Restless

    Do you find yourself worrying often? Are you dealing with anxiety, depression, stress, fear, or maybe even all of the above? I know I had been. With my heart knotting, pulse racing, and pain shooting throughout my body I had decided enough was enough. Since when was all of those from God? God is a God of peace. He isn't the author of such feelings. He even speaks against them in His Word. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

    We need to offer whatever is weighing on our hearts to God who is the only one who can give us rest. We need to be in prayer giving thanks despite our circumstances. Whether we are sick or healthy, rich or poor, have somewhere to call home or have nowhere to call home it is crucial to give thanks to He who made you. I feel a sense of peace when I give thanks no matter what I just went through or what I am in the midst of going through. God is the source of all hope. It's image  spills over with such beauty because it keeps us going. Hope is what gives us an urge to fight again, compulsion to get back up when we have fallen, and a yearning to keep going forward. Hope keeps us from giving up.

    Psalm 42:5 gives us a clearer picture of this,“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Would you give up if your hope was in the Lord? The underlying meaning to this is that our thoughts do have an affect on how we live. If we think thoughts of hope then we develop mannerisms based on that. If we believe we can do something we are more likely to do it than if we doubted that we could. Our thoughts have a lot to do with why we feel the way we do. Positive thinking has been literally proven to give you a healthier life. How do we approach this in order to become successful in doing so? Even though I have already stated the most important actions to take (praying, giving thanks, reading His Word, and putting our hope in Him) I believe we can do more.

    I'm not trying to portray a heavier emphasis on this next part, but a sense of some sort of importance to what I'm about to write which is that we need to take responsibility for our thinking. We can't blame it on everything else that is under the sun because truth is they are your thoughts and no one else's. We have some power to change our thinking. Those negative thoughts that pop up in your head are coming from somewhere within. What is the number one step to change that? That one step is really quite simple after you make a habit of doing so. We need to stop that negative thought and change it into something positive. I'm not saying that you can't be realistic because if that were the case then I would have already said forget about it.

    I like to laugh about a lot and make fun out of everything that I can make fun out of yet I am someone who is realistic - no funny business when it comes to serious matters, but keep in mind that realistic does not mean pessimistic. Pessimism leads to depressed states. It is a coping mechanism which causes you to diminish the reality of a traumatic situation. It is okay to be angry or sad about something for a couple of days, but when it occurs over a long period of time it develops habitual problems. That anger and sadness starts to ferment. That is a good indicator that you need to change your thinking and quick! When a negative thought comes to mind begin by molding it into something new. It's as if you are reshaping an inaccurate sculpture of something into an accurate image of it.

    For example, if you are doubting God's or someone's love then remind yourself of the acts of love you have been shown in the past. If you are thinking that you'll never be delivered from a circumstance you are facing then remember that God delivers and that everyone goes through seasons of pain - not just you. If you are upset about the way someone treated you change your mean thoughts from: "They are so heartless or they don't know how to drive! (followed by you calling them names you wouldn't want your pastor to hear)" to: "Maybe they are having a bad day or maybe they didn't have as good of a driving instructor as I did." Positive thinking goes a long way. It literally can add years to your life and change stress, depression, and anxiety to healthy ways of living. So think twice and try doing your best at optimistic thinking.

Avenged

    Ever have the desire to thrust revenge upon someone who hurt you? You might be thinking, "Oh no, where is she going with this?" Let me tell you that it is something pretty dang good, something that I can't wait to share. We think of revenge as something negative, right? Well yeah, most of the time it is. Talking about someone behind their backs because they talked about you behind yours is not right. You might have that monster inside of you who wants to jump out in envy because you want to get back at someone for what they did.

But let's think, what good would that do? It wouldn't do any. So how can we twist this to tame that monster eating away at you? Think of it like this: the devil wants you to get revenge on the person who wronged you because it stirs up strife within causing dissention between the two of you and even within yourself because you start to have a hard time choosing right instead of wrong so you can please that desire. What if I told you there was another way to gratify it without being wrong in it? I believe that there is so hear me out.

    The devil is the one who is causing the problems in your life. He's the root of it all even though it is very easy to blame the person who did wrong because it happened by a choice they made, but we would please the devil even more if we gave into revenge, something he wants us to fall into, because it makes a little problem grow into a bigger problem. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:23-25, "Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth."

    He also says in Proverbs 10:12, "Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses." Revenge is a sign of hatred. So instead of being revengeful towards those who you are supposed to love be revengeful toward the one you're actually allowed to despise and hate with all of your heart. Avenge yourself by not taking the matter into your own hands. Let God handle the judgement of other people because when we "try" to take over His job we will end up being the one who will be judged for how we handled it and we'll make a little problem bigger. Strike revenge on the devil by not falling into his tricks.

Forgotten

    As I wrote in my previous entry forgiving is forgetting. It might have been misunderstood and perhaps I wasn't clear in the point I was trying to make so I'm going to expound some more. It has to do with so much more than just forgetting about what had happened in order to forgive. It is more profound than that. Yes, we are supposed to forget so that we can forgive. Let me explain: we forget about our mistakes, the wrong we have done, and the wrong other people have done toward us to an extent.

    What I mean by "to an extent" is that we don't forget with a blind eye. You wouldn't leave a bank robber alone with five hundred dollars of your very own money. We forget by not bringing the situation back up and rubbing it in someone else's face. Relating to being able to forget about something wrong you have done means not beating yourself up about it and not letting it bring you down. Instead we remember it in a sense of letting it make you a better person or protecting yourself from making the same mistakes.

    We wouldn't keep putting ourselves in a situation where someone keeps wronging us. We can forgive them and let it go, but not make ourselves susceptible to becoming a victim once again. It really can be a touchy subject and you have to be wise, but when in doubt you take it to God, see what His Word says, and you pray and ask for wisdom to help guide you in the matter you are facing. We wouldn't want to make ourselves vulnerable to situations that would throw us right back to where we started so taking it to God is the number one step you should take.

Forgiven

    I don't have an idea about what I should write today except what is lying in my heart. When words won't form from the mind I take them from the heart. We all have to deal with the repercussions of our mistakes some being worse than others. Consequences for one sin may be worse than the consequences for another yet we all will be judged the same for the sins we have committed. It is alleviating to know that I have a God who forgives all sin, but sometimes our problem isn't the struggle of knowing that He forgives us.

    For you it might be harder to forgive others than it is to believe you are forgiven by God. One thing I have learned is that unforgiveness plus time produces bitterness and let me tell you that bitterness festered over time is harder to let go compared to dealing with it in the very moment where forgiveness needs to take place. It only gets harder. It's dangerous. Hebrews 12:5 says, "Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many." Corruption is the fruit of bitterness and I'm sure no one wants to see that take presence in their lives. Although this has been a problem for me in the past I have learned that getting that one snide remark in or giving that one displeasing look for my own satisfaction is not worth my time.

    Forgiving myself for the wrong I've done towards other people has been more of the struggle I'm facing today. It cuts me deep when I learn that I've hurt somebody whether it was my intention in the moment or not. I end up reflecting back and trying to figure out why I've done what I did. Most of the time I do know the cause of my actions or words, but it doesn't mean they were right. Even if I have a reason for what I did it doesn't justify my actions or words no matter how much I try. That is where God comes in. If we can't forgive ourselves then how are we going to be able to connect to God to reach our fullest potential?

    Just like the Bible tells us to forgive one another we must forgive ourselves. Unforgiveness towards others produces them pain and sorrow and I believe the same goes for ourselves. If we can't forgive ourselves then we aren't expressing any growth within. We are focusing on the hurt and the situation when with forgiving must come forgetting. If we don't forget then are we really forgiving one another? It belittles the other person in the situation just like it starts to belittle you when you don't forgive yourself. I believe one tool in learning to forgive others and even yourself is learning how to love deeply. If you love then you care. If you aren't loving then you aren't caring. Rest in this if anything, God is love and God forgives all. We are to shape ourselves to become as much like Him as possible. If we work on loving one another and even ourselves then we will be able to forgive.