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Gateway Worship Centre Gravenhurst
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OUR SERVICE TIMES:
Morning Service - 10am
Kids Church (Sunday School) - 10am
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UPCOMING - Save the Dates!
Do any if these statements sound familiar to you? These are just some of the lies I was telling myself for years.
"I can't do anything right. Everybody else is better at socializing than I am. Things won't get any better. I'm a failure. I'm not as good as other people. I'm bad, sinful, guilty. I always make the wrong decisions. I'm a disappointment to everybody. I never do anything right. Everything is falling apart. Nobody wants to read what I write. "
What feelings are generated by these lies? Defeated, hopeless, worthless. Perhaps you feel you have to be perfect? As a result, we find ourselves depressed, anxious, frustrated, angry, useless - the list can be endless.
I strongly encourage you to begin hearing the truth. Once I started challenging the lies with the truth, my journey to wellness began.
When we look at the list above we see words such as "anything, everybody, always, everything, nobody". These words keep us in bondage to our feelings!
This week identify at least one lie that you are telling yourself and challenge it with the truth. Using "I can't do anything right" as an example, challenge the word "anything". Once I started challenging this statement, I realized that there were many things I did right! It's a good place to start...
The scripture this week is Matthew 11:28-29.
Blessings, Pastor Karen
As we continue the journey together, I want to thank those who have encouraged me recently to continue to share.
For as long as I can remember I had believed the lie that I was worthless. Where this belief came from is something I will likely not completely know or understand and I have come to realize that what lies behind no longer matters. It is what the future holds that is worthy of my attention. A future based on God's truth.
In the 1990's and beyond, self esteem became a "hot topic". At the time, I was in a leadership position with a National weight loss organization. As part of my duties, I visited and spoke to groups in my district. My topic - how to improve your self esteem! If only the recipients of my "wisdom" knew how I truly felt about myself - worthless. I often find that we teach about the things we ourselves need to learn and understand!
We have all heard about the importance of good self esteem. In fact, bad self esteem has been blamed for many defects in human behavior. In the next two weeks I want to talk more about this topic and share what God says about it. In my studies, I have come to believe that good self esteem is believing the truth about ourselves. Bad self esteem is believing the lies or untruthful beliefs about ourselves.
People living with depression often devalue themselves, their entire lives and their futures. How about you? Are you allowing the lies to impact how you place value or worth upon yourself? I know I did for a long time. There is hope. It is found in God's truth.
This week I encourage you to meditate on Psalm 139 ( yes, the whole Psalm). Let me know what you learn as you go through this portion of scripture.
Pastor Karen
How do our personal filters, beliefs or lies begin? I have questioned this for many years. As I shared in Week #10, my filter became one where I believed the lies that I was worthless, useless and unlovable. With these beliefs how can anyone succeed? Yet, I have led a successful life. I worked for over 20 years as an Executive Assistant, I led local community support groups, I raised two children and the list goes on. I remember the days where I would make it to work, only to find myself unable to remain there. I remember the days where I wanted to just give up and on three occasions attempted to end my life.
The mind is a battlefield. It never shuts off. All of the things we have been taught, all of the experiences we have had and how we have interpreted them are stored in its massive database. If we retrieve the lies from this database often enough, we start to believe them!
How to combat those lies? We need to counteract them with the truth! I have read many books, taken many courses and have seen many professionals. I have spent weeks in the hospital. In 1998 I had 12 ECT treatments. However, it wasn't until I started to believe the truth that the word hope entered my database.
A book entitled, "Telling Myself the Truth" literally saved my life. I believe God wants me to share my journey through the principles in this book. Check back next week ....
I encourage you to meditate on John 8:31-32 this week.
Pastor Karen
A Sister's Journey...read from the beginning.
David praises God wholeheartedly. Praise is not just a song about God; it is a song to God. Praising God has several aspects to it: (1) Say thank you to him for each attribute of his divine nature; (2) focus our hearts on him; (3) thank him for his many gracious gifts to us; and (4) thank him for our relationship with him.
May God, the Rock of my salvation, be exalted!
2 Samuel 22:47
“The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock!May God, the Rock of my salvation, be exalted!
