- Adversity, Bible, Encouragement, Faith, Hope in God, Life Battles, Liturgy, Mental Health, Psalms, Struggle
We Can Lift Up the Troubles of Our Soul to A Good & Trustworthy God
What in your soul is troubling you right now friend? I know that’s not a regular way of speaking nowadays, but it is so necessary. Here’s why… I know this to be true. God cares about me and about you and the specific circumstances and relationships of our life. I Can Bring My Cares to God. I can bring before God my uncertainty, my overwhelmedness, my pain, my wounding, and my trauma. He hears. He turns toward me. He is the protector and lifter up of my head. As Psalm 25 says— I can lift up my soul to Him. That idea is so comforting and soothing to me in…
- Bible, Bible teaching, Choose Joy In the Midst, Faith, Life Battles, Life Storms, Lisa Harper, spiritual warfare, Truth
Meeting Lisa Harper & Stepping Out In Faith
The last 8 days have been hard and filled with spiritual attacks and difficulties. They have also had God’s gracious blessings and leading as well. Read more about both below. First, I want to share the ending… I was at a conference this week and was blessed to meet and talk with Lisa Harper. I even got a picture with her and got to give her my business card for Choose Joy In the Midst and speak on hard topics, to include my upcoming book. If you are not familiar— Lisa Harper is a strong believer in Jesus, a theologian, speaker, author, and she doesn’t take herself too seriously. She…
- Anxiety, Bible, Caregiving, Coping strategies, Faith, Fear, Focusing on Truth, Overcome anxiety & worry, positive self-talk, Prayer, Pursuing health and wholeness, spirit of fear, Trauma
How to Deal With Fear and Anxiety Part 2- Focus on Powerful Truth
I learned how to do life with fear alongside.Not leading the way, not overtaking me… but fear in its’ proper place- as a tool to give information, and as an emotion to acknowledge. In caregiving for my child with a life-threatening diagnosis, I clung to the powerful truth found in 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” I prayed it. I told God I didn’t want the spirit of fear and asked Him to help me have His power, His love, His sound mind. It wasn’t a one and done conversation. It was…
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Stop Fighting Fear by Sheer Willpower; Instead Do This.
“Willing ourselves to stop fearing and then shaming ourselves when we do is not the way forward.” -Amber Jeann Parker Can I get an Amen? I believe that consuming fear, a spirit of fear, is from the enemy of your soul, from Satan. It’s one of his plans to take you down, friend. We don’t have the power to fully get rid of it on our own though- through our own sheer willpower.God is the One who can help us though. God is the One who can change and transform us.He gives us His Spirit. His Spirit brings life & peace. Can I tell you— Feeling shame for having fear…
- break the stigma, Choose Joy, Choose Joy In the Midst, Mental Health, Not Alone, Overcome anxiety & worry, PTSD, PTSD, Pursuing health and wholeness, Stress response, Trauma
You Are Not ALONE In Your Battle.
You are not ALONE in your battle. Do you believe it? Do you have anyone in your corner, supporting you, coming alongside you in the battle(s) you are facing? Have you opened up to anyone and shared the silent or secret battle you face? Have you let anyone in friend? Do you have someone in your life who feels safe and you can trust to share what you are battling? I believe community is *vital* to making it through the battles we face. Safe, trustworthy, confidential, supportive community. Did you know “there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). This is talking about Jesus. Jesus is…
- Bible teaching, Choose Joy, Choose Joy In the Midst, Faith, Fear, Fighting for Joy, Focusing on Truth, Hope in God
A Spirit of Fear- Getting Free From its’ Bondage
If you are wondering why there’s such a jolting color contrast of the words to the background, it is to show the desired change in our hearts and our lives. It is to emphasize the strong reminder that we are not to live in fear. A spirit of fear is not from God. If it doesn’t come from God, then it is from the enemy of your soul, from Satan. From God comes light— To live and walk with God is to walk in light and truth… To have power, love, and a sound mind as 2 Timothy 1:7 says. Are you walking with God or are you allowing the…
- Bible teaching, Encouragement, Faith, Fighting for Joy, Focusing on Truth, Life Storms, New Life, positive self-talk
New Life into the Dead & Broken Parts
God can breathe new life into what was dead, past hope, broken, & done for. God has been at work slowly doing this in my own life.It’s not over yet. It is a process. There are ups and downs as I move forward in it.I have to keep trusting that God is doing a good thing in my life— creating it. Forming it. Reforming the clay, me, as He desires. There is a submission and surrender.My role is to obey. To surrender. To persevere. To yield to what He desires.Hebrews 12: 1a–2 (ESV) says “…let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us…
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Spiritual Battle- No Weapon Will Prosper.
Spiritual battle is real. Over this last week our family has been hit with spiritual battles— multiple ones. It is not new for us to be hit with spiritual attacks. Satan has the same playbook- and keeps hitting hard to back us down from what God is calling us to, but those who are God’s people have a promise found in Isaiah 54:17a. No weapon formed against you shall prosper. No weapon formed against me will prosper. God fights my battles. He is sovereign over all. The verse leading up to this one shows that God is the creator over the one who comes at you to attack you as…
- Declare, Declare Proclaim Boldly, Encouragement, Fighting for Joy, Focusing on Truth, God’s mighty power, Hope in God, Life Battles, Life Storms, Mental Health, Proclaim, Pursuing health and wholeness, Word of the Year, WOTY, WOTY 2024
2024 Word(s) Of the Year: Declare/Proclaim…Boldly
My 2024 Word(s) of the year are: Declare/Proclaim …Boldly. This comes out of Psalm 118:17 & Ephesians 6:19-20. The Lord brought these verses to me in late November and early December, and I began to notice the words- Declare. Proclaim. As Psalm 118:17 states, “I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done.” This deeply resonates with me. There has been so much that has felt like death in the last 8 years. And there has been actual death (2 angel babies) and also the caregiving and navigating 3 very different life-threatening illnesses/diagnoses for my husband and 2 of my children and close calls with…
- Bible teaching, Christmas, Encouragement, God’s Love, Hope in God, Life Battles, Life Storms, Overcome anxiety & worry, Peace
Peace In & Through Jesus
Peace. In Jesus, we may have peace. Jesus is the One who brings peace, hope, & joy into a troubled world. He came down to earth to overcome the world and bring a way for True Hope & True Peace, through Himself. In this verse, Jesus was preparing His disciples for when He would not be present anymore. He told them they would have trouble. He didn’t say if or you might have trouble. He said— you will. We will have trouble in this world. When trouble comes, though, we can take heart in the knowledge that Jesus has overcome the world. We can be encouraged in the midst of…