Friday, June 10, 2011

Have you been bitten by a dog?

Have you ever been bitten by a dog? I have. And if you have ever been bitten by a dog, you know that despite the fact that hundreds of dogs haven’t bitten you, you will still remember the 1 dog that did bite you. Even if you get over this fear and become a dog lover, you will most likely always keep in the back of your head that incident where the dog bit you.

I kind of liken my circumstances to this. 100’s of people have told me how worthy I am. That I am beautiful. That I am smart. That I am perfect just the way God made me. I have read verse upon verse in the Bible that tell me that God loves me despite my flaws. And yet, I remember the dog bite. I remember the one person, or handful of people, that told me the exact opposite.

We tend to walk around in a state of looking to verify what we already believe. So, if I see a kid get bit by a dog, I might say, “see I told you dog’s bite”.

In the same way we walk around looking to verify our feelings of unworthiness. We might have 5 good things happen to us in one day, but what do we remember? The one time we failed, the one bad thing. What do we dwell on? the one time it went wrong.

I think this speaks a lot into why we have such a hard time believing the truths of the Bible. Because they are not natural to us. They don’t make sense to us. His love is so unbelievably off the charts that we compare it to the others that have known and or “loved” us in our lives, and think that the kind of love Christ speaks of towards us, is impossible. It doesn’t fit into the premade mold we have in our minds.

I know it is hard to believe these things. It would be so nice if just naturally we believed in supernatural love. But sometimes, it’s not natural.

We live in a world where there is good and there is evil. And I can assure you Satan does not want you to grab hold of the truth of God’s word. So, he will put everything he can in your path to confirm the exact opposite: that God doesn’t love you, that He can’t heal you, or doesn’t want to heal you.

One thing I have found helpful is to literally cry out “help me overcome my unbelief”, just as a boy’s father cried to Jesus in Mark 9:24. The other thing is just to repeat the truths of the Bible, of God’s word, and love…over…and over…and over…and over…and over again!!!! Just like you repeat the negative thoughts like a tape in your brain, you have to replace that tape with a new recording, which takes time, BUT IT CAN BE DONE!!!

Praying that God gives you the strength to keep up the fight for freedom girls, freedom always seems to come with a fight, yes? But in the end…as I have said before...it is SOOOOOOOOOOOO worth it!

16 comments:

  1. Stephanie I want to share this with my Facebook Friends - many of whom are not Christians. I'm going to copy it in the form of a note as I know that many of them would just ignore it if I shared the link to your blog as they would say "oh its just one of THOSE blogs" and ignore it.

    I really want them to hear this message and know that God loves them and they are worthy in His eyes. You put it so beautifully. Thank You So So Much.

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  2. As always, you have an amazing way of expressing Biblical Truths in a way that can be easily understood. Much loves girly.

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  3. stephanie,
    wow...
    "we have such a hard time believing the truths of the Bible. Because they are not natural to us. They don’t make sense to us. His love is so unbelievably off the charts that we compare it to the others that have known and or “loved” us in our lives, and think that the kind of love Christ speaks of towards us, is impossible. It doesn’t fit into the premade mold we have in our minds."

    me and melissa were just discussing this topic the other day and she used almost the same wording about not being able to comprehend God because noone has ever been even remotely close to the things God is. So, its hard to picture a God like this.... yall are sooo right.Kinda neat yall both hit this subject. *hugs*

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  4. Thank you so much!! I battle negative thoughts of the past...betrayals, lies, anger, brokenness. I loved this post and shared it as well. I will probably read it every day. I am really enjoying the HJ study, too. Again, thank you and God bless you!

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  5. Thank you Stephanie. This is exactly what I needed this morning! I struggle with major negative feelings and thinking and sometimes can't seem to get out of this cloud of darkness.

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  7. Stephanie, I really needed to hear what you posted today! I too often let the negative voices of the past creep into my head and tear me down. My Pastor shared the following idea on my blog at http://myjourneyofhealing.wordpress.com/ and I wanted to share it here:

    A great way to have God help take those negative thoughts away is a “God box”. You take an old coffee can or shoebox, tape the lid on after cutting a small hole in it. Put a pad of sticky notes/small paper by the God box. Everytime one of those negative and defeating thoughts comes up, write it down on the paper and put it in the God box….thus, giving it to God. Then you use one of the Bible verses to “replace” the negative thought. It is sort of like you have a tape recorder in your brain….once you put the thought on paper, it is like you have deleted that on the tape, then you record the new thought/bible verse into your brain.

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  8. "We live in a world where there is good and there is evil. And I can assure you Satan does not want you to grab hold of the truth of God’s word. So, he will put everything he can in your path to confirm the exact opposite: that God doesn’t love you, that He can’t heal you, or doesn’t want to heal you."
    I was bitten by a dog as a child, and even as I am older I remember that one bite. You are so right with all that you said here. I just keep on holding on and grabbing my bible as Satan tries to steer the wheel of my life in the wrong direction! Great post, outstanding to read.

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  10. Belief is everything isn't it! So so powerful. And just because we say it doesn't make it so in our hearts - in our actions. But, hearing it over and over letting it settle into our hearts. Trying it on and reaching for it again and again - it happens: WE BELIEVE! And it's all by His beautiful grace. Just love this! Blessings...

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  11. Thank you all so much for the sweet responses! I get the comments sent to my email inbox so I read them ALL! I just wish I had a respond button, working on getting one of those built into my blog (thx Heather for the tip on that!) I hope you all know how much I love you and how much i am enjoying traveling this hidden joy journey with you. I beleive so strongly in the message of His freedom, and I just can't wait to see all of us running around holding those chains of bondage high in the air screaming I'm free!!! Love you girls, n God loves you more!!!! He is so faithful! Week 3 here we come!

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  12. Great thoughts! Yes, I remember two specific dog bites and one to my five year old son! It's so true that you need to replace good thoughts with bad ones. I was reminded of that the other night while dwelling on the negative.

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  13. YES! it is so funny how God works! I have been thinking on this unbelief for quite awhile now and today in my study it was ... again ... about unbelief. Then here you are again! I think I agree with beth moore...the sickness of unbelief! If we all believed what God says about us can you imagine?
    how I pray for God to help our unbelief..that you continue to stand firm in the faith..continue to speak boldly your testimony and the work that Christ has done in your life. Seek Him and may His peace fill your heart and fill you full with His fullness! love ya
    xo

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  14. Just read a great sermon on this topic

    http://www.sermoncentral.com/pastors-preaching-articles/tullian-tchividjian-what-to-preach-to-yourself-every-day-953.asp?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=BetterPreachingUpdate

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  15. I think the enemy knows our weaknesses and likes to have us visit them often to discourage us. What I have found is that I need to surrender to him my negative thoughts that I am meditating on and replace those thoughts with what is true, what is pure, and what is right. It is a battle, but each time I surrender them to Him, the next time I end up surrendering more quickly than I did before. Then I can see myself growing.

    P.S. You are beautiful. Don't forget it.

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  16. I got bitten by our pet Lhasa Apso when I was young. It wasn't serious, and I think Stacy (the dog) was just playing around when she accidentally bit my hand. I went to the hospital to get some stitches and an anti-rabies shot. I did this just to make sure, as Stacy was vaccinated after all. That was the first and only time I got bitten by a dog.

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