Remembering Who You Are

"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." -Philippians 4:6-7

Feeling fearful? We've all experienced fearful thoughts and anxious worry at different points in our lives, but some of us seem to be bothered by fear on a regular basis. Why is this? It may be a "focus" issue.

More and more I come to realize that we "live" in our thoughts. Thoughts create an environment, a mood, a disposition, an outlook. They also cause us to feel strong or weak, faith-filled or fearful. The more we feed our minds and thoughts with God, the more our thoughts focus on Him and His power. The less we feed our minds and thoughts with God's truth, we open the door to distractions, negativity, worry and fear. Why? Because that is the world's default!

Sometimes I temporarily forget who I am in Christ. Sometimes I temporarily lose focus on who our powerful God is. Sometimes I only remember who the enemy is. Maybe you can relate. However, there is good news - we have control of our focus, thoughts and what we feed on! Remember that you are God's property and that all authority has been given to the Lord. When you put on Christ, then you can take authority over circumstances and fears.

From this day forward, let's choose carefully where we focus our thoughts and remember who we are. "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." -Philippians 4:8

Fasting from Worry - 21-day Challenge

Do you struggle with worry? I do, more than I'd like to admit and I doubt I'm alone. As busy women, we could write lists full of worry-worthy items! Here's a thought for us for the next 21 days: Let's go on a fast from worry.

This weekend, during the week three session of my virtual workshop, I told a story about how God spoke to me about worry. When my son was three, he had several nights of bad dreams...about skunks. He had never actually seen a skunk before, but nonetheless they were plaguing his dreams! During the dreams, the skunks were coming into his room, and no matter how rational my explanations were about how "that's never going to happen - there is no way a skunk could get into your room...," he continued to worry about it. Then these words escaped my mouth:

"When you worry, you waste your thoughts."

God immediately convicted my spirit. I worry and waste my thoughts too! How can we escape this brain-draining and faith-stealing habit?

1. Purposefully pay attention to what our thoughts are focusing on. Worrying is a habit, and most of the time we do it without realizing it. Pause for a moment, and write something down on a worry list or journal. "I am worrying about _____." Having that visual written down will help us know what we're up against!

2. Use the Word of God. We can meditate on verses/truths like these that address the root of our worry:

• Be confident my heart, because the Lord has been good to me. (Psalm 116)
• You are working all things out for my good... (Romans 8)
• I will be anxious for nothing, and I cast all my cares upon You... (Philippians 4)
• My heavenly Father knows all the things I need, and I seek first His Kingdom (Matthew 6)

3. Pray for God's perspective. Sometimes, I can almost hear Jesus speaking to me like He did to the disciples on the wind-tossed boat, "Oh you of little faith." If we could just get a glimpse of our situation or problem from His perspective, our whole viewpoint would change.

Are you with me? I'm going to take this 21-day fasting from worry challenge starting now. For the next several weeks, please send me your thoughts on this topic to include on the KBWomen blog. Thank you!

posted by Krista Dunk