Tangled in chains or "Tangled" in grace?

From the Disney movie "Tangled"

I watched Tangled a while back & loved it! I don't know what reminded me of it today, but I thought that sometimes we get all tangled up in the messiness of everyday life-- I mean it's SO easy to do, am I right?!! lol 

It's so easy to freak out and get upset at things we just simply cannot control- & get tangled up all in it. All up in the rope and chains!! 

Are you a control person? Do you like to be in control? I guess in some weird way we all do at some point- I am one of those people that like it done the way I like it to be done. It's been a really long road for me to just give up the control aspect of my personality. I'm still a work in progress though... :) Jesus helps me & sometimes... I don't know how He puts up with me. LOL - Oh wait... It's His never-ending love, mercy & grace!!

It's a weird thing talking about "control" really because- whenever "I think" I have it all in order; all the way that I think it should be-- all under the way I planed it out to work-- something happens. Ever happen to you? It's like we plan to pay certain things or lets say go on a vacation-- and we're saving and oops there goes a medical bill or a tire... it never ceases to amaze me how "I plan" things and OTHER things pop up and crush them like a bug.

Notice the common ground here-- "I think" "I plan" "I control" hmmm, there sure are a lot of "I's" in here... getting kinda stuffy...

I'm learning to back down off of me, and let God have it. It's been a journey so far-- not an easy one, but I'm hanging in there-- me and God. Hey, He didn't say it would be an easy road- but He did say He would always be there and never leave me or abandon me. "I will never leave you; I will never abandon you." — Deuteronomy 31:6

So, kinda brings me to a question: Am I tangled in the chains or am I tangled in grace?

Like I was saying earlier- it's so easy to be tangled in the chains... but I wonder, is it actually easier to be tangled in grace? Everyday that goes by and something funky happens- like today for instance- I won't go into detail but just personal things that happened- I really did get started to get wrapped in the chains... and then something happened... I asked God for help... suddenly I felt un-tangled. Now, sometimes I can just feel God tugging at my heart speaking softly-- LET GO-- but do I? Nope. Why not you ask? Well, as a human being-- we want to hold on to EVERYTHING-- my determination-- LET GO AND LET GOD HELP ME - so that I can be "tangled" in His grace!!!! Now that's THE PLACE to be!!! 

Jesus is awesome in many ways, but I wanted to share some extra special little goodies with you-- 

Did you know that Jesus said to hand everything over to Him and He will take care of it for us- Matthew 11:28-30 ncv: ²⁸ "Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Accept my teachings and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your lives. ³⁰ The burden that I ask you to accept is easy; the load I give you to carry is light."

BUT we must cast our cares upon Him and give Him our burdens- 1 Peter 5:7 ncv: ⁷ Give all your worries to him, because he cares about you.

Like I've said before, Jesus is a total gentleman... He does not grab your wrist and drag you around like a doll--

He upholds you, strengthens you, supports you, gives you His grace-1 Peter 5:8-10 ncv: ⁸ Control yourselves and be careful! The devil, your enemy, goes around like a roaring lion looking for someone to eat.⁹ Refuse to give in to him, by standing strong in your faith. You know that your Christian family all over the world is having the same kinds of suffering.¹⁰ And after you suffer for a short time, God, who gives all grace, will make everything right. He will make you strong and support you and keep you from falling. He called you to share in his glory in Christ, a glory that will continue forever

He gives you His peace, love, grace, gentleness, kindness, patience- Galatians 5:22-23 ncv: ²² But the Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,²³ gentleness, self-control. 

He CHOSE ME-- HE CHOSE YOU!!! Ephesians 1:4-8 ncv: ⁴ That is, in Christ, he chose us before the world was made so that we would be his holy people—people without blame before him.⁵Because of his love, God had already decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. That was what he wanted and what pleased him,⁶ and it brings praise to God because of his wonderful grace. God gave that grace to us freely, in Christ, the One he loves.⁷ In Christ we are set free by the blood of his death, and so we have forgiveness of sins. How rich is God's grace,⁸ which he has given to us so fully and freely.

I hope this uplifted you today and I hope that you become "tangled" in His grace and love.

Take care of you :)

Which Reflection?

Reflection... a word with a few meanings...

1. Something such as light, radiant hear, or sound that is reflected.
2. Careful or long consideration or thought

Tonight... we are look at #2

So... let me set the stage here... 


You get out of the shower, brushing your hair... putting on make-up... you of course look into the mirror to do these things right? So... have you ever really looked into the mirror and took a good look? I mean a GOOD look? Did you like what your refection showed? Did you feel "clean"? Did you feel "dirty" still? Feel something different? Seriously speaking here... on a personal level... I have looked into the mirror many times and still felt completely dirty... like I wondered who was I looking at. "Who am I ?" I asked. 


Now what? You looked in the mirror and found something you didn't like (I'm not talking about wrinkles or bags under your eyes here)... now what? What can I do about it? 

Let's take a quick look of how inviting God into the situation can help out.

In Ephesians 2:10- it says "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." We are HIS masterpiece!! He said so! So no matter what the situation or the circumstance- know that HE created YOU so that YOU can do the good things HE PLANNED for YOU long ago. (Notice how many times YOU is used here-- He sent His Son for YOU- He did it all for YOU because He loves YOU that much- hard to imagine right?!


The beautiful thing about God and His grace is that He sent Jesus for YOU- and when you accept Him into your heart... He takes over!!! I mean takes OVER completely! It's a rush-- gotta understand that every day is a challenge and is full of decisions of right and wrong and choices... make the right choice- make the wrong choice-- God's grace covers a multitude of your sins!! He never just drops you- even the times where you feel the loneliest- He is always holding you & never let go- He hasn't left you- 


He never gets tired of you--


God sees you as His beautiful child- He chose you for such a time as this! He wants to be your Daddy and have a relationship with you. 


You know it was funny- it wasn't that long ago when I "thought" I knew God and had that "relationship" with Him... only to find that I slipped away for a bit- and where was He? Right there waiting for me. He never left me. 


My most awesome hubby pointed it out and it was so clear... he said "Honey, you need to trust Him like you trust me" That was like a slap-- I wasn't really trusting God like I trusted Andy. WOW-- and Andy is NOT GOD- Only God is God. lol I needed to hear that. 

So, I know I went off on a trail there- but something to think about.

Back to your reflection-- I guess the main thing is to see Jesus with skin on- Are you "in His image"? Are you doing things to glorify God? Are the choices you are making positive or negative? Can you honestly control the way your actions are against yourself and others? The answer to that last one is yes. Just try. Try to make an effort to speak more positive about yourself- about others. Golden rule from my dad's lips... "Don't have anything nice to say... don't say it at all." It works every time. Or from the movie "The Help"- the maid says “You is kind. You is smart. You is important." That is so true!! God certainly thinks so anyways... and that's what ultimately matters... for real! 

As always... hope this helped your day become brighter

Take care of you :)