Tag: Fear

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Him Before Me

God has gotten me through so much.  I would not be where I am or who I am if it were not for the Father’s unconditional love.  You would think that I would always trust God without question or fear after knowing how awesome He is, right?  But that isn’t the way the story goes.  Nope – I struggle too many times in simply believing God has it under control.

What is the deal?  I ask myself this all the time.  God spoke the world into existence and breathed life into dirt to make Adam.  But I want to trust my perception over God’s.  I think sonehow I know better than Him.  It’s laughable that I keep struggling with being able to believe that God has it.  All I got to do is just trust.

I had a moment this past week where I freaked out…thinking I knew things were going all wrong. But God kept saying – I got this!  Yet I still worried and stressed.  You know what happened?  You got it – I made it through just fine.  My perception was not reality.  

Yep, I’m not God.  It’s silly writing it, but the fact that I kept worrying after God said it was going to be okay meant that I trusted myself over the all knowing & all seeing Father.  I put myself in His position and put Him in the backseat.  If I would learn to give that up, I could live a better life.  When I realize that I don’t have the ability to make those calls – I would be able to enjoy the freedom surrender carries.

Paradoxical?  Absolutely.  Surrender = freedom.  “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil. Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.” Proverbs‬ ‭3:5-8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Surrendering the trust you have in your own knowledge and ability to God and allowing His knowledge and ability to lead you – freedom will be yours.  I’m not saying bad things won’t happen, but when bad things do happen – you will have the tools to get through.  Because God honors those who honors Him.

 ““Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I promised that your branch of the tribe of Levi would always be my priests. But I will honor those who honor me, and I will despise those who think lightly of me.” ‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭2:30‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Throw your trust in Him and stop trying to take control.  Let God handle the hard stuff.  Cling to Him and He will take you far!!

Be blessed my friends.  

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Our Strong Tower

Living in Texas, I am accustomed to thunderstorms. They often don’t scare me, but I’ll admit there are times I do get uneasy. As a child, my relationship to storms was very different. Even the smallest rain storm would cause anxiety because I was unsure of what may come.
My life of faith in God is described very similarly. Before I truly knew God deeply, I was often fearful when things got crazy, hard, or sad. But as I grew and started to learn that God had me – I learned that there is no need for fear.
Dear reader, you may not know the how, when, or what of God’s plan for a reprieve in your storm, but know that He always has a plan. There is nothing that happens that He doesn’t know about (see Job 1:6-12). So there is no need to worry.
Look at what happened when Jesus died on the Cross. Jesus himself told the disciples that He will rise again (see Mark 9:21 & Luke 9:22). But there was still doubt in Thomas’ heart – he had to put his hands in Jesus’ wounds to believe that the Lord had risen (John 20:24-29). Sometimes, our miracle is staring us in the face, but our faith is too small to see it.
When you stand upon the promises of God, great things happen. Have faith and don’t falter. Trust the plan God has in place & learn to use faith to make it through!
Do you struggle with faith? Remember this: “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:17‬ ‭NLT‬‬ – so get into the Word of God. Read it daily. You will find yourself gaining faith. As you gain faith, your relationship will grow with God.
Storms come to all, that is fact, but we don’t have to succumb to them. Keep your head up!
“The name of the LORD is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭18:10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

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Accepted

When I was a child, I was afraid of God.  I am not speaking about a healthy fear of God, but a feeling of distress about the idea of God.  It was rooted in the idea that God was very legalistic – you do wrong and it’s over for you.  There was no grace in my idea of God.

Unfortunately, too many in the world see God as a legalistic, smoting, I will abandon you if you do wrong type of God.  It makes my heart hurt that so many believe God to be so cruel.

If we get down to it, yes, God deals with right or wrong actions/thoughts/etc. in black and white terms.  There are no blurred lines when classifying something a sin versus not a sin.  And, yes, Hell really exists.  But God is truly a loving, caring Father.  He does not classify the person based on their sin because we are all sinners. 

God’s love is eternal.  It existed long before we did. His love isn’t given to some and not given to others.  Thankfully, all we need to do to experience his grace is accept Jesus as our Savior.  Easy, simple, done.  

My favorite part of who God is that God loves you even before you accept him. He cares for you even before you accepted him.  He wanted you long before you wanted him.  That is grace and that is love.

Even if you are reading this and you have been a believer a long time – remember this!  Remember that you were known by God long before you knew him.  His grace was there before you needed it.  Accept it and move on.  He wants you to live your life in peace!

“He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭103:10-14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 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.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:2-10‬ ‭NLT‬

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The molding of us

We all go through things – big and small.  Even the small things seem to get under our skin.  It’s life.  For instance, right now, I am still training for a job I have had for 3 months now. It is starting to get exhausting and become really old.  But I also know that it is making me better – a better employee and a more well-rounded person.  When I understand the end result, the journey isn’t so hard.

But then, I’ve had times when there wasn’t such small things and life got almost unbearable.  Those times when so felt like giving up, not caring about life anymore. But, in reality, it was in those times I learned my strength. 

I am sure that I am going to have more unbearable moments in my lifetime.  Each time, I hope and pray that I handle it better than the last.  

You must understand that all trails do not come from the evil of this world.  Some trials we face are things that God allows in our path to remove a certain thing from us.  We may have an attitude, a problem with anger, avoidance, bitterness, or unforgiveness.  God will, essentially, make us walk around the wilderness one more time until we finally get it (see Numbers 14).  

Take this word from James to heart and hold onto these words the next time you walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”‭‭James‬ ‭1:2-4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Live fearlessly and be blessed!!!

  

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The Tomb

Have you ever wanted something to happen – something that would transform your life – something that God has promised you will happen – and all you see around you is any and everything that contradicts that your promise is going to come to pass?  We all have seasons in our lives like this.  We know that healing will come, reconciliation will come, peace will come, jobs will come, finances will be made right, joy will be felt once again – but it seems like those things we know will happen are so far away and seem impossible to reach.

The disciples had a season like this – and it lasted just 3 days.  I can almost guarantee that it was the longest 3 days of their life, though.  When their leader was captured, killed, and laid to rest.  Can you imagine their grief?  Can you imagine the doubt they held in their head that Jesus would rise up once again?  The fear that have encompassed them must have been unbearable.  Their dream had not only died, but tortured and humiliated.

Then, everything changed!  Sunday arrived and the supernatural happened.  What was humanly impossible became real!  Their dream came alive again! (See John 19 & 20)

Do you have a dream that you doubt will ever come to pass?  A dream that God Himself placed in your heart?  Do not give into that doubt!  You will see it come to pass.  Just know that there are supernatural things happening that we cannot perceive.  God has us all in His hands.  All we have to do is trust Him!

Pray this with me:  Lord, I cast down the stronghold of fear and doubt right now.  I know that what You have promised will come to pass.  I have faith that You will do all things in my life, no matter how humanly ridiculous it may be.  I thank You for Your grace and mercy, for your precious Son who bled and died for me.  But oh how marvelous is the gift of His resurrection!  We give You honor, dear Lord.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Be blessed everyone!

promise

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