Today’s Theme: He Completes Me ( page 135)
Today’s Dare: Dare to Believe you are Complete in God
“And in him you have been made complete…” Colossians 2:10
My son’s wedding is now one week away. On that day, and during that week I will be facing people and memories that I have long ago packed away in a distant place in me. I will be cutting the apron string between my son and I, and I will undoubtedly shed tears. But, as I read today’s dare, I am reminded once again that at the end of the day, whether people are still tied to me or not, Jesus is.
You see, it’s easy to associate some of our value in who we are tied to. It is also easy to feel complete and satisfied based on who we are tied to. But, when the cord is cut, or the relationships are distant, or the people we once loved no longer love us, then what? Do we become incomplete. Are we half and not whole based on people or circumstances?
The truth is, all through life, people and things come and go. To place our confidence and completeness meter in people or things is not wise. If we do, we will be chronically insecure and chronically empty and unfulfilled, looking for the relationship that will make us feel special.
You and I are complete in Christ. This is a very special privilege, and an honor bestowed on us by the King of Kings. He comes within to make our hearts His home, and with that entrance we have become whole, complete, valuable. But the value really doesn’t rest in us, it rests in the fact that Christ is in us.
I must cut the apron strings in 7 days. I have been crying off and on. It is bittersweet. I am excited about my new daughter-in-love, but so sad that the relationship with my son is changing season.
Bittersweet. I really love being a mom, and now I will have to learn to be a new kind of mom. But, today, I rejoice that the change in my life has not changed the fact that in Christ, I am complete, whole, filled with purpose.
For this truth, I praise Him!
Where are you at today?
Living Up!
Debbie
I needed to hear today’s dare Debbie! U said it so sweetly; we feel needed and fulfill a God give role as moms; but as time goes by, our roles change. Our children do not consult their moms for advice any longer when they get married, they consult their new spouse. What if u see some questionable decisions that your child may be making based on their consultation with their spouse? You pray and remember that God has them on a new journey and He will be with them. Very difficult to let go and it is definitely a good thing to maintain the strong connection to God. My only child, a daughter, has been married for 20 yrs and is now moving over 2800 miles away to Florida. They have 3 and a half days to get there for her new job driving a truck loaded with furniture and a car. She says her husband has plotted out the route and they will make it in time. I am praying that they will cross country with no incidents. Please pray for their safe journey. Praise God for the new journey He has them on!
LIKE. Instead of looking at the broken string, I aim to thankfully gather up the apron and fold it away in my box of gratitude for what has been. Bittersweet indeed.
Box of gratitude…could it be that I have miss placed it, or placed it on a shelf high in a closet where it is a reach to get it. I am going look here in my house for a small box I can place either on my dexk or in my window to remind me when I am allowing my thoughts to draw me away to feast once again at the enemey’s table of doubt, insecutity, not enough, pride,ect. Today I am going to claim James1:2-4
Patience; transcends the idea of bearing affliction, it includes the idea of standing fast under pressure with the staying power that turns adversity into opportunities.
Perfect; having reached the end, not becoming desperate using frantic means to cut short the trail
Lacking nothing; lacking none of the graces of the Spirit.
Complete; meaning “Whole” as I come daily to Christ be filled.Yay!! Freedom
Box of gratitude…could it be that I have miss placed it, or placed it on a shelf high in a closet where it is a reach to get it. I am going look here in my house for a small box I can place either on my desk or in my window to remind me when I am allowing my thoughts to draw me away to feast once again at the enemey’s table of doubt, insecutity, not enough, pride,ect. Today I am going to claim James1:2-4
Patience; transcends the idea of bearing affliction, it includes the idea of standing fast under pressure with the staying power that turns adversity into opportunities.
Perfect; having reached the end, not becoming desperate using frantic means to cut short the trail
Lacking nothing; lacking none of the graces of the Spirit.
Complete; meaning “Whole” as I come daily to Christ to be filled.Yay!! Freedom
Bittersweet is the right word for cutting those apron strings. My youngest is preparing to go away to college and those apron strings are extremely hard to cut. I can’t image him getting married.
I love the one dare you have for us today – the one about praying for family members who are not walking with God. I have no idea where to begin telling them about their significance from God’s perspective. I’ve just been praying for them and not doing anything else. Where do I begin?
Hi Terry! We think you are starting at the right place by praying for your family. Fran says, “Eliminate the word ‘just’ and keep on praying!” Praying for them is the very best thing you can do. :). Acts 16:31
Thanks Fran and Ali – you’re so sweet to respond. I’ll keep praying for my family.
Many things would be different if I were to believe that I am complete in Christ. I would see the world and the people in my life like He does. I’d be wearing my lenses of the Lord constantly. I would see clearly because I would see spiritually. Like sunglasses on a sunny day. They take out the glare and we can see more clearly.
God has been asking me, for some time now, to see my kids through His lenses. I have put on my own glasses, my own agenda for them, and have caused unnecessary friction. With motherly intention, but wrong all the same. The cool thing is, I am not slamming myself about it (yesterday’s dare!) But just realizing it sheds the light of Truth on the right path of parenting. Praise God!
Today we go to Six Flags! I don’t like rides. They make me sick. Yet I have been waiting for an opportunity, since school got out, to have a fun day with my family. This isn’t my idea of fun, but I am in the minority. Some will want to ride everything. One will say he wants to, but will have a hard time summoning up the courage and feel bad about himself. Normally, I sit and wait for those who ride and wonder why we paid so much for two of us to sit and wait while the other two ride.
Today, though, I am going to ride a few (and make sure I take aspirin!) When I am waiting with my non-rider, I am going to pray for a chance to shine the light of truth onto and into his life. I am going to try to look at him through my Lord Lenses, desiring to be his all, to complete him with God’s Truth, to show him he can be extraordinary in Christ. While I wait alone, I am going to pray for my extended family, who doesn’t know Jesus. My challenge today is to full my time of waiting with God’s love and truth, resting in the fact that I am in the middle of Him, and seeing ways to splash that truth out on my family here and far.
Do I need to pay Six Flags to do that? No, but if that is the way God has planned it, who am I to question it? God’s leading, right? I don’t need to be on a rollercoaster to throw up my hands in the air. Praise God!!! I can do it any time I encounter a challenge.
Throw your hands in the air today, ladies! God’s got a great ride, a great gift, for us because we are in Him!
Believing I am complete,
Mary
Day 15, right in the middle of this 30 day Faith Dare. The center, the core … how appropriate that the scripture verse to start us off is 2Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. The message of this day is SUCH a great one. Christ DOES complete us. He HAS prepared us. Debbie, I appreciate the truths you’ve written on page 137, which applies to sooooo many of us wives, mothers, those of us in the workplace and those in ministry. I need these reminders every day. Thanks!