Sometimes when I get really doubtful, I ask myself, “Am I really a Christian? Does Jesus really live inside my heart? What if I think I believe, but don’t believe enough?”

I get afraid that I am not saved.

Do you ever feel this way? That you might be an inch short of His saving glory and power? That you are outside of his love?

When I feel this way, I do three things:

1. I observe: If I question whether I’m saved, it’s a very good sign that I am. One who loves God wants every confirmation that they get to be with Him. All they desire is to know they are His and He is theirs. This is a good sign.

But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. (1 Jo. 2:1)

2. Remember that Jesus advocates for me. I don’t have to defend my faith and prove I am faithful enough. I simply trust Jesus to advocate for me in heaven. He is the jury and his defense is solid; it is the blood poured out on the cross. It even covers my doubts.

3. I do a fruit-finding activity.

Jesus said, they will know us by our fruits. (Mt. 7:16)

I ask myself, “What are my fruits, since I’ve found Jesus?”

Fruit: I have greater love inside my heart for others.
Fruit: I am more patient with myself as I grow in Christ.
Fruit: I find increasingly more joy in spending time with God.
Fruit: I desire to pray often. By doing so, I am dying to myself and coming alive to Christ.
Fruit: I am kinder to others and not as quick to judge.
Fruit: I would do anything for Jesus.

What about you?

Fill in your fruits here:

Fruit: __

Fruit: __

Fruit: __

Celebrate how you are: in Christ.

And if you can’t come up with fruit, then invite Jesus to live in your heart today. Tell Him:

Jesus, I abandon everything to be with you and to live for you. Thank you for suffering and dying on my behalf. I want your life to be my life. I want you to fill me with your Spirit. I want to be wholeheartedly united with you and to surrender my whole life to you today. 

Get all Purposeful Faith blog posts by email – click here.

Post by Anne Watson

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)

My teenage son recently got in trouble for a bad grade. To be clear, he’s a really good kid who struggles a bit with staying organized. Of course, as the queen of organization, I felt it was my duty to help him learn the art of a place for everything and everything in its place. I would quote things like, “Every test is a reading test,” and encourage, cajole, and mollycoddle if I’m honest. Still, the bad grade happened, and I was forced to become the mean mom who grounds her kid from important things like video games.

My son is sensitive (which I love), and he was deeply concerned about having let me down. He tried to convince me he was a bad son. Up until that moment, I had been nice about the whole thing. However, the second he assigned his struggle as a character flaw, I got mad. We had a little come-to-Jesus about it.

You see, I grew up in a highly critical environment that included a lot of peer bullying. Something inside me knew these comments were lies, but a stronger part of me reasoned they must be true because why else would people say those things? I spent years people pleasing and adjusting myself to quiet the critical voices, but the real outcome was a lot of self-loathing and frustration. It wasn’t until years later that I met Jesus and began to understand how who he says I am is different from what I had been led to believe.

I’ve had to learn how to recognize my defeating thoughts and take them captive by rewriting them. For example, “I’m too emotional,” became, “God made me sensitive and compassionate through my emotions, and he will use them to help others.” It’s taken years to develop this new habit, and there are some days when it simply doesn’t work, and I have to binge on Netflix for a few hours. Overall though, there has been a vast improvement. Now when I see or hear other people believing some lie about themselves, I feel righteous anger!

Thoughts become beliefs and beliefs shape everything we do. If we only believe the bad stuff, how will we ever become or do all God has planned for us? The bad stuff is often easier to believe; I’ll give that to you. But doing the work of choosing to believe the good, even when you don’t feel like it, leads to the rewards of grace, freedom, and a purposeful, meaningful life. I’d say it’s worth it.

Father, thank you for giving us your word to contradict the lies and critics of this world. Help us to remember we are who we believe. Strengthen our ability to take our thoughts captive and give us the courage to believe the best. In your name, Amen.

About Anne

Anne is a former sleep in on Sunday’s girl who didn’t meet Jesus until way later in life. She recently quit trying to be holy, however, after spending an inordinate amount of time trying to shuck her unholy habits to fit into the Christian world. As a bullying survivor, Anne knows first hand the pressure to belong and why changing yourself doesn’t work. She now spends her time fiercely encouraging women to be badass for Jesus by being who God created them to be…themselves. She is a writer, a speaker, and a podcast host for the Declare Conference. She and her husband are raising three hysterical kiddos and are also in the process of going broke while paying for college. You can find more from Anne on her blog, GodDots.com.

Get all Purposeful Faith blog posts by email – click here.

They couldn’t shake me awake.

“Kelly, Kelly, Kelly…”

Completely gone, on the blue and yellow tiles of the bathroom floor, I just laid there, dead-like…

Immovable. Still. Minutes passed.

“Should we call the ambulance?”

My mind tracked back to this memory the other day.

How did I ever let myself get there? How did I ever get so gone?

It’s embarrassing to think back to and even more embarrassing to write about. Worst yet, it wasn’t the first time I’d gotten myself into such a horrible condition.

Why?

No one knew all the problems I had in my heart: they didn’t know the needs of my family, or how I constantly exerted myself as their protector. They didn’t know how wildly incapable I was to do either of these things. And how failure and fear lurked around every waking corner of my life.

Beyond this:

No one knew me.
No one saw me.
I existed, but not really.

Then the nights came and my mind didn’t have to live anymore. I could soothe it with alcohol. Things didn’t have to bother me anymore.

Praise God, today, I am a new creation. You are too.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Cor. 5:17)

What old memory do you try to forget? The embarrassment and shame of yesterday that you hope is gone? Guess what? It is.

Not only that, but the “new” is here. You are remade, no longer used, and made fresh. The whole script gets rewritten.

But let’s look deeper. The Greek word for “new” is “kainos.” This word also means, “of a new kind, unprecedented, uncommon and unheard of.”

Knowing this kind of “new” changes everything. You see:

-Where we were always common and unseen, we are now of an unprecedented variety.

-Where we were ordinary, we are now an uncommon crafting of His extravagant making.

-Where we were unseen and unknown, we are now unheard of. Wow. We are a new kind, of beautiful.

We are what we always wanted, hoped, dreamed and desired to be. We’ve been recreated by the Creator of all creators, into His kind of beautiful. Unlike anyone else, He’s fashioned us into His type of special. Our past is gone and the new is here. In God’s eyes, we are simply unprecedented.

What would it look like for you to accept that you’re now uncommonly beautiful? A new kind of special? Uncommonly full of Christ?

 

Get all Purposeful Faith blog posts by email – click here.

Post by: Sharon Jaynes

“I’m not ___________ enough.” You can fill in that blank with smart, talented, gifted, spiritual, outgoing, attractive, or any number of positive attributes. But the root source of each one of those blanks is rooted in “I’m not good enough.” Period. It’s one of the Enemy’s favorite deceptions to hold God’s children hostage to a life that is “less than.” “I’m not good enough” is an insidious lie that keeps God’s best at bay for many of His children.

The Enemy tries to get us to focus on our flaws rather than on our faith. When we focus on our faults, we take our focus off God, who equips us; the Holy Spirit, who empowers us; and Jesus, who envelops us.

The Bible does say no one is good enough to earn his or her way into heaven (Romans 3:23). Salvation is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). However, many have taken the truth that they are not good enough to earn their way to heaven and transferred it to “I’m not good enough—period.” But through the finished work of Jesus Christ, and His power working in you and through you, you are good enough to do everything God has called you to do and be.

Giving in to the lie of “I’m not good enough” will paralyze you. It’s the coward’s way out. I might have just hurt your feelings, but listen, I’m talking to myself too.

I was asked to speak to a group of teenage girls not too long ago. I thought, I don’t do teenage girls. They scare me. I’m not cool enough. They won’t listen to me. I’m going to sound stupid.

But I put on my cool jeans and my gladiator sandals and spoke to the girls. How did it go? I’m not sure. But here’s what I do know. I am not responsible for the outcome of my obedience. God is.

Stepping out when “not good enough” is heckling at you to step aside is scary. Shrinking back and not moving forward is safer. But it is also boring—not the life to the full Jesus came to give. Henry Blackaby challenges us, “When God invites you to join Him in His work, He has assigned a God-sized assignment for you. You will realize that you cannot do it on your own. If God doesn’t help you, you will fail. This is the crisis point where many decide not to follow what they sense God is leading them to do. Then they wonder why they do not experience God’s presence and activity the way other Christians do.”

I don’t want to be that person. I don’t think you do either.

Courage and confidence follow obedience. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stood backstage at a conference with the words “I’m not good enough” screaming in my head. But when I step out in obedience, and do what God has called me to do, the power of the Holy Spirit overpowers the lies of the Enemy, who told me to just go home.

What lie of the enemy do you need to replace with God’s truth today? Leave a comment and let’s compare notes. We’ll randomly pick one comment and send a FREE Enough bracelet  made by the women of Fashion and Compassion. Every time you wear it, you’ll be reminded that because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross and His spirit in you…you are enough!

Order Enough: Silencing the Lies that Steal Your Confidence by April 6, 2018 and you’ll receive 3 FREE eBooks plus more! Click here for details.

What Can You Do When You Feel Like You’re Just Not Good Enough?

Do the voices in your head say you’re not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough…or just not enough, period?  It’s time to stop listening to lies that sabotage your confidence and embrace the truth of who God says you are.

In Enough: Silencing the Lies that Steal Your Confidence, Sharon Jaynes exposes the lies that keep you bogged down in shame, insecurity, and feelings of inadequacy. By recognizing the lies and replacing them with truth, you’ll be able to

• silence the voice inside that whispers you’re not good enough
• accept God’s grace and move past failures that have defined and confined you
• preload your heart with truth to fight your deepest insecurities

Your confidence and faith will grow when you trade self-defeating thoughts for God’s truth. Today is the day to embrace your incredible worth as woman who is uniquely fashioned and spiritually empowered.

Sharon Jaynes is an international speaker and best-selling author of 21 books. For those who know her best, she is a simple southern girl who loves sweet tea, warm beaches, and helping women live fully and free as a child of God and co-heir with Christ.

Get all Purposeful Faith blog posts by email – click here.