Tag: fear

You Are Worth It

We all have something we are allowing to have power within us that keeps us from stepping into all that God wants to bless us with.

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I’m not one for amusement rides, especially roller coasters, but I bring the kids to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and release them go have fun. I wait! As I sit here in the shade where the breeze is cool I’m watching multitudes of people walking by. As I’ve been observing these people, I see all different sizes, shapes, color, short hair, long hair, man-buns, no buns, braids, pony-tails, shaved heads etc. and there isn’t a one of them that look anything alike. The differences I see in people is absolutely stunning. As I think about it even deeper, I think of how different each person sees the world, sees their world, their family, and how they see themselves. How they see their circumstances and finances and more. Each one is so specific in how they look, see, feel, touch and communicate. More on this later.

Recently we’ve been involved in a situation that we innocently stepped into, but little did we know the mess we would end up being in. We loaned our small car we tow behind our RV, when we need to, to a single mother of 10. Her car happened to break down the final day she was helping me with a project. We told her she could drive our car for the next couple of weeks because we weren’t in dire need of it. Told her she could use it until a specific date. Long story short, the car ended up getting stolen and then finally returned and we gave the offer to buy her a decent car that she would be able to depend on. After much conversation she agreed. The plan was to meet and buy this specific car. She never showed up. Now, there are a lot more details to this story that I am not sharing, but after lots of back and forth, and her changing stories, nothing seemed to match up over this whole time. BUT, we still pursued, wanting to bless her and her kids. Unfortunately, the favor of heaven that was on us to bless her and her family was not received.

I have been troubled by this and wondered why a single mother in need would avoid, turn away, lie and just about steal to keep her from receiving a blessing. What was keeping her from this? It reminded me of my childhood, where my mother was a single mom, 7 kids in tow and refused to accept any help such as food stamps (back then) and never wanted to ask for help from anyone. I was starting to get a bit irritated and offended at the lack of gratefulness and acceptance of our gift to her. I was kind of stewing on this and it dawned on me that she was under the influence of so much shame and guilt that she couldn’t even recognize the gift that was being given to her. She’s been wracked with guilt and shame because of her past and her present situation. Needless to say, I repented.

It made me wonder how many of us walk around with such guilt, condemnation and shame over us? How often do we allow what we carry to keep us from accepting the many gifts that God has…just for us?? Our self-perception is tainted, warped and twisted when we don’t see ourselves as God sees us. We find ourselves to be unworthy, carrying false humility and full of pride.

So, back to the differences in people. Bottom line is, we are all so different on the outside, but so much the same inside. We are all carrying “stuff”, no matter if we have the most expensive clothes and the biggest house and an expensive car. Even if we are living in the gutter with nothing, we all have something we are allowing to have power within us that keeps us from stepping into all that God wants to bless us with. God desires to lavish Himself upon us in a multitude of ways.

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My question to all of reading this: What do you carry that is keeping you from stepping into the freedom and liberty that is available, so you can receive the countless blessings of Heaven? Come as you are to God and allow Him to take the burden of guilt, condemnation, shame, fear, and pride from your life. There is so much more for you in God. You know why? Because…

YOU ARE WORTH EVERYTHING HE IS AND GIVES because you came from HIM!     HE created you! HE loves you!

Blessings,

Veronica

Intimidation is Ugly

When we are secure in who we are, no matter where we are in life, in all aspects/areas, then we cannot be intimidated nor would we have the need to compare ourselves to anyone else because we know who we are and whose we are!

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Intimidation is an ugly thing. As someone that has usually been an introverted type personality and more on the quiet side, it’s always been very easy for me to be intimidated by strong people that come across my path.

Intimidation comes across as being very dominant and can make us feel like we aren’t good enough or we feel “less than”…both are practically the same. Some other feelings it can bring are discouragement, fear, restraint, or it can also make us feel threatened, withdrawn, insecure and not good enough. It has a tendency to leave us feeling controlled and powerless.

None of us like to be intimidated. Sometimes we can be experiencing this ugly thing in a particular moment, but not even realize what it is. Intimidation will always cause us to look inward and think it’s our fault we are feeling these different emotions and such. For those that are more on the quiet side or more introverted, it seems the first place we look at, is ourselves and how weak we are or how powerless we are. We begin to compare ourselves with the one projecting the intimidation.

Recently, I was contemplating about a certain person that is a friend, but I always seem to feel intimidated around them. This person very powerful prophetically, in personality and in a lot of other ways. But being around this person was difficult at times and when the opportunities presented themselves, I would find myself trying, or wishing, to get out of having to be around them. As I was pondering this a few mornings ago, I felt like I heard the Holy Spirit say, “If you are intimidated then you are not comfortable with who you are”.

Intimidation is nothing more than comparison. I’ve always heard it said this way…comparison kills! It really does. That is just how the enemy (devil) would like it. He always comes after our identity before he goes after anything else. If he can attack our identity then he has an open door to wreak havoc in our lives. If he can get us to believe the lies that intimidation releases, then we will slowly be broken down and end up having no identity at all. His number one goal is to make us feel unidentifiable and as small as he can!

When we are secure in who we are, no matter where we are in life, in all aspects/areas, then we cannot be intimidated nor would we have the need to compare ourselves to anyone else because we know who we are and whose we are!

If you are feeling intimidation at any time, stop for a moment and declare your identity. Do not partner with the lie that makes you feel small or powerless. You are powerful, not weak! Declare the opposite of what intimidation is trying to make you feel. Speaking it out loud will also show you are not intimidated. God is everything you declare Him to be to you. How does God see you? Declare what He says about you!

~ Veronica

A Way of Escape

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482321220Standing at our back door looking out on the beautiful backyard we have, my husband and I were drinking our first hot cup of coffee and noticed movement in the back yard. We noticed it was a fawn that must have gotten separated from its family. It was frantically pacing back and forth seemingly hesitant about jumping and looking for a way to cross over the fence. This little one paced from one end of the yard to the next. As it went up into the trees, I said, ‘no, you can’t cross there, you will get caught in the thickets’. It came back to pacing and went right by a safe place to cross. After a while it seemed to notice the same safe place to jump that I saw. I said ‘yes, right there, jump, that’s the perfect place’. It looked as if he was going to jump, but he hesitated, but he backed up and went for it and successfully bounded over the fence into the next field.

Later on in the day, I briefly thought about this moment. How many times have we been in a place where it seems we have either been separated from our family or we are lost because of getting distracted, perhaps it is that we are frantically looking for a way out of our circumstances? We have all been in those times at some point, but when we are in the middle of it, how do we respond? Is our response to panic and be pacing back and forth with worry and fret and totally miss the ‘way of escape’?

Fear, fret, worry, stress, anxiety, anxiousness, impatience are all emotions we have experienced at some of our most difficult times. When these come there is a decision that has to be made. More often than not, it’s our own crazy decisions that separated us anyway and we get so wrapped up in our circumstance that we cannot see. Our fears keep us in a place of pacing back and forth looking for the answer…am I in the will of God…I need money to pay my bills…my kids are going down the wrong path…I’m a failure as a parent…I have this disease…I need a job…I need food on the table…etc. These are just examples of some of the fears that we all wrestle with at some point and time in our walk of life. Are we going to let these emotions become so overwhelming that we cannot see our way of escape?

I don’t know if you have ever heard the story about the flood that came and this man’s house began to flood. He cried out to God to rescue him. A friend came by in a truck and told him to get in. The man said, ‘no, God is going to rescue me’. Then the water kept rising, he moved to the second level of his house. A boat came by and called out for him to get in the boat. The man said, ‘no, God is going to rescue me’. Eventually he ended up on the roof of his house and a helicopter flew overhead and lowered the rescue basket for him to climb into. He said, ‘it’s ok…God is going to rescue me’. Well, eventually the man drowned and went to heaven. The man asked God, ‘why didn’t you rescue me’? God replied, ‘I sent you a truck, a boat and a helicopter and you turned them all away’.

God always provides a way of escape for us. His way of escape is not always the way we as humans would think of it as being. His way of escape opens up to us as a result of us letting go of our fears, stress, anxiety etc. and embracing His peace, hope, grace and mercy. His rescue to us might look like: someone taking your kids for the afternoon to give you some breathing room, or it might be someone offering to pay your electric bill. Perhaps it is getting that prophetic word that will bring hope to your world. How about a new drug invention that would heal the disease you might have. God will always provide a way of escape!

In the Psalms David cried out to God endlessly to be rescued from his enemies. I personally believe David believed lies sometimes that kept him in a place of always needing rescued. There are numerous scriptures that declare God is our way of escape. He is a…tower of refuge, a present help in time of trouble, a source of strength, a provider, a healer, and so much more. What is He to you? What lie are you believing that is keeping you where you are? What fear is it that keeps you from seeing the open place to jump the fence and come back into the place you belong?

Just remember…God, most of the time, uses people and tools around you to rescue you from your circumstances. Our expectation of what our rescue should look like will result in us having all kinds of rescue opportunities come our way, but we miss them all because we have in our minds what it’s going to look like.

If you are in one of these times, I encourage you to not be afraid, put hope and trust in God! He IS your rescue, but it might be through a friend, or a prophetic word or a person you don’t even know. God loves to work in mysterious ways!

~ Veronica ~