Anxiety
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Release from Regret: Recapture your Hope
There is no regret in the kingdom of God, but that doesn’t mean we don’t struggle mightily with it. I imagine David after the prophet, Nathan, informs him that his son from Bathsheba will die because of his sins of murder and adultery. His chief regret, I assume, is that the consequences of his actions have affected more than just himself. I cannot imagine David’s horror as he watches his son die, knowing that his sin caused it. But after the child passes, David leaves his grief and goes to resume his duties on behalf of Israel. To the heart of some, this may seem callous, but David’s own words…
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How To Get Out Of Your Own Way
Years ago, the Lord gave me a vision of a woman. Inside of her was a barren world with dead trees and storm clouds in a desert landscape. Outside of her was a mirror image of the same landscape with the same clouds, dusty terrain, and blackened trees. I struggled with the metaphor for a bit and then the words of Ed Smith, the founder of Theophostic prayer ministry came to me. The basic principle is this: What you feel is what you believe, and what you believe might as well be true, because the results will be the same. For me, after enduring years of narcissistic abuse, the vision…
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Why Offering Forgiveness is Terrifying
Grudges are somewhat satisfying. They are weapons we keep to remind us of our own superiority. We pull them up at convenient moments and use them like baseball bats to remind others and ourselves that while we may have done a, b, or c, at least we haven’t done x, y, or z. A good grudge can keep a game of one-upmanship going for years. But for those of us who would like to let bygones be bygones, or whose conscience reminds us that grudges are not a part of an abundant life in Christ, the nitty gritty of forgiveness is fraught with fears that we are not quite sure…
