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In: Bible and Theology, Fear and Anxiety, God's promises, Lament, Prayer and Devotions

“ The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:1-3) These words of comfort reach across ages. The promise is true today. Humble yourself under the Lord’s rod and His staff and trust and hear no other voice. You know his voice, for you are his, chosen out of the world, beautiful and precious in his eyes. If you are tired, wrung out, stressed out, discouraged, and/or afraid, allow him to lay you downRead More →

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In: Bible and Theology, Fear and Anxiety, Prayer and Devotions

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” When we’re feeling so discouraged, frightened and dismayed is saying the least, this verse can feel like more expectations we can’t possibly live up to. But there’s a difference between God and Man. When the Lord commands someone to do the impossible, a miracle bringing his word to pass usually accompanies the person’s faithful obedience. Not surprising, then, that the context of this verse is both another promise he will never leave us nor forsake us,Read More →

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In: Bible and Theology, Fear and Anxiety, Prayer and Devotions

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7) This is very good news for many of us who struggle with not only fear, but discipline issues. Self-control has never been my strong suit. I  suspect I could probably get a medical diagnosis making it official, in fact. So I am ever grateful God’s Spirit helps with that, because I am rather helpless at it in my own flesh. On the other hand, we can start to beat ourselves up when reading this. God’s given us a spirit of power, love, and self-control, yet weRead More →

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In: Bible and Theology, Fear and Anxiety, Prayer and Devotions

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” (1 John 4:18) I have often turned this into a source of guilt rather than power. I struggle with fear, therefore my love is imperfect and inadequate. Such negative thinking does us no good and serves no purpose but to discourage us, and therefore is from the devil and should be cast out. Rather than beating ourselves up for our inadequacies, lets focus on the truth that, by focusing on our love for God and cultivating a Christ-likeRead More →

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In: Bible and Theology, Fear and Anxiety, Legalism, Prayer and Devotions, Sin and Holiness

“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) Lately, I’ve been using the Verse of the Day for this column (M-F), and I groaned a bit when this came up. In the conservative circles that have heavily influenced me in my walk with Christ, this verse is most often mentioned in the context of disapproving of the media our brother chooses to consume.  We would generally be wiser to take heed to what media we feed ourselves, asRead More →