Fighting For Faith
Spiritual Warfare for Suicidal Christians
Seeing this scene performed on stage was so powerful to me because it illustrated the belief that suicidal thoughts are the result of external forces at work (whether demonic entities or the personification of Death). Simply put, spiritual warfare is the term used to describe the internal and external battles we face against the forces of evil that are always at work against us.
Spiritual Resilience and the Islamic faith:
The influence of trauma crosses borders and beyond as death tolls of the Palestinians continue to rise, creating a ripple effect of PTSD and depression in the mental health of the Arab diaspora, and all those who are impacted by this ongoing genocide.
Perturbed by Purpose
Do we cause most of our own suffering by searching for our life’s purpose? I’m starting to think how society measures success sets people up for failure.
Building Trust In God
For those that don’t know, I have been without a steady job since May and the past three months have been some of the most stressful, due to worrying about how I will make ends meet. I have referred to this time in my life as my Struggle Era but God has challenged me to view it as my Faith Era.
Words of the Year
One of the things that I like to do in preparation for every new year is to choose certain words, phrases and bible verses to carry me into the new year. I have embraced the word searches I found online that say: “the first x words you see will define your 2022.” Here are some of the words I got this year:
Discovering Discipline
This year’s character card for me was discipline. The word discipline was defined for me in the following way: Receiving instruction and correction in a positive way; maintaining and enforcing proper conduct in accordance with the guidelines and rules.
Guarding Your Heart-A How-To Guide
I was tired of feeling like my feelings were never reciprocated, like nobody valued me as a person, and like I was being cast aside and rejected time and again. In the Christian world there are numerous scriptures about guarding your heart and yet I grew up never quite knowing what that meant or how to effectively do it.
Christian Love is Not Conservative
I have often thought that being a Christian progressive, Democrat-voting Leftist was a walking contradiction, but I have since come to change that thought process.
Disconnected
Despite my mental well-being, this year has been the most disconnected I have felt from God ever, and I feel lost. When my mind is constantly tormented, I cling to God with a desperation as if my life depends on it. Truthfully, even now I know that my life still depends on Him, and always will. But it’s easier for distance to creep in when I’m not in danger of falling apart every ten seconds.
Resurrection Power
God is the author and finisher of everything. Only He can fix this situation, and because I believe in His sovereign power, I can come to Him with prayers of hope instead of cries of worry. Instead of being worried for my friends in the healthcare field that don’t have adequate personal protection equipment, I can pray that they’re covered by the blood of Jesus. I remembered that I know the one who has complete power and I can be an agent of change by speaking the name of Jesus over all situations and interceding on behalf of our nation, and our world. At my church we have a saying: prayer is not a last resort, it is our first response. So if you have been struggling with your faith in this season, I urge you to remember that our God literally rose from the dead some 2000 plus years ago. There is nothing He cannot do.
Faith for a Functional Family Dynamic
“What’s something you’ve never prayed for because that’s just how it’s always been and you never thought to pray for it to change?” Instantly I thought about my family. I wrote out the most extravagant prayer in my journal, pages upon pages praying for our healing, our finances, our futures, our relationships etceteraaaaaa. It was gorgeous. Then two weeks later, everyone showed up on the doorstep and suddenly I was sharing a space with all the people I had been praying for. However... I hated it.
Contemplating Crazy Faith
What God has been speaking to me through Pastor Mike Todd’s message on Crazy Faith.
Why I Hate Jeremiah 29:11
And the scriptures that actually give me hope.