Category Archives: Doubt

3 Steps to Help Doubt and Fear Disappear

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#FiveMinuteFriday!  Even though the word prompt is not in my title, 3 Steps to Help Doubt and Fear Disappear, it’s all over the 3 Steps! Be blessed and share away to encourage someone else.

It’s there. It looms in the background. Lurking, stalking, threatening to come back at any moment. You know it, you try to ignore it but it creeps, it saunters and before you know it you’re caught.

Doubt.

  • Uncertainty
  • Indecision
  • Hesitation
  • Suspicion
  • Confusion

And the ultimate…

Fear.

It’s the enemy’s business to keep us in this constant state: never progressing, never growing, never being all that God wants us to be in the Kingdom. It is not the will of God!

Take these 3 Steps to Help Doubt and Fear Disappear and apply them to your situation:

  • Praise and Quote Scripture

You may think it sounds elementary but friend, the Word of God is the  most powerful weapon on the planet! Take scriptures such as this one, “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'” Psalms 91:1, 2 NIV. (Actually the entire chapter of Psalm 91 is AMAZING.)

How is this for power: “See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc; no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you…” Isaiah 54:16-17.

Speak it, claim it, put your name in it!

  • Praise and Stay faithful. 

It’s so important when you are spiritually discouraged or confused to keep praying, keep going to church, keep studying the Word of God. In other words, keep doing what you know to be right. Know where your strength comes from and remind yourself, encourage yourself in the Lord! Yes, there’s scripture for that! “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.…” Jude 1:20, 21.

  • Praise and Keep trusting God

Yes, it’s that simple but sometimes seems so difficult in the midst of the trial. Keep trusting God. Depend on Him, talk to Him, rely on Him and remind yourself of His promises. Remind yourself you are His child and every promise in that book belongs to you as a child of the King. He has never failed and He never will.

His timing may not be your timing but it is the RIGHT TIMING for you!

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“But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.” Psalms 12:5-6.

You notice how PRAISE proceeds each step? Praise is power. There is an old song we used to sing in church that goes,

“When the praises go up, the glory comes down.
Where sin used to dwell, grace now abounds.
There’s healing and hope, and love all around,
When the praises go up, the glory comes down.”

When you surrender, when you give Him glory, when you raise your hands to heaven and become a funnel for the power of God to come in and strengthen you, watch out! Your praise gets God’s attention, giving Him honor and acknowledging you recognize HE is all powerful and HE is in control, it is much easier to face difficult situations. Problems seem to fade as you allow the God of the universe to take over.

You can trust this God of ours.

Be encouraged and blessed as you praise God each and every day then those doubts and fears will disappear in Jesus’ name.

For the kingdom

 

Seal the stone, set a watch but Jesus is coming!

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It’s Saturday…You can read the other posts from the Holy Week series Hosanna, Hanging on His Every Word, Because He Lives, No need for the Sword, Did Jesus really sweat blood in the Garden? and The Friday that was Good.  Be sure and come back tomorrow, and we will wrap it all up. Blessed Easter!

There is not much information given in the Word of God concerning the day after the crucifixion.

But then there is Pilate.

He makes another entrance here, and even though we might not gain much insight as to what the disciples and family of Jesus are doing, we get a good look at those that crucified the Lord:

“Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate,  Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.

Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.”

Were they really afraid of this teacher? They said they were afraid of His disciples, that they might actually steal the body of Jesus and then present it to the people as if He had risen from the dead. Just like He said He would do.

Pilate was already in. He was in deep. He didn’t originally want to kill this man, Jesus. His wife even warned him of her dream and begged him to spare His life. But Pilate was swayed by the people. He caved, gave them a murderer instead and allowed the crucifixion to proceed.

But now, he cannot afford for anything to go wrong!

 “Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.”

“So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.” Matthew 27:62-66.

 

Seal the stone, set a watch, make it as sure as you can.

There was no rock heavy enough, no amount of guards strong enough, to keep Jesus in that tomb!

Pilate’s attempts were pointless when it came to keeping Jesus from rising again. Even if he didn’t believe it, if he was convinced that the disciples were the ones to try to move the body, it was all out of his hands at this point. God was in control and His Word had already declared that on the third day He would come up out of that grave!

And today, it is the same.

We cannot prevent the Word of God from being fulfilled. Prophecy has come true for hundreds and hundreds of years, and the last few prophecies will come to pass. Jesus will come again for His people, those that have made themselves ready for His appearing.

Are you trying to control things today? It is useless, friend. God was in control at Calvary, at the tomb and at the ascension. He is still in control of the events of this world today. He isn’t surprised by the pandemic, wars or rumor of wars. We can trust Him with our anxiety. Our hope is in Him and Him alone!

What will you be looking for in the morning?

He will not be on the cross or in the tomb.

“Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.”   2 Corinthians 4:14.

He came out of the earthly grave so that we, too, could triumph over death, hell and the grave! While we await His second coming, He wants us, YOU, to have a relationship with Him here. He wants YOU to come up out of the grave of depression, isolation, loneliness, emptiness and be set free because of Calvary. 

No matter what the soldiers did to keep Jesus from exiting that tomb, He was coming out anyway. Friend, there is no obstacle that God cannot move out of the way for you as well and this Easter weekend is a wonderful time for a total life change. One that matters for eternity.
Be sure and come back in the morning…He is alive! 

 

For the kingdom

Fasting: I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!

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Missed any of our 31 Days of Fasting in January? All of the posts are in one place just for you, see them here! So thankful for everyone that has been here, whether you come every day for encouragement or pop in now and then, you are so welcome to gather with us. Be blessed as you fast unto the Lord.

How many of you have seen the commercial where the older woman is sprawled on the floor, obviously without choice, and calling into a little button,

“Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”

That phrase quickly became a byline for many a situation. Not that it was funny that an elderly person had fallen, it was catchy and memorable and it probably sold product like crazy.

If you have been on the fast for any length of time you may have fallen…off the wagon. There’s another one! Where did that phrase, fallen off the wagon originate? According to WiseGeek.com, when you say someone has fallen off the wagon it means they had vowed to stick with one thing but they failed along the way. It was especially referring to the consumption of alcohol. Dating back to the temperance movement, those that consumed were encouraged to get on the water wagon instead of drinking hard liquor. The water wagon was a horse-drawn cart that watered down the dirt roads to control the dust. Those that were encouraging abstinence said they would rather drink from the water wagon than even think of touching alcohol, so if they slipped up it was said they had fallen off the wagon. Who knew?

Maybe if you have been fasting for a few days or even a couple of weeks, you have possibly had something that you didn’t intend to have, found yourself sitting in front of a dessert or favorite food and took a bite before you even thought about it. Maybe you have been on a water-only fast and became so weak and hungry that you just had to have a little bit of nourishment. Either way, you gave in and then as soon as you did, Guilt showed up.

Guilt is not from God. Let’s get that out of the way. He doesn’t put shame or condemnation on His children, He doesn’t sit in Heaven shaking His head and rolling His eyes every time we fail!

Guilt and Shame come from the enemy. It is his specialty! He loves to make us feel as if we have failed, that we aren’t good enough and we might as well give up. Sometimes the pressure is so bad that we feel as if we have to pay penance for a wrong. We have to fix it, undo it or cover it up somehow by doing a good deed.

Friends, this is not what God intended! “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.…” Romans 8:1,2

There is no condemnation if you are walking with God.

He has set you free from Guilt and Shame!

If we do make a mistake, we ask for forgiveness, He hears, forgives and forgets and we pick right back up where we left off. Naturally, we do not think in advance that if we fail we can just say we are sorry and start over again. We don’t intentionally stumble knowing He is always gracious, which He is, but we try to do what is right, in this case with fasting, we pray and do our best to stay committed. But if we do forget, and absentmindedly eat something we shouldn’t, we don’t beat ourselves up over it. We just keep going!

If the enemy is whispering in your ear that you are a failure and that your fasting is all in vain, he realizes the power in prayer and fasting and would do anything to get you to stop. Don’t succumb to his pressure but pick yourself up, grab your sword (the Word of God), find a scripture or two that you can pray out loud and do just that.

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.” Jude 1:20, 21

Have you fallen and feel as if you can’t get up? Jesus is waiting for you to grab His hand; He is your biggest supporter and He will encourage you to keep going because your relationship with Him is worth every sacrifice. Fasting changes the inner man, changes YOU and helps you hear the voice of God. Fasting breaks chains that cannot be broken by prayer alone. Warrior angels fight in the spirit world on your behalf!

Be encouraged in the Lord today, even if you have stumbled on your fast, just dust yourself off and keep going. Victory is ahead!

Don’t forget to grab your copy of The Daniel Fast Devotional! Good for any fast, it is a great, easy read with devotions for every day of a three week fast. Get yours on Amazon here!