self-confidence

Our lives can be disrupted by our thoughts. Our thoughts can pull us down. Our thoughts can be intrusive. Our thoughts can lie to us. Our thoughts can tell us things that are not true about God or make us fear ourselves or fear other people. Fear is not of God. And when our thoughts are wonky, that's just really, really hard because that's one of the things that if the brain is the part that governs our thoughts, right, then if that is giving us thoughts that are unhelpful, it's really hard, and it's really challenging. When we have these thoughts, we have these feelings. And feelings are just indicators of our environment. They're not right or wrong, they're just feelings.

But then those feelings if we go with them too much or tell ourselves lies because we feel the feelings. Feelings aren't actually facts, so we can get confused there and then our bodies start to take those thoughts and those feelings as if they're real. And so the actions that we do or the way we feel in our comfort level in our bodies, I mean, it's just this whole thing, right? And as Christians we know that there's this whole spiritual being that we are and it's like what are we even dealing with? Like is this a spiritual thing? Is this a physical thing? I'm confused as to what I need to do here. Do I need to pray harder? Do I need to take a vitamin supplement? Do I need to exercise more? Do I need a nap? I mean, someone help me cut through the chaos. That's why I like to say, "It's time for no more crazy lady" because I have been there. I have totally been there and sometimes it's still unclear. But I have ways of discerning now. I have ways of understanding.

One of my key takeaways is that if it is something that is condemning or it is something that is fear causing or judgmental or tying you in knots, it's not of God. It's not of God. God is peace. God is peace. His Holy Spirit one of the fruits of the Spirit is peace, gentleness. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So that's the first tip, is that God's ways are indicated by who He is, by His Holy Spirit. If you aren't feeling love, joy, peace, self-control, patience, having kindness with yourself, gentleness, I mean, those are things that God has for us, and I don't want them to be stolen from you.

And that's what the enemy tries to do. So if you're wondering, am I in a spiritual battle? Well, yes, we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Right? It's a spiritual battle just to be a living human being on the planet Earth. And also, I think I don't want to say this in a wrong way, but it's also a practical battle, too. It's a physical battle. It's an action battle. It's a thought battle. It's an emotional battle.

It is pretty much that we can help when we have these spiritual battles by also having tools for very practical things. Just like if you have a broken arm, you put a cast on it to heal. It was something that was meant to harm a broken arm. But a cast can help it to heal and mend. And I mean, yes, the spiritual is that God gave us wisdom and bones that can heal. So he gave medical wisdom to put it in a cast, and he gave bones that can heal. But also it's a practical skill that allows us to have movement again without pain, that allows us to immobilize the arm until it's totally ready for use again, and then to build up the muscle strength again. Right? So it's practical and spiritual, and sometimes we get the lie that we're not spiritual enough or we're not good enough, or God's mad at us because we're having some more practical, physical, or mental or emotional issues, and we're thinking, what is wrong? I'm praying to get out of this, and I'm trying. And I don't understand why I'm still here and still stuck.

So today I'm going to give you the first part of what I have put together with God's great grace and help, and that is the Empowered Freedom Framework. So, God and I have worked on this together through the years. I didn't know what it was called. I didn't see it all laid out until this summer, where I've really been seeking God's direction for showing me kind of the next steps with the podcast and helping people and the next steps for my family and all of that. And as he's helped me put this together, it is a framework for you to get freedom. It includes things in the way of how I got free. It includes things in the way of education and science and biblical truth and practical skills and spiritual identity. It's a comprehensive educational program that will give you the tools, insights and skills to be able to heal, to be able to take back your power that is rightfully yours from Jesus.

To start we're going to talk about peach pie. I don't know if you like peach pie or not. If you don't like peach pie, I want you to insert whatever pie you do like. If you don't like pie, insert cake. If you don't like sweets, insert soup. Insert a recipe. I'm using the peach pie metaphor because I like alliteration and they both start with the letter P.

To have a peach pie, we need a baker. That baker is someone who knows exactly how to design this peach pie. This baker knows what to put into the peach pie. To make it a peach pie, they might put in some peaches, and they might put in some cinnamon, and they might put in some flour, and they might put, I don't know, whatever else they put, butter or nutmeg. Whatever they put in there, they have a recipe, and they know how it's going to turn out because they followed the recipe. The unique ingredients are in there for this perfect peach pie. See what I did there? More alliteration for the perfect peach pie, okay? And that perfect peach pie is priceless. I mean, that perfect peach pie is so priceless because it is just perfectly made, perfectly designed by the baker. And that peach pie has everything it needs to be successful in delighting people's tummies in delighting their taste buds in filling a need for a sweet after a satisfying meal. It's inherently perfect as a peach pie, and its purpose is from the baker.

Now, as you probably have figured out, you are the peach pie, right? And God is the baker. He has perfectly put the ingredients into you for the purposes and outcomes that He has for you to do in this world. You are a beautiful, perfect peach pie in every way, and you are made to shine and do your job as you were designed with the unique ingredients for the perfect purpose and just it's spectacular. You are a unique creation, and the world needs you.

And God destined you for such a time as this. So that's the first part of my empowered freedom framework is realizing the story of you, of who you are, and that you are made by God, fearfully and wonderfully as a masterpiece. Here's the second part, though. Sometimes the story gets messed up. Someone tries to rewrite it, rewrite the recipe, they start to mess with the ingredients. These things that were good, like trusting, caring, showing vulnerability, connecting, being real, praying, trusting God, having a sound mind, a restful body, gentle emotions that are easy and light came along and messed with the recipe. It was like an evil person who was jealous and wanted to stop the recipe from being perfect. And what happened is the pie was perfect and all the ingredients were perfect when this devious thief came and stole from the baker, stole from the pie, put some ingredients in there that caused pain or that contradicted the good stuff, or that left some space for doubt as to whether they should be following the right recipe or not, it caused chaos.

Just like in a peach pie, if you put something else into it or not enough of something into it or too much of something into it, you're going to get different results. That didn't mean the original recipe was wrong. That didn't mean the original baker was wrong. That means that someone tampered with the ingredients, someone tampered with that perfect story, that perfect recipe, and that's the enemy. And the enemy can tamper in the lives of God's creation, through hurtful relationships, through bad experiences, through tragedy, through trauma, through gaslighting, from parents, through abusive marriage relationships, through bullying or insecurity, through hardships. The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy.

But God, through Jesus, has already overcome the world, and we have the Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead living in us. So the death that the enemy meant for evil, God will turn for good and redeem. And that peach pie will now be like a super peach pie. By the time God gets done with this, the original baker with the original recipe, He's taken those original ingredients and gotten rid of the muck. With all of those things that were not wanted, or additives or things that were stolen, the icky, God comes along and takes what the enemy meant for evil and turns it for good. Now, maybe the peaches are too sweet or not too sweet, but now maybe the peaches are so sweet, and God adds praline topping to it or some caramel sauce or some whipped cream, and it's like, even better than before. God makes it look like He had it planned all along well, because He knows what's going to happen.

He knows he's not going to let anything happen to you that He can't redeem, because He is a redemptive God. And He didn't want that junk to happen to you, but He wants the victory of you being who you are made to be. And sometimes those things that happen to us are the very areas where we overcome and shine and do even more than what the enemy was trying to stop us from doing in the first place.

That's why you're hearing from me today. I never thought that I would be able to get through my low self-esteem, my anxiety, my panic, my post-traumatic stress disorder, my obsessive-compulsive disorder. I mean, if you had seen me 30 years ago in my 20s, this would have been a whole different person you would have seen. And yet I was still the same person with all the right ingredients. But I had had some very toxic experiences in relationships, and I needed healing.

I needed the original baker, the one with the original recipe, to come in and supercharge my recipe by putting in even more of the wonderful things he had put in me through his power. The pralines and the pecans and the caramel sauce and the whipped cream. And it almost makes it worth all of the struggles that I went through. I don't know if I could say that I'd prefer to have still gone through them, but I am so glad to be on the other side. And I am so glad God redeemed it. And I am so glad that I am now here to help you get that extra recipe, that extra special sauce. As you break free from that awfulness that was trying to distort your recipe, you are fearfully and wonderfully, made a unique masterpiece no one compares to you. God has good for you.

God will redeem what the enemy stole, and He will make it all work together for good. So it'll look like it was part of the plan all along, because God is a good God, and He has got you. And He has got you with pralines and caramel sauce and whipped cream and even a cherry on top with a dash of cinnamon, I mean, God is that good. And if you're suffering right now and your story is more like the recipe of things that were tainted or stolen or harmed, where too many dashes of something bad were added in, or maybe someone dropped your pie on the floor and it crumbled, so to speak, God is a God who restores.

Could you use a pep talk today? If you want to feel better about being in your own skin and who you are, then look no farther because it's time to say goodbye to insecurity and to know who you are in Christ.

Today's message is coming from the heart, the heart of God towards you through me. So, you've got God's heart and my heart coming at you in today's message, and that is to let you know that you are valuable, and you are unique. You are a masterpiece who has amazing gifts created by a God who does not make mistakes. You can do all things through Christ, who gives you strength. He cares about every detail. He knows the words before they're on your lips. He knows when you're going to go to sleep at night or to stand up from a seated position. His thoughts about you outnumber the grains of sand. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Anything that tries to tell you differently, anyone who tries to diminish you, minimize you, criticize you, condemn you, judge you, shame you, or lie to you, is not of God. They are not acting of God. They are not representing Him, and you don't need to listen to them. So why do we listen? Sometimes because we're not convinced of our own worth. Sometimes we might be insecure about that thing, so it resonates a little bit deeper, whatever it was that someone said.

There was this business meeting I was on with a woman who is lovely. She comes across very professional and yet very personally encouraging and just sweet and just fully capable. She said she got some feedback from somebody, or from many people, I guess, that she was too pushy or direct. She may be direct, but that does not mean she's pushy. She may be direct, but that does not mean it's bad. She is also all of these other wonderful things. So, looking at it through other people's eyes and then judging something, that's a characteristic, because it's different, as if it's bad, is a mistake and it's a lie of the enemy. And he likes to try to do that because if he can make you feel insecure, not worthy, not good enough, question your value, question your right to show up in life, make you feel diminished in any way, then he's effectively hurt you and taken you out of the equation of making an impact.

So, I want to encourage you, be the unique person that you are. Let the world hear you. Let them know who you are because you bring something to the table that no one else does, that no one else can. God doesn't make anything without a purpose, and He has a purpose for you. The Bible says that He has a future and a hope for you, and that hope will not be cut off. If you're not feeling enough today, if you're worried about people judging you, if you're insecure in any way, or you've been hurt before and you're just trying to survive because you don't know how to feel good about yourself going forward, I want you to hear this message today. Rewind it, replay it, play it again if you need to. You are a unique masterpiece.

God made no mistakes when He designed you. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, and you are gifted in amazing ways for such a time as this, the enemy's just scared of you. People who are insecure, who are saying things, that's their problem, that's not yours. You don't have to buy into the lies. You don't have to shrink for anybody, you don't have to overthink, you don't have to try harder, you don't have to play small you don't have to stay quiet when you need to speak up, and you don't need to speak up when you're fine staying quiet. This is not about you and other people. It's like that Mother Teresa prayer. Love people anyway, do good anyway, but it's never been about you and them anyway.

This whole thing is about you and God. This whole thing called life is about you knowing who God is and becoming all that He has designed for you to be so that you can love others and draw others to Him and be Him in the world. Show up reflecting your heavenly Father, the traits of the Holy Spirit who lives in you, the mind of Christ, all of those things live inside of you as a believer. You can claim and hold on to the truth of your identity and be solid, refuse to entertain the lies any further, and make a choice of not listening to lies by saying, I do not accept that, that is not getting into my space. I know the truth about me because I know who made me. I am fine. I am powerful, strong, and determined, and I am God's. He's got great things for me. I am fully capable, fully enough and don't need to apologize for being seen and taking up space and speaking truth and showing up in love with my gifts to glorify God. I want that for you. I want that for me. 

I want you to really take to heart the fact that the rest of it is all clutter and lies just designed to deceive and get you spinning your wheels, get you hurting, get you doubting, get you to stop taking action that will lead others to Christ and bring healing to others and love to others. And we don't need to play that game. Time's too valuable, you're too valuable. God's too valuable. Others are too valuable to listen to lies.

So, I want to encourage you, take a piece of paper out, write down all of the insecurities that you have, all of the lies, all of the things that go through your mind on a day-to-day basis and for each one that you write down, keep a running list of it. You can do this daily; you can do this for a week; you could do this for a month; you could do it for the next hour, whatever you choose. But choose a time frame and brain dump all of those lies, all of those insecurities, all of those doubts and fears, all of those hurtful things, get them out of you onto paper and imagine that that paper is just sticky paper like fly paper and just all the icky flies, all the icky lies get stuck to this paper, and they can't come back onto you.

Then get out another sheet of paper and write down God's truth about you, God's purposes, God's ways, who you are in Christ. And write those down and that put that inside your heart. Hide God's word in your heart, in your mind, in your words, in your self-talk, in the way you show up in the world, in the way you talk to others, in the way you act and think. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways. Acknowledge Him and he will direct your path. Do not be deceived. Don't look to the left or the right. Look up. Walk with God.

I want to remind you one more time before I go. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, and God loves you and cherishes you and cares about you. He thinks you're to die for, and He did. You are valuable. Now go live in the power of the resurrected Jesus Christ. He loves you that much. And that's what's important in this life, living for Him because He loves everyone that much too. Now go serve Him. And don't let the lies get in the way. Go take on the day.