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Encouraging Em

~ Encouraging Others One Hopeful Truth At A Time

Encouraging Em

Tag Archives: truth

Who’s there?

26 Thursday May 2022

Posted by encouragingem in Faith

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encouragement, Jesus, life, pray, truth

There is a battle for your heart. For your faith. For your mind. For your soul. For your purpose. The pursuit is relentless.

The Bible tells us to guard our hearts because it determines the direction of our lives. Our hearts are fragile so we must be good stewards of what we allow to affect it.

It’s like our front door of our house. Do we allow just anyone in? No. I have a ring doorbell that allows me to see who is at my front door. I don’t answer the door if I don’t know who they are. I used to feel bad if I didn’t at least hear them out. After learning the hard way I refuse to do that again.

We have to be diligent to not keep the good out, but to keep harm out. Yes, there will be times we will get hurt and not expect it, but what about allowing those who hurt you back in over and over again? Knowing something or someone is harmful is a benefit because now you can choose whether to allow it in or not.

Choose wisely my friends. Ask Jesus for wisdom and discernment. Read His word. Pray. Cause when the lies, fear, doubts, and threats of the enemy come knocking you’ll know better than to open the door. ❤️

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Ponder It

25 Tuesday Jan 2022

Posted by encouragingem in Faith

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believe, encouragement, God, hope, Jesus, peace, promise, trust, truth

I recall many moments a sweet friend would give me an encouraging word and tell me to “ponder it.” She would always use that word…ponder. I had to look it up because it’s not a word I had ever used. The definition is to think or consider especially quietly, soberly, and deeply. Honestly, I was hesitant because quiet is not my style. Being an external processor I talk things out. My friend on the other hand is the epitome of quiet. She would say very little, but when she spoke you listened. Was I not suppose to talk about the things God has told me?

I’ve come to learn what she meant. What quiet looks like on the inside. How to process in the quietness of Gods presence. How to take what the Lord spoke and let it simmer in my heart like soup cooking over a low flame. Allowing time for the full flavor of it to get down deep where my heart becomes convinced. Considering the words before I speak them knowing how powerful they are. That both life and death are an option by what I speak to myself. Guarding the door of my heart carefully as to not let thieves come in and rob me of the truth.

I’ve come to learn there is a time for everything. A time to speak and a time to listen. I pray you hear me today and consider what the Lord has spoke to you. Keep the words close. Don’t allow others to bring their thoughts before you have your own. Don’t let the dream or vision get cloudy or muddied by opinions. Hold close to your heart what the Lord said and consider it a secret until the appointed time. Just like Mary and my friend Beth, believe in Him who has promised and it will come to pass. ❤️

Did You Know?

17 Wednesday Nov 2021

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encouragement, faith, hope, Jesus, love, truth

Do you know how loved you are? Not the subjective conditional love that can’t make up its mind from one moment to the next. I’m talking about the I died for you kind of love. The love that fights for you. Believes in you. Protects you. Sees the best in you. A no matter what comes I’m not going anywhere love. If you know Jesus you know he IS this love. The love that sees you and knows you and still went to the cross for you. No one loves like Jesus. His love sets you free. His love is unconditional. We search and desire for someone to love us like this. Truth is…only Jesus could love this flawlessly. Us humans even on our best day will fail the ones we love, but His love never fails. Don’t believe the lie that you’re unloveable or hard to love. You, my love, were created out of love, to be loved, and to share this love. What a lovely truth! ❤️

John 15:13. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Can We Be Honest?

15 Monday Nov 2021

Posted by encouragingem in Faith

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healing, Honesty, Jesus, journey, pain, truth

Telling the truth was always hard for me. It’s not like I was lying. In fact, I wasn’t saying anything at all. Being taught to not speak of the truth impaired my ability to process. To heal. I became numb to pain that was so harmful to my soul I couldn’t recognize how hurt I really was. Before you can live a life of truth you must acknowledge what aches in you. Learning to sit with yourself and allow the truth to stir in you. That is the discovery that changes everything. The Lord will not allow us to walk around numb forever. There will come a moment when it’s just you and Him and all the funk within you and his love collide. It’s a meeting of the heart, mind, and soul. Many of us will run till we die to try and avoid what hurts. Can I give you some momma advice? Stop running away from you. You will always be where you are. Good thing is, Jesus will always be ready to listen. His pursuit of you and your heart will never end. Are you ready to know the truth that sets you free? His name is Jesus. He is relentless about seeing you whole. Free from deep rooted sorrow and neglect. It won’t happen overnight. This is the Lords doing. He knows what we can handle. He’s gentle. Patient. Kind. Forgiving. He’s everything we don’t know how to be to ourselves. I pray you take a step closer to Jesus today. That you be honest with yourself and let him come and show you how to be whole. You’ll never regret it, I promise you.

Love, Em ❤️

Won’t He Do It Again?

29 Sunday Apr 2018

Posted by encouragingem in Faith

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Encourage, faith, hope, truth

Current trials can blind us to the history we have with Jesus. If he has done it once, won’t he do it again? I was reminded again {sometimes we need a spiritual smack} of how far the Lord has brought me and what he has “already” done in my life. A moment of reflection brought me to tears as I was asked “Don’t you remember Em?” Yes Lord, I remember how many times you picked me up and mended this broken heart of mine. I remember every time you miraculously met a need. I remember the moments you divinely guided me in the right direction. I remember how you rescued me from myself. Lord, I remember.  Go back today and be reminded of all the Lord has done. Speak of it. Tell someone. Encourage yourself and others with the proof of his faithfulness. Won’t he do it again? Yes, my friends, he will!

Blessings,

Em ❤️

Going Higher

17 Tuesday Apr 2018

Posted by encouragingem in Faith

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issues, life, prayer, truth

I have heard it said that “God will not give us more then we can handle.” I disagree. There have been so many moments that l could not handle what I was going through. But this did not mean that God couldn’t handle it.

All throughout scripture people have cried out in desperation. Faint at heart. Crushed. Broken. Beyond their capabilities of handling their situation. Sound familiar? Their example shows me where they went…higher…to God.

In our weakness we are told to lean, put all our weight upon the Lord. He is careful to hold us through the trial. His mercy, compassion, and love shields us in ways we can’t see. The presence of trials is not the absence of Gods mercy. Today, rather than looking at my pain I will look to the one who can alleviate it. The healer. Sustainer. All faithful One. I will go higher.

Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. – Psalm 61:1-3

Blessings,

Em 😊

Heart to Heart 

16 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by encouragingem in Daily Truth, Encouraging, Faith, Hope, Jesus, Prayer, Self Reflection

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choices, Excuses, hope, purpose, truth

So, the other day my hubby and I were having a heart to heart. Love those with him. He is usually very quiet, so the conversationalist in me rejoices in these moments. Since the cancer diagnosis {9 months ago} a lot has changed, mostly our perspective. How we live and why. Trauma does this. It rearranges, subtracts, and adds to life. We don’t get to choose the unexpected, but we can choose how we respond to it. 

It’s easy to become cynical. Angry. Bitter. That’s the path of least resistance. Looking for the good and purpose requires more thought, time, and effort. People usually quit before they find it. Fatigue sets in. Hopelessness drains hearts. Lies steal futures and then our choices destroy us.

We make excuses for inexcusable things just because of what has happened to us. Life. Family. Struggle. We give it all to much credit for all the wrong reasons. I am guilty of glorifying the pain and the ones responsible for it. A huge part of my life was lived being hurt by those hurting from others hurting them. It’s a vicious cycle that needs to end now! 

Cancer is not an excuse, neither is abuse, rape, poverty, violence, or any other horrible thing the enemy throws at us to become one who victimizes others and ourselves with our poor choices and thoughtless actions. 

Choice. It’s a beautiful, fragile, powerful thing, yet we don’t always handle it with care. I’ve learned that not making a choice, is a choice. When we choose to sit back and do nothing with the life we’ve been given it’s a waste of the potential we have inside of us. 

You see, our life doesn’t end at the end of the struggle if we still have breath. Purpose can be born out of the struggle if we don’t grow weary and trust that God is faithful to complete what he started in us. 

This was the heart to heart we had. What are we gonna do about where we’ve been? The good. The bad. The ugly. It all matters. Can we become people who allow God to use our struggle, pain, and past to be expamples of what hope and victory look like? I pray we can.

I want to blaze a trail of hope for my children and generations to come. I want and need my life, all of it, to count. I won’t accept it was all for nothing. When God said, all things work together for the good of them who love him and are called according to his purpose, I believed him!! And now I have to partner with him to see that purpose revealed and lived out. 

No more excuses. No more causing pain because we hurt too. Enough is enough. We have lives waiting on us to be who we are meant to be. You are someone’s example, blessing, and trailblazer.  Don’t quit now! Be the someone you needed and I promise you you’ll find your purpose. 

There’s no going back to the way things were. Honestly, I don’t want it to. Why? I’ve learned what it is to be strengthened in difficulty. To rely on God with every fiber of my being. I’ve seen miracles happen. Hearts transformed. Cancer won’t become our excuse. No, it’ll be our launching pad that propels us closer to our purpose!! 

Em ❤️  

I wanna be a Hero! 

22 Monday Aug 2016

Posted by encouragingem in Daily Truth, Encouraging, Faith, Hope, Jesus, Prayer, Self Reflection

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defeat, faith, fight, hero, Lies, truth, win

“Don’t buy the lie that you can become a hero without ever engaging in the battle.”

 Lisa Bevere 

Good morning my friends!! If there is one thing I’m passionate about it’s the truth. Knowing it. Believing it. Living in it. Telling it. In my house we do superheroes all day, everyday. Every superhero movie I’ve ever watched {there’s been A LOT, remember I have 4 boys} there was battle. In the end good wins {love that} but never before engaging in war. We will have to fight through the bad days, the struggles, the generational curses, the lies, the shame, the regret, and whatever you may be facing today to earn hero status! Victory is already ours, but we have to fight!! How? Don’t believe the lies of the enemy when he comes charging at you with your past. When he throws darts of shame your way. When he whispers lies of defeat and doom in your ear. Fight back with the word of God that says you are more than a conqueror! You are the righteousness of God! Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world! You are loved. You’ve been chosen. We have to arm ourselves with truth to win! We must know it, believe it, and USE it! I want to be the hero of faith in my family, my community, that stands up to lies and sets the captives free…Don’t you?

This is Who I am! 

31 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by encouragingem in Daily Truth, Encouraging, Faith, Hope, Jesus, Prayer, Self Reflection

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brave, Fear, Forgiven, free, Jesus, truth

Living life afraid had been my normal. My faith in humanity and in God had been tested and hurt was inevitable. I was afraid to trust. Afraid to make decisions. Afraid to speak truth. Afraid to trust my instinct. Afraid of myself. 

My journey from fear to freedom has been one I never expected to go on. What was a horrible mess ended up being my moment of escape from this prison of fear. I had a choice. Was I willing to allow God to remove the fear {heal me} or once again, avoid it? Avoidance was so much easier and a lot less painful. Avoidance and hiding are besties. We hide to avoid whatever it is we can’t confront or deal with. Heavy stuff, I know. Truth is we don’t really know who we are without the pain. Our pain, fear, and mess is who we’ve become, but God has a different plan and identity for us. 

Are we willing to find out what they are? I was and what a journey it has been. 

I was taken to the back side of the desert, hundreds of miles from home, no friends or family, to experience God differently. It has been so painful at times I thought I would die. Sounds a little melodramatic but it’s true. Through crazy situations and circumstance I had to unlearn the old mind set and learn a new one. Ouch! Only God can cut through us and remove the old and not kill us. His steady hand preserves us in this broken, fragile, and vulnerable stage. Thank you Jesus! 

Receiving our new identity requires a trade. The old for the new. We give him all our funk {mind sets, hurts, sin, fears, hate, anger, shame, misconceptions, etc.} and he gives us a crown {Y’all know how much I love that part} that says…I am the Kings kid. I now wear a robe of righteousness that says…I am forgiven. I now walk in victory because I no longer fight alone. My feelings no longer control me, the truth does. 

This is who I am. This is who I’ve always been destined to be…a child of God who knows who she is and who her Father is. This is a constant evolving discovery that I have come to cherish. I wouldn’t change one moment {I wouldn’t want to do it over again either} because they all led me here to my true indenity…forgiven, free, brave and deeply loved, Princess Emilie! 💞 

Liar Liar 10/12/15 

12 Monday Oct 2015

Posted by encouragingem in Daily Truth, Encouraging, Faith, Hope, Jesus, Self Reflection

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faith, freedom, God, Judgement, liar, Lies, love, truth

Good afternoon friends!!

Don’t you hate it when a thought interrupts your day and overstays it’s welcome?! Me too!! I was doing the dishes {when am I not?} and I had a thought about dishonest people {ugh}. Trying to decode why people lie is almost impossible. You’ll hear lots of reasons why but truth is there is only one real reason anyone lies…fear. I know all the times I’ve lied {guilty} has been out of fear. Fear of consequences. Fear of what the truth will look /sound like. Fear of what I will look like if I tell the truth. Honestly, the truth sometimes is a scary thing. 

Truth requires more out of us. Telling a lie is the easy way out. We don’t have to confront ourselves or others. We get to hide a little bit longer and avoid the inevitable…truth or consequence {a result or effect of an act or condition}. The bible says the truth will set you free…free from what? Free from strings that lies are attached to {my condensed definition}. Guilt. Shame. Condemnation and ultimately sin. We as Christians know the truth {Jesus, his word} and yet we settle for lies everyday that chain and bind us like a slave to the enemy and in return it results in a lifestyle of sin and destruction. 

I wanted to judge the liar and realized that I too, have been one. I am one every time I tell myself anything contrary to Gods word; when I comply and agree with the enemy when he whispers lies in my ear. I want to be an honest person but I must know the truth…Gods word! Live it. Believe it. Speak it and then I’m free from lies and the hurt they bring. 

Lying is a temporary fix for a deeply rooted fear. God is the only one who can dismantled our fears with his truth and love that leads to right believing and right living. Next time you’re tempted to lie think…What am I afraid of? I guarantee if you process this and begin to practice truth in your inner being you’ll be less tempted to lie to yourself or anyone else. 

Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part [of my heart] You will make me know wisdom.           Psalm 51:6 

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