Month: July 2022

walk through dark times

How To Walk Through A Dark Time

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We will go through times when our awareness of God goes dark. Last week we described an exercise for developing deep faith. In these times we can’t sense God no matter what we do and no matter how hard we try to figure it out. These seasons are very disturbing and usually trigger fear and discouragement. But, these times are opportunities to develop deep faith, so we need to stay away from embracing fear and doubt. Below is a prayer to help us through these times. It is best to consider each line and choose to apply that to your heart; in other words, do what the prayer says. Prayer for Walking Through a Dark Time I let go of trying to see God. I let go of trying to feel God. I let go of making sure that God is there. I let go of fear due to my Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

God Fulfills Our Desires – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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You open your handand satisfy the desires of every living thing. Psalms 145:16 (NIV) Doesn’t it seem like our sadness and joy stem from unfulfilled or fulfilled desires? Consider what makes you happy. Is it not because some deep desire has been at least partially satisfied? This verse confirms that our desires are a good thing. We have them and God satisfies them; he would not satisfy anything that was not good. Thus, God has given us many healthy, constructive desires: security, belonging, wholeness, inner peace, inner joy, freedom, friendship, community, approval, physical pleasure, love, significance, purpose, value/honor, righteousness (goodness), justification, creativity, fruitfulness, and others. God gave us these desires because they are good and because he wants to fulfill them. He is going to fulfill all these desires in you, in this age and the next, and your joy will be immense. In this verse, we also see that Continue Reading →

deep faith footbridge

A Simple Exercise For Developing Deep Faith

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In order to cooperate with God’s work in us we will need to be very intentional about choosing faith. This means not struggling against the darkness but rather embracing it and trusting God. This means learning a new way to “do” faith. It will be raw, deep, and unassisted by feelings or circumstances. This also means letting go of one’s old way of trusting God which is usually very difficult. It will probably help to develop one or two images that your mind can rely on in order to train it in deep faith. One image that combines fear and deep faith is the experience of walking on a footbridge over a small chasm. Perhaps you have been on a hike where others have already walked over a footbridge that you were not confident in. You felt fear, but you proceeded in faith because others had already crossed the bridge. Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

God Lifts You Up – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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The LORD upholds all who falland lifts up all who are bowed down. Psalms 145:14 (NIV) God’s goodwill toward all who are needy or broken is one of his key attributes. When you fall, when you are bent down under a load of problems or pain he is compassionate. He sees you and his heart is tender; he wants to help. God’s attitude did not change with the New Covenant. Mary the mother of Jesus proclaimed: He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has lifted up the humble. Luke 1:52 (NIV) Jesus said: Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3 (NIV) Sometimes God removes the hardship and sometimes “he will provide a way out so you can endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13). In any case, he will comfort your heart if you look to him. We are a light to Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

Yahweh Is Compassionate Toward You – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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The LORD is gracious and compassionate,slow to anger and rich in love. Psalms 145:8 (NIV) In this verse the Psalmist recites Exodus 34:6 when Yahweh came down on Mt. Sinai and described himself to Moses. Yahweh made it clear that he was not a God who ruled by fear but by love. He was not impatient with people, looking for a way to inflict retribution on them. The Psalmist reminds us of God’s self-revelation with a cascade of adjectives designed to make us rest and rejoice in the compassionate love of God. These are God’s attitudes toward us and it is important to recall these on a regular basis. Do you think of God as gracious toward you? Do you think of God as compassionate toward you? Do you think of God as slow to anger toward you? Do you think of God as rich in love toward you? Try Continue Reading →