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Growth Relationships

Things That Hinder Spiritual Growth

Things that hinder your spiritual growth are obstacles or barriers that prevent you from growing in your faith and having a deeper and stronger relationship with God. Hindrances can keep you from experiencing so many things from God such as His love, His joy, His peace etc..

I’ve put together 7 common barriers that hinder our growth in Christ:

1- Certain relationships: This could be our friends, certain family members, or a spouse. The people you form relationships with also have the ability to influence you in both good and bad ways. In order to grow in Christ you have to pay close attention to who you are allowing yourself to hangout with and be around. “Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” -1 Corinthians 15:33. For growth to happen you want to be around the ones who encourage you to get in the word, lift you up in prayer, do Bible studies with you, go to church with you, the ones who are also trying to grow spiritually. But if you allow yourself to be around the ones who, party, drink, cuss, or sin without even taking a minute to look up and ask for forgiveness then chances are you probably shouldn’t hangout with them. You see by you being around them you start to get used to their behavior and before long you’ll be doing the same things they are doing. Instead of allowing that to happen maybe take a step back and see if you taking a step back affects them and makes them want to change their ways.

2- Worldly Distractions: There are so many things in this world that distract us everyday ranging from, Facebook, Instagram, tik tok, snapchat to the things on tv. In order to grow we have to spend less time on these things and more time in the word, more time with God. “But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” -Mark 4:19. Have you ever been doing a Bible study and your phone went off? Before you knew it you were checking your phone the second it went off instead of truly focusing on the Bible study you were just doing seconds before you got distracted by your phone. We have to be fully committed and willing to wait to check things until we are done with our Jesus time. He should be our number one priority, not what everyone is doing on social media.

3- Negative Thinking: This happens to the best of us, we all have some shape or form of negative thoughts going through our mind. This goes back to the post I made the other day about replacing the lies with the truth. Chances are those negative thoughts are lies that the enemy has put in your head. The enemy sees you wanting to grow spiritually and he hates that so he sends millions of negative thoughts your way to try and make you trip. We can’t allow that to happen, negative thoughts should be even more of a reason for us to get in the word so that we can replace those negative thoughts with the positive ones God left for us. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” -Philippians 4:8

4- Slothfulness/Laziness: “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper” -Proverbs 13:4. When it comes to laziness there are so many things the Bible has to say regarding this, God doesn’t like laziness and neither should we! You see if we become lazy in our spiritual journey we start to feel really far from God, we start to notice our mental state changing, we see our hearts changing and becoming hard, we no longer feel his peace or his joy. This happens when we choose to do things like go to bed rather than reading our daily Bible verse first or when we choose to go to bed claiming we are too tired to pray. If you continue in those patterns you will start to drift away. You can’t let the enemy get you there, you might be tired but you have to choose to read that verse anyway, you might be tired but you have to choose to pray anyway. It’s an ongoing process, you can’t get lazy in your spiritual journey, you have to keep choosing to do it even when you don’t feel like it! Don’t allow your tiredness to affect your growth! Continue to choose God no matter the circumstances.

5- Unhealthy Habits and addictions: Unhealthy habits and addictions, when you think of that I’m sure some of the first things that come up in your mind are drinking, drugs and smoking right? Yes those are all unhealthy habits and can become addictions but there are so many unhealthy habits you could be doing without even noticing! Like cussing, white lies, gossiping, shopping, gambling, scrolling social media etc… You see when you allow yourself to do these things on a daily basis without even realizing you are doing them they can lead you down the wrong path and they could be the reason you aren’t growing in your walk with Christ. We really have to self examine ourselves, we need to come to the realization of what we are really doing in our everyday lives and what we seriously need to work on and change. I know this can be hard to truly examine yourself and your ways but once you come to that realization it just might flip a switch inside of you that says oh my gosh I need to change this. Don’t let those unhealthy habits become an addiction, stop them before they stop you! And don’t you dare say you can’t because again can’t never could because he never tried and, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” -Philippians 4:13

6- Bitterness and resentment: These feelings happen when something wrong is done to us that we choose to hold on to instead of letting go. When you choose to hold on to something that someone did that tends to lead to holding grudges. Even if the person apologized and your still holding on to it you are hindering your own growth by simply not forgiving them and letting it go. In order to grow in this area you have to understand in order to be forgiven we also have to forgive others. Lets take it back to when Jesus was on the cross, all these hurtful things were being done to him but yet he still asked God to forgive them for what they were doing. Holding grudges doesn’t help the situation, it doesn’t make you better, it makes it worse because by doing that you are continuously getting hurt by the situation. Choose to forgive, don’t continue to bring up the past hurt, don’t continue to hold resentment against someone, do what Jesus did. I’m not saying that by forgiving the hurt will go away at that moment because it won’t. Every time that situation comes back up you have to choose to keep forgiving.

7-Lack of spiritual discipline and commitment: Growing in Christ is something you really have to be committed to. Its not something you can do one time and think you’re set for life, that’s not how it works its an everyday fight. I’ve come to learn that if you allow yourself to get side tracked on your journey, the joy, the peace, the comfort will all start to slowly feel like they are going away and your mental health will start to show the effects. The trick is you have to stick to it. I know on days when it feels like its been the worst day ever and you are just completely over it and you feel like your in a hole that you can’t get out of, your motivation might not be the greatest. But you really have to discipline yourself, make it a priority so that when days like that do happen you can look forward to getting in the word to lift your spirits up. Coming from a gym rat I know discipline is not easy, there are plenty of days I absolutely don’t feel like going to the gym but I know that if I start that behavior its automatically going to become a pattern until eventually I stop going. The same thing happens on our walk with Christ, if we don’t discipline ourselves and make it an everyday thing well eventually we aren’t going to want to do it at all until one day we realize our mental and spiritual health has went down the drain because we have abandoned our walk. But don’t for one second think just because that happens that its to late for you to start back. Its never to late God has been right there the whole time, He never left your side and that’s the amazing thing about Him, He is always there no matter what we have done or how bad we think we have screwed up this time, He is still there waiting for us to come! Start making a schedule for each day and during that schedule set out a certain time for just you and God, reading the Bible, praying, worshiping. It doesn’t matter where it is, you could be driving to work with worship music blasting, or on your lunch break listening to a sermon, or at night time before bed reading a verse and saying your prayers. Anytime is a good time as long as you are making it a point to get it in each day!

I hope these barriers help you on your walk with Christ. I encourage you to really self examine yourself and see what areas you need to work on or see if any of these barriers are hindering your growth. And please know if you have a strong feeling that you don’t need to do something, you need to stop doing something, or there’s something or someone you don’t need to be around that’s probably God trying to help you grow. Make sure you can understand when its his voice and when its the enemies voice, if it leads you to peace that’s God, if it leads you to worry or stress that’s the enemy.

I used to love horror movies like no ones business, Michael Myers was one of my favorites (yeah I know) until one day I was watching a horror movie with my husband and randomly I got this weird feeling in my stomach, I don’t really know how to explain it except for it wasn’t a good feeling. So I asked him to turn it off, and well the minute he turned it off the feeling went away. Yep that was God saying Hello you’re literally watching the devil run around on the screen WAKE UP! Sense then I haven’t watched a horror movie and I don’t want anything to do with them and I’ve felt so much more growth just from that!

There are so many things God could be telling you, you just have to be willing to listen to his guidance and follow his guidance. I know it can be scary to let go of something you are so used to but please trust me when I say this, the feeling of a weight being lifted that you didn’t even know needed to be lifted is a feeling no one can describe until it happens. You will feel so much more free from things that were holding you back and your growth will take off!

Challenge:

Ask God to show you where you need to improve, Ask him to take away anything that could be hindering your growth in him, Ask him to guide you as you go on this journey. Watch how he works and pay attention to those weird feelings you have about something or someone. Distance yourself from those somethings you have weird feelings about and see if it feels like a weight being lifted. Enjoy the journey and allow God to work in you and through you.

Categories
Controlling Your Thoughts Everyday Battles Truth

Replacing the Lies with the truth

The devil wants nothing more than to feel your head with lies. After all if he gets you to believe them once what makes you think he would stop there? If you continue to believe the lies they will continue to overflow in your head and take your thoughts captive. That’s the point, the devil wants you to be his prisoner. He wants you to get caught up in your own head. Get your popcorn because this is going to be a good one!

He could tell you one thing and the minute you choose to believe it, your thoughts go off the rails and you immediately go into overthinking mode. Its crazy how one little word or phrase sends us on a crazy thinking train, oh but wait that’s his mind game. My favorite saying “Not today satan”, yeah you’re going to need to use that ALOT! When those thoughts hit, your mind starts to look like the episode of SpongeBob where the inside of his mind is on fire in complete chaos. You’re running around in your head trying to figure out where this came from, who said that, what just happened and where this is being held.

Welcome to the mind game the enemy loves to play. The only thing is we didn’t sign up to play. Think about this, if you chose not to believe the thoughts as soon as they pop up in your head, and take a minute to compare what the enemy is trying to get you to believe to what God actually says what would happen? You would soon come to realize its all lies that you’ve fallen for and led yourself to believe. Your thought process is “if it keeps coming up in my head then it must be true” or “if I continue to think this it must mean something”. They actually don’t mean anything except for you’re being held captive in a prison cell that you didn’t realize existed.

Getting pretty deep right? Its okay we all struggle with the enemies lies the key is to replace them with Gods truth. I’m not saying its a cake walk by any means so please don’t leave this post today thinking oh okay if I just replace this lie with Gods truth one time it won’t happen again.. WRONG. The enemy will continue to attack you no matter how many times you replace a lie with a truth he will come back with another one. That’s why it is so important to continue to fight back with Gods truth, this is not just a one and done deal its a continuous thing that you have to keep choosing to do in order to fully defeat it. Its a spiritual battle that we all face but we serve a God who fights these battles with us.

I’ve seen so many people in these situations say they are waiting on God to get them out or they are waiting on God to fight for them. The truth is we have a responsibility in it all as well we can’t just expect God to do it all for us while we sit here not doing our part. We have to fight to, we have to put on the armor of God and stand up to the enemy. “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness in this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” -Ephesians 6:11-13

Let me ask you this, when you say “I can’t” did you really try, did you pray about it, did you give it to God, did you ask Him for his help? Or did you just let the thought of “I can’t” take control and you just decided you weren’t going to really try? You see when I was little my grandma would always tell me, “Well can’t never could because he never tried” and dang if she wasn’t right every time. Grandma was a very Godly woman so she knew exactly what was happening in my mind when I would say “I can’t” and she knew just the right thing to fight it back with and that’s because she spent time with God everyday, she was in the word everyday, she was praying everyday.

You see in order to accomplish something you have to keep continuously trying, you can’t give up the minute the enemy puts “I can’t” in your head. Replace that “I can’t” with Gods truth of “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” -Philippians 4:13 or “Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” -Matthew 19:26. When you start to replace the lies the enemy throws at you with Gods truth you are standing up against him, you are letting him know you aren’t going to play his game anymore. That doesn’t mean he is going to back down just yet but when you do this continuously God will help you win the battle!

The next time the enemy fills your head with a lie, dig into Gods word to see what truth you can replace that lie with. But beware the minute you let your guard down the enemy will come ten times stronger. We have to stay on guard. We have to work at it daily. Its just like building your relationship with Christ, it doesn’t happen in a day it happens over time. If you stick to replacing the lies with the truth daily over time you will see the change, you will feel more at peace instead of stressed and overthinking. It will happen in time but you have to play your part to.

Recommended Books to read to help with this:

-Winning The War In your Mind By: Craig Groeschel

Sermons to help with this:

-Tuning your heart to the Truth By: Steven Furtick

Tune Your Heart To Truth | Pastor Steven Furtick | Elevation Church
Categories
Everyday Battles Insecurity Patience Praying Shyness

Life As A Shy Kid

Hey, Allison here and I want to share a little bit about my life growing up. We’re going to focus on how I was a shy kid and got out of it. Trust me even now as a twenty one year old I still have my moments, but its much better than before.

Most of us know shyness is usually a person that doesn’t speak up in class because of nerves or uncomfortableness. People who are shy can be insecure and have anxiety. They also tend to blush, feel shaky, sweaty, or even speechless when the spotlight hits them. Hi, that was me and still is sometimes. I was always the quiet kid in school never raising my hand to answer a question and hating when I got called on. Most of the time I felt like the outcast and that everyone else knew the answers to the problem but me. When I did get called on it seemed like everyone looked at me and my face heated up. It turned bright tomato red and I knew everyone could see it. It was embarrassing. I also hated reading out loud because what if I misread a word? If I knew I was next to read I was always reading the next part that would be mine to see if there were any words I did not know and try to pronounce in my head. Being shy also meant I struggle to ask for help. I did not like math at all! It didn’t come to me easily as it did for others so I made do without asking for help.

Shy kids don’t always have lots of friends at least in my experience that is true. I did make friends along the way but if there wasn’t anyone I knew in my classes the struggle for me was harder. Presentations were the worst! Public speaking is something I never liked doing hence why I never wanted to raise my hand in class. It meant everyone would hear my answer and if I was wrong then what? Then I would be embarrassed and feel stupid.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

God does not want us to lack courage or confidence. He wants us to be proud to be who we are. If we say something incorrect then oh well we can study so we are better for next time. God never said you weren’t allowed to make mistakes. I know it will take some time if you are shy. It can not be fixed in one day. It took me years to make lots of progress. Pray about it and ask God to put you in situations that are out of your comfort zone. That is how I became more independent and extroverted.

Okay, now here is where I get into the part about becoming less shy and let me warn you it involves the sport ice hockey. Hanna knows I talk about this constantly and it is because God put it in my path to get me out of my comfort zone. I am passionate about hockey just like I am about God. God comes first as he always should!

Back in March 2019 I attended my first Federal Prospects Hockey League game or for short you can call it the FPHL. Some might call it the beer league and I will get to why later. In Winston Salem we have a team called the Carolina Thunderbirds. The name has been changed over the years but for the last six that name has stuck. It was cancer night and I had never watched a hockey game before at least not that I had recalled. It wasn’t much of an action kind of game like I had heard. The score was 1-1 and the third period was almost over. Well believe it or not right before my very eyes the puck went into the back of the net with one second left. Yes, ONE SECOND. Can you imagine the feeling in that arena? The cheers, the celebrating on the ice, and me jumping up and down? Yeah, well that happened and after it all I met four great players! Three who are still around the league today.

The hockey games did not stop there and my shyness didn’t either. I still struggled with it at school but hockey was making it better because I cheered for my team not caring what people thought around me. I even met a lot of new people. Before hockey, my weekends consisted of staying in, A LOT, and playing on my phone or watching movies/TV. Now that I have this great sport in my life I am at the arena almost every weekend and occasionally on a week night. I cheer for my team win or lose and I get the chance to talk to these hockey players. You can’t talk to an NHL player like Sebastian Aho from the Carolina Hurricanes after the game and have a beer with him aka why it’s called beer league hockey. You can drink with the players after almost any game, get pictures, autographs, and have meaningful conversations. They’re basically local celebrities to our city, but it’s more than that for me.

In 2022 my family and I joined the Thunderbirds booster club and it also helped with my shyness. We got the privilege to adopt a hockey player, get to know him, take him out to eat, etc. He gave me my first hockey stick and I cherish that thing! We even had a super bowl party with the guys and do all sorts of things for them. Not only did hockey bring out my extroverted side it helps me help others. If you don’t know hockey then you don’t know that these players in the FPHL hardly make any money. Some work jobs outside of hockey and it’s not easy when the medical bills pile up from getting a tooth knocked out or breaking a bone. There is lots of fighting in the FPHL which leads to injuries. As a booster club member we help where we can. This year is my families second year with the booster club. Before the 2023-2024 season even started we donated a queen sized mattress to one of the houses the guys live in and a full size futon for the coach. We didn’t buy it brand new it was used and they didn’t care. They appreciated what they could get and didn’t want brand new. (Literally the Captain of the team said don’t buy anything brand new.) My family and I also host a concert with our friends from Nashville. This time right before the season started after training camp we prepped food for the entire team! Now that is a lot of grown men to cook for! There were around perhaps twenty hockey players at my house in October 2023 and it was wild. It made me feel great though to know I was helping.

I never thought a sport would flip my life upside down but here I am with so many new people in my life I never would have met if it weren’t for hockey. These people not only share the love of hockey but also the love of Jesus. I’ve traveled away from my family to see this team play with people I barely knew. (Talk about getting out of your comfort zone!) It’s amazing how our God works each and every day. He puts you in places you’d never expect. I know we all have ups and downs but I am so thankful to have the life I have today even with the struggles. One of my favorite sayings is: Blessed and hockey obsessed.

I’m glad I started off shy in life so I could bloom later on. I’m not perfect (we all knows Jesus is the only perfect one.) I will probably never be 100% comfortable in some situations. What I do know is that Jesus is there for us during the struggles whether we see it or not. Jesus is proud of you and loves you even when you fail or think you have failed. Wherever you are on your journey right now know that God has got you. He has always been there and will never leave.

Categories
Everyday Battles Insecurity

Dealing with Insecurities and Body Image

Yep there it is, the word we all know to well, Insecurities. The struggle can be real when facing these. For women I feel like it has to do more with body image but for men maybe more of am I good enough but both can happen to all of us. Regardless of what insecurities you face lets talk about how God can get us through them!

I struggle with body image on a daily basis, its not always the prettiest battle and its not always the easiest. Insecurities can make you feel like complete crap and facing them can be rather difficult. The good news is God left us a whole book (The Bible) with so many helpful words and advice on how to deal with these stubborn thoughts from the enemy!

Let’s start with Genesis, Genesis 1:27 states “So God created human beings* in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” We are created in Gods image, he made us exactly how he wanted us. He picked our body, our hair, our eyes every single detail! But yet we can struggle so much with the enemy getting into our head telling us “you’re ugly” “you’re to fat” “you’re to skinny” “you’re not enough” etc…

Now fast forward to Psalm 139:14 which states “You are beautiful, for you are fearfully and wonderfully made.” and Song of Solomon 4:7 “You are altogether beautiful my darling there is no flaw in you.” You see God knew the enemy would fill our heads with these thoughts and insecurities but he prepared Bible verses for that. He tells us we are beautiful and without flaw because he made us in his image. Just knowing that you are beautiful to God is enough, knowing he looks at you and automatically thinks that.

The problem is in todays culture if you aren’t up to date with the latest trends, fashion, or even up to someone’s standards they will let you know which is not okay. “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” (1 Peter 3:3-4) We should not live our lives based on what the world thinks or says about us, we should live our lives off of what God said about us and what God thinks about us.

After reading 1 Peter 3:3-4 we learn that our beauty doesn’t come from the outward appearance, our beauty lies within our spirit! You can quickly conclude that insecurities come from the world because the world only wants to look at what’s on the outside, they don’t want to take the time to see what’s on the inside. Someone could have the sweetest and purest spirit but they would still get labeled ugly by the world because of their outward appearance. We can’t allow the world to get in our heads and change the way we see ourselves, our self image needs to be in Christ!

Insecurities are an issue within the flesh. Here’s what God says about flesh related problems: “Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.  For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” -Romans 8:12-14. You see if we continue to allow insecurities in, we are slowly killing our spirit. We are supposed to die to self everyday, “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3), “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

In order to face the insecurities we have to go to God, we have to leave them all at his feet trusting he is going to help us get through them. We have to die to ourselves and pick up the new creation that we are in Christ! Get in his word, he left us a whole book that is filled with so much advice regarding any insecurity you may face. “I’m not good enough” -Jeremiah 1:5, “I’m ugly” -Isaiah 64:8 and so much more. I’m telling you the Bible is filled with so many kind words our heart and head need to hear and know when facing insecurities so that with the help of God we can defeat that enemy!

Key Bible Verses:

–“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform 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’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” -Romans 12:1-2

–“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” -Galatians 2:20

–“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” -1 Corinthians 3:16

Songs to help:

-You say By: Lauren Daigle

-God only knows By: For King & Country

Categories
Relationships

How your relationship with God impacts the ones around you

Hanna here, today I want to talk about how your relationship with Christ impacts the ones closest to you! I’ve been growing my relationship with Christ more in the past two years than ever before! I’ve noticed how its started to impact the people around me. I got baptized last February and not long after that I picked up on some changes with my husband. First he got saved! I then noticed instead of stressing out in situations he would say “its going to be okay”, “Gods got it”, “stop stressing” etc… Its the little things that start to go a long way. If the people around you see how your relationship with Christ is changing you they will soon want that to and they will start to pick up on certain things and think maybe I should change how I do this etc…

Our relationship with Christ could be a saving grace for someone else. You never truly know how you can impact someone or how you have helped them without physically helping them. God may have given you a certain characteristic that someone else may need help with and through you He helps them. There are so many things God is doing through you that you may not even realize. Look around you, has anyone around you slowly started to change little things? I’ve also noticed that when people are around me they tend to cuss less and if they do they always say “oops sorry Hanna” well there is no need to say sorry to me, say sorry to the Lord but the fact they are realizing its wrong is a starting point!

To help us see how our relationship impacts the ones around us and how God can use us, I asked a few of my close friends and family how my relationship with Christ impacts them and here’s what they said:

-“I love it! It inspires me to become closer to God and it helps me feel more relaxed knowing there’s people around me who are willing to be closer to God.”

-“We build our relationship with God together!! So it influences me to keep building it and growing the relationship I have with Him!”

-“Hanna’s relationship with Christ helps me do better as a Christian. If I say or do something she helps me stay on track. My relationship becomes stronger with not only her but with God because of her strong trust and faith in the Lord.”

-“You made me see the bright side to things, the way you show me bible verses to help me understand and you make me realize more and more of the things He is in control of.”

-“It makes me want to become closer to Christ and to set an example for my daughter. With you being so young its amazing to see you on the path and I pray my daughter follows that same path.”

-“You inspired me to make prayer boards!”

-“I see how God has played a part in your life and it makes me want to have a relationship with God like yours. Your relationship has made me open to going to church again and I feel like God is working on me.”

You see if God didn’t put it on my heart to ask the question of how my relationship with Christ impacts the ones around me, I would of never knew I helped/ made this kind of impact on the people above. My mind is blown that God has been doing this through me the whole time. You see we often times wonder what our purpose is and we ask Him to lead us to it but we could be in the middle of it without even knowing. He truly has opened my eyes and heart by this. Maybe you feel as if you aren’t doing enough but just remember God could be doing something through you that you aren’t aware of yet!

Challenge:

I challenge you to ask the people around you how your relationship with Christ impacts them and see what they say, maybe your eyes will be opened to how God has been working through you this whole time. You’ll be surprised by their responses and what He can do through you!

Key Bible Verses:

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” -Ephesians 3:20

“It is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” -Philippians 2:13

Categories
Fear

Fear

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” -Deuteronomy 31:6

Fear, an emotion we have all felt and experienced more than once in our life. After all it is known as one of the most basic Human emotions and works like an instinct. We get the sense of fear when we are in a place we have never been or going into the unknown, when we don’t feel safe or feel as if there is danger ahead. But God tells us not to fear because He goes before us and protects us!

You may be wondering how are we supposed to truly respond to fear when we start to feel it, well the answer to that is the Bible. When we start to feel fear creeping in we should go to the Bible for comfort, knowing that God has so many things to say to us when we feel this emotion. In fact did you know the term “fear not” is written in the Bible 365 times…. there’s 365 days in a year… look i’m telling you God works in mysterious ways. Right there is proof, it was written 365 times because every day we face fear but are told fear not!

If we allow fear to continue to come in, we are giving it the opportunity to steal our joy and peace. I was doing a Bible study the other day and it was talking about the time David escaped from Saul and went to King Achish, but the officers that were there knew who David was and when David heard their comments he was afraid of what they might do to him. David knew they would try to kill him but instead of freaking out and letting that fear take over he knew he had to do something. “So he pretended to be insane, scratching on doors and drooling down his beard.” (1 Samuel 21:13)

God wants us to have power filled faith to be able to stand in a world filled with fear. When fear comes in we have to stand in faith knowing that God is with us and He went before us so He has already won the battle. We have to trust Him and take the step of faith. I know we face some scary things in life like, death, losing a job, illnesses etc… but we have to be at peace knowing all of these things are happening because it was all in Gods plan and He has a reason for all of it. Going through storms is how God prepares us for the rainbow after. Instead of letting fear come in and take over, pray over it, leave it with God and take the next step he will be right there with you. Don’t allow the emotions to get the best of you and rob you of the joy and peace God has already provided you with!

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” -Isaiah 41:10

“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” -Psalm 34:4

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” -Psalm 23:4

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” -Psalm 27:1

Challenge:

I challenge you to read some of the stories in the Bible about the ones who overcame fear so you can see what faith as small as a seed can do to fear!

Stories:

-The disciples being afraid of the storm: Mark 4:35-41

-Peter walking on water: Matthew 14:22-33

-Abraham sacrificing his son: Genesis 22

Categories
Controlling Your Thoughts Everyday Battles

Everyday Battles Part 2- The Struggle Is Real

Proverbs 10:31 — The New King James Version (NKJV) The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, But the perverse tongue will be cut out.

Hey, it’s Allison here to talk about another everyday battle Christians deal with. The thing about us Christians is that we are warriors. We go through a lot of the same battles each day. We get better and worse and proceed to go back and forth with the devil. We are strong because we have Jesus on our side and that is how we keep fighting the same battles.

How many of you have used a curse word? I’m sure a lot of us have. Growing up I heard my parents curse out of frustration and once I hit middle school everyone was using foul language. I began cursing in middle school because other people were doing it. I thought it was cool because everything other people are participating in is cool, right? No, absolutely not.

Cursing does not honor God, not even a little bit. We curse when we are angry, frustrated, sad, confused, and during so many other emotions. Sometimes we let a word slip out and apologize to God immediately after, I know I have done that. We are not perfect Christians and as I have said before we all make mistakes. Cursing happens to be one of those mistakes. Even inside our minds we curse or under our breath so no one will hear. Guess what? The Lord can read our minds, he sees everything, and hears everything. God knew you were going to say that word that starts with an F. He knew it when you were an infant before your innocent self got exposed to the evilness of this world. The things you see and hear that don’t seem like they honor the Lord are from the devil. It is to distract you and turn you down a different path.

Prayer is a powerful action. Pray to make the temptations of cursing go away, to make the thoughts go away. If you have to distance yourself around those you care about to do better then do so. Maybe tell them you don’t like to here them talk that way. I’ve been told before that is not lady like to curse and it is not. It is not Christian like to curse so by all means if you can refrain from it. Our journey with Christ will always have obstacles, but when we pray, read the Bible, listen to worship music, and attend church we have a better chance at overcoming those obstacles then on our own. The struggle is indeed real, the question is are you going to let that struggle take over?

Categories
Forgiveness

Forgiveness

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you.” -Colossians 3:13

Why is forgiveness so important? Why should I forgive them for what they did to me if they don’t seem to care? Do I really have to? Do these questions sound familiar? Today we are going to talk about why it is so important to forgive in all circumstances.

We all sin and fall short of the Glory of God “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). Here’s the thing none of us are perfect but we are all forgiven through Jesus! So let me ask you this why is it so hard for us to forgive someone when they do us wrong, or cause us hurt? We are called to be like Jesus, loving and forgiving as He has. When he was on the cross, he asked for forgiveness for the ones who were hurting him “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). Can we just pause and take a minute of amazement at this one verse…. He was being stabbed, spit on, and nailed but yet still went to God in prayer asking for forgiveness over them!

That just simply leaves me speechless every time. I know forgiveness is not always the easiest thing because you can forgive someone but still remember what happened but that’s the thing, the devil will keep putting it back in your head to make you feel those emotions all over again. The key is to keep forgiving it/them every time it comes back up in your head! Keep choosing forgiveness no matter how many times or how long it takes.

Now just because you forgive someone doesn’t mean you still have to be around them, or be their friend. You can forgive someone and set boundaries and love them from a distance. Forgiveness is so important because in order for us to be forgiven we also have to forgive! “And Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors… For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:12, 14-15).

Forgiveness will also help you heal, it will change you as a person! When you forgive you are choosing to grow, you grow into a better person, a better version of yourself, and you grow your relationship with Christ. When you choose not to forgive you are choosing to hold that grudge in your heart until eventually you take it out on someone else who didn’t even cause it and you hinder your spiritual growth. Forgiveness will stop those built up emotions from forming inside.

I personally know it’s not easy, I’ve been lied to, cheated on, taken for granted, taken advantage of etc…. but the moment I chose to forgive I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders like God saying “okay I’ve got it now you don’t have to hold on to it anymore”. Forgiveness frees you from those chains that are trying to hold you down and guess what? God is a chain breaker!

Challenge:

The next time you get hurt in a situation, choose to forgive instead of holding a grudge, choose to grow into a better version of yourself, chose to grow into the Godly version of yourself the one who wants to be more like Jesus. Don’t hinder your growth by holding grudges!

Categories
Friendship

Where To Draw The Line

1 Thessalonians 5:11 — The New International Version (NIV) Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Hey, Allison here. I’m going to dig into my past again this time discussing friendship and where to draw the line. This happened when I was in high school and as you know drama tends to exist in high school. A lot. For me the person I was friends with created the drama so when it followed her around it followed me to. If you’re like me you don’t want any part of the drama.

When starting high school I didn’t have a huge slew of friends. My best friend went to another school and I had to find new or old friends. The one that had drama follow her around was a friend I had known since preschool. We fell out of touch over the years and high school reconnected us. It was like we had been good friends this entire time and no space was ever between us.

Junior year is when she and I were very close. This was the first year we got to attend prom because no juniors or seniors had asked us the previous years. We were both excited. We will call my friend T. T was dating a guy who was a senior at the time and wanted to set me up with his best friend who we will call A. I wasn’t 100% sure I liked A or that I wanted to be set up. It of course didn’t work out like I had thought and soon T and her boyfriend broke up. The next week I had found out T cheated on her boyfriend with A and now T was going to prom with A too! What happened next was even crazier. T blocked me on social media and I didn’t do anything at least not that I was aware of. Now T and I were not friends. Fast forward to prom T and I saw each other and were civil to one another. We didn’t talk much and it was as if we hardly knew each other. I was hurt by her actions.

Summer came and T reached out to me to apologize. We reconnected for a little bit and then T blocked me again. I didn’t understand why she was acting this way. We had been good friends and grew up going to school together. Why did she not want to be my friend anymore? T did this a few more times and I kept saying yes. I wanted to be her friend. I thought there is no way she would do this to me again, right? Wrong. The last time I said yes to being friends with T was right before the start of senior year. We agreed to be friends and have no drama between us. Everything went fine up until December. It was two weeks before Christmas break and if you read my blog about Christian dating you probably remember the part where a guy ghosted me. Well the guy ghosted me and T stopped being my friend on the same day. Crazy enough I remember the exact date. Tuesday, December 10, 2019. T, the guy, and me all shared the same first period. T didn’t talk to me nor did the guy and T had blocked me again. I was lost and upset.

I had other friends that stuck by my side that week, but the following week they were gone too. The guy that ghosted me and another friend of mine chose T. I didn’t know that people would pick sides when I wasn’t in the wrong. To this day I don’t really know or understand what happened but I think someone must’ve stuck a dirty shoe in their mouth. One of my teachers noticed T and I weren’t speaking one day because we sat next to each other. That teacher had me and T called up to the principals office. I was not happy because out of all the years I had been in school I had never been to the principals office. Our school was big and we had assigned principals by last name. T had a different one than me. When my principal asked what was going on I told her the truth. T was being toxic. My principal had T moved away from me in that specific class and things went back to normal. Other friends backed me up and I became okay. After all I was graduating early and did on January 21, 2020. I left the drama behind me.

Jesus wants you to love everyone and forgive. I know that is hard, but if our Lord can do it then you can too. Sometimes we have to draw the line and say no. I always wonder if I would have said no sooner would it have saved me from the pain and heartache I went through? I wouldn’t change what happened even if I had a time machine because what happened was God’s plan. The things I went through made me a stronger person. If someone is being toxic in your life whether it be a friend, a boyfriend, or a family member it is okay to love them from a distance. They do deserve your forgiveness too. Everyone makes mistakes because we are human. Love your friends and encourage them. Don’t degrade them. As the saying goes treat others how you would want to be treated and most importantly be more like Jesus.

Categories
Joy

Are you letting others steal your joy?

“This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” -Psalm 118:24

Everyday our Joy comes from the Lord, so why are we so quick to let someone or something ruin it? Are you letting someone’s attitude, actions, mood, or words ruin your day and change your mood? For most of us this happens on a daily basis, we wake up hoping to have a good day only to start the day and let what someone else did or say ruin the whole day (like the car you said some words to this morning because they pulled out in front of you) haha Guilty?

As followers of Christ it is important to know that our joy doesn’t come from worldly things, it doesn’t come from the people around us, it comes from Christ himself! “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13) I’ve noticed in the world today, a lot of people say “I’ll be joyful when…” but the thing is you can be joyful now without having what you think you need in order to experience joy!

You see God loves us so much that He has already filled us with his Holy Spirit, he’s already filled us with His joy, His peace, His strength, etc. But so many people think they need all these things just to simply feel joy. The Key is you have to tap in to the joy that is already inside of you. For example instead of letting one car pulling out in-front of you ruin your good mood how about you just say a prayer for them hoping they get to where they are going safely.

Or lets say you woke up and it wasn’t the greatest environment in your household, instead of carrying around the negative energy with you, take it to God so he can handle it while you are at work so that you can come back home to peace! When you choose to let one thing or one person ruin your mood or your whole day you tend to carry that energy around with you and eventually you either one, rub it off on the people around you causing them to have a bad day or two, you lash out at someone else not even realizing you are doing to them what was done to you and in turn you have now ruined their day too.

Before you let someone else steal your joy remember that each day is a day that the Lord has made, He woke you up this morning because He is not done with you yet! He has already filled you with the joy and strength you need to get through each day. Instead of saying you’ll be joyful when you have this, this and this, tap in to what is already inside of you knowing that God has already filled you with everything you need! If this is something you really struggle with I encourage you to ask the Lord to change your heart, change the way you look at situations, change what your joy depends on, and help you to depend on Him more.

Strive to be more like Jesus each day, spread His joy. Take every battle that you face to Him in prayer, leave it with Him instead of taking matters into your own hands, Pray for the people who are having bad days instead of letting them ruin yours! Prayer is the most powerful weapon against anything. “I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s call, what is the richness of God’s glorious inheritance among believers.” (Ephesians 1:18)

Challenge:

As you go through this week, I challenge you to not let anyone or anything steal the Joy God has given you, I challenge you to pray for the ones who try to steal it instead of letting them and pray over any situation that tries to steal it! Stand firm knowing that God is always in it with you, and fighting for you!

Songs to help:

God is Not Against Me By: Elevation Worship

I Surrender By: Hillsong Worship