gotta check this out

now, i'm not telling you how to live your life (that phrase is a constant joke in our home) but i really think this would help YOU if you would take the time to listen/watch.

at NewSpring Church, we are in a series called Overwhelmed.
have you ever felt that way?
the inbox never gets to 0, the messages on phone always come in, the laundry piles up higher and higher, as do the dishes in the sink....i could go on and on, but let's face it. we are all currently or recently have been overwhelmed!

this past sunday was an INCREDIBLE message titled "How to Overcome Stress and Anxiety".
hello?! did you read my previous post??? you all know, by now, that this (along with insecurity) is the area the devil likes to play crazy games in my head about.

i took so many notes on important info and quotes that i completely filled my paper...no margin anywhere left clean. :) i want to share some of those things with you. i want you to know that this is not "i have arrived, listen to me" but rather, here is TRUTH and let's focus on this and get our minds right, together!

first of all, please take a few moments and go HERE to check out Daniel 3:13-30. this is the text that is walked through in the message.
if you really want to have your mind blown, then go HERE and actually check out the service--Week 4. i PROMISE you will not be sorry about this!

today our pastor, Perry Noble, blogged about the service and I want to share what he said. you can check out his blog, which is amazing, by going HERE. all the notes i had taken were right here in what Pastor P blogged about. here you go!

Some of the things we covered this past Sunday were…

• Stress and anxiety comes about as a result of what is unplanned or unprepared for in our lives…which means we will ALWAYS have to deal with it.  So when it comes we should…
• Understand that God is Holy & Good – (Matthew 7:9-11) – Our circumstances do not alter His character, and if we doubt His goodness based on the fact that He did not do what we asked Him to do then that makes us the object of our worship and not Him!
• Believe His Promise – (See Isaiah 41:10) – HE IS WITH US!!!!  He will never leave us or forsake us…and HIS PRESENCE is greater than our problem!
• Stop Fighting For Control – Control is the greatest illusion in the universe (wrote about that here) and when we realize how little we have it should DRIVE us to our knees worship!  The enemy seeks to control you by getting you to focus on your circumstances…which is why we so desperately need to constantly dive into God’s Word, as I’ve heard it said before–who or what you listen to will ultimately determine what you do!  Listening to the enemy = fear, anxiety and worry.  Listening to the Lord = freedom!
• Open Your Eyes – When we are in the fire we should stop praying “get me out of here” and start praying, “Jesus, let me see you!”  Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego didn’t see Jesus until they were IN the fire!
• Embrace Freedom – The ONLY thing that was burned off of Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego in the fire was what the enemy put on them!!!  They went into the fire bound…they came out of the fire free!  God wasn’t trying to punish them…He was promoting them, but sometimes promotion comes through the fire!
• One more thing…three men went into the fire, four men were there, three came out…Jesus is still in the fire & so if you are there you are not alone (Isaiah 43:1-3!)

friend, know i am praying for you.