This was on the website today at Proverbs 31.org. It was so good I had to show you! It is written by Renee Swope and is from chapter 6 of her book "A Confident Heart".
"What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31 (NIV)
One morning I woke up feeling beat up by discouragement. My mind was being bullied by thoughts of doubt: I can't do it all! I am not cut out to be a wife, a mom, a daughter, a speaker, a writer and all the other things God has called me to.My thoughts were against me, and my feelings were too.
As I lay in bed feeling completely inadequate, my radio alarm came on. Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by Twila Paris singing to me. With confident assurance, she spoke truth to my soul, telling me this was no time for fear, but a time for faith and determination. She challenged me not to lose my vision or be carried away by my emotions, but to hold on to all that I had hidden in my heart, and all I believed to be true. Then she reminded me of the most important truth of all: God is in control. [1]
As I heard these words, my thoughts aligned with God's truth. It changed my whole perspective. I went from feeling afraid to feeling determined and from feeling out of control to knowing God is in control.
We have the choice either to let doubt beat us up or to let God's truth build us up.
If we have Christ in us, we have full access to God's power and His promises to live with a confident heart. But it won't just happen because it's possible. We have to take action.
When my alarm came on that morning, I was so glad I'd set my radio to that station the night before, so I would wake up hearing encouraging music and truth. Just like I tuned into that station, we need to get intentional about tuning our thoughts into God's thoughts toward us, every day.
In the same way a radio has AM and FM frequencies, so do our thoughts. They are either AM (against me) or FM (for me) thoughts. The truth is, we are often our worst critics and have a lot of AM thoughts.
 |
| Find this book here |
And if our thoughts are against us, our feelings will be too.
So, the next time you get those feelings of uncertainty and self-doubt, stop and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what you are thinking that is making you feel that way. Then compare your thoughts about that situation to God's thoughts, which are reflected in Scripture. Do they match? If not, find a promise in God's Word to replace the lie that has filled your heart with doubt. Here are few to get your started:
• When doubt comes against me, saying I'm weak and all alone, I will focus on the truth that God is for me! I can be strong and courageous because the Lord my God is with me. He will never leave me nor forsake me. (Deuteronomy 31:6, NIV)
• When doubt comes against me, saying I'm not good enough for a certain role or position, I will remember that God is for me! He says I am His masterpiece, created to be new in Christ so that I could do good things He planned long ago. (Ephesians 2:10, NIV)
Power Verses:
1 Peter 2:9, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (NIV)
Deuteronomy 20:4, "For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory." (NIV)
Romans 8:37, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (NIV)
[1] "God Is In Control," © 1993 by Twila Paris. All Rights Reserved. From He Is Exalted: Live Worship CD.
No comments:
Post a Comment