Separating God's Truths from Our Emotions

Emotions. We all have them. I sometimes feel like my emotions are a nasty tornado spiraling up and down, and I am the eye of it all....stuck right in the middle.

You see emotions are a very good thing. They allow us to feel love, joy, peace, and happiness. It's only when we let those emotions of worry, stress, anxiety, sadness, loneliness ect. creep in and bog us down that our emotions can become less of a blessing and more of a curse.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where your crazy emotions seem overwhelming and your not sure how to deal? Well if your married or a mom I can almost assure that you have. Whats the cure? Separating God's TRUTHS from our crazy emotions.

This is totally something that God has been teaching me over the past few weeks. If you are going through a storm season in life don't let that tornado of emotions take you down...instead attack that tornado with the word of God. We do not have to be trapped by our emotions. Just like we should take every thought captive and make it obedient to God, we also should take every emotion we are having and make it obedient to God. God doesn't want you to worry and stress. 

Do you have anxiety? He wants us to cast it on HIM  (1 Peter 5:7) because He cares for us.

Feeling scared or lonely? Deuteronomy 31:6 Tells us not to fear because God goes with us and NEVER leaves us. Sad? God will deliver you from that sadness (Psalms 34:18-19). He will sustain you (Psalms 55:22). Feeling helpless? He hears your cries (Psalms 34:17).  Maybe your just worn out. God will recover your life and give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30). Angry? God tells us to get rid of it (Ephesians 4:26-31).

God has given us emotions as a blessing. Do not let the devil creep in and whisper lies to you....that's the seed of those bad emotions. Fight those ugly feelings with the word of God. I encourage you to write these scriptures out and post them somewhere that you look often. When you feel that tornado stirring up stop it with God's truths. Pray for God's peace and ask him to cover your thoughts and emotions with the blood of Jesus Christ!

A sweet co-worker of mine texted me a prayer one morning. Little did she know how much I needed it that day. I was bogged down, stressed, and sad. After praying this prayer I felt God's total peace cover me ad sustain me throughout the rest of the day. Please pray this prayer when your emotions are trying to get the best of you and let God's peace that surpassing all understanding flow through.

Dear God, there is so much on my mind that I don't know what to do or where to even start. I need your help. Give me peace Lord. Help me to have wisdom to separate your truth from my emotions. Show me how to deal with these situations and comfort me. Help me to trust that you have a future planned for me...something even better than before. Heal my heart, and help me not let my emotions get the best of me.Your will be done. In Jesus name, AMEN.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  -Philippians 4:6-7

God Bless,

Haleigh

Grace in a Dark World

All it takes is one look at the beginning of a check out line to realize that we are living in a very lost and dark world. Articles and pictures of people who are changing the way God designed them to be, and other articles bashing and condemning a bad choice once made by a young boy who has been freely forgiven by God. It's sad really, that people in this world would embrace a gender confused person wanting to change God's blueprint, but be so hateful and condemning of someone who has been changed (in heart, soul, and mind) by God, made clean, and set free. The world just cannot wrap their heads around the abundant GRACE of God.

As Christians we are told to be the salt of the earth. No christian, and no person for that matter, is perfect. We.are.all.messed.up.people. We all sin and fall short, but the difference is Christ. We can either accept Christ and his gift of mercy and grace, or we can bury ourselves in the lies and deceit of the devil and this world.

The controversy with the Duggar family has actually brought to light more so that their are so many lost people. As I listen to news stories arguments about this specific topic it really just amazes me that people honestly have no clue of what forgiveness in Christ really is. They don't understand how or why God would be so gracious to forgive and entirely blot out & make new a person who has committed such wrongful acts. Honestly I was once in that same boat. I could not fully grasp the fact that I had been forgiven and MADE NEW. I would condemn and bash myself for the things that I had done in my past. Even though God had already blotted out and forgiven me I was still wallowing in self shame.

How did I come to fully understand God's pure grace? Through a lot of prayer and through reading His word. I can see God now with a smirk shaking his head at me every time I would ask him to forgive me for the same thing He had already forgotten about. Isaiah 43:25 paints the picture perfectly:

"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more." 

My sweet pastors wife a few weeks ago in sunday school said that it's not our job to condemn and hold people down in their sin ( thanks Debbie! (: ). This stuck in my heart and has been on my mind through the past few weeks. No it is not our job to shame and hold people captive for a sin that God Almighty has already erased. We shouldn't do this to others and we shouldn't do it to ourselves. We need to hold on to the grace that has been given and rest in it! Refreshing huh? ( anything with the word rest in it is refreshing..amen mommas?) 

 "But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it."- Ephesians 4:7

Lets be the salt of the earth Christians. Shine God's glory and grace in your life to all those who you come in contact with. Share your struggles and sins so that they may see the wonderful place God has brought you to. Point someone towards God's grace and give them encouraging verses that may help them understand the power in Christ we have to overcome sin. Be a blessing!!

" Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." -Romans 3:20-24

God Bless,

-Haleigh