Tag: Jesus

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

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
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
Uncategorized

Introduction

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
― C.S. Lewis

Hey, we just wanted to introduce ourselves first and foremost. We are Hanna and Allison, two co-workers who became best friends! We started working together almost two years ago, and it was our first meeting. We were pretty shy around each other for the first couple of weeks but soon started to get comfortable. As we began to communicate more each day, we found one thing we shared a love for: the Lord!
It wasn’t long after that we started to play Jesus’ music every morning while working, which soon developed into reading daily devotionals, bible verses, and parts of Christian books that we had. We started our Journey with Jesus together right there in the office. We believe God sent us to the same job and position in the same room for this exact reason: to help each other grow in Christ!
Since working together, we have seen noticeable changes in each other. We have had the opportunity to watch each other grow into the Godly women the Lord created us to be, and let me tell you, it’s so heartwarming to watch someone develop into chasing God and forming that relationship with Him! Through our journey together, we set a goal to read the whole bible, and while it was hard at some points, it definitely opened our eyes to so many different things!
Now, here we are, creating our very own blog to tell our stories, share our testimonies, and give inspiration and advice to those who are just trying to do the same thing as us: grow in Christ. We all have our journeys, but it’s much better to go through them with people who share the same love and beliefs in Him as you do! We will be back soon with our next blog post, but until then, continue to let the Lord shine his light through you! 🙂