When You Want to Quit...Please Don't

This morning I was praying for you, for the people who comment and those who don't either because you don't have anything to say or you are afraid others don't value what you say, and I told the Lord...
...if I could give you anything today...
...if I could impart anything to you...
...speak anything into your spirit...

I would say...

DON'T QUIT!!!!

I know the road is hard. I know it hurts. I know you want to give up. I know your heart aches more than you ever dreamed it could, and I know you are tired and weary and feel battle worn, and just lying down and saying, "Enough is enough," is so tempting.

I know.

I've been there.

And I am begging you...DON'T QUIT!!!!

You are not here because of some cosmic glitch. You are not here because God saw a blank line on a family tree and needed to put a name there.

You are here because YOU HAVE A PURPOSE.
You are here because YOU ARE AN ANSWER TO SOMEONE'S PRAYER.
You are here because THE GOD OF ALL CREATION SAYS YOU ARE NEEDED, WANTED, AND DESIRED.
You have something that no one else in this world has.

If I could look you in the eyes right now, I would tell you,
"You are amazing.
You are beautiful.
There is no one like you. Never has been. Never will be. YOU are beyond compare.
Your dreams have not been forfeited.
You are not a hopeless loser.
You are not beyond repair.
You are not damned to live a life of pain and hurt.
You, beautiful and beloved one, are the one Jesus died for.
You are the one God is pursuing with wild abandon because He sees who you really are.
You are so much more than this world has told you."

And I know some days that is so hard to believe, and I know some days you can't see it. I've never seen a platypus, but I believe they exist. The same God who made that platypus made the incomparable YOU. If you can believe there is a platypus, please--PLEASE!--believe in you...not because of what you have done or can do but because God is reaching out to you, because He woke me up at 5:00 am to tell you this...because He led me through the hell first so I could reach back, give you a hand, and tell you that you CAN get through this.

Please, please don't quit. You are more valuable than anyone has told you, and I'm telling you now. I thank God for you. I thank God that He has answered someone's prayer by giving you life. I thank God that you are more valuable than rubies, that you are more valuable than you have courage to believe. You are priceless.

You...are to die for.

Praying for you....

All That Matters

I don't normally do this.

When I write personal emails or personal words of encouragement to people, I don't usually share them on my blog. After all, they are personal. This morning I wrote a personal email to the ladies who write the For Her column of The Christian Pulse. These are amazing ladies, and I am so blessed to serve with them. I have great respect for them, and I would never want to break trust with them. However, I feel part of what I wrote is for others, too, and since it is all God's, He can give it to whomever He desires. I pray it encourages and blesses you as well.

Always for Him,
Jerri

From my email...

The Word tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

Last night I had a dream my husband was involved in an affair, and although he made no real effort to hide it, no one would believe me. He was such a good guy, no one believed he could do that, and they all said I was overreacting and being paranoid. Now, I don’t know if the dream has some deeper meaning from God. I haven’t had time to ask Him about it, and although I know my husband is not having an affair, I woke up in a funk, sort of miserable, heart sick, and just gloomy. Exactly the way Satan wants me to be because when I’m like that, I sort of ramble around the battle field feeling and acting puny instead of putting on my armor and fighting the battle set before me.

After about an hour of this pitiful mind misery, I told the Lord, “I feel…”

When I was done, His voice came back to me, and He said, “How you feel isn’t the issue. Who I AM is the issue. I AM the one who loves you, and I AM the one who has all power. Whether your husband is having an affair or not is not the issue. How you feel about anything is not the issue. Whether I am faithful to love and bless you is the issue. Whether you trust me or not is the issue. If you trust me, rejoice in me for I have great plans for you.”

I don’t know what Satan is dumping on you. I don’t know how he is trying to discourage you or attack you today. What I do know is our God is higher than all that. What I know is our God loves you infinitely. What I know is when God is for you, it doesn’t matter who is against you.

Father, I lift up those reading this today. Give them joy in you. Give them strength to stand, and when they have done everything, enable them to stand. Give them a gift of hope where the enemy has tried to cloud them with hopelessness. Open their eyes to see your power and your character. Satan wants them to think you can't--or WON'T--come to their rescue, but you are already providing the solution. Open their eyes to see your answer because sometimes our vision is warped by experience, doctrine, and tradition. Open eyes to see your answer and your love no matter how wild and far-fetched it may look. Open their hearts, minds, and eyes to see and know the reality and power of your love. Thank you for the wonderful things you are doing in all these lives today. Be glorified in us. In the perfect and all-powerful name of Jesus I ask these things, Amen.