Know Your Worth

            My cousin Lauren bought several jackets valued at $200 dollars. She offered to give me two. I said no I don’t need two jackets and that’s too extravagant. Then she told me she paid 14.99 for each jacket. So I said ok I’ll take two. It got me thinking why was I not worth it for the higher price? This in turn got me thinking about Jesus and the high price he paid for my sins. He bought me at a high price to reconcile me back to the Father.

 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:20 NKJV

Jesus sacrificed his life so that I may have life and have it more abundantly.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10 NKJV

How about you do you feel worthy of his extravagant love? You are precious to God it even says so in his word.

For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you peoples in exchange for your life. Isaiah 43:3-4 ESV

Can you take a moment and pause and think about your Father your God loving you? You have value to God.

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:26 NKJV

 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 NKJV

God was so motivated by love for you that he sent his only begotten son to die for your sins so you could be reconciled back to the Father. He put a plan into place in the beginning to save you from eternal judgment.

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You. Psalm 139:17-18 NKJV

You are on God’s mind every single day. Every moment he thinks of you. That’s how deep his love is for you. Now I ask you do you know your worth?

You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Psalm 139:5 NLT

What has God been doing in your life to show you how much he loves you?

Share it with me.

I’m listening.

Genuinely Yours,

Amy Z

My Defender

         So I got to thinking about an old defense mechanism that I’ve been using to keep at bay from feeling the effects of fear of rejection. I tend to be less transparent with my loved ones than I am here in this blog. I want to share how I feel with my loved ones and let them hear my opinions. This hasn’t been easy for me because it’s such an old habit this mechanism that I do it without consciously thinking about it. So it got me thinking about God and how God is our defender. He goes before us, beside us, behind us and within us.

What is a defense mechanism? According to healthline.com: Defense mechanisms are behaviors people use to separate themselves from unpleasant events, actions, or thoughts. This is definitely what I do when I shy away from being transparent. So this defense mechanism no longer serves me well.

So God is my defender. God shows up during our deepest troubles and rescues us. There’s a powerful story in the bible about Elisha the prophet being surrounded by enemies. His servant was afraid and questioned what they would do. Watch how powerful a protector God is.

¹⁴ Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. ¹⁵ And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” ¹⁶ So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” ¹⁷ And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 2 Kings 6:14-17 NKJV

Elisha was given the ability to see the army surrounding him. He was then able to pray for his servant to see the army too. So often we see things that God is doing and don’t share them with others. We should pray for others to see the ways God is at work in our lives. It’s so awesome that God protected his prophet in this way.

So what does it look like for us to see God as our defender? Let’s look at some verses.

So David wrote this psalm after God rescued him from the hands of Saul and his army.

I will love You, O Lord, my strength. ² The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. ³ I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. Psalm 18:1-3 NKJV

God is the strength of our lives. He gives us everything we need when we need it.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1 NKJV

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Psalm 46:1-2 NKJV

And God told Joshua what to do when leading the people of Israel. We can take this to heart as well.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 NKJV

One final thought:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31 NKJV

What is God defending you from?

Share it with me.

I’m listening.

Genuinely Yours,

Amy Z

She is Strong

              Dear faithful readers I come before you to talk about some of the strong women of God that we read about in the bible.

She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. Proverbs 31:25. The title of this blog is another version of Proverbs 31:25.

A strong woman of God is grateful.

The woman at the well after speaking with Jesus goes back to the village and tells everyone about Christ. This woman moved forward with gratitude and shared that the Messiah might be among them.

The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah? John 4:28-29 NLT

A strong woman of God is brave.

The woman with the blood issue braved the crowd, moved forward and touched Jesus’ robe and was healed. She was considered unclean and wasn’t supposed to be around anyone yet she braved possible death to get to Jesus.

                        She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”  Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition. Mark 5:27-29 NLT

A strong woman of God has courage and a great love for others.

Esther was a Jewish woman who was able to marry King Xerxes who did not know her heritage. Haman a man who was advisor to the king was jealous of Mordecai Esther’s uncle who was Jewish so he wanted to wipe out the Jewish people. He took his request before the king and the king approved the request. Esther had to go before the king and petition him to save her people. The challenge here was that the king had to summon Esther for her to be able to be in his presence. She could die if she burst into his court without being summoned. She went into the outer courts to see if the king would call her to be able to see him. The king did and he overturned his decree to kill the Jewish people. Esther had great courage and a great love for her people.

A strong woman of God is loyal and kind.

Ruth was married to Naomi’s son. Naomi’s husband and both her sons died leaving her in despair. She told her daughter-in-laws to go back to their own families and leave her since she couldn’t produce new sons for them to marry. Ruth refuses to go.

But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Ruth 1:16 NLT

Naomi and Ruth go back to Bethlehem. There Ruth is kind to Naomi she gathers food in Boaz’s field and takes care of her mother-in-law. Ruth marries Boaz and Christ’s lineage comes from their union.

A strong woman of God is humble. We find out in the other gospels that Mary is the woman who knelt at Jesus feet.

When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume.  Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.

A strong woman of God sacrifices her own desires to serve the Lord.

Hannah was barren and relentlessly teased by her husband’s other wife who could bear children. She was in distress. She goes to the temple to pray and makes this promise to God.

Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord.  And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.” 1 Samuel 1:10-11

A strong woman of God is favored by the Lord.

 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. Luke 1:30-31 NLT

A strong woman of God is servant to the Lord.

Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her. Luke 1:38 NLT

A strong woman of God is righteous in God’s eyes.

Elizabeth was barren. She and her husband Zechariah were:

…righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. Luke 1:6 NLT

A strong woman of God recognizes God’s kindness.

…Elizabeth, became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months. “How kind the Lord is!” she exclaimed. “He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.” Luke 1:24-25 NLT

Elizabeth’s son is John the Baptist who made the way for Jesus by telling people to repent of their sins. Luke 3:3

Can you relate to any of these women?

Just know that you are a strong woman of God chosen by him to serve a great purpose.

Do you share their attributes?

Will you share with me?

Genuinely Yours,

Amy Z

Where I Come From

           It makes me want to cry to think of how merciful God has been to me. I was so broken. Where do I come from? Let me tell you where I come from. I lived a very limited life without Christ. I hated myself. I did things that I’m not proud of. I didn’t even know Christ but Christ knew me. I didn’t even know I needed saving but he still saved me. I was living in sin, coveting a man who had a girlfriend. What broke the sin off my back was an evening in which I was with the guy I was seeing at a bar. He was groping me, pulling my hair, talking to his girlfriend on the phone and hitting on the waitress and I had the thought I deserve no better than this. Right away another thought came to mind, I do deserve better than this. I was his designated driver. I drove him home and I was done with him after that. I believe the Holy Spirit spoke to me to help me know my worth.

I started walking every day because I heard that releases endorphins and is good for you. That was in April of 2012. In June of 2012 I went to a church service at High Desert Church. The sermon was on regret and the pastor said when you sin you sin against God. I finally understood salvation I thought to myself, Oh I’m a sinner. Because I had been in one of the 10 commandment sins I finally understood I was a sinner. I gave my heart to Christ right then. I had known about Christ but didn’t realize that I was a sinner in need of a Savior. I got baptized in October of 2012. I wound up following a false prophet in 2014, which led to me being in a cult, suicidal, brainwashed, believing I was possessed by demons and on the last thread of my life. I would have lost my life if it wasn’t for God. He plucked me out of that situation and set my feet upon a rock and put a new song in my mouth. I am completely healed from the trauma because of Christ. I wrote a book called Set Free Through Christ Who Strengthens Me. It’s getting published. I will reach many with my testimony and many will come to Christ. I wanted to write for God when I first got saved in 2012. I didn’t really start writing for God until the book came pouring out of me in 2016. It is with this blog that I believe I’m writing for Christ. I journal consistently and the Lord speaks to me through my writing. It’s such a blessing to write for God. It’s such a blessing to serve God. I wanted to share this with you so that you know where I come from, but also as a reminder to myself that I’ve come so far. I’m still a work in progress and I can’t wait to see what Christ has in store for me.

Will you share your testimony with me?

I’m here.

I’m listening.

Genuinely Yours,

Amy Z