Beauty Supplements

Your daily dose of true beauty advice…

We might be tempted to think the emotions of fear, worry, and anxiety are truly emotions that come from outside of us…But before we go there, let’s remember that our emotions express our values and evaluations. Our emotions tell us what we really, really believe. Therefore, not even fear, worry, and anxiety can be attributed to something that happens to us.

The Bible leaves us no room for debate. The source of fear, worry, and anxiety is unbelief. The unbelief is specific, spelled out for us by Isaiah and Jesus. When we fail to believe that God is for us, will take care of us, has our future in his hands, and is with us right now, we cave in to fear, worry, or anxiety.

Listen again to the prophet [Isaiah]: “Whom did you dread and fear, so that you lied, and did not remember me, did not lay it to heart? Have I not held my peace, even for a long time, and you do not fear me?” Likewise, what is our Lord’s diagnosis of the anxiety shown in Matthew 6:25-34? The answer is, “O you of little faith” (6:30). When we are gripped with anxiety and fear, we are making an evaluation. Our souls are speaking, and our innermost being is expressing what we believe and whom we do not believe.

~Brian Borgman in Feelings and Faith

Photo: OBMonkey

Beauty Supplements

Your daily dose of true beauty advice…

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -Phil. 4:6–7

Commands such as “do not be anxious” typically come after the reason why we don’t have to be anxious. In this case, the reason was slipped into the preceding verse: “The Lord is at hand” (Phil. 4:5).

That changes everything. The emphasis is not on how we pray. It is on the God who has come close, who hears, and who is with us. The only thing that could separate us from His love and presence are our sins, and they have been washed away by Jesus’ blood.

Isn’t it true that the presence of another person in our frightful situations can lessen our fears? Fear doesn’t want a series of impersonal steps; it wants a person. Walk in an unknown dark place by yourself and you are afraid. Hold someone’s hand while you are in that dark place and fears ebb. If we are comforted by the presence of a mere human being who might be less strong and brave than ourselves, how much more will we be comforted by the sworn presence of the reigning Christ?

This is the path toward peace and comfort. Meditate on Immanuel, which means “God with Us.” Remember how the Spirit of Jesus has been given to us (John 14:27). He is not limited by a physical body that confines Him to one place and one person at a time. He is with all God’s people all the time.

~Edward Welch in “Peace That Passes All Understanding“ 

Photo: OBMonkey

Beauty Supplements

Your daily dose of true beauty advice…

The sovereign king of the entire universe is our Father. He has not only created us, but he has also recreated us in Jesus Christ and has provided everything we need. Paul tells the timid Timothy, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7, NKJV). Unbelieving, sinful fear is contrary to what God has put in us at conversion (Rom. 8:15). We overcome the grip of fear by knowing what God has done for us through his Son. We break fear’s grip by realizing God did not give this fear to us; rather, he has given us the spirit of power, love, and self-control.

We also squeeze the life out of fear, worry, and anxiety by utilizing truths such as that found in Proverbs 18:10: “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.” Once again, we return to the oxygen truth of God’s character. When the emotional hurricane winds of fear, anxiety, and worry assail us, we run into God and his character, his nature, and his attributes, like someone would run into a strong tower seeking refuge from a storm.

Our Father has provided all that he is for our safety. When we are focused on him we are assured that we are safe, and we no longer fear. Safety calms our fears. The psalmist reiterates this for us: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you” (Ps. 56:3).

~Brian S. Borgman in Feelings and Faith

Photo: OBMonkey

Beauty Supplements

Your daily dose of true beauty advice…

We all have to admit that worry is a common temptation in life–for many it is a favorite pastime. America, the most affluent society in the world is also the most worry-filled society in the world—that is, if spending on security, mental illnesses, and intoxicants are any indication. Americans worry, and worry is a sin. It is neither insignificant, nor inconsequential. And for the Christian, it is absolutely contrary to faith Christ…

If you worry, what kind of faith do you manifest? “Little faith,” according to Jesus (Matt. 6:30). Now if you are a child of God, by definition you have a Heavenly Father. To act like you don’t—nervously asking, “What shall I eat? What shall I drink? With what shall I clothe myself?”—is to act like an unbeliever in God’s eyes (vv. 31-32).

Think about it this way: Christians who worry believe God can redeem them, break the shackles of Satan, take them from hell to heaven, put them into His kingdom, and give them eternal life, but just don’t think He can get them through the next couple of days. That is pretty ridiculous, isn’t it? That we can believe God for the greater gift and then stumble and not believe Him for the lesser one reveals an embarrassing lack of faith.

~John MacArthur in “A Worried Christian“

Photo: OBMonkey

The Weight Will Be Worth It

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.”

Psalm 34:19

When we’re suffering under the weight of trials, it’s difficult to think of little else besides escaping from the pressure. In this excerpt from the series Battling Unbelief, John Piper explains how God enables believers to stop running from their trials and begin rejoicing in the midst of them instead. 

Photo: Ana Labate

Set Free from Fear

“The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?”

Psalm 27:1a

If you’ve ever read one of Patsy Clairmont’s books or heard one of her conference messages, you may find it difficult to believe that such a vivacious, outgoing woman would ever have cowered in fear merely at the thought of leaving her home. Yet as she explains in this video for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, there was a difficult season in Patsy’s life when she allowed her heart to become nearly paralyzed with fear and anxiety.

Patsy’s testimony of overcoming worry by relinquishing control of her life to Christ, memorizing Scripture, replacing unbiblical thinking with biblical thinking, and investing in Christian fellowship provides a biblical model that each of us can follow as we seek victory in our own struggles with sin…

Photo: Fernando Audibert

Winning the War Against Worry

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow.
It empties today of its strength.”

Corrie Ten Boom

Are you too busy worrying about tomorrow to enjoy what God has done for you today? Elyse Fitzpatrick offers some wise counsel to the worrywarts among us… 

Learn more about this topic in Elyse’s book Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxiety.

Beauty Supplements

Your daily dose of true beauty advice…

When you live a God-centered life, when your mind is fixed on who God is—I want to tell you, I’m preaching this to myself. This is what I need to hear. When you live this God-centered life, the result is order, peace, and direction. It doesn’t mean you don’t have problems, but it means you see the problems differently. You see them through the lens of who God is.

We’ll see David saying, “I will bless the Lord. I will boast in the Lord. I will magnify the Lord. I will exalt His name. I will seek Him. I will look to Him. I will fear Him, rather than fearing men or the future.” You see how his life has become oriented around who God is, and that’s the thrust of what we’ll see in Psalm 34. It begins by saying,

I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth (verse 1).

I like that “I will.” David is in desperate circumstances. He’s in difficult circumstances. These are some of the darkest days of his life. Some of it was complicated by his going off on his own. Some of it was hard anyway. Not every hard thing in your life is because you have sinned. Sometimes life is just hard. David faces, through no fault of his own initially, in the midst of all of that, his own failures and failures of others. He says, “I have a determined resolve, and that is to bless the Lord.” I will.

This is volitional. It’s a choice. Listen, praise is not a feeling. Praise is not an emotion. It may involve our emotions, but it is an act of my will. It is a choice I make to bless the Lord...

I think that is an important part of dealing with meltdowns, dealing with depression and discouragement. It is to speak the truth about who God is, to bless Him with our mouths.

“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:1). To speak the praise of the Lord; to get it from my heart to my mouth. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). So what’s in your heart is going to come out. If your heart is centered on God and focused on Him, then out of that will come blessing of the Lord.

~Nancy Leigh DeMoss in “Praise Is Not a Feeling“

Photo: OBMonkey

The Great Physician’s Cure for Anxiety

“Fear not, little flock…”

Luke 12:32

A short while ago, I began studying the book of Hebrews, and I spent some time today thinking about the truths of Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” While I can’t say I had much success in wrapping my brain around such an amazing concept, I can say that simply knowing Jesus has been where I’ve been brings me tremendous comfort, especially during difficult times. 

As he taught through Luke 12:22-34 recently, Pastor Mark Driscoll addressed how having a sympathetic High Priest makes a significant difference in our ability to overcome fear and anxiety…

Pastor Mark went on to explain 7 Truths about Fear that you’ll also find helpful.

You can listen to the entire message “Jesus and Anxiety” HERE.

Photo: mirofoto