Do you realize...

Have you ever realized that if you don't believe in yourself, that you will never understand, appreciate, or even accept that someone else does? Have you ever realized that if you don't love yourself you can't accept love from another? I would also question if you can extend love to others. Have you ever realized that if you don't value who you are, even with the flaws, someone else's valuing of you is rarely seen? All true. But equally true is the undeniable fact that someone does! That this 'someone' even went to the extreme length of sacrificing His life for YOU. Yes, even if you were the only one! And that His legacy is available to you. He believes that with His help (John 15:5), YOU will succeed and live an abundant life.

There's a familiar scripture that talks about and depicts Jesus knocking on the door. Whose door is He knocking on? I would argue that the door is - Ours. We who have been born again and have accepted Jesus as our Lord. We are the ones He is attempting to help live effectively today.

   “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice 

    and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he 

    with me.” (Revelation 3:20)

This scripture reinforces my belief that this scripture is not directed to those who have yet to accept Jesus, but is directed at His disciples - US. We are His ambassadors who have the responsibility and privilege of sharing Him with those who don't know - it is our witness that will touch lives for Him. But there are always times when we need to turn to Him, regardless of our need. He is always knocking on the door to our heart – we just need to answer the door.

I realize too that it may seem illogical, but often we need to turn to the Lord to ask Him to help us see ourselves fully - the pluses and the minuses, and not just focus on one. We can, through His grace and favor, accentuate our positive and eliminate our negative (to misquote an old lyric). Yes we need to continually improve and grow who we are becoming, but we also need to recognize what and who we have grown into - that's our basis to grow into who the Lord sees us to be... and become the best us we can.