Jesus Wants You To Know...

"Stop worrying, and listen carefully for My voice. But remember that I speak softly. If your own thoughts are too noisy, you will not hear Me. . . That is why I gave you a special gift - My Spirit inside you. Ask My Spirit to quiet your thoughts so that you can hear Mine. Then sit peacefully in My Presence - letting My thoughts become yours."

"...love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice,

and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life..."

Deuteronomy 30:20 (NIV)

Excerpt from "Jesus Calling for Kids" by Sarah Young

Jesus Wants You To Know...

"Relax in My healing, holy Presence. Be still, while I transform your heart and mind. Let go of cares and worries, so that you can receive My Peace. Cease striving, and know that I am God. Do not be like Pharisees who multiplied regulations, creating their own form of 'godliness.' They got so wrapped up in their own rules that they lost sight of Me. Even today, man-made rules about how to live the Christian life enslave many people. Their focus is on their performance, rather than on Me." - "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young

Am I Actually Praying About This or Just Worrying About It?

"𝐻𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒: '𝐶𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑?

𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑝𝑖𝑡?'”

Luke 6:39 (NIV)

Recently, I sat down to write some thoughts about relationships:

Relationships are amazing. Relationships are challenging. Relationships can be impossibly hard. Relationships can be incredibly beautiful. And because relationships are so very organic, they move like breath in and out of our lungs, expanding with deep connection one minute and in the next atrophying into complete misunderstanding.

Relationships are wonderful and full of love and frustration and wrought with angst and all the things we bring into every attempted embrace with another person. When those we love draw close to us, they draw close to our issues. And we come face to face with their issues as well.

So which is it? Are relationships full of bliss or disappointment?

This is where I landed that day as I journaled … It’s a fragile blend of both.

As we open up to each other, the deeper we connect, the more vulnerable we become. The more vulnerable we become, the more exposed the tender places inside of us become. This exposure is risky. When we dare to be so very known, we risk being so very hurt. When we dare to be so very hopeful, we risk being so very disappointed. When we dare to be so very giving, we risk being so very taken advantage of. And when we dare to unnaturally change into what someone else needs, we risk losing ourselves in the process.

To love and be loved is to be enveloped in the safest feeling I’ve ever known. To cause hurt and be hurt is to be crushed with the scariest feeling I’ve ever known. You and I both know this. In different ways with different people and to varying degrees, we know the multifaceted complications of love and heartbreak.

Maybe you’re living out this reality in a very raw way right now. Friend, I wish I was having coffee with you today to talk through all of this. Trust me when I say I know the delicate dance of balancing the beautiful with the frustrating, and every nuance in between, with the relationships we treasure.

And while I can’t solve all the problems you may be facing right now, there is one action item I want to encourage you to put into practice today … Determine to pray more words over a difficult relationship in your life than you speak about it.

Bring Me Back Lord

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You.”

Isaiah 26:3

God, You see how restless my mind can become.

There are moments when my thoughts race in every direction. I replay worries, imagine outcomes I cannot control, and try to solve problems with strength that was never meant to carry them.

I confess the times I have chased every anxious thought instead of bringing them to You.

Bring me back, Lord.

Back to Your peace.

Back to the quiet safety of Your presence.

Teach me what it means to rest my mind on You. Not because I have everything figured out, but because I trust that You already know what I cannot see.

When panic tries to knock at the door of my heart, let Your peace be the one that answers.

Slow the storm in my thoughts.

Quiet the noise inside my mind.

Remind me that I am held by a God who never loses control.

I am tired of trying to build peace on my own understanding.

So build my thoughts on Your promises instead.

Piece by piece.

Day by day.

Even when I don’t have all the answers, it is enough to know that I am kept by You.

Provided by "God's Grace"

In The Middle Of The Noise

When your mind will not slow down, it can feel exhausting in a way that is hard to explain. Your body might be still, but your thoughts keep moving. You try to rest, but your head fills with reminders, worries, conversations, plans, and fears. One thought leads to another and then another. Before you know it, you feel overwhelmed and worn out, even if you have not done anything yet.

You want to pray, but it feels hard to focus. You want peace, but your mind keeps running back to everything you need to do, everything you forgot to do, and everything you are trying to figure out. It can make you feel distant, distracted, and tired.

God understands what it feels like to carry a restless heart.

In Psalm 94:19 it says, “In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.” That verse does not pretend that the thoughts are not there. It says a multitude. A mind full. Thoughts layered on top of each other. And right in the middle of that, God’s comfort is still present.

You do not have to wait for your mind to be perfectly calm to come to God. You can come with all the noise. You can come with every anxious thought. You can come when you feel scattered.

Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” Peace is not something you force. It is something God holds for you. When your thoughts start running in every direction, you can gently bring your attention back to Him again and again. Even if it lasts only a few seconds at a time.

2 Corinthians 10:5 says we can bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” That does not mean you will never have anxious thoughts. It means you are allowed to hand them over, one by one. Every fear. Every pressure. Every what if. You do not have to carry them all by yourself.

And in Philippians 4:7, there is this promise: “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Not peace that makes sense. Not peace that comes because everything is figured out. Peace that stands guard over your mind when it feels like too much.

If your mind will not stop racing, you are not failing. You are human. You are carrying a lot. And God is not standing far away waiting for you to get it together. God is near in the middle of it.

Even if your prayer is just a deep breath.

Even if your prayer is just, God help me.

Even if your thoughts are still loud.

God meets you there, in the middle of the noise, and holds you with a gentleness that does not rush you or shame you.

- Ellie Mont

Jesus Wants You To Know...

"I know how much that future mountain worries you. But it may not even be part of our path. You don’t know what will happen today, much less tomorrow. I may suddenly turn you away from the mountain, or show you an easier path. But I promise that if I ask you to climb that mountain, I will give you everything you need to reach the top. My angels will protect you. And I will be right by your side every step of the way." 

"For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways."
- Psalm 91:11

- "Jesus Calling for Kids" by Sarah Young

Scripture: Philippians 4:6-7

Peace doesn’t come from having fewer worries... it comes from bringing them to God.
Philippians 4:6–7 reminds us that when we pray instead of panic, God’s peace doesn’t just calm our thoughts… it guards our hearts.

"Anchored in Peace Devotional" was written for the moments when anxiety feels loud and trust feels hard - offering gentle scripture, mindful practices, and space to breathe again. You don’t have to carry it alone. Let peace anchor you.

Provided by "Mindful Christianity"

Search Me God...

Lord, sometimes my heart feels crowded. Worries, ambitions, old wounds: even good things: can quietly turn into idols, taking space that belongs to You. I confess, I keep holding onto things, thinking they’ll satisfy, but they never really do.

Father, will You sit on the throne of my heart? Dethrone everything that rivals You. Show me where I’ve set up substitutes, and help me surrender them. I want You to be my desire: the first, the greatest, the only One who truly fills me.

Search me, God, and know my heart... See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV) Provided by "Word of Encouragement"

Scripture: Philippians 4:6-7

God Is The Way Maker

Stop worrying about what you are going to do. God is still the Way Maker. He is already opening the road in front of you, even where you cannot see a path ahead. 

Your heart may feel worn out. You lie awake and stare at the ceiling, replaying conversations, test results, bank statements, what your children did or did not say. You think through every “what if,” every worst case, every burden you are carrying for the people you love, and by morning you feel empty. 

You love the Lord. You have walked with Him for years, yet your thoughts still run ahead of you, trying to peek around every corner. You wish you could see the plan, the timeline, the exact way He will help your family, your health, your future. The not knowing sits on your chest like a weight you cannot quite push away. 

But friend, you belong to the One who called Himself the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is not asking you to chart the course. He is not expecting you to keep all the pieces in the air. He simply asks you to stay close to Him. While you are studying the map and worrying about every turn, He is already out in front, clearing the road you cannot see and arranging details you do not even know to pray about. 

Think back over your life. There were seasons you were not sure how you would pay the bills, raise the children, survive the loss, or bear the disappointment. At the time, it all looked dark and confusing. Later, when you looked back, you could trace His care through every detour and delay. What felt like confusion turned out to be protection. The God who carried you then has not changed. He is still guiding, still guarding, still opening a way where there does not seem to be one. 

Right now, in this very ordinary moment, God is at work behind the scenes. While you stir a pot on the stove. While you answer a message from a grown child. While you straighten the pillows in the living room or sit at the table with a quiet cup of coffee. He is speaking to hearts you cannot reach. He is moving in rooms you will never sit in. He is unlocking doors that, from where you stand, still look shut. 

Meme: Quiet Your Mind...

Lord, Silence my worries...

Lord, silence my worries so I can hear Your voice.

My mind is so loud with distraction and fear, and I long to hear You clearly.

Silence the noise within me, the anxious thoughts that spiral, the fears that shout, the doubts that whisper.

Teach me to be still in Your presence, to quiet my heart enough to listen for Your gentle whisper.

I confess I often fill the silence with my own plans and solutions, when what I really need is to hear Your wisdom and guidance.

Help me create space in my day to sit with You, to wait for You, to tune my ear to Your voice above all others.

Remind me that Your voice brings peace, not panic; clarity, not confusion; truth, not worry.

Give me the courage to trust what You say, even when it asks me to let go of my need to control.

Let me find rest in knowing that You speak to those who listen, and You guide those who wait on You.

Amen

- Provided by "Faithful Grace"

 Verse: 1 Peter 5:7
..casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Application:

Carrying your worries, stresses, and daily struggles by yourself shows that you have not trusted God fully with your life. It takes humility, however, to recognize that God cares, to admit your need, and to let others in God's family help you. Sometimes we think that struggles caused by our own sin and foolishness are not God's concern. But when we turn to God in repentance, he will bear the weight even of those struggles. Letting God have your anxieties calls for action, not passivity. Don't submit to circumstances but to the Lord, who controls circumstances.

Casting our cares is a choice. It means consciously handing over our anxiety to Christ and allowing Him to carry the weight of our problems. God does not differentiate between problems we should handle on our own and God-sized needs. He asks us to turn them all over to Him. God sees you as His frail child, burdened with a load that surpasses your strength. He stands prepared to take your load and to carry it for you. Will you let Him?

Prayer: God's Got You!

Giving Up Anxiety

Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.
Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns;

yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Matthew 6:25-26

There’s nothing about a circumstance that automatically creates anxiety. Anxiety occurs because of the way we respond to a problem or troubling situation. Your ability to choose is part of God’s gift of free will to every human being. You can choose how you feel. You can choose what you think about, and you can choose how you will respond to a circumstance. It certainly isn’t God’s purpose for you to feel anxious - He doesn’t allow situations in your life so you’ll have anxiety. The Father may allow a situation in your life to develop stronger faith, grow and mature, or change a bad habit or negative attitude. But God doesn’t set you up for anxiety. He’s always at work to bring you to a place where you’ll trust Him more, obey Him more fully, and receive more of His blessings.

- Dr. Charles F. Stanley

(Excerpt from reading plan “Finding Peace" [Day 7]) 

Meme: Do You?

Meme: It Is In The Journey...

 

Relax In Every Circumstance

Peace I leave with you,
My peace I give to you;
not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid.
John 14:27

As an operating room nurse, I worked alongside a team that ensured that sterile surgical procedures took place. Before each procedure began, we searched for, identified and eliminated even the smallest impurities that could contaminate the sterile field.

This care and intention minimizes the risk of infection for the patient, protects the surgical staff from exposure to potential illness, and reduces complications so that patients can heal and recover quickly. But these techniques also make me wonder what it would look like if we applied the same attention to detail to keeping stress and worry from contaminating our lives.

Could we scrub away our stress more effectively if we immediately called out to God (Psalm 118:5)?

What if we allowed ourselves to be vulnerable, sharing our pains and heartaches with the “team” of people in our lives so we could carry each other’s burdens instead of suffering alone (Galatians 6:2)?

What would happen if we searched for, identified and eliminated the chaotic, negative and untrue thoughts (2 Corinthians 10:5) that could contaminate our days before we even rise from our beds each morning?

How much faster would we heal and recover from our worries and fears if we cast all our anxieties on Him (1 Peter 5:7)?

In John 14:27, Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” God’s Word reminds us that no matter what we are facing, we can relax in Him in every circumstance.

God is fully aware of your stresses and challenges, and He has gifted you perfect peace — a sense of spiritual serenity that isn’t fleeting or dependent upon external factors and that cannot be taken away by worldly circumstances.

When stress, anxiety, burdens and fear attempt to contaminate your life, you can cry out to God, cast every care upon Him, and then relax, knowing He cares for you. Your hope and reassurance in Christ go beyond what this world can offer.

Today, fix your mind on Jesus, regularly communicating with God through prayer and meditation, surrendering to Him and relying on His power to navigate you through every situation. With His help, you can cultivate and experience perfect peace and enjoy God’s loving presence in your life.

Father God, thank You for Your divine, perfect peace and for welcoming me, even when I feel stressed and burdened, with open arms. No matter what I’m facing, I know I can relax and trust You with it all. Thank You for the gift of Your love and presence in my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

- Tracie Braylock

Provided by "Proverbs 31 Ministries"

Meme: Lay it Down

Jesus Wants You To Know...

"Come to Me and let Me shelter you under My wings. You are completely safe with Me. Put aside your fears and worries. Remember, I can use crazy days to do wonderful things in your life. You may have a chance to do something for Me that wouldn’t have happened on an ordinary day. So instead of complaining about an out-of-control day, say yes to what I am doing in your life."

"I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings." - Psalm 61:4 - "Jesus Calling for Kids" by Sarah Young