"Free to be Real" EWomen Part 1

The theme for this year's Extraordinary Women Conference was "Free to be Real." Throughout the weekend, we were taught about God's love and grace and that He wants us to be FREE from the burdens of life that weigh us down and keep us from living an abundant, glorious life. The only way to find that freedom is through total surrender to Jesus Christ. (Matthew 11:29-30 "Take my yoke upon you...for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.")

Our theme verse came from 2 Corinthians 3:17 - "The Lord and the Spirit are one and the same, and the Lord's Spirit sets us free." CEV (And for my fellow FWB ladies, I'll include the KJV as well - "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.")

On Friday night, we laughed until we cried with Chonda Pierce. Through comedy and open, honest testimony, she shared with us that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14) and that we are beautiful to God just the way He created us.

After her message, recording artist Matthew West brought us an amazing concert. He has an incredible testimony about trusting God and following Him through the valleys of life. His hit song "Motions," is a beautiful reminder and challenge to all Christians to really LIVE for Christ instead of just going through the daily motions of life.



On Saturday morning, Mrs. Stormie Omartian (author of the Power of a Praying... series), spoke to us about finding transformation and POWER in the presence of God. One of my favorite things she said (and I hope I quote this correctly - I was scribbling notes as fast as I could!) was "God can take the broken pieces of your life and piece them together to make a beautiful stained glass window that His love can shine through." She challenged us to diligently seek the presence of the Lord (Hebrews 11:6 "...he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.") and challenged us to pray for God to change us, because "only God can make changes in us that last."


Our next speaker was Mrs. Angela Thomas (author of When Wallflowers Dance and Do You Think I'm Beautiful). She is an amazing speaker and spoke about not letting our vision be blurred when it comes to recognizing the glory of God that's all around us. She read from 2 Corinthians 2:13-18, which tells of the Israelites having "their minds blinded" from seeing the glory of God. But in verse 16, Paul tells us that the "vail will be taken away." Praise the Lord! Now we can see the glory of God shining in our lives. We no longer have to be blinded and we are welcomed into a personal RELATIONSHIP with our Holy God. How awesome is that?

Mrs. Angela reminded us that:

"We serve a REAL God,

Who REALLY shows up,

And REALLY loves us,

And REALLY rescues us,

And REALLY wants to know us,

And that's what it means to be REAL!"

All these great messages made me think - How REAL is your relationship with Christ? How REAL is my relationship with Christ? He revealed to me this weekend that I need to spend a lot more time with Him, especially time listening to Him. Think about it this way -

If you were a teenage girl and the totally cute quarterback of the high school football team wanted to spend time with you, you would have jumped at the chance, right? I mean, he's the quarterback. Everyone knows him, everyone likes him, and he's pretty much awesome. So you'd definitely pencil him into your busy high school schedule, right?

I know that most of you are already out of high school and your schedules now are even more crazy than they were then, but the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE WANTS TO BE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU! HE WANTS TO KNOW YOU AND TO SPEND TIME WITH YOU! HE WANTS TO HOLD YOU IN HIS LOVING ARMS AND PROTECT YOU AND COMFORT YOU AND GIVE YOU PEACE AND HOPE AND LOVE! And unlike that quarterback, HE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU OR FORSAKE YOU.

He thinks that you are beautiful. He tells us that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." He finds us captivating and wonderful. He loves us with a love so deep and so pure that it is beyond our understanding. He offers peace, joy, hope, love, abundant and everlasting life! HIS LOVE FOR YOU IS REAL! What about your love for Him?

God created you with the sole purpose to love you and for you to love Him. That's REAL. That's TRUTH.

He offers you freedom. Are you ready to be FREE?

Are you "FREE TO BE REAL?"