Winning Over Anxiety

August 12, 2020August 7, 2020 RefreshHer2 Comments

So you’re sitting there mindlessly twirling your hair while your stressed out thoughts are also twirling through your head.

Your anxiety level is up.

You sigh again.

You pick up the cold cup of coffee sitting beside you and mindlessly sip its contents.

These anxious thoughts have become a pattern during the daytime and they plague your thoughts in the night and rob you of sleep.

I don’t know the reason of your worried thoughts, but I do know that we all have them from time to time, and perhaps now more than ever. What are we to do as believers in Christ when anxious thoughts plague us 24/7?

Recently I picked up my Bible to read the Proverb for the day. It was Chapter 7 – a familiar chapter about how the adulterous woman lures men into sin. I then asked God to show me what I needed to hear from this chapter that truly seemed to have no significance in my own life at the moment. The Spirit of God arrested my attention when I read the first five verses!

My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.

²Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.

³Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.

⁴Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:

⁵That they may keep thee from the strange woman,

Though I wasn’t dealing with the subject of infidelity mentioned in this chapter, the Lord showed me that obeying the first four verses of this chapter is how we overcome any sin that is overwhelming us…including the anxiety that seems so prevalent in our world today.
Here’s what I learned about winning over anxiety according to this passage:

Obey God’s Word and commands. Just do it. What you know to do, what you are challenged to do…do it. Instead of sitting and fretting, get up and obey what you know you’re to be doing.
Read His Word.
Pray.
Serve the Lord in your home.
Give the Gospel to others.
Fellowship with believers.
Do the work God has called you to do…laundry, meals, your day job. Be faithful.
Keep God’s commands and live! Love God’s Word as though you cannot live with out it, for indeed we would be lost without His counsel! He has the Words of life!
Keep God’s Word as the apple of your eye. The most tender part of your eye is the most beautiful and vulnerable part of your eye. You must guard it against being neglected. We may be shocked or horrified when we read of Bible burnings that are taking place, but are we truly valuing God’s Word as we would guard the apple of our eye? We must value God’s Word and see it as the most precious part of our life. If that were true…
~How often would we read it?
~How much more value would we give it?
~How much more would we speak it and share it with others?
Bind God’s truths on your fingers. This is speaking of treasuring Scripture like you would a precious gem on your fingers. Maybe it would help us to keep God’s Words at our fingertips!
This made me think of my Memory verse cards – these should be dangling more often from my fingers as I treasure the Truth written on them, study them, and obey them.
Write them on the table of your heart. We can only do this by memorizing verses and passages. In the middle of the night when darkness prevails, the passages we’ve “written on our hearts” become a light in the shadows.
Call wisdom your sister . Recently my husband was trying to reach a friend of ours and her number was busy every time he called. Then finally she called him and said, “I was on the phone with my sister, but I saw you kept calling. It takes someone really special to make me hang up on a phone call from my sister! This verse is saying, more than an earthly sister we love and take delight in, we must love the wisdom we receive from God’s Word. We need to read, to listen, to glean from it’s pages.
Call understanding your kinswoman. A kinsman is a near relative. We must make the Word of God familiar to us, consult it, and consult its honor, and take a pleasure in conversing with it as we would a close relative.

In the middle of the night when darkness prevails, the passages we’ve written on our hearts, become a light in the shadows.

Verse 5 then says if we do these things it will keep the man from the strange woman. But I have it written in my journal like this:

That they may keep me from ____________________________.

We need to put our besetting sin on that line, because God’s Word can keep us from it. Is it…

Worry? Think Philippians 4:6-8
Fear? Think Isaiah 41:10
Gossip? Think Ephesians 4:29
Envy? Think Proverbs 14:30

What anxious thoughts are plaguing you today? We can win over them if we will apply these simple Truths from Proverbs 7.

Which of these truths do you need to ask God to help you do today? He will help you if you ask!

Refresh your heart and win over anxiety!

Coronavirus · Fear · Fear of death · worry

A Book To Help With Your Fears

April 3, 2020April 2, 2020 RefreshHer6 Comments

Are you afraid right now? Do worry and anxiety threaten to overwhelm your heart? Listen to these statements:

Fear fears joy.

If your family sees you paralyzed by fear, they have to conclude that you do not think that God is all-powerful

We fear God because we do not know Him very well

Why is it people can change your countenance, but God can’t?

These are all quotes from a book I read past month. It has been in my possession for several years. I’m not sure why I had never read it, except for the fact that I know that reading it at this time in my life was perfect. The book title?

Fear Not. Meditations to Overcome Fear, Worry and Discouragement. It’s written by Rand Hummel, a good friend and a preacher who knows how to communicate.

I honestly would have told you that I’m not a fearful person…until I read this book! The book addresses so many areas in our lives that fear touches –

the fear of failure,

dying,

public speaking,

rejection,

being hurt in relationships,

the future

and on and on.

Today we hear the word fear on a daily basis as people deal with the threat of the Coronavirus infecting them. The thoughts of sickness and death bring fear to many. Rand’s approach to each fear is pointing the reader’s attention to what the Bible says. He shares examples of people in Scripture who had that fear and how God helped them.

Every morning when I would read and meditate on the passages shared, my heart was so strengthened and encouraged!

One night this week I went to bed not feeling very well. I was awakened in the middle of the night with a gripping fear and thinking about the virus. Immediately, truths I had read in this little 159 page book came to my mind and I ran to the Lord in prayer. Soon I was back asleep.

I would highly encourage you to get a copy of the book. You can find it in the link above. There’s a Kindle edition, too, so you could have it in your possession as soon as today!

God doesn’t just want us to sleep well. He wants us to trust Him and this little book can be a great avenue to show you how and why you can!

What worries you the most right now? I’d love to pray for you if you’d either leave a comment or send me an email using the email address in the contact page.

trust · Uncategorized · worry

The Best Way to Save Money

March 11, 2020March 10, 2020 RefreshHer4 Comments

Some years ago one of my little 5 year-old Sunday school students said to her mom, “Coupons aren’t the best way to save money.” Her mom asked her what was the best way, then. Here was her answer –

“Just take it easy with God. You know, trust Him!”

That’s a wonderful definition of trust! Take it easy with God! As a matter of fact, that’s what Proverbs 28:25b says –

He that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.

We think of “fatness” in a negative way most times, but Matthew Henry puts it this way –

“None live so pleasantly, so easily, as those that live by faith.”

The person who puts his trust in God has the best kind of life! It’s a life of ease because the cares that would trouble him are taken to God instead! This is the person who, instead of worrying, just rolls it over onto the Lord.

Giving God your burden won’t just save you money, it will save you from fretting, worrying and an upset stomach!

What’s on your heart today? “Just take it easy with God. You know, trust Him!”

Why? Because I Peter 5:7 ~

Christian Life

The Antidote To Fear

November 7, 2017November 7, 2017 RefreshHer3 Comments

oak

A couple weeks ago I unknowingly stepped into a patch of Poison Oak. It tricked me with its leaves that had turned from green to red. I looked at it, reached for it and took it home with me! I can’t even describe to you the discomfort I had on my arms and legs for days afterward. It sent me to Urgent Care to get an antidote for its poison. What soothing relief the medication brought!

There is another poison that is spreading that’s worse than what I experienced. It’s called FEAR. America grieves once again for the loss of innocent lives. We weep with the families and the church who lost dear ones in the shooting during the Sunday church service. While these tragedies sadden us, they also cause fear to spread in our hearts like the poison oak. We ask ourselves and maybe also say it to others,

Are we safe anywhere these days?

Folks are asking, If you can’t even attend church without the fear of being gunned down, where can you feel safe?

On Facebook I saw these comments:

I carry to church. Someone should always be armed and ready these days.

We put some new security policies in place tonight, and we will be adding to it.

How sad. There are no safe places anymore

Whether we agree with these responses or not, we’d all probably admit to the feeling of pure vulnerability and FEAR. How do we respond? What should we do today, tomorrow or next Sunday when we head to church?

The answer came so clearly from one of our visiting missionaries on Sunday. He said:

Fearing the Lord is the antidote for fear. If I fear man, it will affect my behavior. The fear of God should be greater than any other fear.

To fear God is to have a conscious awareness of Him and His presence.

Therefore, if I fear Him, I’ll be aware that He is with me when I am at church, the park, the auditorium or in any other place. Knowing God is there and thinking about that truth will alleviate any fear of man, because God is greater. It also reminds me of other important truths:

He can protect me.
He loves me.
He knows the future.
He will give grace.
He will give strength.

The fear of God comes from the knowledge of His Word. It is there that we learn His attributes that give us confidence and true peace – even in these turbulent days.

No one wants to face a terrifying time like the dear folks in Texas, but if we live in fear, and under the shadow of these kind of acts, we will miss out on each day God gives us to love and fear Him with a holy fear. He is greater.

Don’t fear men. Fear God. It’s the only medicine for the poison of fear of men.

Is fear ruling your heart? Ask God to give you a holy fear of Him instead.

Lovingly,

Denise Signature 150 px

trust

Dealing With Sudden Fear

October 5, 2017October 5, 2017 RefreshHer2 Comments

In light of the recent horrific shootings in Las Vegas, I’d like to re-post something I wrote a couple years ago. I’ve seen normally “chatty” bloggers and You Tube channel hosts at a loss of words as a result of this tragedy. These are frightening days, aren’t they? How should we deal with this kind of news? I believe God’s Word answers that question in Proverbs 3. Read on and be encouraged to trust God in these troubling days!

The phone rings and it’s the doctor’s office, calling to give the results of the lab work that was recently done.

Sudden Fear.

Your teenage daughter has a painful look in her eyes. She has seemed distant and removed from you and the Lord in recent weeks. She asks to speak with you.

Sudden fear.

Your boss sends an email telling you he’d like to speak with you at your earliest convenience.

Sudden fear.

You pick up the newspaper and read the headlines about yet another shooting where innocent people lost their lives at the hand of a crazed gunman.

Sudden fear.

There are hundreds of scenarios in which we could find ourselves filled with sudden fear – that terror that falls over us quickly due to some event in which we have no control. You’ve been there, I’m sure. We all have. We weren’t really prepared for the news or the event. Maybe we didn’t handle those situations so well in the past.

But for those future moments, we can prepare ahead of time, simply by hiding a secret piece of ammunition on our person – it’s the Word of God. Open up your heart and tuck this truth away:

Be not afraid of sudden fear,
neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.
For the Lord shall be thy confidence,
and shall keep thy foot from being taken.
Proverbs 3:25, 26

At that moment when the sudden terror wants to grab your heart, your emotions and your will, pull out the Truth that can enable you to handle this difficulty wisely and calmly.

The Lord will be your confidence – Pray. You don’t know what to do, but He does! He will show you the next step to take that will lead you to victory, rather than defeat. Turn to Him immediately and ask for His intervention and guidance.
He’ll keep your foot – Rest. He’ll not let you slip! Remind yourself that the Lord will keep you safe and secure. “No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Anything that He allows to touch your life has come through His sovereign hands first. You are still in His grip.

The best way to deal with anything is to be prepared. The Lord has given us everything we need to keep us from sudden fear – the Truth of His presence and the help of His hand! Don’t be afraid!

What sudden fear has you quaking? Pray and rest in these Truths today!

Lovingly,