Is anything too hard for God?

 

Are you struggling through a dark season right now? Do you feel like the way you’re walking is a continual uphill climb? Are you repeatedly questioning God and finding it difficult to trust him and wait on him?

Are you guilty of complaining about God, instead of complaining to God?

Did you know that God has the solution for your exhausted soul? It comes as we rest in him.

We all face struggles, and we all face hard days that stretch into weeks and months, and we lie to ourselves that this is our story when in reality, it’s only part of our story. God is still writing our stories. His plot twists and climactic narratives are all part of his eternal plan. And yet we keep trying to steal the pen.

I have many friends that are doing it tough right now. Some are facing some really hard things. Things I’ve never had to face. Things that leave me at a loss for words in knowing how to counsel, comfort, exhort. Difficult family situations. Financial loss. Hard decisions. Health problems that are never-ending. A spiral of ‘bad luck’ as the world would put it.

The past few years have been difficult for us too and it seems the only light at the end of the tunnel is a freight train, going full speed on a collision course directed our way.

But what I love about God, is that his strength is made perfect in our weakness. 1 Corinthians 12:9.

Not only is he bigger than any problem we may face, but he knew about the problem long before it was even laid at our feet, and he had a plan and a purpose for that particular problem.

When things are difficult and darkness crowds in, I take comfort in the precious promise found in the book of Ephesians.

Ephesians 3:20 KJV - Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Sometimes, we believe that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all, but we don’t believe he’ll do it for us. Yes, he can do it, but just not for me. That’s our thought process and what a lie it is that we tell ourselves.

I think we find Sarah at this place in the book of Genesis. She waited and waited for God to make her a mother. Then God gave her the promise of a son, only to make her wait another 25 years!

And then we come to chapter 18. We read of Sarah’s disbelieving laughter. Knowing her age and time of life, it really seemed laughable that God could and would do something so miraculous like granting her her heart’s desire in the form of a child.

And then we read that beautiful verse, that can become a promise we can claim and hold onto when the storms of life become too overwhelming.

Genesis 18:14 KJV - Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

And we know the end of the story. Despite Sarah’s disbelief, she did give birth to a son and God had great plans for Abraham and Sarah’s lineage and carried out those plans just as he promised he would.

Is there anything in your life that seems impossible?

Are you facing insurmountable problems? Are there things in your life that only a miracle from God can fix?

Maybe you’ve spent hours on your knees in prayer, crying out to God, only to feel like he’s turning a deaf ear to your pleas.

When we face seasons of difficulty and we pray and pray and no answer comes, we may be tempted to believe the lie that we are beyond the reach of God. That somehow our problem is too big for God.

But it’s a lie. And if we are in his Word regularly, we’ll see that. We read over and over of impossible situations made possible by God.

When we read the story of Mary and Martha in the book of Luke, we see the Lord Jesus giving Martha a gentle rebuke and reminding her of the one thing that was needed.

The one thing was for Martha to keep her eyes fixed on him.

We can become so anxious and troubled, and we try to find solutions to our problems on our own. We try to force God’s hand. When all he wants us to do is to trust him.

We can be so guilty of complaining about God that we forget we should be complaining to him.

Psalm 62:8 KJV - Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Do you know that it’s okay to pour out your troubles to God? It’s okay to be vulnerable and hurt before him. It’s okay to let your tears spill over and cry through your prayers.

Maybe you hold it all in because you fear that he may think you are not trusting him. And doesn’t the Bible tell us not to grumble and complain?

Yes, it’s true, we are commanded to do all things without ‘murmurings and disputings’ Philippians 2:14. But we can pour out our hearts in anguish to God in a way that shows a genuine trust instead of a grumbling spirit.

Lord, I trust you enough to admit I’m having a difficult time, and these problems are overwhelming, and I know you can do something about it in your time, and I believe you won’t reject me for coming to you so raw and so hurt and so fearful.

We read of this type of prayer in the Bible as a lament. There is a whole book of the Bible called Lamentations. A passionate outpouring of grief and sorrow.

These are prayers that allow us to convey our emotions honestly and vulnerably before God. We find them all throughout the Bible. From the heartfelt cries of the Psalms to the anguished pleas of the prophets.

We find many of King David’s laments in the Psalms. But we always see him praying through his complaints and praising God at the end of them.

He pours out his anguish to God. Directly to God. Not complaining about God to others. But directly to God.

And then we see him process through the hard moments. He works through them with God’s help. Seeing his problems for what they are. Recognising the difficulties. Acknowledging his fears. Accepting his faults.

And then we see him praise God for his power when he comes through with the answers, the solutions, the miracles and the blessings.

And God always comes through. It may take some time, but he will always come through.

It takes a lot of humility and courage to be honest with God. And yet, it seems silly that it does, because he knows our thoughts and how we feel without us ever having to voice it.

But he wants us to verbalise it and cry out to him. It is in those moments that we can know God’s presence and his nearness.

David’s relationship with God was deep and he knew that he could trust God.

If you are walking close to God, you don’t need to fear being real with him. You don’t need to hold anything back. You can let it all out with God. Just tell him your fears. Life is unfair. I don’t think I can get through another day. I can’t do this anymore.

He understands. He cares. He hears. Like the old song says, “tears are a language God understands”. He keeps our tears in a bottle and in a book. Psalm 56:8.

Cry out to God. Talk to him like he is right beside you as you lay on your bed struggling with the overwhelm and the fears and the anxiety.

And something beautiful will happen. The Holy Spirit will reassure you of God’s promises. He will remind you of his care and of his love. He will remind you of his greatness and that nothing is impossible with him, and nothing is too hard for him.

Now, you may not get the answers you’ve come for, you may not see your circumstance change, but he will bring his peace to your soul. Things may have to stay messy and hard for a while, but just know that he has a plan for everything, and it is not our job to find the answers, it is our job to trust.

God is our safe place. We can trust him.

Take your cares to him and watch what he can do. Don’t wait to praise him when things are good, and the answers finally come. Praise him now, in anticipation of what he will do!

You can’t wait for the storm to pass before you give thanks to God. You have to learn to dance in the rain.

Praise him while the heart aches. Praise him while the fears overwhelm. Praise him when the answers don’t come. Praise him while the hurt presses in.

He hears you. He sees you. He loves you.

And he hears your song of praise in the night. It brings him joy and delight. It makes the blessings all the more sweet.

Psalm 43:5 KJV - Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Is anything too hard for God? No, nothing is too hard for him. God can do the impossible. If he can cause us to dance in the rain and praise him in the storm, then he can bring the solutions we need and the rest to our souls.

Jeremiah 32:17 KJV - Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:

 

Wait on him. Trust him. Love and obey him. And let him bring the answers in his time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jillian Holmes 1.2.24

 

 

Anxiety was a Gift

 

Have you ever seen a Persian rug? I mean a ‘real’ Persian rug. Not a knock off version you might find at your local cheap shop. I’m talking about the real deal. The world renowned Bijar rugs that are woven in the city of Bijar, located in the northeast of Iran, in the Kurdish province.

Bijar has been famous for its rugs since the time of the first Persian Empire in 5^th Century BC.

A genuine Bijar rug is a hand-woven Oriental rug, woven by Kurdish weavers in the city of Bijar, Iran using time honoured weaving techniques that are unique to this particular area.

They have often been dubbed the “Iron Rugs of Persia” because of their remarkable durability, able to withstand up to 200 years or more, of heavy use.

The reason for their amazing robustness is found in the way the rugs are made. The Bijar rugs are made using a technique called “wet weaving”, a technique not used anywhere else.

This technique involves compressing the strands of wool tightly between rows of knots. After each row of knots have been tied, the weaver then inserts a weft. The weft strands are the horizontal threads that are interlaced with the vertical warp threads that form the foundation of the rug.

The wet weaving process requires dampening the wool as it is woven, giving it a pliability it wouldn’t normally have.

After the weft has been inserted horizontally, a heavy metal comb or hammer is used to beat down the weft strands and the knots, creating a dense, tightly woven fabric that as it dries, shrinks somewhat, leaving a very compact, firmly constructed, strong, durable and long-lasting rug.

The dampening, the tightly formed knots and the heavy pounding are what gives the rugs their extreme durability and longevity.

So, how does any of this apply to us and our Christian walk?

God wants to turn us into his Bijars.

Yes, you read that right. God wants to use the poundings in our lives, the trials, the difficult seasons, the job losses, the cancer, the grief, the unexplained anxiety, the debilitating depression – to weave a divine strength into our hearts.

Just 5 and a half years ago, I was a different person than I am today.

For 6 months I fought an internal battle. An unexplained battle with depression, anxiety and panic attacks that literally took my breath away, threatening to take me out completely. It had made itself at home and nothing I could do seemed to shake it. Everything I tried failed.

But as I struggled along, fighting attacks of the devil, fighting within myself, crying out to God, letting my emotions overwhelm me, I began to let the Word of God wash over my soul. I began to read my Bible more. I began to pray like never before. I wrote out countless verses on little note cards and plastered them all over the place. I cried through more worship songs than I can count, I played the piano for our church through tears, eyes closed, the turmoil raging inside of me.

But while I was being pounded by waves of fear, while I struggled through days where I didn’t want to get out of bed, while I neglected friendships and often tried to put on a brave face hoping others wouldn’t notice, God was working. God was weaving threads of strength through my pain.

God was weaving a divine strength in my heart that would stand the test of time. He was using his iron tool to beat me down, but not with the intent of crushing me and rendering me useless. He was doing a purifying work, a work that would see me rise up stronger, more reliant on him, more compassionate towards others, more useful in his work and with a heart that desired him more than anything else.

By God’s grace, I did come through my period of trial. I had victory over anxiety. I had victory over fear.

With each day, I became increasingly stronger. My faith grew. God’s hammer of anxiety began to add a row of knots into the tapestry of my life, dampened with my many tears, the weft he wove added strength to my inmost being. And eventually, I realized that anxiety had no power over Christ. Fear had no hold on God. It couldn’t hold God and it couldn’t hold me.

I recognized that no matter what, Jesus would hold me. He wouldn’t let me go. He would continue to love me. To defend me. To keep me. He wouldn’t forsake me, and all my emotional needs were met in him. He was enough.

The fear that paralyzed me no longer held a deathly grip on me.

The depression that threw me into the dark abyss no longer overwhelmed me.

The cloud of anxiety that hung overhead was no longer there.

John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

But just because I was able to make it through this difficult season of my life, doesn’t mean I don’t find myself struggling with anxiety every now and then. It no longer has a hold on me, but I do feel its sting from time to time.

The difference is that the fear no longer paralyzes me. It doesn’t dictate to me my course of life. The peace that Jesus gave me then, I still have access to now.

All the verses of Scripture that I read over and over and the promises I clung to are still found in the pages of my Bible and they still apply.

I have more ammunition in my tool belt to fight off Satan’s attacks and I have a strength woven into my being that wasn’t there before.

So, when those moments of fear come upon me and I feel like I might go under, I rise up and hold onto what I learnt in those dark days. I cry out to God and remind him of his promises. I remember my past victories and I open my lips and praise him.

God wants to make us his Bijars. His rugs that stand the test of time. Durable. Strong. Still vibrant and useful after years of use. Beautiful works of art.

You may be in a season of pounding right now. God may be using things in your life to build strength and resilience and reliance on him.

You may be facing things in your life that make you wonder if you can even last another day.

You may be hammered by trials, by fear, by rejection, by insecurities.

Don’t resist his iron tools, his wetting of the fabric of your life, his tying of knots and weaving in and out. He is working to create a masterpiece. A work of art.

His pounding can bring new strength.

Romans 5:3-4 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

I never realised at the time that my anxiety was a gift. It felt like a cruel cross that I had to bear. But God used it to purify me and help draw me closer to him. He developed in me a love for him and his Word. He gave me a hunger and thirst for the Words of Scripture and a desire to study and grow in my relationship with him. He helped me to build a stockpile of promises I could cling to when times got rough.

He helped me to see the needs of others with a heart of compassion. He began to stir my heart to be sensitive to those around me and reach out and love others that needed a friend. He brought a peace to my heart that I had never known and a peace that could be a testimony to others of God’s goodness.

I am not the same person I was back then. I am being made more like Christ. Slowly but surely, through the trials God allows in my life, I am growing. I am far from perfect, but God is doing a work only he can do. He is cleaning out the things in my life that shouldn’t be there and replacing them with threads of various colours. Each line of weaving tells a different story. Each knot another tale. And the more I resist his workings, the uglier my tapestry becomes.

If I lay still under his hand, allowing his work to go on unhindered by my attitude and actions, he is able to create a masterpiece. Something that can show his glory and reflect his love. Oh, how I pray that I wouldn’t resist his workings and that I would submit to the hand of the master weaver.

Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

 

 

 

Blessings that bring a SMILE

 

Do you ever experience one of those moments where God is so good to you that you break out into a smile or possibly even laugh out loud?

I hope that those moments are numerous and that you daily find things to smile about and give praise to God for.

Just 2 days ago, I experienced a moment like this. Allow me to divert from my normal blog post writing to share it with you.

As I was going about my deliveries for the day, this particular day being absolutely crazy due to the excessive amount of freight that had come into the depo in my absence over the Christmas period, I was down to my last 3 drops for the day.

These deliveries were to take me 20kms out of town to our nearby RAAF base. The weather had been overcast all day with a couple of close calls of intermittent showers threatening to saturate the cardboard boxed freight bouncing around in the back of my trusty, old Triton ute.

As I prepared to leave the depo, I looked to the skies and saw some very ominous dark clouds in the direction I was to go.

I decided to risk it and head out anyway.

As I drove along, I began to pray and ask the Lord if he could just hold off the rain for the short time I needed to make my deliveries.

God is so good.

As I dropped off my last box and headed back to the highway intersection that would take me back into town, the heavens opened, and the rain poured down in torrents.

I immediately smiled and laughed out loud at God’s goodness. What an amazing God that he would hear such an insignificant prayer, prayed from a heart of faith and sincerity. That he would stop the heavens from sending down blinding rain, and keep my freight dry was a cause for rejoicing and brought a song of praise to my lips.

I was reminded of the many examples in Scripture where God answered the prayers of ordinary people, like you and me.

And then I began to think about my seemingly small prayer. I only asked for a break in the weather, but in actuality, it really was a big prayer. I asked God to stop the heavens from sending down their raindrops. I asked God to control the weather. For me. Just for me. Just for a short time.

And in hindsight, I realise that my asking was an example of this verse found in Psalms.

Psalm 81:10 KJV - I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.

God wants us to pray BIG! He loves to answer big prayers. Remember the promise we read in Ephesians.

Ephesians 3:20 KJV - Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

God doesn’t just do and give what we ask or think, but He goes beyond. Over and above. He gives exceeding abundantly above.  We can’t even begin to understand what God can do.

There are many examples in the Bible of people praying BIG prayers. Take a look at Joshua.

Joshua 10:12-14 Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel.

Do you realise that it was Joshua who asked for God to make the sun stand still? It wasn't that God just did it. It says that Joshua 'spake' and 'he said'. As in, Joshua asked God to make the sun stand still! Did you catch that? He asked for God to make the sun stand still? My mind boggles at his faith in God. For him to ask such an enormous thing of God with hope and expectation of receiving it! And God granted it!

Talk about praying BIG!

Then take Elisha for example.

2 Kings 2:9-14 And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.

He asked a BIG thing and God granted his request. I would have loved to have been there as he smote the waters. I can just imagine the thunder in his voice as he cried “Where is the LORD God of Elijah?”. Ba Boom! And the waters parted, and he went on to do double the miracles that his predecessor Elijah did.

God really can and does answer prayer.

My little prayer of faith, that in reality was a big ask, was answered. And answered so perfectly that there was no doubt in my mind that God had orchestrated it with precision.

Jeremiah 32:17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:

As Jeremiah says, there is nothing too hard for God. He delights in giving good gifts to his children. He loves to answer our prayers of faith. He longs to put a smile on your face and a laugh on your lips. He wants to hear your words of praise and rejoicing.

God answers over and above all that we ask or think. He doesn’t just answer, He ANSWERS! And He doesn’t just bless, He BLESSES! His grace and mercy are inexhaustible. Unfathomable. Immeasurable. Incalculable. Incomprehensible.

How good is God?

 

Psalm 27:13 KJV

 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kill the Lies

 

Does anyone know what it’s like to get in a mood and because of that mood your whole day is ruined? Be honest. You know what I mean, I know you do!

I can’t even begin to tell you the number of times I’ve let my thoughts dictate my mood which then determines the way I spend the hours in my day and my attitude and outlook on life. No, I’m not proud of it, and it’s a daily struggle, but it’s a common one. And I know I’m not alone in this.

Whether it’s true or not, we all have the ability to lose an entire day’s joy over a thought. It happens. It’s not fun, it’s not admirable or desirable, but it happens.

We wake up one morning and a thought comes into our mind, and before we know it, we begin to believe the lie that’s whirling around in our head, and it sets in motion a myriad of thoughts that sends us into a spiral and what could have been a good day, is now ruined. All because of a thought. And can I suggest to you, all because of a lie.

It might sound something like this: God doesn’t care about me. If he did, I wouldn’t be in this financial mess. If God cared about me, my child wouldn’t be sick. Or maybe it goes like this: Does anyone even care about building God’s Kingdom, or is everyone just in it for themselves? Does anyone even care about studying God’s Word, or have believers become so apathetic that they’re not interested? Or what about thoughts that say, Does anyone really want to be in my life or do they only care about me for what they can get from me?

And then these thoughts spiral down into really untrue and crazy thoughts like, my dog doesn’t even like me because he didn’t come running out to greet me, or, my friend must be mad at me because she didn’t answer my text within 5 seconds.

Sounds dumb, doesn’t it? But isn’t it true sometimes?

Now maybe you don’t have quite so many thoughts that are not true that rattle around in your head, and that’s great. But if you’re being honest, you know, that we all struggle with lies we tell ourselves.

Why do you think it is that God places so much emphasis on the mind and our thoughts in the Word of God?

When we begin to believe the lies, we can be left feeling sick and depressed and miserable. And we can lose a whole day of joy that God wants us to have, all because we let our thoughts control us and we believed a lie.

When we have these thoughts, we really need someone to take us by the shoulders, shake us and ask us, is it true? I know, in the moment, the truth doesn’t seem important. We mumble, that’s not the point. But it is.

We are reminded in the Word of God that our thoughts determine our actions.

Proverbs 23:7a KJV - For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…

That word heart in that verse has to do with our soul, our mind, the seat of our emotions and passions.

When we begin to believe things that are not true, they can begin to affect our life as if they are true.

I don’t think I need to give you examples here. You know what it’s like to believe a lie and it changes the way you view something or someone or some activity.

Do you remember who it is that is the father of lies?

The Bible tells us in John 10:10, The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

And again, in John 8:44 we are reminded of Satan’s character traits. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Satan wants to steal your joy, he wants to kill your purpose, he wants to kill your relationships, he wants to destroy God’s Kingdom.

Steal. Kill. Destroy. They are really aggressive words in this verse, but they are there to make a point. We see the stark contrast between Satan and an Almighty God. Satan wants to destroy; God wants to bring life.

So, Satan, the father of lies, is super pleased when you wake up believing a lie. He is happy when you begin to spiral in your thoughts and your day is ruined. He knows that you won’t be any use to God on that day. You’ll have a bad attitude, you might snap at those around you, you probably won’t read your Bible or pray, you’ll be miserable and make everyone around you miserable in the process.

Lies are a very important tool in Satan’s toolbox and he knows how to wield that particular tool with expert skill.

He loves to bombard you with lies like, you’re not good enough, your situation will never change, nobody cares about you, no one appreciates all you do and on and on they go.

If you struggle with believing lies on a regular basis, it’s time to KILL THE LIES!

It’s time to stop believing the wrong things and start believing the right things!

 “A lie believed as truth, can affect your life as if it were actually true!”  

This is why it’s so dangerous for us to let these lies take root and stay in our minds and hearts.

Lies will cause us to live differently, even when the thoughts we have are not true!

We all have them. We all have thoughts that grow into feelings and create moods that steal our joy.

So, how do we kill the lies?

Thankfully, God has the answer to this question.

2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV - Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

This verse has always seemed a little confusing to me. I know what it means, but when I try to explain it, I don’t do a great job at it. But here goes anyway.

In the King James Version, we read that we are to cast down imaginations. This casting down translates as destroy, demolish, pull down, throw down with the use of force. So, once again, aggressive use of words here.

It can also be translated as ‘destroying arguments’. We need to use divine weapons to bring down arguments or speculations and reasonings that are against the knowledge of God.

This knowledge of God is what is revealed to us in Scripture about God himself and it is contrary to these thoughts and imaginations that need casting out.

So, Paul is reminding us to get rid of these lies and replace them with truth. This casting down is not a tame toppling over of the thoughts that threaten to derail us. NO! This is a forceful getting rid of. A demolition of the lies.

Now, what about these imaginations? This is not talking about visions of unicorns jumping over rainbows. This word imaginations is our thoughts, our reasonings, our decisions. So, we are to cast down these thoughts that don’t line up with God’s thoughts and plans for us and we are to bring them into captivity in obedience to Christ.

We have to realise that we are in a spiritual battle every day. It’s not a flesh and blood battle we face, but a spiritual one. We have a battle to fight in our minds every day. This is where the battle is the hottest and the strongest and the hardest. The Devil knows this, and this is why he works so hard warring against you when you choose to think right.

Outlook determines outcome. If he can get you to believe lies, you will make wrong choices every time.

So how do we kill the lies in the practical sense?

Firstly, we need to pray for God’s power. We can’t do it on our own. We need God’s help. We have to pray for God’s power to work in our lives and we have to ask him to help us identify the lies we are believing then give us the power to demolish them, destroy them and cast them out.

James 4:2 and 3 remind us that we don’t have what we need because we don’t ask for it.

We have to pray for God’s power in order to take our thoughts captive.

Secondly, we need to get into God’s Word. We need to become serious fact checkers.

Hebrews 4:12 KJV - For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

This well-known verse in Hebrews tells us some things about the Word of God and what it does. If you’ve read very much of your Bible, you’ll know how important it is to be in the Word and learning from it.

If you are not in the Word, you won’t know what God has to say about your life, about who you are and more importantly, about who he is.

You have to be in the Word to know truth from error.

You have to fact check your feelings.

Yes, your feelings are real, but they are not always right. Our feelings can be real, but not true.

You can feel sad. That is real. You can feel depressed. That is real. You can feel like you’re not enough. That is real. But is it true?

We have to fact check our feelings against God’s Word. If we take our very real feelings, and line them up against God’s Word and they don’t agree, then our feelings, our thoughts, are lies.

We need to identify them and then demolish them. Take them captive and replace them with truth.

What does this look like?

Let’s say you are believing the lie that tells you God doesn’t care. When you’re going through a difficult time it may very well feel as if the lie is truth. Maybe you have a sick child that is not getting better despite hours of prayer and intercession being made, or maybe you’re struggling financially and can’t get on top of it, and it just seems God doesn’t care.

It feels real, but is it true? Does it line up with Scripture?

Let’s look at John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Does that sound like a God that doesn’t care? He gave his only Son to die a cruel death on a cross, just so that we could have salvation and live with him forever in Heaven. That doesn’t sound like someone who doesn’t care.

And then we read in 1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Once again, we read that God cares for us.

God’s Word wins over our thoughts and feelings any day.

We feel like he doesn’t care, but when we fact check it against God’s Word, we see that it is a lie. So, we throw out the lie, and replace it with truth.

But, we have to be in the Word to know what it says so that we can do something about it.

And thirdly, we need to get into God’s house. We need to be in fellowship with other Christians. We not only need a healthy, thriving relationship with God, but we also need genuine, caring and loving fellowship with believers.

You can’t be a sneak in, sneak out Christian. Do you know what I mean? Come in late, leave early, talk to no one, Christian.

We are to fellowship with others in order to encourage and worship together. We go to church for instruction and direction and encouragement. We need to be serving, giving, praying and worshipping together.

If you just sneak in and sneak out, not only do you not encourage anyone in their walk with the Lord, but you don’t give anyone else the chance to encourage you. And we need it. All of us!

We’ve got to start killing the lies and believing the truth!

Our minds and our thoughts are very powerful, and they will set the mood for the day. If we don’t proactively work at keeping them in check, we will not live a life of joy. We will give Satan the victory as he steals and kills and destroys.

Christ came that we would have life and life more abundantly (John 10:10).

Let’s take our thoughts captive and live that abundant life that God has for us!

 

Romans 12:2 KJV - And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

 

“What is the one thought that can successfully interrupt every negative thought pattern? It’s this: I have a choice. That’s it. The singular, interrupting thought is this one: I have a choice. If you have trusted in Jesus as your Savior, you have the power of God in you to choose! You have a God-given, God-empowered, God-redeemed ability to choose what you think about.”
Jennie Allen

 

 

 

 

 

Is it evident that you’ve been with Jesus?

 

Over the past few days, I’ve been pondering a verse found in the book of Acts and I’ve been doing some soul searching in regard to a phrase we find there.

Acts 4:13 KJV - Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

This verse comes just after Peter and John were arrested by the hands of people not happy with the preaching and proclaiming of the gospel.

Acts 4:1-3, 13 KJV - And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.

Peter and John, through God’s empowerment, had seen a lame man made whole, who then went walking and leaping and praising God, to the amazement of the onlookers.

But what stood out to me was not only the boldness of Peter and John, but it was the fact that others could see that they had been with Jesus.

After they were brought before the rulers, elders, scribes and high priest, Peter preached a short and powerful message which had these wicked men scratching their heads.

These men marvelled at the fact that Peter and John could preach so boldly and eloquently and powerfully with no formal education or training. They were not scholars or great theologians, but simply men who had been with Jesus.

It wasn’t their education, their training, their heritage, but the fact that they had been with Jesus. And it was so evident that others could see it and sense it.

When you spend time out in the sun for any length of time, no matter how good your sun protection is, it will be evident that you have been in the sun. You can see it on your skin. It’s obvious.

So, what happens when you spend time with the SON? S-O-N. The Son of God.

Peter and John had spent so much time with Jesus in his time on earth, that their ‘accent’ proved it. The way they talked and the way they acted was obvious to others that they had spent time with Jesus. And not just a casual acquaintance.

Reading this passage got me thinking about how I am seen of by others.

Do I have the accent of Jesus? Have I spent time with Jesus so often that I sound like him, act like him, imitate him?

If you spend very much time with someone of a different nationality, or maybe live in another country for a period of time, you are going to come away with possibly a slight accent or find yourself using phrases only used in that particular culture. Maybe you’ll carry yourself a little differently or eat differently or talk differently.

When we worked with indigenous youth for the first 5 years of our life here in the Northern Territory, having them in our home, playing with our girls, teaching them at Youth Group and Sunday School, we found ourselves talking like them and using Kriol words instead of English words and using phrases our other family members didn’t understand because the phrases were native to our part of the country.

Now, we didn’t go about trying to imitate them, but by being around them so often, we naturally began to talk like them.

That’s why it’s so important we are discerning about who we choose to spend the bulk of our time with. If we surround ourselves with friends who use bad language, crude humour and coarse jokes, it’s going to rub off.

It is crucial that we spend time with Jesus.

If we saturate our souls with the Word of God and fill our hearts and minds with heavenly things and thoughts of Christ and his love, taking time to read and pray and meditate on his Word, fellowshipping with other believers, we will begin to have the accent of Jesus.

In the book of Matthew, we read the sad story of Peter’s denial of Christ before his crucifixion. We see Peter warming his hands at the fire, standing at a distance from Christ in the high priest’s palace and it is there that we read of his denial.

As he stands there, a first time and then a second time he is asked whether he was with Jesus, and finally, a third time, a young girl comes to him and states plainly that he was with Christ Jesus of Nazareth and we read of Peter swearing and cursing.

But just before that something interesting is said.

Matthew 26:73 KJV – And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.

Did you see that the people come to the conclusion that he is one of Christ’s because his speech gives him away?

His speech betrayed who he belonged to. It revealed who he had spent time with. It was evident that he had spent time with Jesus.

Peter couldn’t hide his identity even when he wanted to. It was so ingrained in him.

Thankfully, it is not the end of the story, because our passage in Acts proves that and we see Peter once again boldly preaching the gospel. Praise God that we serve a God of second chances. He is patient and gives us another chance after we fail him.

So, the question is, do you have the accent of Christ? Do others know that you have been with him? Have you spent so much time alone with God that the accent of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness naturally flow from your life?

Are you around Christ so much that you sound like him? Act like him? Can the world tell that you have been with Christ?

If all that people know of you is what you do on a Sunday and where you go to church, then you’re in trouble.

People should know that you’re a Christian before they know your schedule.

They should see it in your walk, your talk, your actions, your honesty, your loyalty, your faithfulness, your kindness, your love.

They might not know that it is Jesus they are seeing, but they should see and sense something different about you.

The world needs to see that we have been with Jesus. They need to see a visual, tangible picture of Christ in our lives.

We need to radiate God’s love to the lost world.

When we meet together as Christians, in our church services, at our Bible studies, in our prayer meetings, we should see in each other the evidence of time spent with God.

We should see growth in each other’s lives. Others should hear it in our conversation, they should sense it in our attitudes toward them, they should see it in our service to Christ.

We need to become a people who spend time sitting at the feet of Jesus, just as Mary did (Luke 10:39), choosing the better part. We should long to study our Bibles, digging into its depths, seeking out the treasures it holds, applying what we’re learning to our lives, growing more and more like Christ each day.

We are, as Christians, in fact, in the very name, to be ‘little Christs’.

The first time the disciples were called Christians was in Antioch (Acts 11:26) and it was used as more of a derogatory term. In Latin the ending ‘ian’ means ‘party of’, so Christian meant ‘of the party of Jesus’. It was like saying ‘Jesus-ites’ or ‘Jesus people’.

What those first mockers saw as insulting, we should find it a compliment. If we are a reflection of Christ and we are ‘of the party of Jesus’, little Christs, then it should be a joy to be called a name associated with Jesus. We need to imitate Christ and walk as he walked, living as he lived, loving as he loved.

So how can we spend time with Jesus?

We can spend time with him by reading the Bible. Meditate on God’s Word and apply what you learn. Get to know him better by learning more about who he is.

We can spend time with God in prayer. It involves both listening and speaking. Talk with God in conversation and pour your heart out to him and listen for his answer.

We can spend time with God through praise and worship. God inhabits the praises of his people (Psalm 22:3). When we come to him with a heart of worship and praise, God shows up!

We can understand that God is with us all day long. He walks beside us. We can talk with him anytime, night or day. We can memorize scripture so that we can bring to mind God’s Words as we go through the ups and downs of life.  

When you consistently spend time with the Lord, with a sincere heart and a teachable spirit, people will be able to see it. They will know that you have been with Jesus.

You won’t be able to hide it. Just as Moses was unable to hide the glow on his face from being with God, your heart will overflow, and it will be evident in your face and your speech and your actions.

1 Corinthians 10:31

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

 

 

Let your light shine and let it be evident that you’ve spent time with Jesus!

 

 

 

 

Supercharge your gratitude

 and flip the switch on anxiety

 

While scrolling through reels on my phone recently, I came across a short piece on the effects that gratitude has on anxiety.

Now, because of my history with a short battle with depression, anxiety and panic attacks, my interest was piqued, and I decided to do a little research on my own.

What I heard was that the “brain cannot respond to anxiety and gratitude at the same time”.

Apparently, physiologically, our brains cannot respond to negative emotions (fear, anxiety, stress) and positive emotions (gratitude) at the same time. This means that it’s one or the other. We can feel anxious and other negative emotions, or we can feel grateful and experience the positive emotions that are associated with it. Not both at the same time.

With my limited knowledge of how the brain works, I discovered that our brain operates in either a sympathetic (fight or flight) mode or in a parasympathetic (rest and digest) mode.

“The purpose of the sympathetic mode is to protect us in life threatening emergency situations, so our body can respond quickly. The parasympathetic mode is our “rest and digest” mode, and this is the state we should be in most of the time.”

But due to our modern society and the pressures it puts upon us, the constant stressors in our lives can cause us to stay in the “sympathetic/fight or flight” mode.

According to research, the reason the brain cannot respond to anxiety and gratitude at the same time is because they are two different emotional states that are processed differently.

So, here’s the technical stuff. (Bear with me, I’ll get to the point and application soon).

The amygdala is a small part of your brain that has a big job. It is the major processing centre for your emotions. It also links your emotions to many other brain abilities, like memories, learning and your senses.

It is located on the sides of your brain, known as the temporal lobes and it is part of the limbic system.

Anxiety is associated with increased activity in the amygdala, while gratitude is associated with decreased activity in the amygdala. So, when we experience anxiety, the amygdala is activated, and when we experience gratitude, the amygdala is deactivated. So, it is very unlikely that your brain can respond to anxiety and gratitude at the same time.  

Researchers have found that when practicing gratitude, the amygdala’s activity is positively impacted. And on the flip side, when experiencing anxiety, the amygdala’s activity is negatively impacted. And because of their location, the brain can’t respond to them at the same time.

Because our thoughts, emotions, and behaviours are brain-based, both anxiety and gratitude are tied to activity in the brain and the production of neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and hormones like cortisol.

We know that dopamine is our “feel-good hormone”. And when you express gratitude, it releases dopamine into your system and floods your body with endorphins, leaving you feeling uplifted and encouraged.

Anxiety is our body’s inbuilt wake-up call that alerts us to danger. When fear sets in, our body releases hormones that create the fight or flight responses and we react accordingly. But when the adrenaline rush begins, we don’t get much time to analyze the right or wrong choice.

And if we have created neuro pathways in our brains that are anxiety based, that is where we will go. We will feel insecure, doubtful and our coping mechanisms will begin to fail.

Our brains are conditioned to function in a repeated way. That’s why if you consistently train your brain to think negative thoughts, worry and fear, you will create ruts, that create a pathway or groove that has to be redirected and changed with positive emotions and thoughts, over a period of time, to allow you to naturally think on good things.

Philippians 4:8 KJV - Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

We really do have to retrain our brains.

Romans 12:2 KJV - And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

By consciously practicing gratitude, we can retrain our brain to focus on positive thoughts and emotions, blessings and the goodness of God, that helps move us into the restful parasympathetic state, which in turn improves our overall health and wellbeing, enabling us to be better servants of the Lord and bring honour and glory to his name.

Anxiety, fear and worry, along with the brain, train us to be on the lookout for the negative and for problems. We train ourselves to look at the glass half empty, not half full. And because we have trained our brains this way, we find them. We find problems. We don’t do it intentionally, but it is a habit that we form without really being aware, until our anxiety symptoms become overwhelming and begin to control our lives.

If you are always seeing the glass half empty, if you’re always finding fault in others, if you’re letting your thoughts dwell on your woeful circumstances and how life is treating you, then guess what? That’s right. You’re going to see more of what you think about because you have trained yourself to look at the negative and see the burdens.

You have carved out neuro pathways in your brain and trained it to react negatively. You have closed your eyes to the blessings, and your outlook is depressing and miserable. All you will see is the bad. You won’t even notice when God sends a small blessing because you’re too focused on what you don’t have rather than what you do.

But let me give you some good news. Gratitude works in a similar way, but opposite. There are numerous studies on the effects of gratitude on the human body, you have only to do a google search and you will find more positive side effects than you can imagine.

When we focus on the blessings rather than the burdens, we are happier. Our mood changes. Our sleep is better. Our energy levels rise. When we start thanking God for the things we usually take for granted, our perspective changes. We realize that we could not even exist without the merciful blessings of a righteous, holy, loving God. We begin to carve new pathways in our brains that activate the amygdala in a positive way.

Gratitude and anxiety can seem like an unlikely combination. But they have a genuine connection. They cannot co-exist.

Gratitude is a very powerful emotion and the effect it can have on anxiety is to be experienced to be believed.

Now, I am no doctor, but having lived through a period of anxiety that was so dark that it threatened to suck me down into its dark vortex with its insecurities, doubts, fears and worries and having then come out the other side, stronger, and with more tools in my belt than I went in with, I’m here to tell you that practicing gratitude works!

If you are suffering with anxiety and depression, don’t go off your meds and think that magically all will be well overnight. It takes time and it takes making gratitude a part of your regular routine to retrain your brain to refocus your thoughts and energies on positivity.

Now, I’m not talking about chanting a mantra day and night and sitting in a cross-legged position for hours on end. I’m talking about retraining your thoughts to make giving praise to God become second nature.

Gratitude is the solution to anger, fear, anxiety, stress, frustration, depression, apprehension, feeling overwhelmed and all sorts of other negative emotions. These negative emotions cannot be present when you have a grateful mindset. And you can’t have a grateful mindset, unless you have trained yourself to live that way.

Gratitude and anxiety cannot co-exist in the same space and at the same time.

Anxiety can feel like tightness in your chest or shortness of breath. It can suck the life right out of you. But gratitude can slow your breath down, bring peace to your soul and breathe new life into your very being.

As you practice gratitude, through giving thanks to God and others daily, by writing a daily gratitude journal, by singing praise to the Lord, by jotting down everything you have to be thankful for on a particular day, you will begin to develop the habit of gratitude and you will find that anxiety, fear, stress,  and depression will have less of a hold on you.

Now, don’t get me wrong, life won’t be a bed of roses, you will still have moments of fear and anxiety may threaten to overwhelm you once again, but by making a conscious choice to lift a sacrifice of praise up to God, even in the midst of your storm, you will find that anxiety and gratitude can’t live in the same space. One has to go and it’s your choice as to which it will be.

Hebrews 13:15 KJV - By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

If you practice gratitude, you have a way to reduce anxiety and the overwhelming emotions.

When you feel anxious thoughts well up inside of you, whether you feel like it or not, choose to think of something you have to be grateful for, even if it doesn’t relate to your current circumstance. And don’t just think about it, praise God for it! And share it with a friend.

Remember, there is no expiration date on God’s blessings. You can still mention them in a prayer of thanks, no matter how long ago you received them and no matter where you find yourself and in what situation.

If you can make a habit of doing this, you will reduce the stress hormones that drag you down and your mood will lift. The problem may still be there, but your perspective will change. Your anxiety levels will decrease.

Start looking for things to thank God for. Intentionally search out the blessings in every situation. They are there. Believe me when I say that you WILL find them. You may have to pray that the Lord will open your eyes to them, and when he does, you will be amazed at the sights you see.

Look for evidences of God’s love. Look for his blessings.

Look for sunshine after rain. Look for flowers in barrenness. Look for rainbows even when the sky is dark. Look for seashells hidden beneath the sand. Look for the beauty in the colours of a sunset. Listen for the birds as they sing their praise to God. Listen to the thunder as it roars overhead and be reminded of God’s power. Listen for a child’s laughter and give thanks for the gift of life.

There is no limit to God’s goodness and there should be no limit to our thankfulness. Our voices should be always singing God’s praises. Don’t let a day go by without thanking God for something. Make a conscious effort to develop a heart of gratitude and watch how God pushes the anxiety and fear aside to make way for a heart of gratefulness.

Create new pathways in your brain for a river of gratitude to flow through.

 

Supercharge your gratitude and flip that switch 

from anxious negativity to joyful positivity!