2 Thessalonians 3:3 "But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.” This episode talks about how we can fight back the negative self talk by arming us with scripture. It gives several examples to get you started. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Arm Yourself With Scripture
2 Thessalonians 3:3 "But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.”
As I was looking for a tea cup this morning I came across one that my sister in law gave me for Christmas. It has a series of statements on it in two columns. The first column is all the things we might say to ourselves when we are struggling and the other side is all the things that God says back to our statements. It got me thinking about how many people I know that are struggling right now. How many people I know that are wanting to do amazing things with their lives and yet are running into these negative self talk statements at each turn. When I hear the way they are talking to themselves, I tell them the things they are saying are not true. However, the enemy wants them to believe those things are true because then they stop trying to accomplish amazing things. If they believe the things they tell themselves, then they won’t continue on the same path.
I am sure you know the types of statements that I am talking about as we have all said them to ourselves at one point or another. I am not smart enough, nobody loves me, I don’t deserve forgiveness, I can’t go on, and so forth. There are so many defeating things that we tell ourselves. We tend to doubt ourselves and we tend to think we are not good enough. However, God created us in His likeness and image so we are perfect just as we are. I know the enemy helps put these thoughts in our head. He likes us to feel we are helpless because when we feel like that then we aren’t accomplishing God’s great plan for our lives. The ladies I know that are struggling the most right now are ladies that have dedicated their lives to the Lord. They have a light and a fire burning inside of them to accomplish God’s will and to spread His love and His light to everyone they meet. And yet, they struggle with feelings of unworthiness and inadequacy.
This is something that is running rampant in our culture these days. People are feeling more and more alone and they feel as though they aren’t anything special. Just by existing here on earth, you are special. You are made in the image and likeness of God, that is another reason you are special. So, why don’t we feel special, why don’t we feel loved? I think the reason we don’t feel loved or special is because we are looking for those things in this world and from those around us, instead of turning to the Lord and asking Him to show us love. When we rely on things of this world we will always be let down because we live in a broken world. However, God never lets us down. He is always there for us when we need Him. The verse above says, "But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.” I truly believe that the evil one is behind all of our questioning. He is the one that benefits the most from it. However, this morning I was listening the The Big Life Devotional by Pamela Crim, and she was talking about how the enemy does get in our way of doing amazing things sometimes. Do you know what else can get in our way? Us! We can get in our own way as well.
You see, the enemy has no power over you unless you let Him. Yes, he can persuade you to have these thoughts, maybe he can even put them in your head, to be honest, I am not really sure. However, you are the only one that can decide if you want to keep having them or not. “The Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one,” but you have to turn to Him and ask Him. If you are constantly having these attacks or constantly having this negative self talk, what are you doing about it? One thing the Lord seems to be telling me in several different ways lately is that we have a part to play. We don’t get to just sit by and watch as God does everything for us. We do our part and He does His part. So what is our part? Our part is to read God’s word, learn about who God is and how He works. Our part is to spend time with the Lord, talk with Him and listen to Him. If we ask Him what He wants us to do and then listen, He will tell us.
One thing that we can do to combat the enemy and ourselves when it comes to negative self talk is to create a list of scripture verses that dispute the negative things we like to tell ourselves. A friend of mine said she has a notebook like this. I forget what she called it, maybe her book of promises, I’m not sure. She said on the left hand side of the page she has all the things that she tells herself when she is struggling and then on the right hand side she has scripture verses that dispute those things and remind her of all that God has promised to us. I think this is an awesome idea! If you are someone that has a lot of negative self talk it is time to change that. It is time to turn to the Lord and for you to know that He is there giving you strength and guidance. He is protecting you and you can arm yourself with scripture so the next time the enemy tries to convince you that you are not smart enough, you are not loved, or you can’t go on, you can use the Lord’s word against the enemy, just as Jesus did when He was attacked by the enemy after His 40 days in the desert. If you want to read about this it is in Matthew 4:1-11 or Luke 4.
Today I would like to get your list started with the ones that are on my tea cup. I am sure if you do a quick internet search for “I say vs. God says” you will probably find even more. I encourage you, if there are certain negative things you are telling yourself over and over again, do an internet search for bible verses about that thing and arm yourself with scripture. Here are the ones from my teacup:
You say I can’t figure it out. God says I will direct your steps. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
You say I am too tired. God says I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28-30)
You say it's impossible. God says all things are possible. (Luke 18:27)
You say nobody loves me. God says I love you. (John 3:16)
You say I can't forgive myself. God says I forgive you. (Romans 8:1)
You say it's not worth it. God says it will be worth it. (Romans 8:28)
You say I'm not smart enough. God says I will give you wisdom. (1 Corinthians 1:30)
You say I'm not able. God says I am able. (2 Corinthians 9:8)
You say I can't go on. God says my grace is sufficient. (Two Corinthians 12:9)
You say I can't do it. God says you can do all things. (Philippians 4:13)
You say I can't manage. God says I will supply all your needs. (Philippians 4:19)
You say I'm afraid. God says I have not given you fear. (2 Timothy 1:7)
You say I feel all alone. God says I will never leave you alone. (Hebrews 13:5)
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we thank you for all your promises and for all the ways you protect us from the evil one and from all that wishes us harm. Lord, help us to rely on you and to arm ourselves with your scripture. If there is a certain scripture you want us to know I ask that you put in on our hearts Lord. Help us to take action and to create this list and put it somewhere where we will see it often and where we can remind ourselves of it when we are struggling. God you are truly amazing and we are so grateful for all you do for us. We thank you for making us in your likeness and image and we ask you to help us appreciate that more. We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Tomorrow we will have another witness from my friend Anna. She will talk about her journey to discover the Lord and what he was all about. I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow, have a blessed day!