Job 3:20-26 – Job had so many things bringing him far down, beyond humility] <\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nImagine experiencing such overwhelming embarrassment, neglect, abandonment, shame, despair, crippling depression where it feels like nobody cares.\u00a0 Where your heart gets to the point of wishing you were never born!<\/p>\n
Satan knows that with the right mix of anxiety he can kill our joy.\u00a0 Sow the seed of self-doubt and despair in our hearts to the point of self-hatred, and hopelessness.\u00a0 Damaged self-worth sabotages God’s blessings for each of us and Satan loves it and uses it!<\/p>\n
Matthew 6:30-34 – Do not be anxious about tomorrow<\/p>\n
Believe in Yourself!<\/h2>\n
We are our own worst enemy when it comes to believing in ourselves – which is what faith requires.<\/p>\n
Hebrews 10:22-25 – We are called to act faithfully upon our confidence to enter by the blood of Christ, into God’s presence.<\/p>\n
We constantly nitpick our imperfections until there is nothing left but the scars of self-mutilation physically, emotionally, and mentally.\u00a0 Resulting in a sort of spiritual callus that makes the work of God impossible<\/em>.\u00a0 What an interesting reality!\u00a0 That a godly matter can be “impossible” for God!\u00a0 How can it be!\u00a0 Surely I must be preaching in error, yes?<\/p>\nHebrews 11:6 – Without faith, it is impossible to please Him<\/p>\n
I Chronicles 28:9-10 – David’s charge to Solomon to build the Temple of God<\/p>\n
Every task the God of heaven has set before mankind, He could do<\/strong>\u00a0on His own.\u00a0 But God would rather empower us with the worth and value He sees in us to accomplish His <\/b>will.<\/p>\nMatthew 10:29-31 – You are worth more than many sparrows<\/p>\n
Beware of Self-Sabotage<\/h2>\n
Oddly enough, we twist these very opportunities into burdens and send them back<\/strong> to God asking Him to just fix it or make it go away or make it go our way<\/strong>.\u00a0 Thus, missing out on His desire to build us up from where we are, establishing our self-confidence in doing His <\/b>will for our lives.<\/p>\nI Corinthians 10:13 – God will not tempt you without a morally right solution<\/p>\n
What about Paul’s ‘Thorn in the flesh” mentioned in II Corinthians 12:7-10?<\/p>\n
\n- Verse 7 teaches Paul’s thorn in the flesh was necessary to keep him humble. Do weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities make you feel humiliated, embarrassed, ashamed, and resentful?\u00a0 If so, then you are not <\/b>achieving the righteousness of God in applying this verse to your self-doubt.<\/li>\n
- Verse 9 reminds us that our earthly weakness can be the platform for perfecting and demonstrating the Lord’s power. Through His grace, we can still have the kind of spiritual confidence to accomplish His will in spite of our imperfect lives.<\/li>\n
- This is a single point of failure for most Christians. And, Satan knows it.\u00a0 We must keep in mind, the craftiness of Satan.<\/li>\n
- Genesis 3:1 Satan is very crafty. He doesn’t care how you build up a callous towards God’s will for your life – so long as you do so that your self-doubting soul will be lost to him!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
You Are Enough!<\/h2>\n
God is powerful.\u00a0 He is the origin of love and the foundation of truth.<\/p>\n
Ephesians 3:17-19 – Be rooted and grounded in His love<\/p>\n
But, for the willingness of mankind.\u00a0 He needs you to believe that He has given you everything you need to serve and please Him in this life, and the life to come.<\/p>\n
II Peter 1:3 – He has given us all things needed for life and godliness<\/p>\n
He needs us to believe in His kind of love as defined by His grace and mercy.\u00a0 It is the healing balm to self-doubt and negativity.\u00a0 He needs us to embrace the humility of our youth.<\/p>\n
Matthew 18:1-4 – Be humble like a child and be the greatest in the kingdom!<\/p>\n
It is that level of trust and vulnerability that God needs to shape and mold us just as we are.\u00a0 God will help and hold us in times of extreme doubt and fear.\u00a0 Run to Jesus!\u00a0 His arms have been opened all this time just to remind you that you are enough.<\/p>\n
Psalms 139:7-12; 23-24<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Garry Floyd Scripture Reading: Psalms 139:1-6 Forward Upon what should our self-worth be based? What gives us value as human beings? How can we focus on inner beauty in a culture seemingly obsessed with physical beauty? Is it possible to find our worth in God alone? God Knows! Psalms 139:1-6 – God sees us…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[507],"class_list":["post-34317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-anxiety"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62539,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-conscious\/","url_meta":{"origin":34317,"position":0},"title":"God Conscious","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 139 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A truly godly man lives with a constant realization of God\u2019s divine presence \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He is God conscious \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When he awakes in the morning, there is God. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As he dresses for work, there is God. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0D.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As he goes in to breakfast with his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24292,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-meant-by-the-beauty-of-the-lord\/","url_meta":{"origin":34317,"position":1},"title":"What is meant by the beauty of the Lord?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Psalm 27:4 and others when it states the beauty of the Lord, what do you think of?\u00a0 There are several different ways, I think, to look at this and I wanted someone else's' opinion to help me. Thank you. Answer: \"One thing I have desired of the LORD,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46240,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-revealed\/","url_meta":{"origin":34317,"position":2},"title":"God Revealed","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Revelation 15:1-6 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the beginning, Adam and Eve had fellowship with God \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God directly interacted with His creation - Genesis 2:15-22 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He walked in the garden - Genesis 3:8 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But they had sinned and that sin - separated them from God - Genesis 3:22-24\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40447,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/challenges-to-positions-on-the-death-penalty-and-abortion\/","url_meta":{"origin":34317,"position":3},"title":"Challenges to positions on the death penalty and abortion","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: [The following was sent in multi-color, multi-font format, which I find is usually done to distract readers. I removed all of it.] Good evening sir. Death Penalty After reading your article on 'Early Christians and Abortion' you seem to support the death penalty because you said, \"When a criminal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18290,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-gods-presence-felt-in-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":34317,"position":4},"title":"Is God’s presence felt in hell?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I\u2019m having some trouble explaining how God\u2019s presence works without conflicting scripture. Some would argue that it\u2019s impossible to be away from God\u2019s presence, understanding He is omnipresence, as taught in Psalms 139:7. However, when you take this verse - \"Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction\u00a0from the presence\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2358,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-life-has-no-value\/","url_meta":{"origin":34317,"position":5},"title":"When Life Has No Value","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Psalms 139 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To watch as a child grows in a mother\u2019s womb is a thing of wonder. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People refer to the \u201cmiracle of birth,\u201d though it is not truly a miracle \u2013 this is the way God made the process of life to happen. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Still, it doesn\u2019t make\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34317\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}