How Great is Our God!

YUCK! I officially hate shopping. More than anything and ever before. I think Satan only made malls to make girls feel ugly and discouraged as they walk around wishing they could fit those clothes; wishing they were as pretty as those models; wishing their bodies and faces looked different from how God made them. I came across part of this sermon, and I really liked his point:

Jesus said the devil is a thief who comes "to steal and kill and destroy" (John 10:10). And every time God does something good in your life, the devil is there with some cheap shot he wants to use to rob you of the joy of what God has done. Don't fall for it. It's like you've just won the Super Bowl, you're walking off the field, and your defeated opponent says, "I'll make you pay for this." And he gives you a bloody nose. Yeah, he hurt you a little, but he can't change the outcome. You still won, and nothing he can do can change the victory. So when the joy-robber comes in after the victory and tries to get you all focused on yourself, you tell him, "I know who this is, and I am not falling for it! We won, and you can't change it!"

Life won't always be "flying high" moments like Elijah's Mt. Carmel, but you can be consistently joyful and hopeful and positive, even when some of the air goes out of your balloon. Because "the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10) - not the joy of your circumstances. It's your Lord who inflates you with His joy, His victory, so you don't have to lie deflated in a corner ever again!

So I decided that I'm not going to let Satan bring my focus back onto myself, walking around that mall wishing I was beautiful. Because . . .according to my Creator . . . I AM beautiful and he loves me, and he's never going to let me down. What a great God we serve!