{"id":5883,"date":"2016-06-14T08:29:17","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T14:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=5883"},"modified":"2016-06-14T08:29:17","modified_gmt":"2016-06-14T14:29:17","slug":"another-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=5883","title":{"rendered":"Another Break"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

I pray that you will understand, but for the next week, I am super swamped. My work schedule is busy, but my personal life is even busier! I\u2019m heading to Ohio on Thursday to celebrate many things and events, so I will be posting some older blog posts until next week. I\u2019m sure you all understand\u2026you\u2019re the best!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So today, enjoy this repeated blog post!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Express Yourself!<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Perhaps you recall the song \u201cExpress Yourself\u201d[i]<\/a> by Charles Wright. It was revitalized most recently in a Coffee-Mate commercial. I was reminded of this song when my husband, Mason shared a photograph he snapped.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Unicorn<\/a>The owner of this car felt the need to express herself by plastering unicorns all over her car. I\u2019ll file this photo with the car covered with trolls. What a way to express yourself!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I believe the Apostle Paul urged his readers and us to be unique and different. In Romans 12:2 (NIV), Paul tells us \u201cDo not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God\u2019s will is\u2014his good, pleasing and perfect will.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jesus said something similar in Matthew 5:12-16 (NIV). \u201cYou are the light of the world\u2026in the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

We must be different. It may not be easy, but we are called to be set apart from the ways of this world. Other passages to consider would be John 17:14-15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:10; Colossians 3:9-10; Colossians 4:5 and 1 Peter 2:9.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And the main difference here is that we are not to express ourselves<\/em>, we are to express God<\/em>. We must express God\u2019s love, goodness, grace and the Gospel to those we encounter. \u201cLet your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.\u201d<\/em> (Colossians 4:6 \u2013 NIV)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I love that there are people in this world who are willing to put themselves out there and share their uniqueness with the world. I pray the same for myself when it comes to sharing God\u2019s message with others. I pray that I\u2019m not ashamed (Romans 1:16). I pray that I allow God\u2019s Spirit to work in me (Philippians 2:13). And I pray that my message would be God\u2019s message (Colossians 4:3-4).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How will you express God today?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Donna<\/p>\n

[i]<\/a> \u201cExpress Yourself\u201d https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jW4VZ5J0fNQ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  I pray that you will understand, but for the next week, I am super swamped. My work schedule is busy, but my personal life is even busier! I\u2019m heading to Ohio on Thursday to celebrate many things and events, so I will be posting some older blog posts until next week. I\u2019m sure you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3438,14,9],"tags":[1543,959,357,5757,854,94,1134,2661,175,2663,2662,2665,303],"class_list":["post-5883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reflect-god","category-seeking-god","category-sharing-god","tag-1-corinthians-619-20","tag-1-peter-29","tag-2-corinthians-517","tag-another-break","tag-colossians-39-10","tag-colossians-45","tag-ephesians-210","tag-express-yourself","tag-galatians-220","tag-john-1714-15","tag-matthew-512-16","tag-philippians-213","tag-romans-122"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5883"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5885,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5883\/revisions\/5885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}