Tag: The Afters

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THE DO IT AFRAID BOOK STUDY :: TRADE FEAR FOR FEAR

REACHING HURTING WOMEN MINISTRIES OFFERS FOUR THEMES FOR CONTEMPLATION EVERY MONTH OF THE YEAR.
EACH OF THE FOUR POWER-PACKED THEMES ARE A 12-MONTH STUDY SERIES ASSIGNED TO A SPECIFIC FRIDAY OF EVERY MONTH. IN MONTHS WITH FIVE FRIDAYS I’LL BE REVIEWING TOUCHING INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC.
On the fourth Friday of each month in 2021 we’re studying Joyce Meyer’s newest book: Do It Afraid. We’re learning how to understand fear, to recognize how it works in our life and finally how to confront fear. We will learn new mindsets that position us for freedom from our most common fears. Come along and let’s learn something new from Momma Joyce!
This is the fifth post in The Do It Afraid Book Study series.

Freedom from Wrong Kinds of Fear

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. ~ Proverbs 9:10

According to the Scripture above there is only on fear that is right. And it is more important that we realize. This is the reverential fear of God. It will free us from every other fear we may struggle with. We can literally trade our many wrong fears for the one right fear.

What is reverential fear? It is respectful fear that knows God is love. He is good. He is all-powerful and will always take care of me. A reverential fear of God means His opinion of what I am doing is more important that what anyone else thinks.

“If we care more about what God thinks of our actions than what people think, we won’t fear them because we do fear Him.” ~ Joyce Meyer

As long as we keep our reverential fear of the Lord as a priority in our life we won’t have fear of any other people or challenges that we may have encountered in the past.

We can trust God to bring an extra measure of grace on an issue we may have struggled with in a past season.  So that in this new season we don’t have to be afraid that struggle will overtake us with fear and worry.

“F-E-A-R: has two meanings: Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything And Rise. The choice is yours.” — Zig Ziglar

Remember, whatever God has called us to do, He is going to provide the grace, strength and ability to walk it out. When we are walking in the reverential fear of the Lord we don’t have to fear anything else anymore!

Be blessed with this wonderful song by The Afters… I will Fear No More.

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Living Life Lessons: 5 STEPS THROUGH TROUBLED TIMES

Where do you run when trouble comes?


Food? Alcohol? Drugs? Shopping? 

These have been my trouble escapes in the past. Let’s look for a better way to press through our troubled times.

In the Living Life Lessons column each month I am highlighting specific lessons God has taught me since I turned my life back over to Him in 2004. Over the last eight years I’ve watched, read and listened to countless messages by Joyce Meyer. Without a doubt her ministry has been one of the most important influences on my life and has shaped who I am today.

One of the best lessons I learned was from Joyce’s sermon titled “Double for Your Trouble.” When I watched this video the first time in 2006 our life was in turmoil. I was in the early stages of addiction recovery, my husband and I were trying to repair our marriage, two of our three grown children were estranged from us, and my husband was between jobs. We were having trouble most every day. 

Here are the 5 steps I’ve learned to apply when trouble comes:

  1. Stay Emotionally Stable ~ Our first reaction when trouble comes is usually an emotional one. If you’re like me screaming and crying were at the top of the list. On top of that after all the screaming and crying was over I’d have a neck-ache, a backache, a headache and worst of all nothing had changed! Getting emotional in times of trouble only makes things worse. The best thing we can do, for ourselves and those around us, is to remain calm.
  2. Trust God ~ One of the reasons we freak out when trouble comes is we’ve lost our sense of control. This sense of control is just an illusion because there is little in life that we really can control. It’s amazing how much better life is when we let go of that obsession and give all the control to God.
  3. Pray Immediately to Avoid Fear ~ Closely linked to our lack of control is fear. We must remember that fear activates the enemy’s power. So it’s critical that we pray right away for God to give us the faith we need to walk through the trouble we face.
  4. Keep Doing Good ~ When times get rough it’s easy to bail out of everything and just hibernate in our pity party. Whatever we were doing before the trouble began, we must keep doing it. We need to stay on a schedule and faithful to our commitments if possible.
  5. Expect a Reward ~ God often allows trouble in our lives to stretch and grow our faith. But in the midst of the trials we must be on the look out for His goodness. It’s all around us but we will miss it if we stay consumed with emotionally driven fear and worry.
My husband and I have lived according to these principles for the last eight years. We’ve been through several job changes with moves back and forth across America and worked through family fallout and the consequences of my addictions. Life hasn’t always been easy, but by staying faithful to the steps above God has blessed us with many good things!

Every good thing comes from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. ~James 1:17  

Click here for this week’s awesome music video from @TheAfters upcoming album!