Fear Fighting: By Knowing Who IS

So grateful for Kelly! I'm loving her book Fear Fighting. She's been a sweet friend to me, introducing and encouraging me in the blogging-for-the-Lord-world. Hope you enjoy her guest post- God With Us is a message I especially love at this time of year!


Kelly is both a Cheerleader of Faith and a Fighter of Fear. She leans on the power of God, rests on the shoulder of Christ, and discovers how to glow in the dark places of life. Get all Kelly’s blog posts by email or visit her on her blog, Purposeful Faith. You can also find a variety of resources for your fight against fear here. 

My son and I drove over a bridge we’d driven over a hundred and one times. It happened to be dark. Very dark.

Son, let me ask you a question, “How do you know that water is still there?”

He said, “Well Mommy, I know it is there because it’s just how it is. Water goes there.”

I wonder if we approach God the same way? We know God is there, because he just IS.

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.  (Ex. 3:14)
God IS who he IS.

He IS with us.
He IS for us.
He IS fighting on our behalf.
He IS liberator.
He IS hope.

He IS light.
He IS creator.
He IS Savior.

The truth IS: God has you. God so has you. More than your mind can conceive.

That issue before you? God already walked ahead of it.
The idea you’ll fail? He knows your way.
The fear your children will get hurt? He is their hope.

The past that haunts you? By his stripes you are healed. (Is. 53:5)
The inadequacies that berate you? In your weakness, his power is perfected. (2 Cor. 12:9)

When trepidation surrounds, know this: God has you tighter than the clothes you wear. He has you more strongly than the house that surrounds you. He will not let fall what he has built. He will not crumble what He is behind.

He IS before all things, and in him all things hold together. Col. 1:17

I learned to find rest for my fears, for my worries and for my anxiety as I wrote the book, Fear Fighting: Awakening the Courage to Overcome Your Fears. Perhaps, today is the day you find rest in who he IS and what he IS leading you. You see, great are his promises for us.

And, great IS the King. A King who takes care of his children. He brings them within his house and places a banqueting table before them. He does not set their seat a distance of ten feet from the table and mock them. He doesn’t lay out succulent dishes before them and make the salivate. He doesn’t place them just out of arms reach from his glorious goodness. He sits them down at his table of spiritual blessings and says – eat!

Eat! My love for you is great! Enjoy! For what I want you to be full! Celebrate! You need not feel guilty in doing that! I want you to have all I have. I want you to know my life. I welcome you as a chosen one. Come and partake. Come and, not only sit with me, but be full with me and then stay with me – forever.

“Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 14:15)

Blessed is she who knows God IS good.
At peace is she who believes God’s love IS what casts out fear.

Full is one who sits where God IS.

Prayer: 

God, may I sit at your table all the days of my life. May I welcome in the bounty that is you. You are enough. Let me not walk away from you for a vision of lesser things. Let me not get distracted with the disorienting ways of the world. Let me not see the faults of others and therefore, miss the fantastic nature of you. Let me not get caught up with progress and miss the process of laying my head on you. Let me not hear the fans and the fanfare so I am unable to get fantastically fanatical about staying in your love. Let me not get so comfortable with sin unapparent, I fool myself into thinking I am religious. Let me not waste away days thinking I knew you, when I chose not to. Don't let me delude myself; it is easy to do. Amen.

Interested in fighting fear? Join the 4 Days to Fearless Challenge!

About the book, Fear Fighting, Awakening the Courage to Overcome Your Fears:

Author and Speaker, Kelly Balarie didn’t always fight fear – for a large part of her life, she was controlled by it. Yet, in her book, Fear Fighting: Awakening Courage to Overcome Your Fears, with God, Kelly charts a new course. Join Kelly, on the journey to go and grow with Christ’s bravery, the Spirit’s counsel and God’s unending love that squelches fear. This book reads like a love letter from God, while offering practical heart-calming prayers, anxiety-reducing tips, and courage-building decrees that will transform your day. www.fearfightingbook.com

This post may also be shared on: #MomentsofHope #TestimonyTuesday, #RaRaLinkup, #TellHisStory, #Thought-Provoking Thursday, #Heart Ecnouragement, #DanceWithJesus, #LLMLinkup, Faith-Filled Friday, Sitting Among Friends, and #SoulSurvivalLinkup.

You Brought Me Here Why?

I remember the excitement when the phone call came. “We just have to finalize it, but you can schedule that moving truck,” the Midwestern man’s voice exclaimed. Expectantly, we did.

We waited.

But the paperwork never arrived. Weeks later, the same voice apologized on the phone. Unforeseen circumstances arose. The position was cancelled. We’re weren’t moving to Iowa. We were moving though… we had to.

We waited.

Living out of suitcases at my in-laws’ house, we sought work.

We waited.

My husband showed me a job listing. It wasn’t what was expected. We knew one person in the whole region. But the Lord said yes with perfect clarity and abundant confirmation. One Skype interview and a phone offer later, we were scheduling another moving truck. This one was bound for the unknown of Minnesota.

With just two weeks to prepare and little in the bank, we signed a lease online with high hopes.

We’d waited.

The Lord had made the way. We believed it.

Then we pulled up to the apartment complex….

Read the rest of the wild story over on Abby McDonald’s Anchored Souls Series, where I’m honored to be included. 

This post may also be shared on: #MomentsofHope #TestimonyTuesday, #RaRaLinkup, #TellHisStory, #Thought-Provoking Thursday, #Heart Ecnouragement, #DanceWithJesus, #LLMLinkup, Faith-Filled Friday, Sitting Among Friends, and #SoulSurvivalLinkup.

Lie 7: Sin Is Too Personal To Talk About

(A series on lies sin tells us to tempt us and trick us. Read the whole series here.)

We like to keep sin hidden.

It’s only natural. Our enemy knows this and encourages this.

Sin is ugly, shameful, and feels very personal to us. Sharing about our sin feels threatening, putting us at risk of judgement or worse, accountability.

Yet leaving sin in the darkness does no good. That’s where sin thrives.

We don’t have to wear scarlet letters or spill our guts in unsafe relationships, but the Lord does ask us to call sin what it is. He calls us to expose our sin to the light of truth: Him.

Join these bloggers as they participate in the drawing of sin’s deception out of darkness into Christ’s light:

1. The Lie: You are Good Enough

By Helene at Maidservants of Christ

“…left to myself, I know I am neither righteous nor good.

You know that too, don’t you?   Our culture constantly bellows “You’re special! You’re important!  You’re just great!” then backhands us with a thousand insults to prove we’re not.

But we recognize sin’s lie when it comes a calling. Deep in our hearts is the whispered truth.  ‘I’m no good.” To which God says simply, “I know you’re not.  But I am.’”

2. I Don’t Need to Confess My Sins, Right?

By Becky at My Ink Dance

“Confession doesn’t put the things back together, but it does give you permission to let go of the broken pieces.

That mama knew what happened all along. She was only waiting for her daughter to confess. Not so she could scold, but so she could forgive.”

3. 3 Lies We Believe About Repentance

By Alyssa at Living By The Light of the King

“I’ve heard it said that repentance means that we turn away from our sin.

But the truth is that the original Greek word used through the New Testament (metanoia) doesn’t really have anything to do with sin. It actually means ‘change of mind.’”

True repentance isn’t just about sin.”

4. I Can Stop Whenever I Want

By Irina at Blessed Beyond Borders, Beyond Boundaries

“At first, we try to convince ourselves that nobody notices our sins. Whatever I do behind the closed doors is nobody’s business. It’s my life and I can do whatever I want. As long as the sin doesn’t hurt anybody, my sin is not a big deal.”

5. Worthless

By Kendra at Stronger With Christ

“When I focus on God (and not my problems), He changes everything. When I focus on the truth of His Word, I can believe that God loves me. When I focus on my failure, I question how anyone could love me.

When I trust God, my confidence grows. When I trust myself, I believe sin’s lies.”

6. God Isn’t Enough

By Casey at Cattails, Rabbit Trails, and Thistlefish

“Instantly, the enemy is at hand to whisper subtly: ‘He doesn’t actually want to give you what you want.’

Even worse, sometimes that whisper speaks, ‘He’s withholding good things from you; how dare he?’”

7. Faith and Fear and Perfect Love

By Shannon at In Between His Times

“The truth is that the Lord commands us not to be anxious about anything. Not requests it. Not tells us that it’s a nice thought. Not suggests it as one of 5 Steps to a Healthier Life.

Nope.

Commands.

What an uncomfortable word.”

This post may also be shared on: #MomentsofHope #TestimonyTuesday, #RaRaLinkup, #TellHisStory, #Thought-Provoking Thursday, #Heart Ecnouragement, #DanceWithJesus, #LLMLinkup, Faith-Filled Friday, Sitting Among Friends, and #SoulSurvivalLinkup.

In ____ We Trust {Series}

As we detail our troubles, we intend for our hearts to trust.

But we overshare our hopes while downplaying our fears. We try to back up our feelings of trust- a form of faith- with evidence and proof that it’s working. That things will get better “if.”

Our trust is half-hearted. So our hearts only feel half-secured.

That’s what real trust is: full reliance on the security of the Lord.

To trust in Him is to stake our hope and put our confidence in our Lord’s will.

Isaiah 26:3-4 says this:

“You will keep in perfect peace

those whose minds are steadfast,

because they trust in you.

Trust in the Lord forever,

for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.”

———

We are not held within that perfect peace when we don’t trust in Him. Our body language, conversations, and dependencies betray us.

Why the wringing hands and nervous speech? Why don’t our hearts believe what they proclaim about God?

One reason? Our trust is divided.

There’s something else we’re relying on and it’s taking hold of half of that

desperate-to-be-steadfast-mind

and half of that

heart-yearning-for-peace.

Our trust might be divided between God and money. God and spouse. God and ambition.

Whatever other thing we’re trusting in, it will disappoint us. And it will all the while compete for the heart that is best given wholly and completely to the Lord.

When we trust in God AND something else, we stand atop the rock, looking for stability, but holding our burdens above our heads. Then, we wonder why it’s so hard to balance.

Do you know the trust(ish)-dance?

For the next few weeks, I’ll be writing each Monday on something (or someone) I tend to trust in besides God.

I’d love for you to join me!  Writers and non-writers are all welcome.

Send me an email message (here) by June 5^th telling me about something you trust in besides God and/or how you seek to remove that unnecessary balance beam to stand more firmly atop the rock. If you’d like, we can arrange for a guest post in the series! 

This post will also be shared on: #TestimonyTuesday, #RaRaLinkup, #Intentionally Pursuing, #WomenWithIntention, #TellHiStory, #Thought-Provoking Thursday, #DanceWithJesus, #LLMLinkup and #SoulSurvivalLinkup.