Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.”   
 
1 Corinthians 16:13NLT


God, please speak to us through Your Word and open our hearts and minds for Your Spirit to work in us! Thank You! In Jesus name, amen!


Be courageous.


                When people look at me and my life, do they describe me as someone who is “courageous”? I really don’t think so; at least not as courageous as I’d like to be.

The Princeton online dictionary defines courageous:  brave: possessing or displaying courage; able to face and deal with danger or fear without flinching.”

Courage is stepping forward in spite of fear. It is seeing fear and yet not flinching at it.


I honestly tend to have a lot of fear. I sometimes fear not passing classes at school. I sometimes fear just walking up to somebody and talking to them. I sometimes fear leading a new ministry I started at the University of Oklahoma. I fear I won’t match up to expectations. I fear I won’t be able to do what is necessary. I fear what I do will fall apart.

Isn’t that ridiculous?

Yes it is. I’m saying “NO”, I’m going to start stepping up and not let fear hold me back from reaching my full potential. I’m going to step forward and passionately, courageously lead the ministry I started at my University. If I fail, I fail. I would rather be known for failing courageously than be known for making it fearfully.

This truly comes down to how I see myself. How we see ourselves. For some reason, I’ve always been empty of self-confidence.

But now I’m realizing more and more that God made me in His image and He wants me to be confident in who He made me to be.

God has recently made me more courageous and I’m going to pray He makes me even MORE courageous. That He makes me confident in who He made me to be and that I run like no otha’.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.  
2 Timothy 1:7


I will be courageous. I will be able to face and deal with danger and fear without flinching. I’m praying for God to make me courageous.

Everything I said above, personalize it.
Where have you exhibited flinching at fear?
Where are you going to step forward in spite of fear, being courageous? It can be HUGE things or little things.

Nicole
7/18/2010 10:13:50 am

I'm definitely an anxious person. My worries have a tendency to get the best of me sometimes, but I've found that the more I leave my doubts with God, the more I feel that I have control of my life.

When it comes to fear, I reccommend also looking up this verse (it's a favorite of mine)..

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

It helps me when I don't feel very courageous.

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7/18/2010 11:43:33 am

Nicole, great thoughts!

What you said reminds me of some advice my pastor gave for when we worry: create a "Trusting God" box.

When you worry, write that worry on a piece of paper and put it in the box. Trust God. If you start worrying again, you have to take the paper out - we visually see we're not trusting God!

Worry is completely based on fear, so this "Trusting God" box can definitely help us step forward in the Courageous POWER God wants us to have!

I'm going to create the box - in the past 2 weeks I've definitely seen my worry and anxiety go up.

Thanks for the comment!

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Nicole
7/18/2010 11:50:11 pm

I'll have to invest in a "Trusting God" box! That's a very neat idea!

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