Faith Over Fear Week 2

Mark 4:35-41
On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

Wow!!! These scriptures speak volumes to my heart!!! Has your home ever just been in chaos and all you hoped and prayed for was Jesus to speak peace to the storm but you weren’t seeing an end in sight? Fear grips a heart easily in those moments when it looks as if it will never be over. Faith decreases all the while the fear is ever expanding. Why do we allow fear to squeeze our hearts so tight that we feel like we can’t breathe? Obviously, it’s not of God, but directly from the pits of Hell. Satan desires nothing more than to play with our mind and feed us lies that sadly we tend to fall for sometimes.

James 3: 13-18 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Gatekeepers

Did you know as women of God we are gatekeepers in our home which means we must watch what we allow into our home? Are we allowing fear, anger, envy, bitterness, selfishness or peace, love, gentleness, grace, and good fruits? What are we watching on TV or allowing our kids to watch? What are we listening to or permitting our children to listen to? What we feed will only get larger. If we feed fear and anger then it will come out of us. I’ve often heard the song” be careful little eyes what you see, ears what you hear, for the Father up above is looking down in love….” It’s true for all of us. We must stop the devil and his lies in their tracks at the point of attempted entrance.

Proverbs 31:31~Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.

So Inside our homes, are our works praising us? Are we setting the example to our kids of a loving gentle wife and mom or a drama queen? Children pick up on these things so quickly and sadly sometimes begin to imitate the actions they see. Regretfully, I know that I have come off as the latter mentioned before, and had to repent to the Lord for it too. I’ve also prayed with a heavy heart for God to change me and make my heart more like His, tenderhearted and loving so I have portrayed both examples with the prayer that they will see the good more. As humans were not ALWAYS going to get it right, but God does see what our heart strives for and our intents.

Safe Haven

Have you ever heard that we moms are the heart of the home? That is a well-spoken truth, and exactly why we must set the example for our children of how they should live physically, spiritually, and emotionally. As I sit here and write, I am ashamed at how often I’ve gotten this wrong. I’ve flown off the handle more times then I’d like to admit. I’ve let fear surface in my heart of what could happen…..the what-ifs have played and replayed over and over in my mind and I didn’t recognize at the time that it was just Satan trying to keep me from what I was supposed to be doing.

Proverbs 4: 23 tells us to guard our hearts for it is the wellspring of life. As parents, we also have the blessed responsibility to guard our children’s hearts as well. If our children see our hearts as frantic fear mongers or bitter and hateful then that is what they will reflect. We can not allow Satan to paralyze us with fear. As mommy’s, God calls us to create a safe haven for our husband to come home to every day as well as for our children. I won’t pretend to have all the answers for this, but I will share what I have learned over time. How do we create a safe haven in our homes?

1. We pray and remain in God’s word daily!! We Welcome the sweet Holy Spirit to come in!! As Christians, He already lives on the inside of us, but pray that He will direct and guide you in every way concerning the home.

2. We tidy our homes to make it comfortable for everyone. No home is perfectly clean when children are in the mix, but it doesn’t have to look like a war zone when the hubby walks through the doors. We can teach our children to help in the toy pickup time. Family Teamwork while taking care of the home is of great importance.

3. Light a candle and make a good family dinner!!! When I think of a safe haven, I think of inviting good smells, food, and family time. Eat at the table together with your family. Sometimes we make the exception of eating in the living room, but most days that is our time to share our day and just spend time with each other. We all truly need that time together, and I hear that your children get better grades when they have family dinner time. It’s also a great relationship builder.

4. Play Praise and Worship Music throughout the day. Yall, this is a FAITH BUILDER!!! I am telling you that I know this from experience when we open our home to Jesus and glorifying Him, it truly does create an atmosphere of peace, love, joy, and freedom. Pray and declare God’s word while it plays and while you’re cleaning, and tending to the children. My little boy has been doing great with sleeping through the night lately, but there for a while, he was struggling with it. God spoke to my heart to leave the praise and worship playing in his room during the day, and it made the world of difference for him at night time. Seriously yall, when God is glorified in our homes, Satan can not linger around taunting us. He has to go! God’s PERFECT LOVE cast out ALL fear!!! (1 John 4:18)

Have you ever saw the movie, War Room?  Pricilla Shirer, closer to the end of the movie finally gets a hold of what the elderly lady had been trying to teach her throughout it, and she takes her authority in Jesus name and begins rebuking Satan and telling him to leave their home as he has no place there!! Here is the clip!!

When I first saw this movie, I cried, because I have done the VERY same thing at The Fowler home. My neighbors most likely thought that I was Cray Cray, but you come to the point when enough is enough and you finally do get down to business. As God’s daughters, we must take our authority In Jesus, Submit to God, Resist the Devil, and then he has no other option but to flee from us. (James 4:7)

Ladies, it’s time that we take back our homes by the authority of Jesus Christ. We can no longer sit back and allow Satan to TRY to steal, kill, and destroy what God is doing in our home lives. The Home is the first and greatest ministry that God gives to parents. If you’re in leadership at church, that is awesome….I am too, but there is no greater ministry then the lives that we lead in front of our children and spouse. They see the best and the worst of us. Let’s pray for our homes right now that we as parents would choose to walk out our faith to overcome our fears.

Dear Heavenly Father,
We thank you for our homes and family. Please forgive us for the times that we have fallen short and accepted fear over our faith. May your great love abound in our homes like never before. Change us from the inside out, and take away every spirit of fear. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen.

This Weeks Challenge: Implement the list above into your day and home life. Allow God to do a work that only He can. Ask Him for more wisdom on how to create a Safe Haven at home, and then be obedient to what He tells you to do. Let’s build up our faith by encouraging ourselves in the Lord by remaining in His word and in prayer.