Captive Thoughts

Have you ever found yourself being consumed by fear? That was me earlier this year.  Perhaps in growing older and with my family continuing to grow I just started to get overwhelmed with the thought of things going wrong.  I finally asked myself why I was throwing around all of these what if scenarios, and I realized that, I was afraid.

When I realized it was fear, I knew it was the enemy because 2 Timothy 1:7 says that God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power love and sound mind. I was being attacked by the enemy.  But it wasn’t just his efforts.  I was actually allowing this to happen.  I was taking these wrong and negative thoughts and letting them supersede the Word of God.

The Bible says that God has given us all power over the enemy (Luke 10:19) yet we sometimes act as if we are powerless.  It’s all a trick!  The more we allow those negative thoughts to enter our mind and refuse to correct them by making them obedient to the Word of God, we are giving the enemy dominion over our thoughts.

So how do we fix this. Here are a three key actions that can help:

Feed your faith:  Every time a negative thought arises challenge it with the Word of God.  Find scriptures that fit your scenario and repeat them out loud when ever those negative thoughts enter your mind.

Take up your power:  Continue moving in the direction of your fear. The more you challenge your fear by moving towards it the more power you gain over it. You are in charge of your thoughts! Take up your power!

Know who you are:  If you don’t know who you are the enemy will try to tell you.  Don’t let the enemy define you.  God has already done that in his Word.  Go back and remind yourself. You are not a failure,  you are more than a conquerer in Christ Jesus. You are an overcomer. You are blessed.

 

The Spirit of Fear

The spirit of fear is one that we all struggle with at some point or another in our lives. I am of course no exception to this and recently I have been battling this spirit. I wanted to take some time to share a bit of what I’ve been experiencing and how I’ve been fighting it.

I pray that this insight blesses you all today and that if any of your are also battling the spirit of fear, that you remain steadfast in your effort.

You can check out the video here

Be blessed!

3 Tips To Letting Your Faith Be Bigger Than Your Fear

It’s easy to find excuses as to why we’re not ready to actively start working towards our dreams.  But no matter how we look at it, the root of those excuses is always fear. The thing to always note about fear is that it is not of God. The word tells us that God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, love and sound mind. So, whenever fear creeps into our decision making we have to immediately realize that it is the enemy.

The enemy uses fear to keep us complacent. He doesn’t want us to have everything that God has for us. If he can keep us consumed in our fear we will never have it. Here are 3 ways to tell the enemy to kick rocks and let your faith be bigger than your fear.

1. Learn who you are in Christ (there’s a reminder here) and remind yourself every time the enemy tries to bury you in fear.

2. Know that ALL things work together for your good. Even the things the enemy intended for bad.

3. Consult Christ in your plans and desires. We want to be sure that we pass any ideas we have by the Lord. Ask Holy Spirit to guide and lead you. He always will. You can find a few tips I like to use on discernment here.

That’s it! Lets stop allowing fear to dictate our lives. Cling to the word of God and trust Him even if you have no idea how it’s all going to work, especially when you have no idea how it’s all going to work. Because when it does, they’ll be know doubt in your mind that it was God.

Caught Up In Confirmation

Why is it that when God gives us a Word or some form of direction for our lives we want to wait for someone else to consign His assignment for us? That’s just crazy! But we do it all the time. We look for confirmation to do what God has already told us to do. Why?  Well, most of the time it boils down to one thing, fear. The majority of the time we’re just afraid. Afraid of failure, afraid of doing the wrong thing, afraid that God’s will won’t align with our personal desires. Fear.

Waiting for someone else to assure that the Word that God gave us is real is not only crazy, it’s dangerous.  No one is more in tune to our lives and our best interests than our Lord and Savior.  Not our friends, family or even our spouse.  And the truth of the matter is, the people we love won’t always understand or agree with the things that God has told us to do.  We’re looking for confirmation from people that have no idea what greatness God has in store for us, allowing them to speak into our lives as we move in the opposite direction God has called us.  This is why our personal relationships with Christ are so critical.

Now, seeking counsel in general is not a bad thing.  Sometimes we struggle with discernment and may not be sure that it’s God leading us in a certain direction.  In those cases I would definitely recommend leveraging three keys which I’ve outlined here.  But be careful that you don’t get caught up in confirmation.  If God has told you to do something, trust His word over anyone else’s, anyone.  Even if it makes absolutely no sense at all, trust God.  Don’t let the enemy steal what God has for you because you didn’t get confirmation on your next move.  He will clear the path before you and everything will fall in place as you glorify Him along the way.

What Are You Waiting For?

So, Holy Spirit led me to ask this simple question this morning. What are you waiting for? Often in our lives we procrastinate on making moves that have the potential to take us to the next level in our careers, spiritual or emotional lives. Most of the time it’s because we are afraid, afraid of the unknown. We ask ourselves questions like “What if it doesn’t work out?” But, what if it does?? We may also ask ourselves “What if I get hurt again?” But what if you experience love on a completely new level? We may even trick ourselves into believing that we’re waiting on God to move, when in reality He’s waiting on us.

We can’t live our lives constantly contemplating these negative “What if’s”!  That’s how we miss out on the greatness that God has for us.  Consult Christ with your desires and let Holy Spirit guide you.  If it challenges your faith, lines up with the Word of God and makes you uncomfortable, it’s likely that it’s a growth move that has the potential to change your life in a great way! Stop being afraid! Start being bold in your actions and your faith in God. God is moved by faith, the enemy by fear. 

Fear Hides In Feelings

Our feelings are one of the biggest aspects of our human nature. In some rare cases they have the ability to serve us well. What we don’t realize is how easy it is for the enemy to use our feelings, our human nature against us.

We get hurt in relationships and out of fear of feeling that pain again we over guard our hearts. We essentially allow that fear to dictate our future. We feel secure in our careers or jobs and out of fear of not having that same level of security we never pursue out dreams or true purpose in Christ. We are so afraid of being alone in life that we jump at every opportunity to be in a relationship. Our Fear hides in our feelings, and with that fear we give the enemy the power to keep us from the awesomeness that God has for us.

Trust in The Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. This is the answer to overcoming this trick of the enemy. We can’t be so quick to trust our feelings because our fears hide there and we know that God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, love and sound mind. We should instead consult Christ in our feelings.

It’s time to start being smarter about our lives and to stop allowing the enemy to trick us out of out our blessings. Let’s stop being so quick to trust our feelings, and trust God instead.