You are Wonderful

You are Wonderful

Do you ever have days where nothing makes you feel better? Days where you beat yourself up over the little things? Days where every "flaw" you have feels like it is standing out with no shame? Days where you feel like you are not good enough, no matter how hard you try? Days where you question your worth? I know I face these problematic questions sometimes. But, I am here to say that You are Worthy, You are Capable, You are Amazing, You are a Blessing,  You have a Purpose, and You are Wonderful.

 God himself declares that he has a plan for each of our lives. When you question your worth remember that the one and only God, who created everything, created you for a purpose. First of all, he created you, he thought that YOU were important enough to be made so he formed you within the womb, in Jeremiah 1:5 he says, "I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations." He sets you apart from everyone else. Then he goes on to say in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." God see's you as so important. You are so important to him that he even knows the number of hairs on your head. "Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows" Luke 12:7. So when you feel worthless remember God knew you before you were even born, he formed you within the womb, he wanted You to be born, he has a purpose for your life, and you are so important that he even knows the number of hairs on your head.

We are beautiful in the eyes of God. If God thinks we are beautiful and we are created in his image, how can we beat ourselves up over our "flaws"? God made us fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14 says, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."  Be strong and know your worth, do not let the devil tell you lies. I know we all have days where life is throwing us curve balls. On those day remember that with God you can do all things. The world will cause trouble in your life no matter how close you are to God. With God you can overcome these problems. Let us all stick together and build each other up, and in the process continue to get closer to God. Oh and do not forget, You are Wonderful.

Love you All,

Shelby Gillespie

Less Divided & More United

Hello Everyone!

Today the Lord really put something on my heart and my mind. It has truly broken my heart to see everything that has been going on lately. The flooding, mass shootings, division, and the hatred. I sit here and I read these problems that are causing such hopelessness, anger, and division and it brings me to tears. It saddens me to see such hopelessness and such division. As Christians we are supposed to stick together. We need to set aside our differences and focus on what is really important. Instead of standing on one side of the fence and refusing to hear the other person on the other side of the fence why don’t we agree to disagree? Instead of pushing others away, instead of creating division, lets stand together because the most important issue that we have in our lives is our relationship with Christ, and helping bring others to Christ. Lets choose to stand together as Christians and agree to disagree on other issues. Lets choose to love and pray, instead of becoming angry or aggressive when someone has a different opinion.

1 Corinthians 1:10 “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

Love more and argue less. Lets remember what is most important. Just because you and someone else disagree with each other does not mean that you have to push each other away. Is your opinion on an issue the most important? No, Jesus is who we need to be seeking to be more like. Turn away from the temptation to make your opinion the only opinion, or the right opinion. Treat your opinion as your opinion and treat someone elses opinion as their opinion. Stop trying to make someone else agree with you. Though you disagree on that issue, remember that you agree on something that is far more important.

Psalm 133:1 “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”

In the word of God there are countless times where the Word talks about unity. Lets strive to become UNITED instead of DIVIDED.

Ephesians 4:3 “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”  

So friends with all of that being said I urge you to join me in learning to agree to disagree. Striving to become less divided and More United.

Lastly, I ask that you join me in prayer for the next month. Pray for unity, peace, hope, and love.

Lord, today we come to you with saddened hearts. We call out to you Lord. We ask for your help in restoring our souls. Lord, we ask that you give us hope when everything seems so hopeless. Lord, that you take away our anger and give us more compassion and love. Lord, we pray for peace through the roughest storms in life. Lord, we ask that you help us to choose to agree to disagree. We ask that you continue to make us more like you. That we are in the center of your will. Lord, we ask for Unity in a time of such division. Lord, thank you for all of the love you have shown. Thank you for your grace. Thank for every sacrifice you have made for each and everyone of us. Thank you Lord. Amen!

<3  Shelby G.

My Testimony: How Great Thou Art

***What I am about to share is a story that is hard for me to share. It is a story I have told very few people.

One of my all time favorite hymns is the hymn, How Great Thou Art. I think it is such a beautiful anthem to God. Such a thanks to God. As of lately I have listened to this song on repeat. I started to think about the words of this song and think about how it related to my life. I then began to question myself whether I was spending more time complaining to God or thanking God. Sadly, I believe many of us can say we do not thank God as often as we should. We especially do not thank God when things are rough or when things are not going our way. I then began to think about all of the blessings in my life. All the times that God was carrying me when I could not even stand up. The times he stood by me offering me his hand when I decided to do it my way. How he was there even after I failed when trying to do it my way. The times that he rescued me, and saved my life when I DID NOT deserve the saving.

I have not always been the Christian I should be. For a long time I was a person Proclaiming to be a Christian but not acting as one. I am  a preacher’s kid as many of you know. I am blessed to have grown up in a Christian house with amazing Christian parents. My parents did a very good job at never making me feel pressured into being a Christian, of course they wanted me to be, but they also knew it was my choice. With that being said I lived under a microscope from everyone else around, constantly hearing the two most common catch phrases for a preacher's’ kid. The, “Oh, you are a preacher's kid… Those preachers’ kids are always the wild ones” or the other side of the spectrum, “ Oh you are a preacher's kid… Guess you are a goody-two-shoes.” Growing up with everyone around me watching my every action pushed me to hide how I was truly feeling inside. Made me feel like I had to act perfect every time I was around these people.

With all the pressure put on me from others I began to become rebellious, like many others do, when I got into High School. I began to proclaim my faith on Sundays and Wednesdays, while living a very different life when I felt like no one was watching. I got into the party scene, and everything that came with that. I began to drift, truly drift. I still believed in God but I did not follow God. I was good at putting on a show for others so that no one would know about my “behind-the-scenes” life. I made tons of mistakes, and plenty of stupid decisions. Through all of this negativity and evil I had let into my life, God was still there. He had his hand extended to me, waiting for me to just take his hand so he could lift me up and out of darkness. I continued to choose to live a double life of fake “holiness” and recklessness. The drinking, cussing, partying and abusive boyfriend was causing me to break inside. I finally broke up with my abusive boyfriend. I was truly breaking and hurting and instead of taking Gods extended hand I decided to do it my way. I was free of my boyfriend and I decided to cope from the abuse by drinking more and finding “love” in the wrong ways. Which lead to a very dark place in my life. Once again I was smiling on the outside while I was breaking on the inside.

I let this go on for a while, I was living this very extreme double life. Time went by and I started to break to the point of giving up but something in me would not let me give up. I now know it was God but at that time I had no clue. One night I remember being so upset and finally taking Gods hand. Did I change overnight? Of course not. I messed up but I was doing better and better everyday. Until, the night my world was flipped upside down. I had went to a friends house and I did not know she had invited a couple guys over. When I saw the guys I told her I was going to leave, she begged me to stay. So I did, little did I know that, that was going to be an awful decision. The night went by and one of the guys kept trying to pursue me, I was not interested. My “friend” by this time had left the living room and was with the other guy. I was left alone with this guy I had become very uncomfortable with. That night was the night that a man forced himself upon me. After it happened he left in a hurry. Shaken-up I went to tell my “friend” what happened. Her only response was, “blank happens.” So I grabbed my things, ran out, and left her house. I was again broken, hurting, and felt like there was no where to go from there. I cried out to God, “Why me? Why?” That night was a very dark night for me. After the response that my “friend” had said I felt like I could not tell anyone. I felt like I was guilty. I deserved it, I might have led him on. I blamed myself for a long time.

Time went on and I began to heal, I began to grow closer to God. He healed me from the pain I had endured in my past. I began to see what it truly was and that it was not my fault. I finally took God's hand and began to truly get closer and closer to him. Many will read this and feel bad for me, but I tell you this story because it is a testimony. Whatever you are going through God Can and Will help you get through it. God saved me in a car wreck, he held me and gave me hope when I was ready to give up, he healed me from a hurt that was so deep. With my everything I give him thanks. Even the worst of situations he can turn into something beautiful if you let him.

Look at what he is doing in my life now, I a missionary working with children and youth that are being rescued from sex trafficking. I do not believe God let me be abused or raped but I believe God saw an evil situation and turned it into something beautiful. He gave me a passion to help those who have went through the same things I have went through and worse, He has sent me to school to become a counselor to one day be able to truly help others. So I sing How Great Thou Art, Then Sings my Soul. How Great our God is to help us out of the darkest spots of our life. Look unto him for all of your needs. Just remember God can and will use our ugliest times and turn them into something beautiful if we let him. Give Thanks for all he has done in your life. Praise him during the Good and bad!

Psalm 34:1-3 “I will praise the Lord at all times.    I will constantly speak his praises. I will boast only in the Lord;  let all who are helpless take heart. Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt his name together.”

How Great Thou Art

by Lauren Daigle

O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder  
Consider all the works Thy hands have made,  
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,  
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.  
And when I think that God,his son not sparing
Sent him to die,I scarce can take it in
That on the cross,my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin
Then sings my soul,my savior God to thee
How great thou art! how great thou art!
Then sings my soul,my savior God to thee
How great thou art! how great you art!
When Christ shall come,with shouts of acclamation
And take me home,what joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim,my God,how great thou are!
Then sings my soul,my savior God to thee
How great thou art! how great thou art!
Then sings my soul,my savior God to thee
How great thou art! how great you art!

https://youtu.be/8BL06fxHPVo?list=RD8BL06fxHPVo

Giving up Control

Control Issues… something I deal with, what about you? What does control really mean? Well Wiki says, “It means to determine the behavior or supervise the running of AND/OR it is the power to influence or direct people's behavior or the course of events.” Why as humans do we rely on controlling the situation so much? Sometime I think we forget that God is in control. Like it or not He has the situation handled.

I know that I have had trouble with giving up control in many situations throughout my life. It is almost as if I think, “Oh God, I got this, I mean if you want to help you can but I have this under control.” So who knows what happens next? Yep! you guessed it, “God says okay Shelby, you want to handle it yourself? Go ahead see where that gets you.” Sure enough I fail, we fail. If you have troubles with giving up control then let's talk about how to give up control and ultimately gain a stronger faith in God.

The definition above states that control is to supervise the running of... a situation, person, event etc. What makes us think that God needs supervising. That is silly. Of course he does not need supervision. What are we going to be able to do that is better than what God can do? Nothing, so trying to control the situation ultimately is not going to get you the best results. He is the one who created us and in Jeremiah 1:5 he makes it clear that he knew us before we were even born, "I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations." So why take control when God can handle it. He knows us better than we know ourselves.

Where does our Control Issues come from? Control can from a lack of trust. That letting go and letting God is giving up. But it is not giving up. Giving God complete control is the best option you could ever have. He will give peace in every situation if you have faith and give him absolute control over the situation. Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” God forever has our back and we never have to fear as long as we give him control and have faith that he will do what he needs to do.

Psalm 46:1-4, ”God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.” God is an Ever-Present help in times of trouble. So together let's choose to go to God and give up control, let him be the one who handles our problems. I believe that sometimes our lack of faith to give up control is the Very Thing standing in our way to receive abundant blessings. God Blesses those who have faith in him, who give him control when it is hard to give that control up. God is all powerful and he is able to conquer all things.

So Let's choose to give up control together. So All of you who deal with control issues, including myself… lets learn to Let Go and Let God accomplish what he want to accomplish through us.

...Dear Lord, We come to you today to say that we no longer want to carry these burdens alone… That we need and want you help, Better yet Lord we want you to take control in all situations. Lord help us to give our control to you and in doing so give us peace in all situations. Lord we thank you for forming us and Lord we ask that you help us to become more like you. Letting go So that you, Lord, can have control. We love you and Thank you in the times of trouble and thank you in the times of happiness. Regardless we thank you and We give you control of our lives. Amen...   

<3 Shelby Gillespie

I WILL FIGHT

Hello Everyone!

Today, I came across a video on youtube that really had me thinking. I listened to the words of this video and thought about the things in life we can not change. That regardless of our times of troubles we should fight for God, fight for life, and fight for our faith.  Some of the words hit me right in the gut and while also touching my heart.

“This Christian life is not a playground; it’s a battle ground.” Sometimes we live this life thinking that once we become a Christian life will be perfect, all fun in games. Quickly, realizing that this is not the case at all. Life WITHOUT God is hard, Life WITH God is hard. But THANK GOD with him we have hope. We have hope to fight through our everydays battles. We have God to rely on even when things look hopeless. “So today, I will give no place to fear or failure.” Being on the battlefield we must have hope, we must have faith. We have to fight the good the fight and not give up. Fear shall not conquer us, fear of failure shall not conquer us. 1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love. But perfect love cast out fear…” God’s love is perfect and so therefore his perfect love cast out fear. ”..And if God is for us then whom can be against us?” Roman 8:31 Even in the toughest battles God is on our side, and by our side, No one can truly be against us if he is for us.

“I will reject complacency and embrace the greatness that God has planted inside of me.” God has made us great and we shall never question that, he does not make mistakes. We have to stand up and fight with him to become the best we can be. We have the potential to do amazing things as long we stand beside God and fight with him, fight for him. “My battle is not against flesh and blood, but against a spiritual enemy who opposes me. So, I will draw the battle lines and face my enemy with a bold determination.” We may have struggles on this earth and with earthly things but our real battles are with the devil himself. We have to fight the devil, we have to put on our amour, God's armor to defeat this enemy. We need to fight this fight with God and not alone. “My enemy fights against me because he fears me. And every time he reminds me of my past, I will remind him of his future. Every time I resist him, he must flee. And every time I speak the truth, every stronghold must surrender.” The devil will remind you of your past mistakes, he will feed you every insecurity but remember with God you are changed, you are made new. Your past is your past and let it guide you to choose better, and understand more. When the devil is trying to make you feel less than, remind him that you know what the future holds for him, that God has already won this war and that his trouble making is only temporary for one day our Lord and Savior will come and destroy him. WE HAVE ALREADY WON THIS WAR. I will continue to fight with God and not against him!

“I will make no excuses, but through every obstacle I will find a way. I will not procrastinate my progress. I will not defer my destiny. I will not waiver when I’m weak. I will not cower when my circumstances takes a turn for the worse. Because greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.” With God there is always a way, through him you can do all things. He is our fortress when we are weak, our rock and salvation. He is the truth, the way, and the life. He can and will help you jump every hurdle as long as you let him. Humble yourself and let him take control. Humble yourself and give your anxieties to him. Humble yourself and he will give you strength. Humble yourself and he will help you overcome every obstacle that is placed in your life.
“I am wholeheartedly devoted to the cause God made me for. And I have no intention of letting the world define me, because I know who I am: A humble warrior. A good soldier. A strong and mighty servant, of the living God.” I am here on this earth for a purpose and I will not back down because of fear. I will stand strong in my faith and know that the God of Heaven and Earth will have my back, will love me, and push me to become the best I can be. I will be God’s humble warrior, God’s good soldier, and God’s servant. I will continue to fight the good fight and with him my heart will feel whole. My God, My Savior, My Father will help me accomplish everything he has intended for my life and I will not let anyone take that away. I will stay devoted to his calling no matter what battles I have to go through because I am the daughter of the one and only God.

“The cross is before me. The world is behind me. I’ll never turn back. I’ll never give up. I’ll never settle. I’ll never stop short.” I am strong with God and he will never let me go. I will stay strong and I WILL FIGHT, because I know the love he has for me. He is my God and I am his soldier, I will never back down from a fight because I have him on my side. God is for me, so then whom can be against me?

Everyone continue to Fight! Never give up because an obstacle is in your way. You can and will succeed with God on your side. Have faith Brothers and Sisters!

I WILL FIGHT, WILL YOU?

God Bless,

<3 Shelby

If you would like to see the video that I was talking about I will put the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyzG7F-CS7U

Feeling Less Than?

Many times I ask God to give me the words to say, that the things that come out of my mouth are not from me but rather God. This is what came to heart and I believe that this is what God was wanting me to share...

I strive to be the best I can be and I strive to better myself for God. But I often worry about the way others perceive me and many times I choose to put myself down. I go through days where I am down and have no clue why and I deal with feelings of anxiousness.  For a long time I have been my own abuser. I put myself down and feel very worthless. Some of this comes with the fact that I have faced abuse in my past, but the majority of this comes from me choosing to not find hope and happiness in the storm. I want everyone to like me and when someone does not it breaks my heart. I never want to disappoint anyone but many times I feel like I disappoint everyone. What will it take for me to realize that I am not perfect but I am beautiful. That I am not broken rather I am mended. That choosing happiness over anxiety and depression is the key. That I am not worthy but with God I find worth. That my insecurities are just ways the devil is taunting me. When will I learn? When will you learn? When will we learn?

I am not perfect and as you see I am constantly finding ways to put myself down, and tell myself I am not good enough. With all of that being said, I realized that we all face a battle or battles every single day that the devil has put in the way. We are constantly fighting with the devil and ourselves. We lose the fact that we can find worth in the Father. God himself created us, he created you, and me. Believe it or not he says he knew the amount of hairs on our head even before we were born. Luke 12:7 "And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows." He loved us enough to bring us into existence. None of us are an accident, rather WE are a part of God's big plan. We all have a purpose, all have a place in his heart. With that being said, we have to be the one to choose to step out in faith and fulfill our purpose. Sadly, many of us decline the thought of what God has in store for us. We are to scared of not being good enough, not being capable, and even being a disappointment. But God would not call you to something if he did not believe that you could accomplish it with him. Even when it is difficult remember God believes in you and knows you can succeed and that you are Good enough. Exodus 18:25, "He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens." You are capable of doing good things. With God you can do all things, so stop doubting yourself and see the potential that God see’s in you. Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

God himself declares that he has a plan for each of our lives. When you question your worth remember that the one and only God who created everything, created you for a purpose. First of all, he created you, he thought that YOU were important enough to be made so he formed you within the womb, in Jeremiah 1:5 he says, "I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations." He sets you apart from everyone else. Then he goes on to say in Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." So never doubt your worth. You are important and God does have a plan for you. Overcome your negative thoughts with the comfort of knowing that the God of all things has a plan for you, knows you, and loves you individually. You are blessing!

Stayed Blessed and Remember your Worth

<3 Shelby Gillespie

Story Time: Guardian Angel

Guardian Angel:

I firmly believe there are angels on earth even God tells us about them in the bible. Such as Hebrews 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. We should always treat others with kindness because God calls us to, but also because that person could be an angel in disguise. Let me fix that first sentence, I know Angels are on Earth because I met one.

It was my first time in Thailand and my missionary friend got sick. She got so sick that she had to be taken to the hospital. I went with her and sat in the emergency room. She ended having severe food poison and had to stay to get fluids. So I sat and waited and prayed. About an hour and half went by and all of the sudden the doors that led outside of the ER came swinging open.

I remember seeing a truck and all of these people running around yelling in Thai. Next I see them taking a stretcher out the door and I see them picking up this bloody unconscious boys body and putting him on the stretcher, wheeling him in and doctors and nurses running everywhere.

Then I see this young girl crying when she got out of the truck she came into the ER and there were no seats available. At this time I was still very new in Thailand so I did not speak very much Thai at all. So I just got up and motioned for her to sit in my seat. I put my hand on her and began praying for her. She continued to weep.

The nurses came to all of us and told us to get out of the ER as I watched them push other Hospital beds out of the way to get this boy in. We all had to leave the room, other than the crying girl. We all went in the hallway and just sat and waited. By this time 2 solid hours had went by. I was sitting in this grey hospital with no one who spoke English. I had not eaten, I was worried about my friend and I had just watched a dying boy come into the hospital. I was beginning to feel depressed and anxious.

A little while goes by and I see the crying girl come out of the ER with her head in her hands. She walked by sobbing even louder than before, she was walking beside the doctor. A few minutes later I found out that the boy had died. This made me sick to my stomach and honestly I had no clue what to do. I just sat there in total silence trying to not cry for what I had just seen.

I would say about 30 minutes went by and a Thai women came and sat right beside me. It was like she appeared out of nowhere. I do not remember seeing her walk in. Sadly I do not remember her name. She sat down and began to talk me, she asked me my name and why I was here. I just told her, "My friend has food poisoning." She continued to talk me about other things, and then told me I needed to eat. I did not tell that I had not eaten, but she knew. She said, “Shelby come with me and I will take to the 7-Eleven to get something to eat.” I remember telling her, “I can not go, I have to be here for my friend and I am not allowed to go back into the ER.” She said, “Katie will be okay, she is doing better.” I promise you all that I NEVER once told her my friends name. I told her again, “I can not leave her.” The lady said, “let me go check on her for you.” She went into the ER and came back out, and said once again, “Katie will be okay, let me take you to get some food.” At this point I was hungry I had not eaten all day, so I said I would go.

We walked out the doors and she took ahold of my hand and said, “Hold my hand it can be dangerous here in Thailand, but I will keep you safe.” I felt like I knew this women for years, she did not feel like a stranger. She walked me down to the nearest 7-eleven and I bought some food and we headed back to the hospital. As we walked in I saw my friend Katie being wheeled out in a wheelchair. The lady hugged me and told me to have a blessed day and then just walked right out of the Hospital. So she was not there for someone else, she was there for me. Also, she said have a blessed day and that is not said either. Because there is only 1% of christians in the whole country.

God sent an Angel to comfort me when I needed it the most. I truly believe that lady was not just a lady, but an Angel in disguise. How Amazing is it to have a God that loves us enough to send Angels to comfort us. I will never forget the day I met an Angel. Be Kind to everyone because you never know when God will send an Angel in disguise.  

Blessings Friends! <3 Shelby

Hebrews 13:2

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.