faith

Are we living in a crazy time or what? Just a few weeks ago it was normal days with normal routines and now we find ourselves under a mandated quarantine order where everything we used to know has been basically turned upside down (or outside in). I don’t know about you, but I can honestly say I never imagined something like this would happen in my lifetime.

Every day we are bombarded with images, stories, and news reports of depressing things happening among us and projections of things possibly to come. Every day, I watch people I love and people I don’t even know be crippled by the fear of these circumstances and the unknown. People living and experiencing full-blown, debilitating anxiety. Every day I see people struggling with their health, their finances, their essential job titles, and with not being able to see and spend time with loved ones when they need it the most. The list goes on and on and on.

I have my own moments. I’m a nurse in a hospital setting, so I can closely relate to the stress of the term “frontlines.” It’s real. It’s hard. Sometimes I find myself worried about my co-workers. Worried for their safety. Worried over their mental states as well as their physical condition. But you know what? I have chosen to put my faith over my fears and my worries. I’m sure you’ve seen that phrase thrown out a lot lately—faith over fear. There are honestly a lot of people who don’t quite understand not only what it means, but what it actually looks like and how to live it out.

I believe in Jesus. I believe He’s real. I believe exactly what the Bible says in Romans 10:9–10: “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”

And it’s because I choose to believe in Him that I also believe everything else that’s in the Bible, including how to navigate all areas of my life, even stress, worry, and anxiety.

So when I say I’m choosing faith over fear, I’m saying I’m choosing the Word of God over the scary things that are taking place all around me.

Now that I am a child of God, I have privileges, and I’m an heir to all His promises in the Bible. Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand.” I’m told here in this verse not to fear because God will help me and hold tight to me. What that looks like is this: when those moments of fear and worry do creep in (because they do!), I pray to God and thank Him for strengthening me and helping me. I thank Him for holding me tight within His hands. I’m choosing in that moment of fear and worry not to stay there, but rather turn it all over to God. It’s a choice I make. Isaiah 54:17 says, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” We have a pretty large weapon that has been formed against us right now, wouldn’t you agree? But even with this, I pray and I confess with my mouth the Word of God—even though this weapon has been formed, it will not prosper! Period! (And exclamation point!) It won’t prosper within me. It won’t prosper within my family or within my home. End of story. I choose to make this declaration and I believe it with all my heart. I choose to believe God’s version versus the world’s version or the news’ version.

Psalm 50:15 says, “Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you.” This is certainly a time where I’ve had to call on His name and say simply, “Jesus help!!!.” Sometimes I just haven’t known what else to say. Can you relate? Can you recall a time recently where you just flat-out didn’t know what to do or say? The Bible tells us in 2 Chronicles 20:12, “We don’t know what to do but our eyes are fixed on you.” My eyes are solely fixed on Jesus. They are not fixed on what is happening all around me. I cannot allow myself to focus on those things. If I did, it would surely drive me crazy. I choose to fix my eyes on Him.

In 2 Timothy 1:7, it says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” We don’t have to live in fear, friends. The Word clearly tells us that He gave us a sound mind, not fear. When you break down the true meaning behind the words “sound mind,” it means a mind that has been delivered, rescued, revived, protected, and is now safe and secure. So if you find yourself meditating on fear and worry, make a choice to trade that in for what the Word of God is saying to you. Trade that in for a sound mind and allow God’s Word to work on the inside of you to deliver, rescue, revive, and protect your mind.

I’m personally so thankful for my relationship with Jesus. I’m so thankful for His Word, the Bible. I can honestly tell you that throughout this time we are in, I am able to rest well. I am able to laugh, play, smile, and be at perfect peace. I am able to enjoy this time. Am I just being oblivious to what’s going on around me? Am I being oblivious to all of the medical facts surfacing daily? Absolutely not! I have much respect for the facts coming forth and I abide by those facts and I follow the guidelines set before me, but I also choose to turn it all over to God as well. I choose to trade the chaos for a life of peace. Philippians 4:6–7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, 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.” Notice how in those verses it says to present your requests to God. Here’s what that looks like for me. There are times when I have one or a few things swirling around in my head that are causing me to worry, be afraid, or be anxious. Instead of allowing those to occupy my mind, I’ll take a few minutes to write those thoughts down. Whether it be on a piece of paper or maybe just in the Notes section of my phone. I’ll take those thoughts I write down or those concerns I have and I’ll place them in front of me and then I’ll begin to pray. As I pray, I’ll call out each one of those items and then I will hand them over to God and release them to Him. If you keep reading in those verses above, it says that if we do that, if we will present our requests to God, if we will turn those over to Him, THEN the peace of God will come. One translation in the Bible says “And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].” Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You.” That’s the peace I have. Perfect peace. That is the same peace you can have too. It’s so readily available to you. But you have to make that choice. You have to decide to choose Jesus. You have to decide that enough is enough. The life of worry and anxiety is just too much. You have to decide that you are ready for a change. You have to decide that you are ready to truly turn your life over to the One who can calm your fears, give you a hope, give you a future, and give you a peace that goes far beyond your wildest comprehension.

If that’s you, if you are ready to make that choice, today is your day! Today is the day to choose life. Today is the day to choose Him once and for all. Today is the day to make the best decision you will ever make in your whole entire life.

Psalm 86:5 says, “You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call on you.” Jesus is forgiving. Jesus is good. Jesus has nothing but love and peace to give to you if you will just call upon His name. It doesn’t matter what you have done today, in your past, or what you are known for. It doesn’t matter what others think of you. It doesn’t matter if you think you are too far gone. You are never too far gone for Him. He loved you enough even in the middle of your worst moments to send His Son to die for you and make you whole again, make you free from all of the pressures this world has to offer, and free from all of the things that torment you. Won’t you choose to make this day your day? The day you decide that you will put Jesus over everything else. If that’s you, and you would like to call upon the name of Jesus and make Him Lord over your life for the very first time, or maybe you have before, but you’ve fallen by the wayside, turned your back on Him, and returned to your former ways and you’d like to renew that relationship with Him, then I’d like you to read this prayer aloud:

“Dear Lord, please forgive me of all my sins. Please forgive me for turning my back on You. I believe in you. I believe You sent Your son Jesus to die just for me. I believe He died but rose again to give me eternal life and a life of freedom. I am ready to accept You and make You Lord over my life. Lord, I give my life to You. I cast all my worries, my fears, and my anxieties over to You, and I thank You, Lord, for Your peace that washes over me. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

I read this quote a while back and it has really stuck with me, “The one you listen to is the one you belong to.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to belong to fear. I want to belong to Jesus. He is the light, He is the truth, and He is the only way.

If you prayed this prayer today, please consider sending me a message to let me know because I’d love to pray with you and to just be excited and celebrate with you and also to just give you some next steps of where to go from here after giving your life to Jesus!

fertilizer-for-raised-garden-beds

I don’t know about you all but I am so ready for spring! It feels like this super cold weather just keeps lingering and lingering. It almost has this depressive feel about it when it’s difficult to get outside to play with your kids or when you feel stuck indoors because of how cold and wet everything has been for months and months. I am ready to see flowers, green grass, and all the new things that spring forth during this next season.

My husband and I recently went outdoors and planted some trees at our new house. We planted 10 to be exact, but they weren’t trees like you picture in your head probably. They were twigs, and I mean absolute twigs. You know, it was one of those deals where you move into a new home and the Arbor Day Foundation sends you info wanting you to join and participate in a survey about how important trees are and, in return, they send you 10 free trees. I thought Woohoo, 10 trees! This is going to be awesome!

So of course I participated in the survey and waited for my sweet little trees to arrive. I even googled them ahead of time to see what each tree would look like and, in my head I was so anticipating how pretty our yard was going to look. Needless to say when they arrived, I was kinda shocked. I let out a small giggle and said, “What in the heck is this?” I don’t know what I was expecting but is certainly wasn’t twigs!

Nonetheless, we were still excited to plant them, so as we went around the front and backyard, my husband would dig a hole and I was responsible for holding the twig upright while he filled the hole in. I was happy to see how some of the twigs had already sprouted some tiny green growths on them. And I’ll have you know, I prayed over every single one of those twigs! HA! I asked the Lord to bless them and that they would grow into the beautiful trees they were intended to be. Honestly, the main reason I was praying over them was because our yard is nothing but that difficult North Carolina red clay. Mud. Pure mud is what it is. How in the world would these trees ever make it in this type of soil?

I began to think this is a lot like us. We are just like those twigs being planted in that soil. Our survival and ability to thrive and grow are very dependent upon the soil we are planted in and the soil we allow ourselves to become. Jesus talks about the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. In verse 23 Jesus says, “The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” He’s saying here that good soil comes from those of us who truly hear and understand the Word of God…those of us who spend time with Him and in His Word…the ones who are hearing it and choose to keep hearing it!

I love Luke’s account of this as well found in Luke 8:15, “And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.” The part that really sticks out to me here is “cling to it.” In the Amplified Bible, it says to “hold on to it tightly.” This comes from meditating continually on what God has to teach us through our personal quiet time, devotions, reading this blog, listening to sermons that build our faith, and attending church…regularly. Our churches are a place of solid and fertile ground. Church is the perfect place to regularly create the environment of exactly what these verses are telling us. It’s a place to regularly hear the Word. The Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Rom. 10:17). By going to church, we are putting ourselves in a position to hear the Word preached.

As a born-again believer, I am told in 1 Peter 1:23 (ESV) that I am now made a seed that is imperishable, through Jesus Christ. I have been made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). I am made to live and live abundantly (John 10:10)!

But, just like the twig I planted in muddy soil, I can’t expect it to grow if I don’t tend to and water the soil. Sure, it may sprout some new life here and there, but it will never reach its full potential unless it is growing in good soil. It will never grow to abundance.

I believe we need to take a moment and look at our soil. Are we staying firmly planted in soil of worry? Are we staying firmly planted in soil of constant doubt and fear? Are we staying firmly planted in soil that is full of shame and regret? Are we staying firmly planted in grief over something or someone we have lost? Are we staying firmly planted in an environment of negativity or ungodly friends who are holding us back?

Friends, we need to tend to our soil! If we are in those soils of shame, regret, grief, negativity, and sin, we will continue to grow the same things! That’s what we will continue to harvest. We need to get in there and pull out the weeds, gravel, and anything that is preventing us from growing and springing forth the way Jesus Christ intended! We need to follow what the Bible is telling us and get into the Word. We need to start having a quiet time with Him each and every day. We need to build a relationship with Him. We need to get firmly planted in a church where we can allow the Word of God to change us, to infiltrate our minds and souls, so we will begin to start thinking His way and become fruit-bearing seeds for His glory.

I love the Psalms. Whenever I just have no clue what to read from the Bible on any given day or I don’t have a devotional or something specific I’m studying out, I head straight to the Psalms. They instantly bring me to a place of worship with the Lord. Many of them highlight the joy I have in Jesus. In Psalm 1:1–3 “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with the mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.” I really wish you would go back and slowly read over that just one more time and let it sink in.

Think about it like this: “Oh the joys of those who tend to their soil and weed out the ways and advice of the wicked and the ones who mock us. We are the ones who delight in the Bible, in the Word of the Lord and are constantly meditating in it. We will be the ones who will flourish and bear fruit each season (during the good ones and the bad). We will not wither and we will prosper in all we do.” That’s His promise to us.

Friends, it’s time to weed out all the things that are preventing our full growth. It’s time we commit to stay firmly planted in good soil.

Let’s pray.

Dear Lord, I thank you for Your Word. I thank You that through Jesus Christ, You came to give me life abundantly. Lord, I ask You to help me weed out all those areas in my life that are not bearing fruit. I ask You to give me wisdom to tend to those things that are not creating the optimal soil in my life where I can grow and flourish in Your ways. I ask You to give me the courage to detach myself from those around me who are creating environments of negativity and, Lord, I ask You to help me be a light in those situations so that those living in that dark place can see You shining through me. I thank You that I don’t have to live with feelings of worry, fear, shame, guilt, condemnation, and grief. I thank You, Jesus, that because of Your sacrifice on the cross I am totally free. I thank You for Your life that is flowing through my veins allowing me to grow to my fullest potential in You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Tag: faith

Today is your day!

Diggin’ in the Dirt