We need to protect and work to enhance our self-image, because it is either a lid or a ladder.  A limited or negative self-image will act as a lid and never allow us to rise any higher than we see ourselves.  An unlimited or positive self-image will act as a ladder and grant us the opportunity to climb to places that we only dreamed off.

We speak, act, react and live based on the image we have of ourselves.  How we see ourselves is influenced by a lot of different things.  The things that people say to us, the things we say to ourselves, victories, defeats, opportunities, failures, success, friends, enemies, family, work and just life in general all contribute to the image, which in turn contributes to how we live life – the “who we are – based on what we do” syndrome!

Many of us walk around with a negative soundtrack playing in our heads.  We have been fed a steady and almost constant stream of negative.  Live in this world long enough and you are sure to get more than a dose of negative.  It’s on television almost every second of everyday.  It’s in the music that most of us play without even thinking about it.  Our conversations are sprinkled with a rather high dose of the negative stuff, which is often disguised as witty sarcasm.  It all adds up to a negative soundtrack that plays again and again with the same repeating and defeating message:  “You are nothing, you do not matter and you never will.  You are going to mess this up, because you always have and you always will.  Don’t even waste your time trying.  People are going to laugh at you and everyone will know that you are a nothing and a nobody!”

We do not and should not live our lives by that negative and defeating message, instead we should live our lives by the positive and victorious message that flows from the Throne Of Heaven, which says that I am somebody very valuable and highly favored.  When I realize that I am a sinner saved by God’s amazing grace, then my self-image is built upon what He has done, not what I have or have not done.  This solid foundation gives me exactly what I need to build a positive life of expectancy, which encourages me to be and do my all for God’s glory and man’s blessing.

It really is a very simple thing:  Thoughts turn into actions and actions make reality!  If you want to change your reality and make it into something better than it is, then you have to start living with the right actions and reactions.  The best way to live with the right actions and reactions is to start thinking right thoughts.  Not negative, but positive.  Not thoughts that tear down, but thoughts that build up.  Not thoughts that limit you, but thoughts that un-limit you!  God’s Word is full of such thoughts.  There are friends you can discover that will help to fill your life and head with these thoughts.

Don’t let your self-image become a lid that holds you back and keeps you down by trapping you with negative and self-defeating thoughts.  Instead take time to nurture and grow your self-image, so that it will act as a ladder of positive and victorious thoughts that allow you to climb even higher than you could dream or imagine!  You will be glad you did!

You are valuable because God your Creator says so and don’t let anyone ever try to convince you of anything different!  A lot of us living in this world have a messed up self-image.  Our self-image has gotten messed up for a lot of different reasons.  We live in a world with constantly competing messages that confuse us on many different levels.  We have developed a self-talk that is destructive, rather than constructive and we tend to see the glass half empty, rather than half full!

We need to fix our self-image the right way!  The right way is God’s way!  Our messed up self-image impacts everything we do or attempt to do and often in very negative ways!  Some people would have you think that a good self-image is a bad thing, but it is not bad, if it is built on the right foundation and this is what we are going to take a little time this week to try to accomplish!

The truth is:  Self image produces reality!  The right foundation to build and develop a good self-image is on and in a right relationship with God our Creator through Jesus Christ our Savior!  To begin to develop a good self-image, we have to actually start out with bad news!

The bad news is that we are sinners!  We have missed the mark, we don’t measure up and we cannot ever be or do good enough to measure up.  In our own strength and limited power, we are doomed to failure and eternal separation from all that is meaningful.  This bad news is what allows us, what helps us to look for and receive the Good News!  The good news is that we have a Creator, Who loves us and has a plan for our lives.  He has made a way, where there was no way!

There Is Good News!  We are sinners and our sin separates us from God.  We deserve to always be separated from Him, but God out of His great love for us, sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross and pay the price for our sin debt that we could not pay.  If we will admit our sin condition and accept Jesus, then we will be forgiven and restored to a real and right relationship with God.

This relationship with God is what makes us valuable!  If you are not in this relationship, then take time today to discover your Creator, Who loves you and has an amazing plan for your life.  Take a look at the bad reality of sin and what it costs you and accept the payment that Jesus made, receive Him as your Savor and make Him your Lord.  See the value that God has placed in you and begin to live in and through the power that this value provides!

All this week we will be looking to unfold the reality of the value that God gives us.  Please join me each day as we take a little time to get our hearts and minds focused in the right direction and remember:  You are valuable, because God says so!

I watch other people mess up their lives and the lives of the people around them and a big part of the problem is the attitude.  I have to admit that my own attitude has gotten in the way more than once.  A bad attitude is one of the worst things that a person can have and with all of the negative influences in the world, it is easier than ever to have a bad attitude.  I have noticed in my own life, that a lot of times my attitude is directly related to my expectations.  What I expect, I usually get!

Our expectations will either limit us and hold us back or empower us and propel us forward!  It really is pretty simple:  If you expect to get the short-end of the stick, then you will get stuck in mediocrity and you won’t be a very happy person!  If you expect to live blessed and highly favored, then you will see God work in and through you in amazing ways and be happy about what God is doing in and through your life!

Here is an amazing truth of God’s Word:  God meets us as the level of our expectations!  You get, live in and live with what you expect!  So many of the  problems and challenges of life can be faced, fought and won right here!  Get your expectation right and you will get your life right!

We need to raise our level of expectation!  We need to get up singing:  “I just feel like something good is about to happen!”  Expectation is faith at work!  Faith is what allows God to bring things to pass in our life.  Expectation and faith work in either direction!  Expect bad and you will be drawn to and draw to yourself bad.  Expect good and you will be drawn to and draw to yourself good.

In Matthew 9:29 Jesus said:  “According to your faith will it be done to you!”  What are you expecting in life?  It’s easy to expect the worse, especially in this world that we live in.  But we are children of the Most High God, we need to expect the best!

Expect God’s favor!  Expect good things to happen!  Expect God to turn around the negatives into positives!  Expect to overcome!  Expect victory!  Expect the supernatural!  Remember:  Expectation releases faith!  You live in reverse, neutral or drive!  Reverse will take you backward and the bad things you expect will become a reality.  Neutral will not keep you where you are for a time, but will eventually slip into reverse and your messed up and limited faith will take you backward into the negative.  Drive will take you forward to claim and live in the power of the promises of God, which is exactly where God created you to live!

Expectation is powerful!  Fix your expectation today and be amazed at how God will honor and reward your faith!  You can do this, you need to do this and when you do this – you will be glad you did!