It’s audio devo day!
Being harsh with ourselves… it’s easy to do. However, Jesus wants to teach us a better way. Today, He wants you to know that one of the greatest treasures He has called you to steward, is yourself. Learning to receive and agree with His cherishing of you is even a matter of obedience! May you experience His great love for you as you listen here:
(Encouraged by this? Know someone else that needs to hear it today? You can either share today’s blog link with them, or look up my Feeding on Jesus podcast for sharing and subscribing. You’ll find it at these links on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and most other podcast platforms, with episodes identical to these audio devos!)
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Is it possible to adopt Jesus’ heart posture of kindness towards ourselves without becoming self-centered? What do you think?
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P.S. My new book has LAUNCHED! In it, I share my experiences when my six-year-old Lily was in a seventeen-day coma, the incredible miracles God did for us, and tools in each chapter to help people going through really hard things.
Are you, or someone you know, walking through an extremely painful trial? Journey Through the Dark Night: Messages of Hope from the Morning may be exactly the word you are needing to hear. You can order a copy here.
Feeding On Jesus 
Hello Jennifer. I enjoyed this! Thanks for sharing. 🤗❤️
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Truly my pleasure dear sister! Hope you had a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving 🙂
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It was a blessed day. Hope yours was too. 😊
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I am so glad! Mine was too, and I am so grateful.❤️
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As you note, according to Ephesians 5:29, “no one ever hated his own flesh.” Therefore, we must adapt our psychology and advice to accept the Bible’s evaluation and understand that when people ‘claim’ to hate themselves, what are they really despising?
The suicidal who claim they hate themselves actually love their own flesh if the Bible is true. So what they despise is what their fleshly, worldly “self” is going through; “I should not have to suffer THIS!” Their self-love is what pushes them over the edge, not self-hatred.
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I ministered to a very precious young lady who had been raped by numerous men for multiple years as a small child. She was struggling with suicidal impulses. This was not love of her own flesh. It was agonizing emotional pain. I think it’s important to treat this subject with deep compassion. Jesus healed her and she is gloriously free now because she encountered His deep, deep love for her, and His power broke off the demonic oppression that was attached to her emotional wounds. She is so on fire for Him and wants to live her life helping others get saved, healed, and delivered!
Another important thought about the kindness Jesus wants us to have in our attitudes towards ourselves (instead of harshness and criticism) is that it’s His agape love, which is expressed in self-sacrifice. So having His own love for ourselves goes hand in hand with pouring out our lives for Him.
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However, we have Ephesians 5:29, so we must interpret behavior in the light of what it says. My heart goes out to your friend along with you, but to really understand her suicidal impulse, we must take into account the feeling that “this should not have happened to ME.” And she is right!!! It should not have happened, but the motive for suicide remains self-love because of the truth of Ephesians 5:29.
It does not change how we who have been healed by Jesus care for those who are dealing with suicide, but we must rest in the truth that God’s word is true. Our “attitudes towards ourselves” is key to this understanding of “who” the self is. It is not the one we hate, but the circumstances or events that we hate because we love ourselves.
We must guide the “self-hating” to realize that they are loved by The God Who is, and who agrees with their assessment so closely that He took all of the pain and demonic oppression on Himself at the cross because He even loves us more than we do!
❤️&🙏, c.a.
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Yes He sure does, and I can never thank Him enough! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, C.A. A quick reply today as I continue my travels, but i want you to know I appreciate you!
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Congratulations on the new book! I wish you much success.
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Thank you so very much dear Anna!
I hope you had a beautiful Thanksgiving 🙂
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