Gems of Knowledge

Today’s One Year Bible Verses: Isaiah 1:1–2:22 | 2 Corinthians 10:1–18 | Psalm 52:1–9 | Proverbs 22:26–27

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God Makes You Enough

I think one of the enemy’s most effective tools against us is getting us to believe we are not enough.

How often have you told yourself, I’m not enough?

Not smart enough. Not talented enough. Not strong enough. Not spiritual enough. Not qualified enough. Maybe you look at someone else and immediately see everything they have that you don’t. Or God puts something in front of you, but you never start because you convince yourself you can’t.

The problem is, when we only look at what we can or can’t do, we forget to consider what God can do through us.

Today the Holy Spirit gave me this Gem of Knowledge,

“Stop thinking you are not enough. I live inside you. I make you enough. Love yourself because you love Me. Believe in yourself because you believe in Me. Embrace Me in you and your mind will change for good. Amen.”

I love the distinction here. God isn’t telling us to convince ourselves that we’re amazing all on our own. He’s telling us to stop looking at ourselves apart from Him.

Paul addresses something similar in today’s reading. He warns against comparing ourselves with other people, saying, “But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!” (2 Corinthians 10:12 NLT).

Comparison gives us a distorted measuring stick.

There will always be someone who seems more gifted, more successful, more attractive, more knowledgeable, more confident, or further along than we are. If we use other people as our standard, we’ll either feel inferior because we don’t measure up or superior because we think we do.

Neither one tells us who we actually are.

Our identity begins with God.

If you belong to Jesus, His Spirit lives within you. You aren’t walking into your calling alone, trying to somehow scrape together enough ability to accomplish what He’s asking you to do. God knows exactly what you have and what you don’t have—and He chose you anyway.

That’s why “believe in yourself because you believe in Me” is so different from ordinary self-confidence.

My confidence doesn’t have to be, I know I can do this.

It can be, I know God can do this through me.

That changes everything.

It changes the way we see ourselves. Sometimes Christians are almost afraid to love themselves because we don’t want to become prideful. But recognizing our worth isn’t pride when our worth comes from God.

You are someone God created. Someone Jesus considered worth dying for. Someone He chose to make His dwelling place.

Constantly tearing that person down isn’t humility.

Psalm 52 gives us another beautiful picture of where our confidence belongs. David says, “But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God. I will always trust in God’s unfailing love” (Psalm 52:8 NLT).

An olive tree doesn’t struggle to prove that it deserves to be an olive tree. 😂 It simply stays planted, receives what it needs, grows, and eventually produces fruit.

Maybe we could learn something from that.

Stay planted in God. Let Him love you. Let Him teach you. Let Him correct the lies you’ve believed about yourself. Let Him show you what He placed inside you. And when your mind says, You’re not enough, remember that God never asked you to be enough without Him.

The goal isn’t to become obsessed with ourselves. It’s actually the opposite.

Embrace Him in you.

The more we understand who He is, the more clearly we begin to understand who we are.

It’s time to stop agreeing with negative thoughts about yourself.

Look at Jesus.

Love the person He created because you love Him. Believe that He can work through you because you believe in Him. And when you feel like you’re not enough, remember:

You were never supposed to be enough without Him.

He makes you enough. 💎

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Action (5 Minutes with God)

Take time to be with the Lord today, even if only 5 minutes. Ask Him:

• “Lord, what do You want me to know about this personally?”
  • Journal what He gives you through His Holy Spirit.
• Then ask, “What do You want me to do?”
  • Journal what He reveals – then do it!

Pay attention to your thoughts today. Rebuke any negatived thoughts in the name of Jesus then ssk the Holy Spirit to show you who you are in Him.

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Prayer

Dear Lord, forgive me for measuring myself to other people and believing things about myself that You never said. Teach me to see myself through Your eyes. Help me love the person You created in me and believe that You can work through me even when I feel inadequate. Change the way I think about myself as I learn to recognize Your presence within me. I don’t have to be enough on my own because I have You. Thank You for making me enough. In Your beautiful name I pray, Jesus, amen.

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