daily devotional

Today is Blue Monday. Welcome to the saddest, most depressing day of the year. Here we are on January 21st, what is scientifically proven to be the day that we humans officially hit the pinnacle of struggle in this new year. This is the day of hopeless surrender to a disappointing arrival to our reality of once again falling short. And a day like today requires one heck of a good pep talk!

This is our official notice that we won’t be participating in Blue Monday. Oh heck no, this is the day the Lord has made and we’re here to rejoice and be glad in it. The weather may be considered sucky, the bills may be coming due on all the Christmas we charged, the house may seem empty with all the decorations removed, the extra pounds we gained may have a death grip on our thighs, and those goals we wrote on January 1st may already seem laughable … but dang it, we don’t have to get down and wallow in the yuck when we have a million reasons to be grateful! And don’t you? At this very moment, aren’t you surrounded by a million reasons to absolutely stand in awe over the beauty of life and the miracle of it all?!!!

Before you today is a choice … you can claim today as Blue Monday, or you can declare this is Sparkly Pink Disco Ball Monday, or this is Smokin’ Red Hot Monday. The choice is yours. You can also choose to give up on yourself today, or show up with your best effort and keep striving to live the life you were truly created for as the person you were created to be. Which will you choose? Will today be a day of giving up or a day of pushing on?

Sadly, here’s what we typically do on this 3rd Monday of the new year … we look at the facts, the facts that we haven’t quite done what we said we were going to do, we haven’t come as far as we hoped we would come, we haven’t stuck with it the way we imagined we would this year, and we take these facts and come to the conclusion that surely we’re just not good enough. We’re lacking. We’re broken. We’re insufficient. And if we were being brutally honest, we’re slightly disgusted that we can’t get our own crap together for even 3 weeks. Gosh, what is wrong with me! I really don’t have what it takes.

Is this you? Your reality leaves you somewhere between disgusted and disappointed. Somewhere between burdened and burned out. Somewhere between hopeless and half-hearted.
What if it doesn’t have to be this way? What if right here, today, within the next 5 minutes I could share with you one thing that would change how you see your reality, and therefore change the trajectory of your entire year? Listen up.

I have complete confidence in you. I KNOW YOU ARE CAPABLE. Capable of doing the hard stuff. I KNOW YOU ARE ENOUGH. Enough of everything that is needed, in all the right ways. I KNOW YOU ARE WORTHY. Worthy of all that you desire. I know this about you. How? Because I know your maker.

There’s a confidence in certain makers. Certain brands have a trademark of quality in construction and reliability in performance.

I just bought a Toyota car. Why did I chose it? Because I trust Toyota as a maker. I know they are the longest running cars on the road.
I wear Brooks running shoes. Why do I pay a premium price for shoes I can’t even choose the color of? Because I know Brooks can be trusted to make the best running shoes on the market.

I trust if Justin Timberlake puts out a new song, I’m going to like it and it will become my new kitchen dancing song. A song with his name on it is automatically liked in my house, simply because JT made it. That likely sounded less spiritual than you were hoping for, so if you’re offended, just trade it out for Lauren Daigle instead. Yes, it’s also true if it’s a song by Lauren Daigle, I’m instantly going to like it, simply because I trust her trademark music. If she put her name on it, I’ll dig it.
If it’s Versace or Gucci or Louis Vuitton, hello cha-ching … it’s gonna smell good, fit good, feel good and look good! It’s a predetermined YES. Why? Because I know the maker. I know it’s quality. I know it’s value.
And what about you? I know everything I need to know about you by learning who your maker is.

Girl, why have you put yourself on the discount rack when you are a handcrafted masterpiece of the Almighty? You won’t find Justin Timberlake offering $5 seats as one of his concerts. Versace, Gucci and Louis Vuitton don’t offer discount codes and clearances. When you’re of top notch value, you don’t downgrade!

AND YOU ARE OF TOP NOTCH VALUE! You can, and should, have extreme confidence in the creation because of the creator. Who are you to play little? Who are you to judge your value? Who are you to assume a position of less than? Are you self-made? Did you knit yourself together in your mother’s womb? Did you form your very being?

NO. YOU. DID. NOT.

Who did? The Master Artist. The one without fault. The one who knows the end from the beginning. The one who has a master plan, a divine destiny, and a sovereign hand in it all. The one who is above all things. The maker of the heavens and Earth. The artist of the most breathtaking sunsets and sunrises. The brilliant designer of the majestic seahorse and mighty Bald Eagle alike. The one who carved the mountains and filled the oceans is the one who created you.

Psalm 139: 13 & 14 says:
“Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!”

If you admire the creator, you must admire the creation. If you trust the maker, you must have confidence in the product. If you love the author, you respect the story. He is the creator. He is the maker. He is the author. You are the creation, the product, the story. Have you lost your admiration, confidence and respect for what he has created in you? Have you forgotten you are his work? His fingerprints are all over you. His breath fills your lungs. His desires are the hopes, dreams and goals you wake up thinking about. He is the source.

You are brand name girlfriend … you’re not discount material. Why would you ever believe the lies of the enemy which tell you you’re unworthy? Don’t you know he has attacked your value? He is the one who sold you that lie, then you took it as your truth and ran with it. And on a day like today, termed as Blue Monday, the saddest most depressing day of the year, we must lock arms and remember who we are here!

You are lacking nothing.
You are right on time.
You are priceless.
You are more than enough.
You are worthy of the best.
You are of supreme quality.
You are an original.
You are a masterpiece.
You were intentional.
You are of unspeakable value.
You are overflowing with potential.
You are wanted.
You are loved.

You are marvelously made.
What a creation!

Today, I encourage you to listen to Lauren Daigel’s song “You Say” and decide that you will believe exactly what God says of you. Buy into it. Let his words about you become your truth. It will change everything.