Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Ed Young, from his book, The Fear Virus: Vaccinating Yourself Against Life's Greatest Phobias (p.28). Creality Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) We do that, don’t we? Ed says, “Dr. Robert Leahy, clinical psychologist and director of the American Institute for Cognitive Therapy in New York, reported a study that he did showing that 85 percent of what subjects worry about never happens. And with the 15 percent of events that did happen, most of the subjects discovered either they could handle the difficulty better than expected or they were grateful for a lesson learned through the experience. We take things from tomorrow and the next day and we dump it on today. That’s why Jesus is saying to us, ‘Don’t do it. You take care of what God has given you today and don’t freak out about tomorrow.’” Earlier he said, “We all deal with different fears. For many of us, it’s the fear of the future, the fear

A thought by Ed Young, from his book, The Fear Virus: Vaccinating Yourself Against Life's Greatest Phobias (p.23). Creality Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) But we don’t need to stay that way, do we? Ed says, “We are in such turmoil, so apprehensive and anxious. Our heavenly Father is saying to us right now, ‘Trust me, I’m in control, I will get you through this and I will show you the way. You are safe with me. I know the way home.’ “It’s one thing to trust God in times of plenty; we can sing worship songs about His goodness all day long. It’s a completely different thing to trust God in times of lack, times of want, times of fear. In times like these, we all need the reminder that God is trustworthy. ” He goes on,  “Do you know what the word trust means? Our English word trust comes from an Indo-European root word meaning ‘to be solid,’ which is also the source of our word tree. If you want to be

A thought by Ed Young, from his book, The Fear Virus: Vaccinating Yourself Against Life's Greatest Phobias (p.17). Creality Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) So, we need to name them. Ed says, “We might find ourselves doing certain things without knowing why we are doing them. Our bodies and minds naturally seek coping mechanisms, even if we aren’t aware of the reason we need to cope. For example, you might be unaware of your social anxiety, but every time you meet with someone you are always picking at something—tearing up a piece of paper, picking at your cuticles, playing with your keys. Those habits are your body’s ways of coping with stress and fear. You might be unaware of your fear of abandonment, and every time you start a new relationship, you become really clingy and always need to be around the other person. Maybe you have an unnamed fear of clowns, and you haven’t been to a carnival in years. Whateve

A thought by Ed Young, from his book, The Fear Virus: Vaccinating Yourself Against Life's Greatest Phobias (p.13). Creality Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) That is so true. Ed says, “That reminds me of Psalm 27:1: ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?’ When you know The Man, you don’t have to fear the little man.” The little man was who Ed feared when he was young till finally his mom turned on all the lights and showed him there was no little man. It seems that the light showed that it was the vacuum cleaner that he thought was the little man. He goes on, “When the fear virus takes root in our hearts, it distorts our perceptions and leaves us feeling out of control. We fear the feelings of helplessness caused by fear, so we try to run away. We can’t run away from our heart condition, the deep-rooted fear in our hearts, and pretend we are healthy; we have to do the painful work of subm

A thought by Ed Young, from his book, The Fear Virus: Vaccinating Yourself Against Life's Greatest Phobias (p.8). Creality Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Yes, we are. Ed says, “I’m not talking about the vital organ in your chest but the heart that is the seat of yourself, your intellect, your morals, and your spirituality. And because of sin, we are heart patients, vulnerable to sicknesses like fear. You may not know it, you may not feel it, but at this very moment you could have a severe case of the fear virus attacking your heart. You could be in danger right now of missing out on God’s best for your life because fear is choking out your future. We all need to come to terms with the fact that we are heart patients and we have a fear virus that is taking life out of us. But there is a peace and joy God has for you—regardless of the circumstances in the world…” He goes on, “Fear is often rooted in the ine

A thought by Bob Goff, from his book, Dream Big (Kindle Locations 1228). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) This sounds great. A Mustard Tree Bob says, “Jesus told His friends nothing less. He talked about mustard seeds and said they were the smallest kind of seed. The fact is, they’re not. Because I’m a lawyer, I checked. The smallest seed in the world is a Peruvian orchid. It weighs less than one twenty-four millionths of an ounce. The story isn’t about the seed though; it’s about the tree it grows into and the rest it gives to those who need it most. I’ve done a couple of big things but a lot more small ones. You have too. God can use both, I suppose, but I think He delights in the small stuff a lot more. “Other than my kidneys being permanently shot, I’m just fine after getting malaria. I’ve crossed kidneys off of my donor card. They’re just no good anymore. I’m trying to grow a strong heart to make

A thought by Bob Goff, from his book, Dream Big (Kindle Locations 1184). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) It really can! Bob says, “I try to find reminders about the power we can experience together everywhere. When we’re in Canada, we see thousands of sea otters drifting along on the top of the water in the inlet. They’re everywhere—kind of like Priuses. Did you know sea otters hold hands while they’re floating? It looks a lot like they’re going out on dates with each other. After seeing so many sea otter couples drifting two by two through the water, I figured there had to be some reason for the hand holding. I dug a little deeper and it turns out the answer is simple: they don’t want anyone to drift away. He goes on, “As you pursue your ambitions, you’re going to need some hands to hold and some friends to love so you don’t drift off into the open waters. In other words, you’re going to need a community