits in your clothes that day dictate your attitude and your mood.

Majority thoughts on negativity.

Picking out every single flaw on you and every single human around you.

I think there is some insight in this scripture. We are told to love our neighbor as we love our self, but in reality we actually TREAT OTHERS how we TREAT OUR SELF.

Maybe you don’t. Maybe you have learned to fake loving everyone else while inside you are being choked with insecurities and self doubt and hate. I think this can only last for so long. Click here to learn why I am not faking things anymore!

The truth sets you free.

I Love God with all my heart. I have been asking him to change my attitude repeatedly lately. I know when something is off inside my mind. I am thankful for this reminder this morning.

I have to get back into grips with What God thinks of me.

I am his Child. John 1:12-13

I am created in His image. Gen 1:27

I am deeply Loved by Him. Jer 31:3

I am Forgiven. 1 John 1:9

He never gives up on me. Philippians 1:6

I am always on His Mind. Psalm 8

His works are Wonderful so I am Wonderful. Ps 139:13-14

I am not rejected! Isa 41:9

I am the apple of HIS eye. Zec 2:8

We can’t be who God has created us to be with a CRITICAL NEGATIVE SPIRIT.  Satan knows this and I believe that this is his favorite way to drive us insane and kick us of our course.

But THANK GOD Greater is He who is in me, then he who is of this world!

We need to recognize the attack from the Enemy and then rebuke the negative, critical spirit attacking our mind. Then pray by asking God to restore the damage it may have caused in our hearts, help us see ourselves through His eyes, and help us to love ourselves like he loves us. We need faith to believe what his Word says about us allowing it to become our foundation of our own identity; our true identity in Christ.

We need to build ourselves up instead of tear ourselves down. This is important because I believe we will leak what we are filling ourselves up with. If I am feeling nasty and critical inside I will leak this onto my husband, my children, my friends and quickly critize them, but if I am full of the love of God and building myself up in his words, his truth, I will leak this onto others. (Encouragement, love, support. etc..)

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Be True to yourself always!

What helps you come out of a self loathing funk?

Xoxo

Leigh Leigh

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Photo credits:pinterest and Socialnetworkvoice.com

 

 

Do you struggle with not feeling good enough for God?

 

“Most of us were taught that God would love us if and when we change. In fact, God loves you so that you can change. What empowers change, what makes you desirous of change, is the experience of love. It is that inherent experience of love that becomes the engine of change.”

-Richard Rohr

Quote  from the book Crash the Chatterbox by Steven Furtick

Before I elaborate I must say that I am really enjoying this book! I highly suggest picking up a copy.

Something deeply rooted in my mind since my childhood is that I am never going to be holy enough for God. I could do more for him, I could be better. I am never on the right track, never paying enough attention to him, never reading enough of my bible, never worshiping him enough to get to that place of true certainty that I am loved by him, and he is pleased with me.  I am just down right not good enough to be called a child of God because I just can’t seem to get this whole Child of God, Jesus follower down! I actually feel guilt and condemnation when I go days without picking up my bible. Then I think, well now I have to start all the way over to get back in his good graces.

How stupid is this!

Progress with your walk with Christ comes little by little. We have an enemy who is pushing back against us the whole way. He wants us to have none of the victories Christ already died for us to have. We are overcomers, we are saved, we are healed, we are made righteous in his sight through the blood of his one and only begotten Son, Jesus. We are forgiven, we are loved unconditionally, and his mercy and grace is new every day.

Joyce Meyer says it best: “I may not be where I need to be, but thank God I am not where I use to be!” Progress

Jesus already paid the price for my sins, past, present, and future. So why I am always fighting, waging war within myself, within my mind to try to get to him. To believe this is really true! Why do I waiver in my faith. In my heart I believe with every ounce of my being. I believe I am free, I believe I am saved. My mind however is just always being attacked with negativity, doubt.

Maybe you struggle with this mindless chatter as well? These lies that keep playing over and over and over in your mind. You did this and this today, God is so not pleased. Whelp, maybe tomorrow after you pray and read your bible for an hour you will be okay again. I am not saying that we don’t have to repent and ask for forgiveness of our sins, of course we do. These feelings of guilt and condemnation linger way after confession and asking for forgiveness.

Satan loves to make us believe that getting to God is a LOT OF WORK, BUT HE IS A LIAR.

Well actually it was a lot of Work for Jesus, He took our place and atoned for our sins. He did the hard part for us all, so that we could be free and live in his Victory over Death!

Steven Furtick knocked it out of the park when he elaborated on the first chatter told to Eve. It was actually an ah ha moment in my mind, and I want to share it with you because maybe you struggle like me, maybe this truth will give you some hope and a fresh start to your faith, and your stupid thoughts bouncing around up there!

I am going to take this straight out of Chapter 4 of Crash the Chatterbox.

This is after the fruit has been eaten and now Adam and Eve are hiding from God in the Garden.

“Yes, the serpent is a master of asking questions to insinuate things about God’s intentions: “Did God really say….” Thankfully, God counters those questions with a question of His own: “Where are you?”

God doesn’t ask because He needs the information. He knows His way around this garden. He asks so that Adam can locate himself in relation to his God. So the hiding can stop.

Adam’s answer is straightforward enough: “I head you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked: so I hid.”

And God’s next question is my favorite of all. It is the ultimate counter-question, and it’s the source of our separation from God: “Who told you that you were naked?”

Implicit in God’s question “Who told you that?” is at least part of the answer: Because it sure wasn’t Me.”

Steven Furtick Crash the Chatterbox

Those words across my iPad  pierced my soul. It knotted my stomach and then released tears down my eyes. Really it was a release of bondage rooted with my doubts. “Because it sure wasn’t Me.”

In a few days we start a new year. I might have made the mistake of not keeping my eyes on God for the past few weeks, but He didn’t go anywhere.

Our Father is a patient and steadfast Father. HE LOVES us, and that LOVE for us is what continues to change me. As his child, I must do what Paul tells us, keep on pressing on towards the prize!

I am not hiding from my guilt of not being a perfect human being. No, instead I am walking by faith and not by sight, and I am clinging on to the Hope and the Promise of the Word’s spoken in Romans 5:

Peace and Hope

5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

The TRUTH ALWAYS REVIELS the LIES!

Because of His blood, I am good enough, not by my acts, not by my deeds, not by my success or by lack of any shortcomings, or because I did or didn’t read my bible this morning. Because of my belief and  my faith, and because I have been saved by Christ, God’s Holy Spirit is always with me, always helping me, convicting me to change, because I AM LOVED and so are you my friend!

Now go back and read the title quote again. 🙂

SMASH THE LIES AND SMASH THE STUPID LYING CHATTERBOX!

Love and Hugs,

Leigh Leigh

Follow me on Facebook HERE and Twitter HERE!

He > I (He must become Greater)

Greater_than_symbol*image from commons.wikimedia.org

 

As I am diving deeper into God’s word and opening my heart to God’s abounding love for me these past few weeks,  I feel like I truly have discovered the meaning of John3:30. He > I

It has definitely been one of those scriptures that continues to pop up continually like a song that gets stuck in your head on replay.

If you are like me, sometimes when I glance at the scriptures the words just seem so plain, confusing, so still, so flat. I am super analytical so I will try to take a three word scripture and try to find the meaning out of it all. Okay over analytical is more like it! Sounds strange, I know, but today these words stretched out with wide open arms, hugging my soul this morning.

“He must become greater; I must become less.” John 3:30

Now I may lose you for a second, but just hang on. It will all come together at the end!

Let’s take a look at one of the promises Jesus gives us over in John 10:10
Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (Other translations say have life abundantly) I like to look at it as this too,”.. and to have abundant life, more and more and more and more, forever!” My translation!

Watch the similarities here in the following versus of “even more.”

2 Samuel 6:22″ I will humble myself even more.”

Jesus said, “Even more, those who hear the word of God and keep it are blessed!” Luke 5:15

Romans 5:20 “But where sin is multiplied, grace multiplied even more.”

Philippians 1:9 “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernments.”

But on the flip side watch this…

Ephesians 4:19 “They became callous and gave themselves over to the promiscuity of the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more.”

Genesis 37:5 “Then Joseph had a dream when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.”

1 Samuel 18:29″ And Saul became even more afraid of David, as a result, Saul was David’s enemy from then on.”

*Beth Moore’s  Women’s Study Children of the Day illustrated these scriptures of being “even more”, and “more and more”.

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*image from ifcamedia.org

I began to realize that things we feel, think, and do GROW bigger and multiply! Scary and Awesome!

Growing-plant

*image from  mobc.org.au

Love and Hate, Sin and Grace, Fear and Peace. Even though they are opposites they are similar in the concept of growing, more and more. But God is good, isn’t he? No matter how far we let fear grow in our Hearts, he gives us peace, and instantly we are rescued to shore from the swallowing waters of fear.
No mater how much we have sinned, he tells us that his grace multiplies. Love covers a multitude of sin. “Fear not, for I am with you,” Jesus says.

So back to my topic here because I may be side drifting. When I put my faith in Christ I know that it will grow more and more. But before he can become Greater and me Less, I have to yield to he is love, his forgiveness, his patience, his endurance, his grace, his teachings, his will, his humility, his mercy, his gentleness, his meekness, his kindness, and obey his commands. I have to believe he is who he says he is.

As I emulate his ways, his attitude, his behavior, his compassion for others, like a seed planted into the soil of my heart, out springs forth a tree of Abundant Life of unspeakable joy, happiness, peace, etc.. more and more.  As I focus on all these things, my flesh desires becomes less, and less, and by abounding in Christ’s desire for the abundant life he died to give me, I am living out 2 Corinthians 3:18.

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

This can not be accomplished apart from him! I am nothing good and I can do no good with out him.

Jesus’s influence in my life has to be greater then any other influence.

My Focus on Jesus in my life has to be greater then the focus on myself.

Jesus has to be the Center of my life.

Jesus has to be the Father I run to, and the friend I confide in.

he greater than i

 

*image from  aristotles-muse.blogspot.com

Sweet Friend, if we truly want to follow Christ and walk in his ways, we must become less, and he, JESUS, must become Greater!

xOxo

-Leigh Leigh

Follow me here, or on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/leighleighspeaks, or @ash_leighharris onTwitter!