November 2014 archive

Shattering the Lies We Believe (Part 3): How Can We Break Free?

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JoyPedrow.comIn this series, Shattering the Lies, we have defined lies and located where they originate. Now we are revealing what the scripture says about freedom from lies.

How can we break free from lies?

Truth. Truth is our weapon against lies. Truth is an agreement with a standard or original. Where do we find this standard? Jesus. Truth is Jesus Christ and His word.

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6 (ESV)

Jesus is the definition of truth. Jesus is the perfect standard.

How do we break free from lies? We return to the truth. We return to Jesus and his word. The world feeds us lies. Here are two: “do whatever you want as long as your happy” and “everything is all about you.” Our world is self focused. We have to use scripture to retrain our minds. Scripture tells us that its not about us. It’s about God.

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:31-32

Discovering the truth will set us free!

Additional scripture reading – Psalm 5.

Check out the other posts in the series!

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Shattering the Lies We Believe (Part 2): Where Do Lies Come From?

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JoyPedrow.comIn Part 1 of this series, Shattering the Lies We Believe (Part 1): What Are Lies? I shared how lies are imposters of the truth. Believing lies results in choosing second best over God, who is the best. This post focuses on the creation of lies. The only way to shatter the lies from our life is to first figure out where they come from.

Where do lies come from?

Lies come from satan. “…He does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:43-44).

The enemy wants us to turn our back on God and believe lies. When we allow ourselves to believe satan’s lies, we take the crown off of Jesus’ head and give it to satan. We make him king. (Click here to read a previous post: Take Off Your Crown – Jesus is King.)

We are giving the enemy a crown he does not deserve. Satan is the king of only one thing – lies. He claimed to be like God, what a huge lie! In fact, the Bible tells us that this is why satan was cast out of heaven. Satan said he was more powerful than God (Isaiah 14:12-14).

The scary thing is – we act like satan when we claim to be like God.  When we believe that our plans are better than God’s, we act like satan. For example, I act like satan when I want control over my weight, what food I can eat, when I get married, and what decisions I make. I subconsciously play God when I want my own plans instead of God’s plans. (more…)

Sadie Robertson on Dancing with the Stars + Book Review

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http://youtu.be/jZKssZYjDPc?list=UULOIoa2aEGcM-z1hJx4vy4w

On this season of “Dancing With the Stars”, Sadie Robertson from the hit reality TV show “Duck Dynasty” is staying true to her Christian beliefs. In one of the episodes, Sadie explained that faith is the center of her family.

The world needs more Sadies. Last season on “Dancing With the Stars”, Candace Cameron Bure from “Full House” was one of the celebrity dancers. Candace also openly proclaimed her faith. In the media, Jesus is rarely talked about in a positive light. I’m thankful for both Sadie and Candace. We can learn a lot from their boldness.

Sadie said, “People are going to say things no matter what. If you are holding the football you are going to get tackled.”

Her boldness should inspire us. When we openly share our faith, people will tackle us. There will always be people against us, but we must continue dancing for God.

“I believe with all my heart He is the one in control of all things. ALL glory to God for this amazing journey,” tweeted Sadie. It has been an amazing journey watching Sadie grow and mature into a beautiful dancer. This Monday is the finale of DWTS. Let’s show Sadie some love and support and vote for her and Mark!

If you are a DWTS fan, what has been your favorite part of the season?

Here is another video I loved!

http://youtu.be/evbAfFaQYHM

If you love Sadie, you’ll love the Duck Commander Faith and Family Bible.

http://www.booklookbloggers.com/art/_240_360_Book.1386.cover.jpg

This NKJV Bible is perfect for fans of Duck Dynasty. The Bible is full of devotions written by Phil and Al Robertson. Each devotion is filled with a funny or inspiring story about the family. I also love that there is a section titled “Set Your Sights”. This section is divided into different topics including faith, family, fellowship, forgiveness, and freedom. Each topic includes scripture that relates with the topic and a letter from Phil or Al. If you are a fan of the show and the Robertson family, you will love this Bible and all the stories inside of it.

I received this copy of this Bible for free from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for this review.

Shattering the Lies We Believe (Part 1): What Are Lies?

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JoyPedrow.com

“Our hearts often detect the lies long before our minds begin to process them.”

We fail to realize that we are believing lies until they effect us. How scary is that. The enemy wants us to believe lies because he wants to ruin our relationship with God. The good news is that lies have no power over us. In this 3 part series, I will unpack what scripture tells us about believing lies. By looking to scripture, we can define lies, discover where they come from, and learn how to break free from their grips. As a resource, here is a step by step guide on a craft idea for a women’s ministry night: Women’s Ministry Craft Night: Shattering the Lies We Believe. Feel free to combine this series with the activity for an empowering women’s night! (more…)

Why I dislike the term “Good” Christian Girls

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I used to believe I was a “good” Christian girl. Now every time I hear this phrase, I cringe. Growing up, I believed that being a Christian meant being good, moral, and perfect, so I tried to be a “good” person. I failed, a lot.

It was not until college, that I learned that being a Christian has nothing to do with being good enough. Being a Christian is realizing that nothing we could do would ever be enough to cover our sins, and that is why we need Jesus.

I’ll never forget the day my high school boyfriend told me I was a “bad” Christian. I thought I was a “good” Christian girl for many reasons, but in regards to our relationship I thought I was “good” because we had never had sex. We were on our way to school and had been fighting the whole drive there. I told him that God had convicted me, and that I wanted to stop pushing physical boundaries. My boyfriend did not like or understand this idea. He wasn’t a Christian, and didn’t understand my conviction. I don’t blame him, because I did a bad job of living my life for Jesus. His response, “But we already have done these things, how can we just stop?”

Through out our relationship, I openly called myself a Christian, yet I wasn’t walking with God. I considered myself a “good” Christian girl because we weren’t technically having sex, but we were doing everything else. I was believing and living a lie and this would finally be brought to light.

We got out of the car. He slammed the door. I slammed the door. And as we walked up that hill to go to homeroom, he looked at me and said, “You’re a bad Christian.” (more…)

Every Bitter Thing is Sweet Book Review

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Every Bitter Thing is SweetI love being able to read books, and share with you all how this book could help your walk with God. I get to do the work for you, and you simply decide if the book fits with your needs.

Every Bitter Thing is Sweet by Sara Hagerty moved me to tears. Sara wrote stories about struggling to know and understand God’s love in a real and vulnerable way. Each page was so beautifully written. As I read her words, I pictured myself there in Sara’s shoes. Her descriptions were perfect.

In this book, we get to go on Sara’s journey to really finding God during the bitter times of her life.

This book is great for anyone who: (more…)

Take Off Your Crown – Jesus is King

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We like to think that we are in charge of our life. I have a friend that is exploring her faith and she told me, “The biggest thing that is holding me back from making the decision to follow Jesus is that I still want control.” My friend wants to be king over her life. She understands that if she follows Jesus, she has to give up control.

Giving up control scares us, because the uncertainty freaks us out. But when we give up control, we gain freedom.

We want to be king. In our eyes, being king equates to having control of our lives and fulfilling the desires of our hearts. But there can only be one king. You or Jesus.

Taking off your crown and giving it to Jesus is not a one time decision, but a daily decision.

The word “crown” is mentioned 57 times in the  ESV Bible. Here are a few of those verses and the importance of a crown.

  • “And he took the crown of their king from his head.” – 2 Samuel 12:30.  David took off the crown and placed it on his head. What does this mean? There can only be one king.
  • “The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.” – Ester 2:17. Their can only be one queen.
  • “He has stripped from me my glory and taken the crown from my head.” – Job 19:9. If we don’t remove our crown from our own head, Jesus will.
  • “You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.” – Isaiah 62:3. When you give Jesus your crown, you become a crown of beauty in his eyes.
  • “and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ ” – Matthew 27:29. Jesus wore a crown of thorns. If we continue to make ourselves kings, we are mocking Jesus. Jesus wore the crown of thorns for us. He took on our sins for us. And what do we do? Take the crown off his head and place it on ours.

There can not be 2 kings.
We need to pray for strength to take off our own crowns and give them to Jesus.

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” – James 4:10. Humble yourself by taking off your prideful crown, giving it to Jesus, and then you will experience the true prize – being exalted by Jesus the one and only King.

What area of your life is it hardest to take off your crown and give Jesus control?

Bonus: Here are more verses about crowns you can read: Rev 2:10, 3:11, 6:2, 12:1, 14:14. 1 Peter 5:4, Jas 1:12