Lies and a Truth...

Lately I've been feeling a little under attack by the enemy and have found myself buying into some of his lies. The enemy is attacking right where he knows I'm weak and is using doubt and worry to creep in. Doubt and worry that things may not work out for my trip back to Uganda, doubt and worry that I made a mistake by moving back home. He's also been attacking myself esteem. I will admit...One of my weakest areas is my believing in my own self-worth at times. And maybe it's not even really self-worth, but more just insecurities in being single. It's not so much a "I'm worthless" sort of thing, but more "whats wrong with me that I am still single" kind of thing. I'm 32, have a successful career, I'm indepentent in a good way, so there must be something wrong with me...right? I was just chatting with a dear friend the other day about this and she reminded me that all these things are just Lies! Lies that the enemy uses to tear me down. Lies that couldn't be further from the Truth! So, I decided to compile a list of some of these lies and the Truth that God tells us to counter those lies...as much for myself as for anyone else...and I thought I'd would share! So...here we go...



Lie #1
"I made the wrong decision and now I've completely messed up God's plan."

Truth #1:
Jeremiah 29:11 ""For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.""



Lie #2
"What if I can't go on this trip now? What if it doesn't work out?" (Insert your own what if's, doubts and worries here). 

Truth #2
Philippians 4:6,7 "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."

Matthew 6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."



Lie #3
"There is something wrong with you...that's the only explaination for why you're still single."

Truth #3
Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them"


Lie #4
"You are not beautiful."  "You're not good enough for the kind of guy you want."

Truth #4
Psalm 139: 13-15 "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth."

Proverbs 31:30 "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."


Lie #5
"I don't have the strength to keep going."  "I'm can't do what you're asking of me."

Truth #5
Isaiah 40:28-31 "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."


Lie #6
"The enemy is going to win"
Truth #6
Psalm 41:11 "By this I know that you delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph over me."

Psalm 32:7 "You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance."


And the greatest Truth of all:
1 John 4:16 "So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

So there are just a few of the Truths that God has been reminding me of lately!!  I could probably go on for much longer, but these are the ones that have been hitting home the most.  This faith journey is just that...a journey and part of a journey is finding your way.  Discovering and rediscovering His truths is one of the most important parts of that journey!  I find so much comfort in His words and truths that remind me of His perfect plans and Love for me!!

Visiting Orphans...the ministry that started it all for me!!

Visiting orphans is the ministry that I went to Uganda last October with!! It is a ministry that is truly living out James I:17 and the Great Commission!! I love this ministry and wouldn't be where I am today on my journey without this ministry and the people it introduced me to!! Please take a minute to watch this video and be inspired!! Even if you have never desired to go to a far away land there are ways you can partner with this ministry and the amazing things they are doing!! I have seen their work with my own eyes and they are doing awesome things!! Seriously people!! Watch this! Go check out their website: www.visitingorphans.org. And GO. BE. LOVE!!!

Words...

Words...They are more powerful than many of us realize.  Words are things that are easily taken for granted, but not easily forgotten.  Think about it...some of the most influential times in your life probably involve words, either positive or negative.  I know in my own life words have played a huge role in either building me up or tearing me down!  I can still hear kids teasing me in high school, or saying mean things.  But, I also think about all the wonderful things some of my dear friends have said to build me up and encourage me.  I heard the words "I love you" daily from my parents growing up and even to this day!   I've heard this song simply titled "Words" by Hawk Nelson (see below) a lot lately and it's really been hitting home in many ways and also convicting me, but never more than tonight when I let my words be negative and hurtful.  I know how hurtful words can be, so I don't ever want to hurt anyone with my words ever again!  So, as I listen to this song again tonight, I make it my prayer! No, I won't be perfect, but I pray that God will help me learn to use my words they way He intends!  "Let my words be life; Let my words be truth; I don't want to say a word; Unless it points the world back to You!"

God reminds us over and over throughout the Bible how important our words are, and how importants it is to be in His Word!  Proverbs 12:6 "The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright delivers them."  Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." So lets not forget the importance of our words and learning and growing from God's Word!

Hungry for the uncomfortable...

I've been reading Ann Voskamp's blog "A Holy Experience" a lot lately.  Ann is in her own words "Wife to the Farmer & Mama to 6. Author of NY Times Bestseller, One Thousand Gifts. Believing all is grace & He alone is enough."  She gets it!  She has been in Uganda and has been able to capture so much of what I loved and still love about that place so eloquently in her blog!  She wrote a "Letter to the North American Church" that I mentioned in my last post about some of her thoughts and experiences in Uganda.  It completely captures what Uganda does to your heart!  Here's just a glimpse:

 

"That one woman with no shoes and no husband and 7 kids, walk up to the front of the church and put this bag of beans into the basket as her love offering to God – my heart ached this raw conviction and I could feel it with you, North American Church, what you really wanted: You’re hungry to love like this. You are hungry for the uncomfortable." 

 

I'm hungry for the uncomfortable!!  It's a scary thing to say I know, but I have never felt so comfortable and close to God as I did those two weeks in Uganda!  The simplicity of life there forces you to just completely rely on Him and his promises.  Seeing people who have so little, even nothing, but still find something, somehow to give back to God so joyfully will burn a lasting impression on your heart!  I want that kind of Joy!!  And the love the people there exude is just so contagious!  They truly understand what it is to love as God loves!  God has been convicting me of a lot lately, and I feel like this is an amazing time in my life to really make some changes!  I'm praying about so much, and waiting for God guide me and help me understand a lot of the changes I've had in my life lately.  One thing I know He is teaching me more and more is that I don't have to be in Uganda to experience Him the way I did there.  There are so many more distractions here, and things to take our focus away from living for Him, but he wants our all regardless of where we are!  It means we have to work harder and more intentionally to put aside those distractions and be in communion with Him because it's worth it!  To experience His Joy is worth living uncomfortably, so we can experience His comforts!  I know my heart is yearning to do more, to be more, but ultimately to LOVE more!!  As Ann
so eloquently says

"Living radical isn't about where you live — it’s about how you love.  It’s about realizing– Love doesn’t happen when you arrive in a certain place. It happens when your heart arrives in a certain place – wherever you are, right where you are, dirt road Africa or side street America. Because it isn’t where we love. It’s how we love. It’s who we love. The reward of loving is in the loving; loving is itself the great outcome of loving. The success of loving is in how we change because we kept on loving – regardless of any thing else changing. The value of loving is in the value of being like Christ."

 

And that my friends is how I want to love!! 

"It"

I have so much in my heart and on my mind. So much to process over the last few days. The "Letter to the North American Church" written my Ann Voskamp; Todays sermon on my last Sunday at my beloved church in Indy about living with Joy in a world sometimes filled with frustration and trials; officially moving this week and no longer having a place to call "home" in Indy; feeling a tugging on my heart to do more for Uganda or in Uganda. So many things I want to process and write about...but don't know where to start. I don't know what to say...other than He is working on me! I feel it in my soul...there's a stirring and a flame being fanned that I don't even really know or understand, but I feel it!! Maybe its just Him calling me more to Himself...but its there. Whatever "It" is, its there and I am praying my humanness doesn't get in His way!!