Wise Solomon wrote, Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom (Song of Songs 2:15). What are the little foxes that ruin your days and attitudes and rob you of joy and peace? We’ve looked at four of these little foxes this week: hurt feelings, petty fears, worrying, and false guilt. The final one today is the fear of trusting God. I spent many years “doing my own thing,” as we say, not obedient to God’s voice in my life. As I look back on that time, I now recognize the underlying problem as a fear of trusting God with control of my life. I ..read more

What is false guilt? Do you know how to recognize it? I’m talking about the little foxes that can ruin our attitudes and cause harm to our Christian witness. And pretty high on that list for many of us is false guilt. False guilt is a guilt we impose upon ourselves. We allow it to take root in our minds, to start causing all kinds of bad feelings, to feed us all kinds of lies, which we begin to believe. Here are some examples of it: What we feel when we keep remembering what God has forgiven and forgotten! What we feel when someone appears to be disappointed in us. What we feel when we have t ..read more

I’m sure you recognize the most useless and unproductive thing most of us do very often is to worry, and yet we worry. I’m talking about the little things—the little foxes—that often steal our joy and make us miserable. How do we let go of worrying? Is it really possible to come to a place where we truly don’t waste time worrying? After all, life is full of worrying things, and are we supposed to be cavalier and nonchalant, as though those things don’t bother us at all? Jesus fully understands our propensity to worry, and he addressed it strongly in his Sermon on the Mount. Basically, he said ..read more

What are the little foxes that are ruining your joy and causing you pain? I’m focusing on the small hurtful things that we allow to ruin our days and steal our joy. Solomon wrote: Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom (Song of Songs 2:15). We want to catch those little foxes and get them out of our lives. Now we know fear is one of the enemy’s favorite weapons and we are all vulnerable to what I call “petty fears.” Let’s address a few of those smaller ones, those joy-stealing fears that are truly unnecessary. Fear of a Dreaded Outco ..read more

There is a verse in Song of Songs that I want to consider this week: Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom (Song of Songs 2:15). I want to talk about the “little foxes” in our lives—the things that may seem insignificant when in reality they are stealing our joy and keeping us from God’s peace. For example, harboring hurt feelings is a common “little fox” that is very harmful. Why do we hang on to hurt feelings so long, since we heap unhappiness on our own heads? We certainly don’t get any revenge on our offenders by hanging on to h ..read more

Presented by Lisa Bishop I want to examine the blessing of waiting on God. I know waiting and blessing may not seem like they go hand in hand, but they often do. It’s our perspective that can blind us to seeing the blessing. We live in a fast-paced world where instant gratification is the norm. Fast is at our fingertips. Yet, as followers of Jesus, our spiritual journey often requires us to wait, and waiting can test our patience, reveal our faith, and tamper with our trust in God. But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run an ..read more

Presented by Lisa Bishop What do you radiate while you wait? When you find yourself waiting on God to come through, what is your attitude? We’ll examine how we carry ourselves when we are counting on God to come through. It is not easy to maintain a good attitude in times of waiting. We may start to complain, get impatient, grumpy, angry, jealous, or even resentful. What is your demeanor when you have to wait? No matter what it is you are waiting on God for, it’s easy to have a negative disposition and the enemy will do his best to discourage you by getting your focus off God and fixed on the ..read more

Presented by Lisa Bishop I want to remind you being patient with God’s timing is worth the wait. About five years into my faith journey, I was desperately seeking answers to what I should do with my life. At that time, I was in a corporate job I could do and do well, but it wasn’t super fulfilling. I distinctly remember sitting in my living room talking to God saying, “God, I would really love to have a job where I get to do life with women, pouring into their faith and coming alongside them in every aspect of life.” Well, let’s just say that prayer was not answered until seven years later whe ..read more

Presented by Lisa Bishop What is something you are currently waiting for? Whether you’re waiting for a job, vindication for an injustice, or a prodigal kid to come home, what you focus on when you wait matters. In Psalm 25:5, King David is in the midst of waiting for deliverance from his enemies when he cries out, guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. We’re not sure of David’s exact circumstances when he penned this plea to the Lord. While David is known for finding himself in sticky situations and long periods of waiting, one thing ..read more

Presented by Lisa Bishop Have you ever felt wronged by someone at work? Maybe you are in the midst of a challenging situation right now. A coworker taking credit for something you poured your heart and soul into and now they are getting the kudos instead of you. Maybe you’ve been poorly treated, pushed aside for a promotion, or flat-out lied about. How do you react when your circumstances seem unfair? Several years ago, I worked for an organization that was riddled with gossip and a few toxic personalities that made a huge impact on the culture. At one point I found myself being the target of ..read more