MY 3rd WEEK 'EMBRACED' ...

EMBRACED

in June of

2019

Part 1: EMBRACING

the Pursuit of Him and His Direction

my 3rd week and a little more

... Knowing God is Holding Me (& You) Close

The first devotion for this 3rd venture is also the last one in the You Version (day 5) as I continue to EMBRACE Rest Reassured or in Lysa's book, it's ... #16 "Space to Exhale" [Isaiah 58:13-14], which begins with the word "Rest. ..." so clearly, the order of this day, falling on Sunday ... Sabbath ... is REST still, in fact the Bible verse tells us to keep from breaking the Sabbath and doing as we please on the Father's Holy Day, even if it's "father's day", our Heavenly Father should always come first.

So I will pause, for now, and continue the rest of this at another time ...

17. "Chasing Down our Decisions" Proverbs 27:12

18. "Read This Before Making that Decision" Isaiah 49:10;  Psalm 23:1-3(NKJV); Jeremiah 31:9(ESV)

19. "Paralyzing Fear" 1 Peter 5:7; Isaiah 43:1; Romans 8:38-39

I recall back in the late 80's listening to a wonderful woman give a message and prayer call at an Aglow meeting if anyone needed prayer because of 'fear'. I was certain that this was not so, for me and even when someone asked me if I wanted prayer for that, I said "no, I don't have a problem with fear" - little did I know that I soon would find out (and am still discovering) just how much 'fear' I do struggle with ... accompanied with insecurity. In fact, I have recently experienced (as I did back then after this meeting) I have fear that indeed paralyzes me! PTSD - I have post tramatic stress disorder and I never fought in a military war but seem to battle spiritual wars frequently and am just learning better how to know the enemy, his strategies and how to use my spiritual weapon yet I still find myself weak at times and become paralyzed by fear, even certain sounds cause that fear to rise up within me (elevates my bp too, dealing with this currently). {sigh} so I've learned to battle on my knees and use verses from God's Word. Lysa's devotion just reminded me to use scriptures rather than cling to fear or let fear paralyze me, one of which is my Life Verse: 2 Timothy 1:7. I have also added deep breathing exercise along with ABIDE at night time to help me let go and sleep. Dr. Michelle Bengston has the perfect Rx of 40 Scriptures and sound advice, sent in my email (again) just in time 

20. "The Most Nonfrantic Woman I've Ever Met" Proverbs 22:1

21. "The Two Most Powerful Words" Matthew 3:17

22. "Analysis Paralysis" Romans 8:26-28

23. "Five Questions to Ask When Making a Decision" Luke 14:28-30 (NKJV)

... which only leaves 3 more devotions in Part 1  so I'm including them here also rather than another post with only these last ones

24. "God, I'm Worn Out" Psalm 142:3 NLT

25. "In the Flow" 2 Peter 1:3

26. "Practicing Wisdom" Proverbs 2:1-2; 4-5

*words in this color are Lysa's from in her book

I
EMBRACE
this quote as my favorite

..."Seeking to obey God in the midst of whatever circumstance I'm facing will position me to work in the flow of God's power."...Lysa T. #25

... however, if I reword the one in #21 that probably suits me better ... "When a woman lives with the stress of an overwhelmed schedule, she'll ache with the sadness of an underwhelmed soul." ... I would replace 'schedule' with "life", because even though I no longer have a busy schedule, my life daily often leaves me overwhelmed, but since that devotion focused on the "two most powerful words" as being "yes" and "no" as regards your schedule, that is why Lysa uses 'schedule', which is so true, that we need to know when to say yes or no. I still probably need to know when, but my stress has nothing to do with an overwhelming schedule. (sigh) For me, it might even be the stress of aging, which is overwhelming and not just my own aging ... I pray that my soul is well and not underwhelmed

so for this journey
I'm EMBRACING "Letting Go" from #19 if only ... whether it's fear or whatever  causing me unnecessary stress easier said than done
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Happy Father's Day, Abba! and to all the wonderful dads too

Missing our lil Papa Chimi! {his 3 daughters and I send him our love}