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But let me pull you in close and tell you that when you start taking risks for the kingdom of God and running your guts out, Satan will do everything in his power to discourage you. The devil delights in distracting us from worship, from running our races, because he knows that living out our purpose here is a direct result of our love for God, our wholehearted focus on Him. When you look at Jesus, you are so moved by His love, so moved by His grace, so moved by what He did for us, that you can’t contain yourself.
Far better to focus on what will pull us forward than try to focus on what won’t push us back.
choose to stop prioritizing personal comfort and instead help meet others’ needs.
We are set free to serve so our lives will point all people to the joy we have now and the joy that is to come.
“There will be times when you act like the darkness, but you will never be the darkness, and you will never be at home in the darkness again.”
Because Jesus stole away from the crowds to be with His Father, you can choose to be still with God instead of distracting yourself.
Because Jesus chose to live in community with twelve men before He ascended into heaven, you can choose to let people know you instead of isolating yourself.
Because Jesus trusted the heavenly Father in His deepest moment of grief before He went to the cross, you can choose to stop being afraid of what the future holds and trust God.
Because Jesus had every reason to become a cynic about the world’s brokenness yet constantly chose to love sinners, you can choose to delight in God and the people around you. Because Jesus won the victory over sin and death and has made us “more than conquerors” through His love, you can choose to be grateful no matter what.2 Because Jesus didn’t leave us alone but promised us the Holy Spirit as our helper, you can choose to get out there and do something. Because Jesus chose these things, you and I can choose to do the same.
The more life I live, the more I crave knowing how it all works.
The closer I get to God, the more fascinated I become by the intricate design of our bodies and minds.
If you have made a habit of thinking negative thoughts, you’re only ten minutes away from a fresh start.
God can make that kind of breakthrough happen anywhere and with anyone. So this shame? This fear? This doubt? It no longer has power over you! It no longer has power over our generation!
“How in the world did you cope?” I asked him, and in response he said four words I’ll never, ever forget. “I trusted my training.”
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Jeremiah 1:5
I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. John 15:16
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16
I will not leave you. Deuteronomy 31:8
I gave you a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7
I will comfort you as you wait. Isaiah 66:13
I will remind you this is all real. John 14:26
I am on my way. Revelation 3:11
My steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 138:8
I will wipe every tear from your eyes, and death will be no more. Behold, I am making all things new. Revelation 21:3–5
My family is still fragile, but these are the things that help me see that God really does bring beauty from ashes.”
Only God can take the thing we want to hide and build the greatest story we will ever tell.
“Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
But the enemy wants you to focus on anything but Jesus.
But part of quitting feeling anxious is finding an altogether different reason to live.
make my choice. I choose to talk to God instead of doubt Him. I choose to be grateful for all He has done. I choose to obey Him, no matter how I feel. This is my upward spiral. I am at peace. And I so desperately want this for you. I want you to live free and give Jesus away to others.
In Psalm 3:3, the psalmist said that God is “the lifter of my head,”
