What are You Afraid of? - Courage #4

I am unecessarily afraid of many things.
Often our daily fears are as silly as my first real fear. I am afraid of sharks. Fear is usually caused by Satan's lies. All we need to do is remind ourselves of the truth.
Example:
Lie - I am in danger of being bitten by a shark.
Truth - I am not in danger since the nearest beach is about eleven hours away.


Below is just the beginning of my list of fears. Make one for yourself and/or talk to your kids about their fears.  Then find some of God's truths to combat your fears. I have listed some courageous verses at the end to help you get started.

I am afraid of:                               See photo of my view above vs. God's view below.

What people think of me
My children's and husband's safety
failure (mine and my children) 
getting old
being left out

God's comforting truth:

1.Joshua 1: 7 & 9 - "....Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

2. Psalm 34:4 - "I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears."

3. Psalm 56:4 -"...In God I put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?"

4. Isaiah 41:10 - "Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, surely I will help you.  Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

5. II Tim. 1: 7&8 "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and of love and discipline (sound mind)..."

6. I Peter 5:7 -"Cast all your anxiety on him because He cares for you."

7. I John 4:4 - "Greater is He that is in you, than He that is in the world."

What are you afraid of? How do you combat your fear?

Rebellious Responses - Finding Joy #2

1st - I turned to the Bible to find JOY because it is the "good Christian" answer. Conveniently, since my sister's stroke was in January, I was still faithfully on the "read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year program". Initially, I missed a few days, so I just started up again thinking that this would be the way to solve my problem of sadness. Unfortunately, "the plan" starts out in the Old Testament. I was reading Numbers, and I have to admit that reading about how to sacrifice animals and the multitude of laws that one was required to follow "or else" was not helping me find my joy at all. Instead, my negative heart was reacting to God's requirement of ultimate obedience and justice with confusion, doubt, and rebellion. As I am writing this, I am literally just now realizing that I was responding this way because I was feeling convicted of my sin and Satan was filling my head with lies.

When your children respond harshly and rebelliously to you, remind yourself that they are responding to how uncomfortable the truth is making them feel as it wars inside them against the lies of Satan. You are just an easy scapegoat. Think about the last time you got really mad about something your husband implied you needed to work on.  At first, you probably directed your anger at him, but really were you angry because the truth hurts? Nobody likes to be corrected or forced to do things. One of my children is always the meanest right before she responds to conviction with sweet repentance.

Satan was tellig me that the Bible is unreliable. What lies has Satan been telling you or your children? What makes you the maddest? When do your children respond the most angrily to you and why? How should we respond to the anger or rebellion of our children?