When you are down and out and your back is against the wall... who you gonna call?

A very dear friend of mine wrote a public note to me on my facebook page.  He was really trying to encourage me as he noted with insight that I would soon be affected by those around me.  His note came at a time when I was going through a very hard time in my life and fell hard and flat on my back and people started treating me differently... badly if you will.  It would not be even one week later of his writing to me that I would encounter a serious betrayal, as one who I trusted and confided in would turn around and stabbed me in my back and kicked me while I was down, and then others who I thought were with me would soon prove they were not.  I would soon find out however, that God had a few people in my corner, just a few, and they were the very ones I overlooked.  Please read the note from my friend.

Make sure that in this life you take careful examination of the people who are with you, not when you are up and about your usual independent and celebrity status days, but when you are down and out and when your back is against the wall. For these people are the ones who are secure in their own self worth to recognize when someone else is more than what they do or what they own; you know, those superficial things that in reality do not make a person who they are.

And when you are through examining these people, you do what I do. CLEAN OUT YOUR PERSONAL SPACE of those superficial and self-worthlessness people who can only identify and associate with you when things are happening for you! I personally would total them off, but I know sweet little YOU will go ahead and forgive them. But whatever you do Dione, you remember who were with you when you were down.

Because sadly enough, check this. Who we really and truly are is what is left when we lose our title, status and property. The place we all hit at the bottom when we lose our footing, where the ground is level and no other person is higher or lower than any. That place will reveal our true identity.

I don't usually write much on fb, but thought I needed to say this to you as I watch and observe your transitions. And I dare say, you do have a few genuine people who love and really care about you no matter what stage you are in your life. Cherish those and forget the rest! 

Maybe you who are going through a very rough time in your life can use these few lines to assess those around you and know who are with you and who's not.  You'd be surprised that those who say they are with you are certainly not.  But be encouraged, turn your situation to God and He will meet you at that very place where you are, if even through a few angels you'll call friends.

Jabez's prayer finds healing at the cross!

I'm speaking even to myself here. For those struggling with issues, be it great or small, we instinctively tend to hug them and use them as crutches and bare them senselessly while we expect others to give us understanding and/or even pity. 

The sad news is that while it would have been nice for people to be understanding and emphatic of your struggles, realistically IT MAY NEVER HAPPEN OR EVEN OFTEN ENOUGH! The responsibility is on YOU to understand your own struggles and strive to be rid of them.

Instead of EXPECTING others to sympathize with you, a very healthy approach and insight is to BE VERY SENSITIVE as to how your issues may even affect others.  Be very mindful when it acts up and take responsibility if it offended/affected anyone. That's a very big pill to swallow that often times get stuck in my own throat.

Everyone has a one-sided focus to the story of the biblical Jabez's prayer, as they focus on his prayer for prosperity, when another profound thing he prayed was not to let his issues affect others 'Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, THAT I MAY NOT CAUSE PAIN.' So God granted him what he requested" (1 Chronicles 4:9-10) 

Jabez' mother named him 'pain' (Jabez) because she bore him in pain. Chances were he was going to grow up being ridiculed for that name and may even develop issues from it. Yet he was very mindful and responsible enough to ask God to not let him be a pain to others. How profound!

I think we also need to be very mindful of our own issues and how they may even affect others.  I myself have been struggling with a particular issue for more than 40 years.  There were many times when people did not act kindly to me when I thought they could be more sensitive.  But there were many times when it has affected others and I fail to see that as I am so blinded by my own need for compassion, I ended up using it as a crutch if you will, as if I have license to act out because it is something I struggle with.  And honestly, that is very unfair and selfish behavior.

Jesus came to set captives free of every issue, struggle and pain.  So provision was made at the cross for us to get healing even from our emotions.  When we chose to turn a blind eye to our own issues and even hug them and use them as crutches for sympathy, we are acting in disobedience and selfishness as we are literally saying that what Jesus did on the cross was not relevant enough or didn't mean enough for us to be able to apply its healing virtue to our situations.

Healing is provided for us in many ways, not just in the laying on of hands but also in counseling and even in our own free will to break an unhealthy cycle.  But at the root of all need for healing we find the foot of the cross, where the ground is level for us all and where every provision was made so that we all who are held captive by our own devices, can be set free!  So today as of reading this, you no longer have an excuse!

Know your value! Are you a Diamond or a Ruby?

Women, are you as valuable as DIAMONDS or RUBIES? And do you know which one has more value? You'd be surprised!

If you answered RUBIES, then you are correct!:

A ruby is more rare and more expensive. Diamonds are less expensive than rubies. The very finest, top quality ruby is so rare that it has been the world's most valued gemstone for thousands of years. Even today, flawless top quality rubies are more valuable and rare than top quality colorless diamonds.

On the hierarchy of the most precious gems, the diamond falls at #4 behind the Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald.

Is it any wonder that the bible compared the noblest of women to that of a ruby:

Proverbs 31: 10 "A wife of noble character who can find?  She is worth far more than rubies."

We are all created uniquely and individually.  Our uniqueness is what makes us rare and gives us value.  Therefore, the more we become someone else or the more we make someone else like us, we lose value as we become less rare.

Women, know your personal worth, it could be of far more value than you think, and more than what others say you are!