{"id":27004,"date":"2015-07-31T00:25:26","date_gmt":"2015-07-31T04:25:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=27004"},"modified":"2015-07-30T15:28:57","modified_gmt":"2015-07-30T19:28:57","slug":"i-will-not-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2015\/07\/31\/i-will-not-fear\/","title":{"rendered":"I Will Not Fear"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Though the fig tree does not bud<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"> and there is no fruit on the vines,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"> though the olive crop fails<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"> and the fields produce no food,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"> though there are no sheep in the pen<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"> and no cattle in the stalls,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Yet I will triumph in Yahweh;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"> I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Yahweh my Lord is my strength;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"> He makes my feet like those of a deer<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"> and enables me to walk on mountain heights! <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Habakkuk 3:17-19<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #008000;\">\u00a0*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 *\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I am claiming this verse today&#8230;and I am placing my needs before His feet. Fig trees and olive crops are symbols for the things of this world that we may lack at this very moment. \u00a0August is always hard here. \u00a0School is looming and there are always needs: clothes, shoes, school supplies (and now with one in college), the list goes on&#8230;and on. But isn&#8217;t God so much bigger than any of these?<strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\"> \u00a0{yes!}<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s funny how God leads me to certain verses on the days that i write&#8230;and it always is something that I need to hear and to pass along to you. \u00a0What are you believing God for today? \u00a0Are you struggling to believe at all? \u00a0Sometimes things feel <em><strong>so<\/strong> desperate<\/em>\u00a0(and, truly, they may be). \u00a0There may be no food in the pantry and no money to go purchase any. \u00a0Or a really big bill is due and you have absolutely no idea how you are going to pay it. \u00a0Or an illness and a bad report has you feeling like there is no hope at all.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>But the good news is this: There is <em>always<\/em> hope in Jesus!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I know that my sound cliche but it is so true! If you put all your hope and all your efforts into just praising Him today&#8212;though the problems may still be there&#8212;there will be joy in place of sorrow! \u00a0Hope will replace hopelessness and praise will replace pity. \u00a0We may not get to choose the circumstances in our lives but we can choose how we react to them. \u00a0(I am preaching to myself!)<\/p>\n<p>Fear and worry are stealers, and they come straight from the enemy who wants nothing more than to rob you of all you have. \u00a0He especially wants to take your hope away. \u00a0But if we let him have that&#8230;we have let him win. \u00a0The enemy doesn&#8217;t go after your salvation. \u00a0He can&#8217;t have it! \u00a0But he can take the peace that comes with the salvation that Jesus gave His own life for us to have. \u00a0One of my favorite passages is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=psalm+23&amp;version=AMP;NASB;NIV;MSG;HCSB\" target=\"_blank\">Psalms 23<\/a>. \u00a0It was one of the first ones that I learned in elementary school and it is one that has gotten me through a lot of hard times. \u00a0In verse 4 is says:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Even when I walk\u00a0through the darkest valley,<br \/>\nI will not be afraid,\u00a0for You are close beside me.<br \/>\nYour rod and Your staff\u00a0protect and comfort me.<\/p>\n<p>Today, as you read this verse, fill in the blank with your own valley.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #008000;\">Even when I walk through ________, <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000;\">I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>And know beyond a shadow of a doubt that whatever it is you wrote down, that your God<strong> is able<\/strong> to do this<strong> and <em>so much more<\/em><\/strong>. \u00a0Claim it with me today&#8230;and enjoy the sunshine today!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #008000;\">\u00a0*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 *<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Let us pray<\/em><\/span>: Dear God, You are so full of love for us and Your grace is sufficient for every minute that we breathe. \u00a0You are the same always; You never change. \u00a0Thank You for Your provision and Your hand in everything that we go through. \u00a0You waste nothing, oh Lord! \u00a0I pray today for all these friends reading this today, that You would give them back their joy and peace, oh God! \u00a0And that nothing that the enemy throws at them can take away the hope that they have in You. \u00a0Silence his lies today and everyday. \u00a0Remind them that feelings are feelings but that Your Word is truth. \u00a0Lead them to the truth today. In Jesus&#8217; name, amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will triumph in Yahweh; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":20533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6228],"tags":[6998,425,2994,9198,518,9225,554,589,746,789,938],"class_list":["post-27004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-encouragement-2","tag-encouragement-blog","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-habakkuk-317-19","tag-he-is-enough","tag-hope","tag-i-will-not-fear","tag-jesus","tag-kim-spring","tag-peace","tag-praise","tag-scripture","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/encouragementbloggraphicromans15.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-71y","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27004"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27010,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27004\/revisions\/27010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}