During this past Advent season, I did a devotional series entitled “Journey to the Manger” by In Touch Ministries through the Bible app. I grew up with my parents watching Charles Stanley, the founder of In Touch Ministries, so I was excited to do the devotional. Not trying to toot my own horn here y’all, but I finished the devotional, and I finished it on time! See, I am one of those people who start a devotional with high hopes, and then either I never finish it because I get caught up in life, or I finish it about a year after I started it. Lord forgive me, cause I need help keeping up with devotionals.
This one though I actually kept up with, and finished it in the allotted time of Advent, and most importantly I really enjoyed it. Each day a verse was given with a little message to read, and an activity to go along with what was talked about in the devotional that day. The devotional for the 22nd day was entitled “He Came For You,” and I was deeply struck by it’s message, and the corresponding activity.
The devotional started with a passage from Jeremiah 31:3: “In a far off land the Lord will manifest himself to them. He will say to them, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love. That is why I have continued to be faithful to you.'” The message in the devotional went on to talk about how God proclaimed his great love for us through Christ, and how Christ would have died his sacrificial death just for you and you alone because his love is so great for each and every one of his children. It discussed how Christ will never abandon us through our suffering, and will continually walk with us through this life and the next. Then it listed the activity:
On your bathroom mirror, use a dry erase marker to write the words chosen and accepted. Remind yourself each morning that Jesus chose and accepted you.
I challenge you to do this activity. On my bathroom mirror, using hot pink sticky notes, I have the words chosen, loved, and accepted. Every morning I try to look myself in the eye and say, “My name is Michelle Mayes, and I am chosen, loved, and accepted by a mighty awesome God.” This sounds easy, but it’s actually kind of difficult.
Looking at myself, and saying these words out load is a little awkward at times. Plus saying them out loud usually means that I need to mean what I say, and y’all sometimes I don’t feel chosen, loved, or accepted. So then I have to fight through all the emotional lies in my head to get to the truth that I am all three of these things, and that is not always easy. It is worth it though. It is worth reminding yourself everyday that you are chosen, loved, and accepted by a mighty awesome God no matter what.
So I challenge you to put these words on your mirror. I challenge you to look yourself in the eye. I challenge you to speak out loud. And I challenge you to say these words, “I am chosen, loved, and accepted by a mighty awesome God.”
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