Success

Success.

Everyone wants to be successful...but what is success?

Success is accomplishing ones goals.

What are your goals? Moving up at work? Being rich? Getting married? Having kids? Buying a house? Starting a business?

Is it wrong to desire such things? I don't think so. But should we make them our source of happiness and completion in life? Definitely not.

So if you don't feel successful...then you're focusing on the wrong thing, and perhaps you need to reevaluate what your goals are. 

Perhaps your goals are completely selfless, and you're frustrated because you just want to help people...now!

Then do it!

It may not be exactly how you want it to be, or who, or where, or when...but you CAN make a difference today. Still hold fast to your dreams and ambitions, but don't lose sight of today for tomorrow...or you may miss your opportunity.

It's as simple as a smile.

An encouraging word to a sad stranger.

A "thank you" to your barista.

Listening to someone's concern, and praying for them.

Or simply making someone laugh on a bad day (aka - Monday lol).

So don't give up. Keep pressing forward. Continue to seek the Lord in prayer. Keep smiling. Keep laughing. Keep hoping.

And I know this phrase is overused...but sometimes the only Bible someone sees is your life. Be a good reflection of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

I pray the Lord will bless you, keep you, and make His face to shine upon you.

XOXOXO,

Random fact #17- The most money ever paid for a cow in an auction is 1.3 million dollars!

Broken to Beautiful

Let me just start with this:

Guilt is from the devil.

Is that a little too bold for you? Perhaps you think I believe we should never feel bad for anything we do. That is not the case. But-

There is a difference between repentance, and guilt.

The one is combined with God's great love and forgiveness, the other hopelessness. If you know of a sin you committed, repent and accept His forgiveness.

Why do we hang on so tightly to guilt? Because we feel we deserve it, and you're darn right. In fact, we deserve Hell. But guess who loves us too much to leave us to our own stupidity? You guessed right; our Heavenly Father.

What does this deserved guilt get us? Do we get brownie points for extra humility? No. Our own guilt rips us away from the arms of our Lord! We end up feeling like we can't enter His presence until we're good enough. If that's what you're waiting for, then you've condemned your own self to Hell. 

Newsflash:

You can never be good enough, in your own strength!

That's when something beautiful happens! Jesus took our guilt on Himself, we are clean! Unfortunately it took me years to figure out just exactly what this meant.

You know how after a while, the paint in your room gets chipped and scratched? Maybe even stained, permanent marker? Some sort of food? So what you do is paint over it, you just cover it up. That's not what He did! He tore down that disgusting wall, and constructed a whole new one! No dings, scratches, or stains! Perfect, blameless.

Last week this information, finally, traveled the 18 inches (or in my case, 10 inches!)  from my head, to my heart. Believe you me, the effect was...boundless!

I AM GOOD ENOUGH.

Let me say that again, You are good enough...through HIM!

He re-built you, He bleached you, He scrubbed every inch of you until you were squeaky clean!

Share the hope!

Tell people about that ugly wall, and when they see the new you? They'll want what you have! Share with fellow Christians too! It is always so exciting to see God work in others lives!

Take this away with you today:

Let go of the guilt, and let God.

XOXOXO,

Random fact #11- The length of an elephant is the same as the tongue of a blue whale!

Comment below, or Tweet me @elisewiddis

A Heart for the Lost

How can I say this? Where do I start? At the beginning.

My heart is breaking.

No, it's broken.

I can't handle knowing that a dear friend is going to burn in the pit of Hell for eternity. I can't just let them suffer.

Can you? How can you stay quiet? Speak up! What's the worst that can happen?

A friend of mine wanted to talk about "religion." So I opened up and shared what I believe, at the end

 he said "I'm glad you're not one of those pushy people trying to convert me!"

 To which I replied "if I do seem pushy ever, it's not because I'm trying to 'convert' you, I'm not. But you know what I believe, do you honestly think that I'm ok with you burning in Hell forever?"

 He says "haha I'll live!" 

"No, you don't get it. You won't live. I am NOT ok with that."

I'm not saying go tell everyone you meet that unless they accept the gift of salvation that they're going to burn in Hell, probably not the best way to become friends! But if you already are friends, and they know that you're telling them this because you love them, usually they'll be ok with that.

The last thing he said was "this has been a good time of bonding."

It's the way you approach it! Do you always have to know exactly what you'll say? No. Do you have to know all the answers? No. Pride comes before the fall (Proverbs 16:18). It's when we lean on God (Proverbs 3:5-6) to do the real work, that we really have any results.

Did my friend come to the Lord at the end of the conversation? No he didn't, but you know what? I'm not giving up hope! I planted a seed, now it's God's job to water it and harvest it (1 Corinthians 3:5-9)!

After you've spoken, all you can do is pray, prayer works (James 5:16, Psalm 66:20).

Love, Speak up & Pray.

XOXOXO,

Random Fact #6- During famines that ravaged North Korea from 1955 to 1997, starving people commonly dug up bodies from fresh graves to eat the meat. (Grossest thing...ever.)

Comment below, or Tweet me @elisewiddis

Forgiveness

Forgiveness doesn't just happen. The bitterness and the hurt feelings don't just go away overnight.

Choose it! God already forgave them, by refusing to forgive, you're pretty much saying that your opinion and feelings are higher than God's.

And who are you really hurting with all this bitterness? The person that hurt you? Nope.

It really hit me the other day as I was listening to the radio, a Matthew West song came on called forgiveness. The lyrics went like this:

"Forgiveness; it'll clear the bitterness away,

it can even set a prisoner free,

there is no end to what its power can do.

So let it go and be amazed,

by what you see through eyes of grace.

The prisoner that it really frees is you."

Surprise!!

I know...such a little thing, yet it made a world of difference.

So remember, by choosing to forgive, you are only doing yourself a favor. And if you reaalllyyyy can't come to forgive them, ask God to be your forgiveness. Believe me, He comes through EVERY TIME. Where we are weak He is strong, and that's a promise. :)

"The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace." 

Psalm 29:11

Go in peace and strength, with a smile on your face and forgiveness in your heart. Be a light to this world!

XOXOXO,

Random Fact #5- The first movie to gross over $100 million was Jaws.

Comment below, or Tweet me @elisewiddis

Leaning on Him

I was talking with a friend yesterday, who felt that her life was falling apart. She had lost everyone she loved, and she was heartbroken. She said to me "I don't understand why this is happening to me, why would God let this happen? It says in the Bible He won't give us any more than what we can handle, but it's wrong. I can't handle this anymore. I'm done."

She's right, we have way more than what we can handle. Us. You. Me. WE can't handle it!! Big newsflash there right? ;)

The good news is that WE don't have to handle it! We lean on Him, the Almighty, the Prince of Peace, our Father, lover, comforter, the Great I Am! He is strong where we are weak! If we lean on Him, and stop trying to handle it, He will pull us through!

You could almost see the light come into her face as she realized that! She had a new hope, where there was none before. He will pull you through. Lean on Him, call His name and He will be there!

XOXOXO,

Random fact #4-  The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache. 

Comment below or Tweet me @elisewiddis