Hebrews 12:1-2 "Therefore, since we are encompassed with such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Let us look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Today's episode talks about how easy it is to believe the enemy has us surrounded and that he is stronger than we are. However, this verse shows us what to do when we feel like that. This episode also talks about a great song called Surrounded by Michael W. Smith. He reminds us whenever we feel surround to remember we are surrounded by God. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Be Bold & Fight Your Battles (Be Bold Series)
Hebrews 12:1-2 "Therefore, since we are encompassed with such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Let us look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Two years ago, I was away on a retreat with 20 other Christian women who are all dedicated to starting their year off right and turning their focus to God. Each year in Big Life Mentoring, shout out to Pamela Crim, we each pick a word and mantra. Our word and manta is what we say every day to help remind us of the commitments we made to ourselves to live as the best version of ourselves. This New Year’s retreat that I was on for the last 5 days was a chance to talk about what we want to get out of this year and also to form a great bond and friendship with several other ladies. These ladies can be our accountability group and support throughout the whole year. We know what each and every lady on this retreat wants this year, and we can pray for them and their goals.
This was my first year going to this retreat. It was an amazing weekend. I love it when women who love Jesus get together to talk and get to know each other. We played worship music and walked to the beach at night to look at the stars and thank God for all He has done. We all talked about our strengths and our areas for improvement. We discussed where we are struggling and what we want from this upcoming year. We discussed what we would do to help make those wants a reality. It was really good girl bonding time, and everyone loved it.
While I was on this retreat, several ladies talked about how they have that negative voice in their head so often. You know the voice I am talking about, the one that says you are not enough, the one that says God would never forgive you, the one that makes you feel awful about yourself. That voice that makes you question every decision you have ever made. That voice that makes you feel like you don’t belong. We all have our own version of the mean voice inside our head.
This verse tells us that we can look to those around us as witnesses. I saw so many witnesses that weekend on the New Year’s retreat. The women who were on the retreat were truly amazing. We all struggle with different things and are all good at other things. We can look to each other for help with our struggles. Who in your life could be a witness? Who in your life could you look to for an example of how to live? The people in my prayer group are also great witnesses. They are all excellent examples of how to be the face of Christ to others. In the 6 years I have been in this prayer group, they have taught me much about God and His love. Look to those around you and learn all you can from them!
This next line is the one that really made me think this was the verse for today. It says, “Let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” That is a powerful statement and one that we all need to remember when we have so many burdens in life. We have so much that can go wrong each day. If we can lay aside everything weighing on us and run the race with endurance, life will be much easier. The verse also asks us to lay aside the sin that so easily entangles us. This is a very true statement of how sin works. We tend to get entangled in it. We make one bad choice and then another; before we know it, we are wrapped up in sin, regret, and shame.
This verse is telling us to lay our burdens and sins aside. The question is, “How do we do that?” How do we lay our burdens aside? How do we avoid getting entangled in sin? The answer is right in this verse. “Let us look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” Jesus is the author of our faith. He can show us the way. We can learn much just by looking at Jesus and how He lived. We can also look to Jesus when we are trying to find the strength to lay our burdens aside. We can look to Jesus when we are trying to find a way to make it through the day. That weekend, there were at least two ladies who said they were afraid that the enemy was stronger than they were. This is a real fear that many of us have. The truth is, the enemy probably is stronger than we are, but he is definitely not stronger than God is. God has already won that battle and come out as the victor.
When we start to get scared that the enemy might be getting stronger than we are, we can remember Romans 8:31 “…If God is for us, who can be against us?” This is the truth that we need to keep reminding ourselves. If God is for us, who can be against us? God is for you and me and each one of His children. Yes, you, you are His child. Even when you don’t feel worthy, even when you don’t feel you deserve it, even when you feel like you can’t possibly be good enough to be his son or daughter, He is for you. God doesn’t need us to feel good enough for Him to love us. He always loves us! He is always our Father, and we are always His children.
One thing we did several times this weekend was listen to worship music. We listened when we were in the hot tub, when we were at the beach, and while we were getting up in the morning. We surrounded ourselves with worship music. One song played several times and is one that I think is a great song for us all to remember when we are struggling with the thoughts that the enemy might overtake us. This song is called “Surrounded (Fight my battles)" by Michael W. Smith. What I love about this song is the way it tells us how to fight our battles and then reminds us that God is there with us. Here are the main lyrics:
… The word says
"For the spirit of heaviness
Put on the garment of praise"
That's how we fight our battles (yeah)
… This is how I fight my battles
This is how I fight my battles (yeah, yes)
This is how I fight my battles (what we're doing tonight)
This is how I fight my battles
Just when you think you're lost
… It may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by You, hey!
It may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by You
It may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by You
It may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by You
This is a great thing to remember. When we feel overwhelmed by the attacks of the enemy, we can remind ourselves that although it feels like we are surrounded on all sides by the enemy, we are actually surrounded by the Lord our God. The song repeats these verses over and over again. It is so relaxing and peaceful when I listen to this song. I hope you take the time to listen to it because I know it can bring you peace, too!
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, be with us and help us feel you surrounding us. When we feel the enemy is greater than we are, help us remember that we aren’t in this alone. Help us to remember you are there, surrounding us and protecting us. Spiritual warfare is real, and we are in a battle, whether we realize it or not. We will fight that battle, lifting up praise to You as You surround us. We love you so much, Lord; you are amazing!! You are so powerful, and we are so grateful that you already won the war over evil. You conquered death, and sin no longer has dominion over us now. Thank you, Lord! We praise you, and we thank you. You are awesome, and we are in awe of you. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow! I just want to take a minute to let you know what amazing things I have coming up. First, I am working on getting my audio book done for the Total Trust in God’s Safe Embrace Book finished. Second, I am going to be compiling all of the identity series podcast episodes into a daily devotional book. And third I will be sending my Abandon Anxiety Book to various publishers to see if one of them will publish it. I would appreciate your prayers for all of the endeavors and know I am praying for you as well. If there is anything specific you need prayers for you are always welcome to reach out on Facebook or email me at Catherine @Findingtruenorthcoaching.com. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a Blessed day!
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in August 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “You are my precious ones. You have been precious to me since you were in the womb. You are called to this time, to this place. But I need your permission to take you deeper. And I also need you to trust that I will do what I say.”