Could we see Steph Curry in a new jersey one day

A Great Convention -- With One Big Mistake

July 25, 2024 How Can I Trust God When I Don't Understand His Ways?LYSA TERKEURST Lee en español "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV) Lately, I've been studying the topic of trust. And I've realized I attach a great deal of my trust in God to my desire for things to turn out like I think they should. I want the goodness of God to compel Him to fix things, change minds, prevent hurt, punish the bad and vindicate the good on my timeline. I'm desperate for God to make circumstances good in the timing that seems good to me. But that's not faith. It's a sign that because I still don't understand what God allowed to happen in my past, I'm struggling to trust Him with my future. So I've started asking myself: Can I trust Him enough to start surrendering the outcomes of how my life will go? "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6). I know these verses, but I want to live these verses. And to do that, I must acknowledge that God's version of making my path straight most likely will not line up with what I expect. Can I make peace with the fact that my definition of a straight path is limited by my human thinking and emotion? Can I find my security in the unlimited, all-knowing power of God? Friend, as we sit with all of this, I'm reminded of a big, uprooted oak tree I once saw after some bad weather. It was a stately tree that was once incredibly stable. I just had to know: What happened? So I asked someone on a crew that was removing the fallen tree. He said, "Shallow roots and ants." He explained that sometimes big trees in yards with sprinkler systems get so easily satisfied by the water from the surface that the roots don't need to grow deep. The trees can look strong, but shallow roots make them less stable and way more vulnerable in storms and strong winds. And ants can play a big part in a tree falling as well. They target where some sort of injury has occurred and moisture has started to weaken the wood. Taking full advantage of the softer wood, they wear away at it, eventually even damaging the sound wood and making the tree hollow inside, even though it may look solid from the outside. The hollower the tree becomes, the more it will lose structural strength. I am a lot like that tree. When life looks like I expect it to and feels relatively good, I am tempted to get satisfied with where I'm at and not grow deeper roots of faith. I may sprinkle in some sermons and podcasts, but I'm not digging into God's Word and going deeper in my application. Or like the ants hollowing out the tree, I slowly, daily, make one compromise after another, trusting God less and less. But instead of trying to control things beyond my control, I want to choose to surrender them today to God. And then surrender again tomorrow. And the next day too. Refusing to control is an act of building more and more trust in God. Each time I have doubts and fears about God's goodness, I will bring these to God and let His Truth refute them. My job is daily obedience to God. His job is holding and handling my future. Today, let's remember this truth: Trusting God means holding loosely the parts of my life I want to hold most tightly. Is it easy? No. But is it the pathway to the peace I long for? Yes, it is. Father God, I want to be a woman with deep roots. A woman firmly anchored to Your Truth and filled by Your Spirit. I confess today how much I need Your help in resisting control, letting You lead me and learning to trust You. In Jesus' Name, Amen. OUR FAVORITE THINGS It's so confusing when some people who do such wrong things seem to get away with what they did. In this hurt, do you ever find yourself secretly wondering ... Whose team is God really on here? Lysa TerKeurst understands. By leaning on biblical truths that will never change, you can identify hidden doubts you have about the Lord and make progress in trusting Him with Lysa's new free resource: When the Person Who Hurt You Got Away With It: 3 Days to Moving Forward. Download now! ENGAGE Find real-life encouragement when you connect with Lysa TerKeurst here on Instagram. FOR DEEPER STUDY Psalm 145:13, "Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does" (NIV). What are some of your current struggles with trusting God? How could remembering His faithfulness from the past help you today? We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments. © 2024 by Lysa TerKeurst. All rights reserved. Proverbs 31 MinistriesP.O. Box 3189 Matthews, NC 28106 www.Proverbs31.org The post How Can I Trust God When I Don’t Understand His Ways? –  Encouragement for Today – July 25, 2024 appeared first on GodUpdates.

A Nighttime Prayer When Fear Prevents SleepBy Kelly Balarie "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." – John 16:33 NIV I tossed left and right in my bed. Frankly, it wasn't only my body that tossed around in my bed – but thoughts of fear that tossed everywhere in my mind. Would my kids turn out okay? Have I permanently messed them up? What if they have horrible things to say about me as a mom when they grow up? Fear gripped me. Of course, I know that I haven't done everything right. I remembered back to that one time when I acted angry in a department store... I thought about another time when I could have been a better listener... I considered how other moms do better at being moms than I do ... Fear was pointing its finger at a horrible future for me and my family. I was not only listening to fear, but I was envisioning it play out. Before long, as I lay in bed, 5 minutes of stressful thinking turned into 30 minutes of sleepless tossing. After that, my 30-minutes of sleeplessness became what seemed like hours of distress, because tomorrow I was afraid I'd turn into monster-mom due to lack of sleep. Have you ever experienced this? Perhaps it is not your children making you feel afraid, but it is your past, your financial situation, your health, your mistakes, your security, your worth, your spouse, or a real and present physical threat. No matter, one thing can be said about fear – fear snowballs. It may start small, but it grows big.  Fear snowballs. It pushes one to the point where they are on the edge of a cliff. Here, worry, stress, and apprehension become so emotionally and physically tangible that the most horrible and worst-case scenarios absolutely are about to happen. We're doomed! We are 100% going over this cliff (even if we are still safe under the covers of our beds). What do we do when fear does this to us in the night?  How do we sleep when our body and mind tell us that we are about to die? My friends, I have been here more times than I'd like to admit. With this, I have learned strategies to fall asleep again, as well as prayer that releases stress. Let's first talk about the tips: 1. Remember, at night, you are tired from a full day of work.Tired minds lead to tired thinking. No good decision ever happens in the middle of the night. A powerful tip is to resolve to think and pray through problems in the morning, not when you are tired and frustrated. Put on pause mental dialogues until the light of day. It is always less stressful the next day. Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Receive Jesus' peace and take heart. 2. Go through the ABCs of God.Instead of restlessly recycling fearful thoughts, go through the "A, B, Cs of God". This is how it works. Lying in bed, you start with the letter A. You can recite bible verses that start with the letter A, the nature of God, or things you love about God. Go through the whole alphabet. I bet you will fall asleep before you do! 3. Tell your mind not to fall asleep.When I go through the ABCs of God, I tell myself to stay awake until the very end. I don't know why telling myself to stay awake works, but it does. I always fall asleep before I reach the letter-Z. I believe these will work for you because they've worked for me on many a night. I'd love to hear your testimonies. God is bigger than fear. Truly, if Jesus has overcome the world, He can overcome any problem we face. Let's pray: Father, help! Fear is making me stressed, anxious, and perturbed. It is trying to steal my sleep. I repent and turn the opposite way of fear. I give to you all my fear right now, Father God. I put every concern and burden in your hands. I let them go. Now, I receive your peace, the peace of Jesus that He has given. May this peace guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus so that I may go to sleep. I also ask for spiritual understanding, discernment, and wisdom for everything You have me to process at Your appointed time.In Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Photo credit: ©Getty Images/demaerre Kelly uplifts believers with boosts of faith; be encouraged weekly by getting Kelly's blog posts by email. Kelly, a cheerleader of faith, is a blogger, national speaker, and author of Take Every Thought Captive, Rest Now, Battle Ready, and Fear Fighting. Kelly loves seeing the power of prayer in action. She loves seeing the expression on women's faces when they realize – their God is faithful! Kelly's work has been featured on The Today Show, CBN's 700 Club, Relevant and Today's Christian Woman.  Related Resource: Remember God’s Enduring Love for You in this Guided Meditation on Psalm 100! This guided Christian meditation from Psalm 100 will help you experience and praise God for his unending love for you. Become aware of God's presence with you, and praise God for his loyal and enduring love from the beginning of time and into the future. Listen to every episode of the So Much More Podcast on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode! Now that you’ve prayed, are you in need of someone to pray for YOU? Click the button below! Visit iBelieve.com for more inspiring prayer content. The post A Nighttime Prayer When Fear Prevents Sleep – Your Daily Prayer – July 25 appeared first on GodUpdates.

The latest date on AC/DC's Power Up tour took place at the Vajnory Airport in Bratislava, Slovakia, at the weekend