Showing posts with label Hope. Show all posts

Don't Give up Hope

Monday, May 12, 2014


I scrolled down my Facebook updates smiling at the new engagement ring on my old college friends finger. The status reads we're engaged!!!!! I can only imagine the broad smile that lights up her face as she reads the numerous comments of congratulations from family and friends. My heart does a little dance in merriment for another sweet soul finding that special person in her life.

 I continue to scroll down the news updates and see yet two more photos of girls in wedding dresses. A little further down the page I see another photo of a sweet friend grinning ear to ear in her beautiful satin white wedding dress taken last month. 

 Then of course there's the wedding of my cousin in a year that has my whole family and I in a flurry of excitement. (This is after the recent wedding of my other cousin this past fall.) There are lots of other fun announcements of relationships, engagements and growing families. It makes me smile at all the changes that are happening.

 This is most definitely a wedding season. The smiles, laughter, excitement and hopeful anticipation have captured the hearts of my family and friends. In the midst of it all though, my heart still waits. Yet by God's grace, I don't give up hope. After all the God who made the entire world and all that is in it, knows His plans for me. He knows when and where all things will take place. He's got the whole world in His hands, and that includes me and the man that He has for me. God can sovereignly orchestrate our meeting together at any place and any time. It's merely a matter of trusting His plan. 

 Perhaps  you find yourself in a similar situation today. Waiting, hoping, longing for marriage. You look around and see what seems like absolutely everyone else but you finding that special someone. It can be discouraging at times, even painful to wonder if you've missed something...

 'Did I not get the memo?'

'Am I doing something wrong?'

'Is there something wrong with .... me?'

No. There was no memo. No you're not doing something wrong. NO! There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. If you're trusting God, waiting on Him and finding your identity in Christ then you needn't worry. God will guide you and bring you to the right person at the right time. Remember He's got the whole world in His hands including you and your future husband/wife.

There may be times of waiting, discouragement and even pain, but God is with you in the midst of it all. He sees your questions, your doubts and fears. He knows how you feel as you watch people around you rejoice in the new chapters of their life. He knows how to help you in your times of need. Trust Him to do His will in your life.

Don't give up hope. God knows the exact time and place you're supposed to meet that special someone and His timing is never early nor late. Trust in His Sovereignty. Trust in His plan.


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Truth vs Deception Part Two: More than Conquerors

Wednesday, February 13, 2013


Deception in the Garden

Eve was deceived. The serpent, who is crafty, cunning and subtle tricked Eve into believing that God was holding back. Eve was blatantly deceived by his lies.

"Could it really be?" the serpent planted those seeds of doubt.

"Did God really say?" he prompted.

Eve struggled knowing that she was not supposed to eat of the fruit from the tree of knowledge but the crafty, cunning, and deceptive serpent did what he does best: lie. Giving in to temptation Eve at of the forbidden fruit. She believed the lie and her actions brought pain. Pain, fear and sorrow entered because she not only believed the lie, but acted upon it. Thus the Fall took place.

Combating the Lies

 The years I was in bondage to fear, I believed one lie too many.

'You will have to live with this fear for the rest of your life.'

'People won't like you if they see the real you.'

'You will always live in constant fear, so deal with it.'

Lies upon lies were sown... It's the same tactic from the same old liar.

Jesus said that the devil is the father of all lies and that there is no truth in him. (John 8:44) He also said that the devil is a thief who came to steal, kill and destroy. The devil is nothing but a liar. The lies he speaks bring pain and deception.

One of my favorite books that deals with this very topic is called 'Lies Young Women Believe and The Truth That Sets Them Free,' written by Nancy Leigh Demoss and Dannah Gresh. Here is a passage from chapter 14 which is titled 'How To Find Freedom From The Lies Replace lies with the Truth.

Dannah Gresh admits that while writing the book she,
"was assaulted with thoughts and feelings she had not experienced in years." ...

"I ran for my Bible. I went straight home and cradled it in my arms as I got on the floor before the God of the universe and asked for His Truth to overcome these lies. I dug into my Bible for specific verses to pray aloud and write in my prayer journal. I took it a step further by going to a special worship service at my church that evening so my mind and heart could be 'washed' with the Truth. By the time I went to bed, I no longer felt the heaviness that had come upon me so quickly. I'd been set free." (Lies Young Women Believe and The Truth That Sets Them Free, pgs 179-180)


Truth Sown in the Heart


We combat the lies with God's Truth. It was the Truth that saved me from years upon years of lies. God does not want any of us to live in fear! By reading God's Word, the lies were uprooted and His Truth was sown in my heart. 

"I don't have to live with fear!"
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 
2 Timothy 1:7

 "I've been set free!"
Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
John 8:36

Remember that Promise given to Eve in the Garden about her Offspring crushing the devil's head? Yeah, that Promise is Jesus Christ and He came to give us freedom AND victory!

More Truth was sown after reading these verses:

I was more than a conqueror in Christ (Romans 8:37)

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
Romans 8:32

Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33), therefore we are more than conquerors in Christ. We will still encounter trouble, brokenness and temptations but Jesus, our Savior, has given us His righteousness, peace and victory. The evil one has no hold on us when we are in Christ Jesus.

Jesus is Freedom and Truth


Jesus truly has given both you and me freedom, peace and victory. He is the Truth and exposes the lies for what they really are... outright lies! Next time you feel the lies come, run to Jesus, seek Him in the Bible and replace the lies with Truth.

I end this post today with a beautiful verse from the book of Isaiah.

All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
And great shall be the peace of your children.
Isaiah 54:13


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Truth vs. Deception Part One: A Testimony

Wednesday, February 6, 2013


Learning the Truth

Finding out the truth about the the origin of fear was eye opening for me. For years on end I had no idea what God had to say about anxiety and fear. I was getting enough information from doctors and therapists on how to deal with worry, ways to ward off anxiety and how to try and prevent fear from coming. Sometimes their advice worked, other times it didn't. I am eternally grateful for all those precious people did to help me; however, they left out the most important aspect of it all. 

God's perspective.

The therapy I was in did not take into account what God, the Creator of all things, had to say and therefore only the surface problems, the symptoms, were addressed. (Side note: Therapy can be extremely helpful! I now see though that nouthetic counseling, i.e. Biblical based, Christian counseling, should be sought out instead of therapy that doesn't take into account God and His Word.)

I had been bleeding with a big open wound and humanistic psychology only put a band-aid on top.

After a while the band-aid needed to be changed, so the therapy sessions went on for years, the worrying continued and true healing didn't take place.

Shaken out of Complacency

Christmas 2010 changed my life. A panic attack so severe had me running wholeheartedly to the Lord. You see, up until that time I'd been a lukewarm Christian. I was neither hot nor cold. Sure, I knew God was real and believed that Jesus Christ was His Son but I didn't really know Him. I didn't really have a relationship with Him.

 It was the panic attack that took place on Christmas that shook me out of my complacency. It made me want to know what God had to say about anxiety. After all those years of listening to humanistic psychology I realized that only God could heal me.

Finally I began to read God's Word and  decided to start with the book of Ephesians. I soaked in every word. From there I went to read more of the epistles along with the Gospels. I was hungry and was finally being fed. At that point in my life I was able to spend up to two to three hours a day in the Word of God. Along the way I learned what God had to say about anxiety. I learned the truth.


 Scriptures that Spoke to My Heart

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

 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:15

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
Colossians 3:1-2

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 
Galatians 5:1

Also in the Gospels I realized that Jesus had a whole lot to say on the topic of worry. This discourse spoke to me greatly!

 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 
“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."
Matthew 6:25-33 (italics mine)

 "Then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” 
John 8:32

The Truth brings Freedom

 These Scriptures and more spoke volumes to my heart! At last I'd encountered the truth! Jesus set me free indeed. It didn't happen overnight but as the seeds of truth were planted God was able to set me free from years of bondage. I had been deceived into believing that I would have to live with constant worry the rest of my life. I am forever grateful to God for saving me.



 What He has done for me He will also do for you. Seek Him with your whole heart and you will find Him. Search the Scriptures for truth. You too will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Ask God to open your heart to the truth today.

 Join me next week as we look again at Adam and Eve's experience in the Garden and how deception plays a big role when it comes to fear.


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The Origin of Fear

Wednesday, January 30, 2013



Where Did Fear Begin?

Fear is as old as the beginning of the human race. By reason of sin, through the Fall, the fruit of fear sprang to life. Only after the Fall though, do we see fear in effect. The very two first human beings created, Adam and Eve, actually had the luxury of living without fear. All of that changed though and still thousands of years later, we as humans have a tendency to be fearful. 

The Bible does not say that Adam and Eve worried, feared or felt any anxiety when living in the Garden of Eden. On the contrary! They lived in fellowship with the Father and were cared for spiritually, emotionally, physically and relationally. They had everything they needed. Fear was not a part of the picture. 

Fear entered after the Fall. 

The Fall from innocence. The Fall from perfect fellowship. The Fall from perfect peace. 

With sin came corruption and fear.

(Now to be clear, when I talk about fear, I’m not talking about a fear response, i.e. fight or flight. Although that is a part of it. The fear response happens in order to help protect us from danger, alert us when something is wrong and give us the strength to fight back or flee the situation. This response is a good thing. The type of fear I’m addressing in these posts though is an awful dread, a constant anxiety, and a never-ending worry. The type of fear I’m talking about goes deeper than a fight or flight response. The type of fear I’m referring to is a fear that makes us afraid continually.

Merriman-Webster’s definition puts it like this: afraid-filled with fear or apprehension.)

Adam and Eve immediately felt fear after the Fall.

“I was afraid… so I hid.” Genesis 3:10

(photo credit) 

God knows our propensity to be afraid too. He knows it so well that throughout Bible he continually tells His people to “not be afraid.” 

Do not be afraid of them; the LORD your God himself will fight for you. Deuteronomy 3:22

He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Mark 4:40

Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Mark 5:36

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:32

Dealing with Fear

I was a fearful child from the start. Fear of being separated from my mother, fear of school, fear of something bad happening. It got to the point where my parents grew concerned. I was put in counseling at 8 years old. Fear gripped my heart for years on end. Like Adam, I hid. I hid myself from God and from others. I even tried to fix things through my own strength. It’s safe to say that I tried to sew my own fig leaves (see Genesis 3:7) together to fix the problem hoping that by wearing them, no one else would see the real me. Though in hindsight I can now see that I didn’t even know who the real me was… I just knew fear.

God gives a Promise

God is gracious though. He is kind and full of compassion! Even in the midst of Adam and Eve’s sin, God has a plan to rescue them and His children after them from the effects of the Fall. Adam and Eve were given a Promise. That Promise is for all of us today. It was this Promise that gave me freedom from fear. 

Fear was not part of the original design God had in mind. Fear came through sin and sin affects every human being. You and I are affected by fear. But God is willing to reverse this. He is ready to walk with us, comfort us and give us freedom from debilitating fear. 

It takes time, renewal and a whole lot of grace, but God has provided these very things for each and every one of us. 

Take heart dear friend! God does not want you to live in a perpetual state of worry. He is ready and willing to free you from the bondage of fear. The Promise I speak of was manifested in the Person of Jesus Christ and He too is our Hope. 

I leave you today with this Scripture:

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

I look forward to continuing this series with you all next week.


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Hope for the Fearful Heart intro

Thursday, January 24, 2013

When Worries Overwhelm:

There was a time in my life when worry was a constant companion. I fretted like there was no tomorrow and felt fearful about what was going to happen next. The what if's of life were like a broken record playing non-stop through my waking thoughts. Anxiety, fear and worry were concepts all too common for me.

Does this sound like you? Do you also worry about things so much that your thoughts race and it is extremely overwhelming? Are you tired of carrying around a heavy burden that seems to weigh down on you day after day? 

Yeah, I was too. Very much so. But can I tell you something? There is Hope.

No, I'm not talking about a hope that is just a good feeling. I'm not  even talking about a hope that you try to muster up in yourself with your own strength.

I'm talking about Hope. Real Hope. Living, eternal, truthful Hope that sets the captives free! This Hope set me free from years of anxiety and continues to speak truth, peace, and joy into my life. This Hope is Jesus Christ! What He has done for me, He will do for you!

Hope for the Fearful Heart

Next week I will begin a new series called Hope for the Fearful Heart.


It is my prayer that as I share with you some life changing truths about what the Bible says on anxiety and fear, you too will understand the freedom and peace we have in Christ. I look forward to sharing these beautiful and amazing truths with you.


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