Did You Know?

By: Annie Jones

Did You Know?

Did you know that I am beautifully and wonderfully made? A Daughter and princess of the most High King? Adored and loved by the God of all? 

The one who aligned the stars and set the world in motion thinks highly of me His thoughts toward me are good. His plans for me are good. He loves me with an everlasting love; nothing will separate me from Him.

It’s easy to forget, it’s easy to let this world, which doesn’t know a thing about living, tell me how to live, how to think, how to view myself.  I let this filthy, skewed world tell me whether or not I am beautiful, worthy, or good enough. Good enough? For who? Good enough for what? What does this world have to offer? Nothing. But God! He thinks I’m beautiful, He thinks I’m worthy, He thinks I’m more than good.

Before I was even conceived God had a good plan for me.  He approved of me and set me apart for His purposes. He has confidence in me.  If God is for me, who can be against me? There is nothing, no attack, no weapon, no scheme of man that can hurt me. He shield will protect me. He is my strong tower, my safe refuge. When life gets me down, and I feel like nothing, God is my present help.

People are fickle, they can hurt me, they can break my heart, they’ve left me feeling rejected and worthless.  But who are they? Did they create this world? Did they create me? No! Because according to my Master and my Creator, the only One who isn’t fickle, my worth is far more precious than rubies! He has never rejected me or made me feel worthless and He never will.

My hope, my confidence is in the one whose heart I have ravished.  Yes, I have ravished His heart. There is no flaw in me! So I will run, run into the riches of God’s love, run into His embrace of love. His love for me burns like a fire for all to see, a fire that cannot be quenched. Nothing will ever compare to His love. I am my beloveds and He is mine.  I am free to love Him and I am free to live for Him.

So I ask you again: Did you know that I am beautifully and wonderfully made? A daughter and a princess of the Most High King? Adored and loved by the God of All? I love Jesus, and He loves me, my life is His.

I wrote this for one of my classes this year. The first section is a phrase that I believe God gave to me this summer as a way for me to remember where my worth is found...

When it comes to anything God related, I get really choked up.  Like, honestly, you could tell me any cool God story, and the whole time I'm sucking in air begging myself not to cry. So, when I have to share this "poem" with my class, and pretty much pour my heart out about how great God is and how much He loves me...you can only imagine my emotional state. I get in front of my class and before I can even say the first sentence I am already crying...but it's not just a few tears.  I'm full on sobbing in front of my entire class. I knew there was no way to control my tears, so I just pushed through it and read the poem.  Although it is very personal and I was so embarrassed to have cried in front of my class, I feel like I need to share it because I know that God can speak to you through it.  Whether you are a boy or girl it is the truth of the Word (just written in my own words).

As you read what I've written, believe it, because its the truth.  Read it out loud, seriously...go in a room by yourself and read it out loud...not just in your head. There is power in the spoken Word. Read it, and read it again, and anytime you are feeling down read it again.  That's what I do.  I remind myself WHO I am and WHOSE I am. And man oh man....I am beautifully and wonderfully made....did you know?

Why Deeply Rooted?

Well, I've been wanting to start a blog for quite some time now.  Sometimes I have things on my mind and I just want to write them out, but don't really know where to take it.  I suppose this will be a great outlet. Even if know one reads it (I'm sure my mom will, HI MOM!) I'll probably continue using it for my own sake. I'm not sure what I will write.  Most of it will be about my journey with God and how I'm learning to be deeply rooted in Him (keep reading this post) but I might just share funny moments/ everyday realizations too.  You'll just have to wait and see! I just want to start off by apologizing for any mis-spellings/bad grammer...I tend to over use the comma, and it's almost always incorrect.  I also use a lot of "..." so bare with me...

So, why did I name this blog "Deeply Rooted"? Well, I actually kind of wrote something about it already. It's about a verse that I read this summer that has challenged me almost everyday.  I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to copy and paste my previous "blog" about it. :) My prayer is that through this blog you will be able to see God working in my life and be encouraged and strengthened by it. Here is the post:

*One of the things I love about Michigan is the trees. Everywhere you drive in Michigan you will see beautiful trees.  In the fall they are rich with oranges, reds, and yellows, aww what a beautiful sight. In the winter, they express a strength that often times we forget, bearing the weight of the heavy Michigan snow-fall.  In the spring, they show the birth of new life in beautiful shades of green.  In the summer, they give us the much needed shade from the heat of the sun. They all look different, they have different leaves, different heights, sizes, and shapes.  Yet they share something that some of us never even think about.

It wasn’t until this summer that I realized the power of this forgotten system that keeps the trees standing in the wild Michigan seasons.

In the beginning of the summer I did my own little study of Colossians.  I read and re-read Colossians; I’m not really sure how many times.  In typical fashion, God always showed me something new that I swear was not there the first time. Colossians 2:7 seemed to be the one verse that stuck out the most, and just so happened to be the cornerstone verse that shaped my whole summer.

“Have the roots [of your being] firmly and deeply planted [in Him, fixed and founded in Him], being continually built up in Him, becoming increasingly more confirmed and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving."

HA! What an incredible verse.

What does that even mean? The roots, the very essence of who you are, the core of the person on the inside planted in God— fixed on Him, having a firm foundation in Him.  To be rooted in God is the firmest foundation that someone can have.  Think about it.  In the natural, we see trees everywhere, especially in this beautiful state; what is at the bottom of every tree, roots. When we see a tree, it is solid. When the wind blows, it is not shaken.  When the seasons change, the tree stands strong. When the storm comes, the tree cannot be moved. Why?

What is the one thing that will hold a gigantic tree up in the fiercest of storms—roots.  What nourishes the tree through all kinds of weather—roots.  What is the very source of life in a tree—it’s roots. A-ha, it is not much different in the supernatural.  God is the source of life, He is the strong tower, we can run to Him in any kind of weather and any kind of storm and He will shield us, when we are down and dreary He nourishes us.  When our roots are planted deeply and firmly in Christ, then it does not matter what happens in the circumstances around us, because we know who we are. Because I know who I am.  I know who God says I am, I know that no matter what, the love of Christ will never fail me.  I know that my roots are planted in a ground that will never falter.

I know that my roots, the very essence of Annie Jones are firmly fixed upon the only One who has never let me down, the only One who has never failed me, the only One who has never lied to me, the only One who has never left me no matter how much I deserve it—Jesus.  My roots are in Him, and my life has never been better.

When I made the decision to truly plant my roots and continual fix my eyes on Jesus, it was like I hit this whole dimension of God that I never knew was possible in the 15 years that I’ve been a Christian.  I was finally in a position where God could use me on levels that He could not use me before.  Summer 2010 was the most rewarding summer of my life.  I have this sense of who I am in Christ that is unshakable, because my ROOTS are in Him.  But it’s not just a one time thing, the verse says to be continually built up in Him, and to become increasingly MORE established in the faith.  It never stops, it is a process of learning and growing, but it starts with the root system.

I encourage you today, to establish yourself in Christ, to begin the journey of letting your roots be planted in Christ.  It is more then just claiming to be a Christian and making a few facebook status’ about God—because we all know enough of those people.  It is SO much more than that.  It is about being secure in who Christ says you are, it is about having a real relationship with God, and living in a way every single day that represents your love for Him.  It’s time to take your life to the next level, get rooted in Christ.  I promise it is the best thing you will ever do.

Thanks to all of you who helped me along the journey this summer, especially all of the En Fuego students and leaders...you are an example of people rooted in Christ and such an encouargment to me!*

There you have it folks...May you be encouraged to be deeply rooted in the God who loves you very much. More to come later!