Rejection...

Rejection...

Everyone of us has had to face rejection at some point in our lives. It is one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. It's deep and it can cause the destruction of healthy self esteem, peace in relationships, peace with God, and progress in life. The root of rejection doesn't come from the way you have been treated, it comes from a mistaken identity. When we know who we are in Christ, we can be set free from this.

Here are some signs that you are struggling with rejection - it could be social, family, perceived, or self rejection..:

• Rebellious actions, attitudes
• Fabricated personalities (being somebody you aren't, in order to be accepted)
• The tendency to reject others, so that you aren't the first one to be rejected
• A tendency to always wonder if a person rejects or accepts you
• The need to fit in or be accepted by others and be a part of everything
• Self-pity where a person feels bad for themselves being all alone
• Inability to be corrected or receive constructive criticism
• Rejection creates an environment where you are starved for love or just don't fit in
• A tendency to blame God ("Why did He give me this big nose? Why did God make me so short?")
• A sense of pride that says, "How dare they reject me!"
• Opinionated personality and the need to be right about things
• Feelings of worthlessness, insecurity, or hopelessness
• Seeking a parent's approval is a sign that your basing your identity upon what they think of you
• Envy, jealousy, and even hate can be rooted in rejection
• Fear of confrontation (because your identity is based upon what they think of you)... 

If you or someone you know is displaying these signs---its time to make a decision to evaluate your heart and make peace with yourself and God.. Find out who He says you are in His word..spend time with Him and let Him shape your view of yourself and others. Help those around you struggling by giving love and being Jesus to them.

Please share this blog- especially with those who really need some encouragement. 

www.jmemedina.com

Discouragement...

     This Monday morning as I was driving in silence, I began to feel the familiar cloaking of a long time enemy of mine...Discouragement. I'm sure you have met him at one time or another right?  Maybe you're better acquainted with the aliases Discouragement likes to use: 

"what if", "I can't", "I'm not", and "you'll never be"...

Sipping my daily dose of Ice Water and nibbling on my half eaten power bar, I started to give way to the one-way conversation Discouragement was pitching. 

     
"What if you're wasting your time and your money, you can't let your life pass by doing this for people who don't even care! You're not the only one trying to be heard; you'll probably never be rewarded for your hard work, just give it up!"  

These were the thoughts intruding my mind as I let Discouragement chat up a storm inside of my spirit.  I had two choices at this point. One, I could agree with Discouragement and all his buddies- which would allow his cloak of low self esteem to strangle me into a place of fear and eventually defeat...Or two, I could muster up enough strength to fight Discouragement by clinging onto faith (which we can't see)- and loves to take us to unknown territories with no map! So feeling a stream of boldness starting to bubble up within me,  I began to speak every scripture I could think of to do battle with this enemy that wanted to steal my very life from me! 

Psalm 42:5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight,"

1 Peter 4:10 "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms." 

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. "  

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Epehsians 6:10-17 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,which is the word of God.

--And then in happened!  That cloak of heaviness was torn from me as I began to praise the Lord for His goodness, His faithfulness, and His everlasting Love with the power of my sword (my scriptures)...All I could do was bask in the presence of God's grace sustaining me in that moment. I felt secure and I knew that my battle in that car with Discouragement was over because I put up my shield of faith even though I couldn't see the outcome to my questions and situations.  I took out my sword and slew my enemies because the word of God is power in the mouths of a believer with faith!  I stood my ground on God's promises and planted my feet!

God delivered strength to me once again so I could face another day of mystery. As long as he's with me, nothing can stand against me.  

     So my friends, why am I telling you this?  I aim to encourage you to today to stand up and fight against Discouragement and his whole entourage! Use your sword and fight those spirits of fear, jealousy, anger, hatred, low self esteem, selfishness, greed, laziness, lack of self control, unforgiveness, bitterness, lust, sickness, and everything else that would come against you!  Don't allow these spirits to control your thoughts, actions, or emotions.  I know it is not easy when you don't have the answers to the problems your facing, and it seems like a great idea to give in at the time of exhaustion, but keep fighting.  Don't give up. Don't let  these liars come and steal your joy, your peace, or your future.  And remember this-- if you are in a situation that seems like people are your enemies-  I assure you they are not---better yet, God assures you they are not in Eph 6.  Our battle is never against flesh and blood, but against spirits working through people. So today is the day to start fighting back the right way!  Praying, praising, and proclaiming the word of God over our situations, families, and futures!  It is the wisest strategy you can possibly play!  

Love your sister in Christ-

Jme Medina

http://www.jmemedina.com/store

P.S.  Want to be encouraged today? If you haven't bought a copy of my new CD "Dear Jesus", get one to play in the house, the car, or anywhere! Let it inspire you, encourage you, and feed strength into your spirit!

Worship...Worship...Worship...

I have to say, before I started leading worship for youth groups and churches, I had no idea what it was truly all about to "lead someone in worship." It's a great responsibility, and a huge honor to prepare the body of Christ for battle.  Now, it's one of my favorite things to do!  My CD's are mainly Pop/Dance/R&B stuff that I "perform", but worship is an entirely different level than performing songs!  You can get away with being a great performer with little heart into it, but with worship, it's all or nothing that causes his anointing and presence to flow.  Not that there's no anointing with Pop music (there certainly is). 

When we offer praise and worship, we are clearing spiritual battlefields, opening doors, and moving the enemy out of our territories!  Have you read the story of King Jehosophat, The song of Moses, or the book of Revelation (there's plenty other examples)?  It's amazing what our reverance before God will do and how he will act on our behalf.  If we give our worship in posture, in our thoughts, with our whole heart, and declare praise and the splendor of his holiness with our mouths, all God has to do is breathe over us and he can slay an army! 

So if you are in a place where you feel dry spiritually, everything seems like an uphill battle, or you feel like you are at a standstill, or you just want more of God.  Spend some time with the Lord in praise and worship.  It really should be a part of our daily lives.  You can't grow in your walk with God without it.  Maybe I'll be leading worship at your church this summer...only God knows, but wherever you are, make it count!

Love always,
Jme

What Have you done for eternity Lately?

What have you done for eternity lately?

Are you living day to day constantly fighting and struggling to make it through only to find yourself back where you started the day before? Are you living your life with no worries at all?
Are you aware of the millions of people who don't have what you have but yet you still want more? Do you find yourself thinking about mostly your own problems?

Now that you are thinking about these questions...if you took an inventory of your day and journaled every single thing you did, what would be left of your day that you could say---yes...I did that for you Lord...Yes...this will stand the fire on the day of judgment and be worthy of the kingdom of heaven. How much of your day would pass this test? Frightening thought huh?

Several months ago, I began to ask myself these questions and came to the conclusion that I could not honestly believe that my thoughts, my words, or my deeds had much to do with living kingdom minded, BUT had a lot to do with concerns of this world..it was heartbreaking to think about how much time, money, relationships, etc...I had wasted by not investing every ounce of Jesus I had into what really mattered. Sure we can all look at ourselves and say "Well that's not me, I do plenty for people, I'm a nice person, I'm doing everything I should as a Christian, I'm not selfish becasue I'm kind, fogiving, and loving.." Oh yeah??? I guarantee you that most of us are only fooling ourselves. Not purposely, but this is how we were taught in American Church...it's all about appearance, and a little do good here and do good there and it's all good. Right?
Well I wasn't satisfied with that...There was a restless well inside of my soul that was thirsting for more of something I couldn't identify, but i had concluded that I didn't solely want to be a Christian singer or songwriter. There had to be more than standing on a stage in front of people wearing my cutest outfits and flaunting my highlighted hair, trying to live up to a falling market of advertisement, belting out some music and saying a few words about God to people who were hungry, lost, tormented, and hurting. Was that really enough to say I was doing all I could for God?
So I began to search God with all of my heart, my mind, and soul through prayer, fasting & weeping. I began to saturate my thoughts in the word of God and the closer I drew to him, the deeper he took me to his heart...it was a scary place at first..overwhelming with the cries of millions of lost souls, the pain and tears of those who barely live off of $1 a day, the ones who have no place to rest their head or eat a decent meal, no healthcare, the ones who are being abused, the ones who are in chains and bondage of addictions and captors, the ones who were dying and being persecuted for the name of Jesus...and what could I do about it? It was all so frightening to think if this were me, who would help me and hear my cries? Why aren't people listening? Does anyone care out there? Is this all there is?

Then God began to open my eyes to his way of selfless love, mercy, kindness, compassion, hope,and goodness. What I was doing with my life wasn't wrong, and it wasn't NOT enough. I was doing the best I could with what I had - the only way I knew how. God certainly gives each of us talents and gifts to use for his glory and places us exactly where we need to be in life. However, we begin to learn on this spiritual journey that there is more than just our lives going on in this world, and we have a unique opportunity to do things that 3/4 of the world cannot with our wealth as individuals, a church, and as a country in America. It's not the American nature (anymore) to be concerned about the rest of the world since it doesn't seem to affect us...but as we know, our nature is not like God's nature...perhaps we would understand if we went to die on a cross for someone we hadn't met yet, for something we never did, to give them something they might not even care to accept. I wanted that kind of love so much that I was willing to change my whole life for it..I wanted to stop living the illusion that I was being enough and do something about it...
NO MORE DOING NOTHING--BE SOMETHING!

Don't get me wrong...doing things for God will not get you into heaven and will not score you any game points with God. The only way to get to heaven is to accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior by faith and believe that he died and rose again on the cross for your sins. However, the greatest of all commandments as declared by Jesus himself is to love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself.

So I've set out on a mission to live my life everyday for the kingdom of God. There are different ways I do that, but each one of us has a different life, so what's my path is not going to be the same as yours and vice versa.
There are billions of ways to do that...but we have to do it on purpose. Every action will lead to a reaction and it can cause a revolution of love, compassion, and faith. So No More Do Nothing...Be Something!


WITH LOVE,
JME MEDINA