Tag - His Word

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Sinking
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The Bat Attack: 3 Ways to Conquer Fear

Sinking

I’m sinking!   I opened my mouth to scream for help and there was no one in sight. My body was almost waist deep in sand.   Waves were crashing all around me.

What began as a casual walk along the beach in the early morning hours was turning into a nightmare.   As the tide had gone out, pools of water had formed between the dry hard sand and the ocean.  What appeared to be hard wet sand was an illusion.

Holding my cellphone in one hand over my head, I threw the upper half of my body into the shallow pool of water and wiggled my way out and then begin to crawl onto the dry packed sand.

When I finally stood up, I began to laugh and cry tears of thanksgiving. 

Even though I was wet and covered in sand, I was determined to finish my walk.  As I did, the Lord brought Matthew 7:26 to my mind:  “But everyone who hears these words of Mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.”

Defensively I replied in my heart, “Lord, I am building my life on you.”  His response, “Go examine your life against my Word.”  The Lord never wants us to live our life in comparison to anyone else’s.   His standard for our lives is to be His word, not our neighbor, our friend, our family, or even our pastor.   Jesus’ life and His words are to be our plumb line, the tool in which we keep our lives aligned to God’s standards and not the world’s standards.  (Isaiah 28:16-17 and Amos 7:7-8)  When we measure ourselves against others, it’s an illusion, not a true standard.

Upon returning to the beach house where I was staying.  I sat down and opened His word.

Jesus uses the parable of building your house on either the rock or sand as the closing illustration of one of His most powerful sermons, Matthew 5-7.  Many refer to this sermon as “The Sermon on the Mount” because Jesus chose to preach sitting down on a mountainside as crowds of people were listening.

As I read through these chapters, the Holy Spirit began to speak clearly to my heart and convict me of areas in my life.   One of those areas is worry/anxiety.  “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  Matthew 6:34  The Greek word “worry” means to be “torn in two.”  When I worry, I am choosing to reject Christ as trustworthy and my mind is dependent on others or myself to solve problems.   My heart becomes divided.

Jesus doesn’t say not to worry when there is no more pandemic and a vaccine is found, or when the right political leaders are elected, or there is plenty of money in my bank account, or when all of my kids and grandkids have no problems.   Jesus says, stop worrying!   He says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.” (Matthew 6:33) Care more about advancing His kingdom than my own kingdom.

Lord, forgive me!   Take my hand and pull me out of the sand and set my feet on you, the Rock. 

“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.  He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.”  Psalm 40:2-3

Do you feel as if you are sinking today? Is something or someone slowly pulling you under?  Does it seem as though our nation is slowing sinking?

Take a moment today to open God’s word to Matthew 5-7.  Ask the Lord to align your life to His word.  If there is any area of your life that is not set on His words, acknowledge it as sin, ask Him for forgiveness, and then choose to set your feet on the only one who will not sink!

The Bat Attack: 3 Ways to Conquer Fear

I’m reposting by request and because it compliments Preacher’s sermon Sunday on fear!

It had been raining for days on Rocky Top so my brown rocker outside had been eluding me.  The forecast last night had given me hope of sunshine for the coming day.

I woke up suddenly to thuds against my windows. I sat up and said loud enough for the Preacher to wake up…..What is that noise?? He did wake up, stumbled out of bed and peered through the wooden blinds….It’s just some birds hitting the window. He then plopped back into the bed to sleep until his alarm went off in 15 minutes!

His explanation didn’t satisfy me…..especially when the thuds grew more frequent.

I walked over to the window and looked for myself. Oh my word….Preacher…this isn’t birds….those are bats…..hundreds of bats were flying on my precious back porch, encircling my brown rocking chair…..NO it was not raining but Bats were attacking my home!!!

I went and looked outside the rest of the windows…..bats everywhere!!! They were flying on the front porch, the side porch, the basement porch. We were officially under bat attack!!!

Ok…..think Donna…..you must get rid of these hideous creatures. Not totally sure why they have chosen my house to attack…..but they are’t welcome here. And I refuse to allow them to rob me of my back porch and rocking chair today. I will not live in fear of BATS!

1.  I walked around the house and turned on every outside light we had. The sun had risen but due to the clouds and mist, it really was’t that light outside. I remembered from basic science that bats don’t like light…… FEAR doesn’t like light either. When I am fearful, just saying HIs word out loud, declaring His truth drives fear out!

2. I also turned on all the outside ceiling fans. Those bats will have a hard time flying into air that is blowing in the opposite direction. FEAR can’t exist when the wind of the Spirit is blowing. Fear envelopes us when the Holy Spirit is being quenched in our lives.

3. Then I waited patiently. I trusted that the sun would eventually come out and shine brighter. FEAR is no match for faith……a faith that waits patiently for the promises of the Lord.

By the time the Preacher opened the garage door to head off to work, the bats were almost gone! There were a few casualties lying dead on the downstairs back porch……but the rest flew off to find some other home…..a dark cave to sleep in until the sun went down.

When my mind is a dark cave…..void of His truths, His wind of the Spirit and faith…fear will reign. But fear, like bats can’t tolerate the light of His word, the wind of His spirit and a steadfast faith.

Choose to know His Word and speak it out loud on a regular basis…..and watch fear dissipate.
Feed His Spirit within you…..sing His praises out loud, serve others with joy and watch the wind of His spirit blow through your fears! And choose faith….even when it seems dark and dreary in your life…..trust Him, wait upon Him! He is faithful and true!

Bat attack:  Fear attack…Conquered!  John 8:12; John 1:1-5; I John 4:18; James 1:22-25; II Timothy 1:7;  and  II Samuel 22:29

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