Hey friends! Happy Sunday! It's been a while. It's been kind of crazy the last few months. We sold our house, moved into a temporary living arrangement, went on vacation, celebrated Chris' birthday, Chris changed job schedules, and I was honored to play a part in planning a women's conference for our church. Oh! And we started homeschooling our kiddos. To say that things have been crazy is an understatement. Plus, I've been in my head about a few things... ya know. Anyways, I've seem to have found a schedule that works for now, so I'm hoping to start sharing my heart here again! I hope you've been well. I'm sorry I've been gone. I've missed you!
Here's this week's encouragement!
Do you ever hear that voice from within saying something along the lines of: You’re not good enough. You can’t do that. You’re not worthy. They don’t really like you. He’s not into you anymore. You’re not a good ________ (fill in the blank). You know the voice I’m talking about? Maybe it comes from you: your inner critic. Maybe it came from someone speaking it over you for as long as you can remember.
But girllllllll, let’s call it what it is: a lie. A bold-faced lie at that. Don’t believe me? Ask yourself these questions: Does that thought bring joy? Does it bring peace? Does it bring LIFE? ORRRR does it STEAL joy, KILL peace, and DESTROY you over and over again?
Scripture tells us that Satan is roaming the earth, looking for anyone he can devour (Job 1:7, 1 Peter 5:8). He is after our soul. His tactics insult our identity and our confidence. If we can’t think positive about ourselves, how can we imagine God thinking positive about us? Satan takes TRUTH and tries to swap it out with a lie, which lets be real… on the really hard days, it is easier to see and believe.
But that’s NOT our truth. It’s NOT our story. OUR STORY is Jesus came to give life, and IT IS FINISHED (John 10:10, John 19:30). He finished it. He defeated death. He defeated those lies. He won the WAR.
So what can we do? When we have those intrusive thoughts, try this:
STOP the thought! Literally say out loud “That’s not the voice of God.”
Take that thought captive and replace it with something GOOD. Example: If the thought is “I’m a bad mom.” Replace it with something like “I have so much love for my kids. God chose ME to be their mama.”
Intrusive thoughts WILL return in various ways, shapes, and forms, but you just keep on keepin on with your replacement thoughts. Truth always wins!
Pray about it. Ask God to show you Truth.
Let’s encourage one another. We’re in this together.
Here is your reminder: YOU were intentionally created by a GOOD Father in Heaven. He loves you. He values you. And He came to offer you life and life in abundance. Can you accept that?
Love this! It can be hard to encourage each other when we live in a culture where we feel the need to hide how we are truly feeling and just tell everyone we are fine. It can be hard to find people to be vulnerable with without fear of judgement but knowing they will be there for you to pray and to guide.