Doing the Hokey Pokey - Facing the Future Part 2

I talked last time (Part 1) about how often when I'm thinking about the future I can slip into an attitude or posture of FEAR instead of standing in FAITH.  I am definitely still learning this dance move, but basically God has me working to turn these feelings around (that's the Hokey Pokey part J) so that I can move on in His strength all the way to victory!  It goes something like this (though the order varies depending on how He leads):


STOP.  Come before His throne and get down on my knees.  Be still.  Look up and listen.  Look back and remember how faithful he has ALWAYS been.  Throw my burdens into His hands.  Thank Him for all He's done before and what He's going to do still.  Turn away from the sin I may have fallen into.  Push back and resist the enemy.  Put my hands in God's and let Him lead.  Trust Him.  TRUST HIM.  TRUST HIM!  Climb up on His lap and maybe all the way up to His shoulders and see what He sees when He looks at my future!  And then make some choices...


To be DETERMINED instead of dreading.
To start being COURAGEOUS instead of cowardly.
To choose to be CONFIDENT and stop despairing.
To be TRUSTING instead of anxious.
To be FILLED WITH FAITH instead of fearful.


To BELIEVE and KNOW that IN CHRIST I CAN BE...


EXPECTANT instead of worried.
HOPEFUL instead of discouraged.
ENCOURAGED instead of depressed.
BRAVE instead of timid.
PERSEVERING instead of giving up.
STRONG instead of weak.
BOLD instead of afraid.
FEARLESS instead of terrified.
EMPOWERED instead of powerless.
SECURE instead of insecure.
ENLIGHTENED  instead of confused.
EQUIPPED  instead of incompetent.
AT PEACE  instead of falling apart...
EXPECTING and PROCLAIMING VICTORY instead of declaring defeat.
COUNTING IT ALL JOY instead of whining!!!


"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."  (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)


Why???  Because God says so.  (In 2 Corinthians 4 it also says...)

6For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

13It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak...

I have to believe it and speak it.  I will not lie down and give up because my victory is not dependent on my own power. Christ bought it for me with his blood.  I will not squander that!  My victory depends on God and I HAVE THIS TREASURE and no one can take it away from me.


And THAT, my friends, is what it's all about.  J


In Faith, Hope & Love,
Melissa