May 24: ANXIETY NEVER LEAVES A RANSOM NOTE WHEN IT STEALS OUR LIVES.

Affirmation: I choose to be authentic. I let go of what other people think.

The apostle Paul faced the challenges of being authentic vs. focusing on what other people think. God sees you and me…He knows us, loves us. We are enough❤️.

“Even if others think I am not an apostle, I certainly am to you. You yourselves are proof that I am the Lord’s apostle.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭9‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/116/1co.9.2.NLT

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Practice, Personalize, Ponder: Practice these verses today and everyday. Jot down your experiences as you practice these verses.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians ­4:4-7 NIV

Walk in Grace. Live in Love. By Bob Goff 

May 24

ANXIETY NEVER LEAVES A RANSOM 

NOTE WHEN IT STEALS OUR LIVES. 

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. 

PSALM 34:17 

I have a friend who started an organization to help people struggling with depression and thoughts of suicide. He's a compassionate guy and sees the hurt and need underneath the surface of people pretending they have it together. He's a great example to me. And he reminds me that there's this myth going around that if you believe in Jesus, feeling joy should be your default position. But the Bible talks a lot about sadness too—-it doesn't try to minimize it or sweep it away with saccharine phrases. The book of Psalms should come with Kleenex. 

What I'm getting at is that you don't have to feel bad for feeling sad if you're a Christian. Even Jesus was racked with sadness at times in the Bible. But God also says His mercies are new every morning—even the ones when you don't want to get out of bed. With every sunrise, God gives us another blank sheet of paper and invites us to fill it up with things that make us come alive. 

All of us experience negative emotions from time to time, and some of us were born with an extra dose of them because of our genes. Don't perpetuate the stigmas hovering around people already. Let people be sad if they need to be. Go ahead and be sad yourself if you need to. Then find your way back to hope. If you've lost your way, find someone who is safe and who you can trust. Find someone who will reach out to you the way God reaches out to all of us­ fiercely and without stopping until He's got us wrapped in a hug. 

If you know someone trapped by their hurts, go to them. Don't make a list; make a call. And if you're the one hurting, be sad, but don't get stuck. Find someone to travel the path with you. You'll know you've found the right person if they don't try to fix you—they'll just want to be with you the way Jesus was with us. 

Who do you know who is grieving something right now? How can you bring God's message of love and hope to them?