Anyone Worn Out?

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Can anyone relate to the idea of being exhausted from the energy it takes to just keep breathing (first song link below)?  I've been there, too.  It's probably why I long so much for eternity.  I long for the day when we can finally rest from our troubles.  But until then, I cling to the Lord and take each day as it comes, with His grace, help, strength, and wisdom to get me through. 


 Worn by Tenth Avenue North

 Healing Begins by Tenth Avenue North

 By Your Side by Tenth Avenue North

 Hold My Heart by Tenth Avenue North

 Love, Heal Me by City Harmonic

 Fell Apart by City Harmonic

 Praise the Lord by City Harmonic

 Honestly by City Harmonic

 Oh, What Love by City Harmonic  

 I AM by Crowder

Lord, for those struggling to hang in there, to keep their faith, to keep on living ... surround them with Your heavenly angels to protect them from evil.  Comfort them and guard them while they are weak and vulnerable.  Open their eyes to the depth of Your love for them and show them how much You care for them and are watching out for them.  

 Help them realize that they don't always have to try so hard, that sometimes the best thing they can do is to just fall exhausted into Your arms and to let You hold them.  

 Lord, help them to release their concerns into Your capable hands.  Help them to trust You to pick up the pieces they drop, to mend the broken things they can't fix, to forgive them for the things they can't forgive themselves for, to help them forgive others when they can't do it themselves, and to handle the things they can't handle, the things they shouldn't be worried about anyway.  Help them learn to trust You and to rest in Your arms.    

 Help them understand which steps You want them to take and which ones You don't, which jobs are theirs and which are Yours, so that they don't waste energy focusing on things they shouldn't be concerned about.  

 Give them the strength to hang in there, to wait on You, to be concerned only with what You are asking them to do, and to give You everything else.  Give them the peace that comes from trusting You and knowing that You will handle what we cannot.  Give them the joy that comes with knowing that You are for us and that You are always watching over us and that You will work all things together for good for those who love You.  

 Thank You for Your goodness and faithfulness to us, Lord.  Please help those who are hurting to feel Your presence strongly.  Encourage them.  Guide them.  Cover them in Your grace and mercy and power while they rest in Your arms.  Hold them while they fall apart for a little while, until they have the strength to stand up again.  Thank You for hearing our prayers and for being a God who cares for us and who loves us immensely.  Thank You for promising to come back again and to make all things right in the end.  Amen
For more encouragement:

 Falling Apart at the Feet of God

 Getting Through the "Broken" Times

 My "When Anxiety Strikes" Playlist

 Help for Anxiety, Depression, and Suicidal Thoughts

 Genuine Faith is Messy!

 Broken

 Praying Scripture:  For the Brokenhearted and Exhausted

 Praying Scripture: For Peace When Afraid

 Praying Scripture: When You Feel Like You're Failing

 Praying Scripture: When Anxiety Strikes

 Praying Scripture: Resting in the Lord

Most Popular Posts of the Week:

Alana L. on how to recognize (and defeat) Calvinism (series intro)

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Introduction Here's a great new video from Alana L.:   5 Signs Your Loved One is Becoming a Calvinist    I've been wanting someone to make a video like this for awhile now - to help people recognize Calvinism when they hear it, to help them realize it's a big deal that they should take seriously and research, and to help them know why it's wrong and how it spreads. Those who've studied against Calvinism know how very tricksy it is.  But those who  don't know anything about it, or how to recognize it, or how it takes over, or how it sounds like it's teaching one thing when it's  really  teaching something totally different, or how it twists or misinterprets Scripture... well, they  are sitting ducks, fish in a barrel, who become easy targets for a Calvinist pastor (especially a stealth Calvinist pastor) who slowly and strategically indoctrinates them into this twisted theology, before they ever see it coming.   [Note: I am not judging the hearts of Calvin
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List of Calvinist Preachers, Authors, Theologians, Websites, etc.

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I  found a lot more names to add to my list of known Calvinists (found in my various  "How to Tell if a Church, Pastor, or Website is Calvinist"  posts).  But instead of adding this huge list to all those posts, I am going to put it here, and I'll just provide a link on those posts to this one.  [FYI: I added a note at the bottom of this post on May 5, 2021.] So here it is, a "master list" of known Calvinists to help you be careful and discerning about who you listen to and where you get your theology from.  There are plenty more Calvinists out there, but these are just the names that I ran across the most.   These are either definite, self-professed Calvinists or "most likely Calvinist," in my estimation.  (I haven't heard of most of them, but it's good to know their theology before I do.)   After finding these names in various places online, I looked up each person to see if they are Calvinist.  If they did not self-identify as a Calvinist, I
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Sermons by Tony Evans (repost)

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(I recently fixed the broken links as well as I could, had to switch some out for others) Tony Evans is my all-time favorite pastor.  He always gives messages that convict, challenge, and comfort.  Here are some sermons that I have listened to or am going to listen to.  For more, simply go to his website by clicking here .  There are so many great ones to choose from. You can't go wrong with any video of his.  I found him to be the most biblically-accurate preacher (especially as I researched Calvinism and found out how wrong it is), who is also great at helping us practically apply God's truths to life. Reversing Anxiety Consequences Keeping the faith when life gets hard Trusting God in a storm How to have strength in your struggles How to overcome your worry How to Get Your Prayers Answered Trusting The God You Believe In God knows what He is doing How the enemy tries to distract you from God's plan Grab your sword The Secret to Powerful Prayer Spiritual Warfare playl
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Be Wary Of The Christian Post

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(Written 6/15/18)  Occasionally, I check in with the Christian Post to see what's going on in the world that specifically relates to Christians.  And generally, I've never really had any red flags go up about this website ... until now. A recent article by Stoyan Zaimov, with a title that starts "Christian Lesbian rock star ..." goes on to share this woman's story about being assaulted by a male priest when she was young.   However, I don't think the reason for this article is to talk about the abuse she suffered and her courage in speaking up.  I think this is a deliberate attempt to affirm Christian homosexuality.  The very fact that they put "Christian" and "lesbian" in the title makes it sound like it's indeed possible to be a Christian and a practicing homosexual who sees no need to change. And it seems to me that this article paints her in a heroic light, as though she is in the right and should be applauded and e
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Feminism Nonsense (repost)

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(Oh, how we love nonsense in our country!) We women are fighting so hard to be like men, to downplay femininity, to be perceived as more masculine, to overtake any "men's realm" we find.   Because it’s “cool” and “progressive” and “strong.” But do we not realize that we are not “leveling the playing field” so much as we are destroying ourselves , the things that make women special? Women can be strong, too.   And they don’t have to be like men to do it.   Trust me, I know.  I've had four children, one by c-section and three by natural, drug-free homebirth (with over 15 hours of labor for each one).  And then I work in the home every day, all day long.  No pay.  No vacation time.  No weekends off.  No bonuses.  No overtime pay. But I do it because my family and I value my position, my role.  Even if the world doesn't. W e women can be strong and capable and accomplished in our own ways. We can be strong in our feminine grace.   We can be confi
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An Open Letter to Christian Churches Doing Yoga

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We haven't set foot in a church for a Sunday service since we left ours in 2019.  We were just so burned out on churches after dealing with the Calvinism that took over ours (and discouraged about how much it's spreading to many churches) that we simply stayed home and watched Tony Evans' sermons online (and we met with another family for Bible study for over a year, until they found a church to attend).   But recently, we decided to check out a church, just to see.  And it was good.  Not perfect, but good.  We're not necessarily looking to make a church home out of it, but we just need a little something right now.  And this was good enough.  But on the way out, I saw a flyer for upcoming events at their church, and one thing they offered was a "Christian Yoga" class.  That, to me, is a huge no-no, something Christians should not engage in.  But they do.  All over the place.  With no sense of it being wrong.   In fact, at our last church, one of the female
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"But Calvinists don't say God causes sin and evil!"

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  If you point out to Calvinists that Calvinism's view of sovereignty - that God fore-ordains and orchestrates everything that happens and we had no ability to do anything differently - makes God the cause (and truly the   only  voluntary cause) of all sin and evil, they'll probably respond with something like "That's not what we're saying.  You're putting words in our mouths.  And you don't understand Calvinism."   When they do that, show them a few of these quotes -  Ca lvinists' own words  about their beliefs of God's sovereignty and how He preplans, will, ordains, orchestrates, directs (code words for "causes")  everything  that happens.  And then ask them if they still think you're really misunderstanding them.  (Bold emphasis added) 1. R.C. Sproul Jr.  ( Almighty Over All) :   “God  wills  all things that come to pass" 2. Ligonier Ministries  ( "How is God's sovereignty compatible with man's responsibility?
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"But predestination!" (16B: sin, evil, suffering)

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In this series, I'm examining some things that Calvinists (especially my ex-pastor) say about predestination.   Here's the whole series on my other blog:  the pastor's sermons  ("When Calvinists say 'But predestination!'"), and my comments  1-4 (election)  and  5-6 (Romans and sovereignty)  and  7-9 (depravity, Book of Life, predestine)  and  10-11 (shaming tactics, Feb. 2015)  and  12-14 (dead, regeneration, born again)  and  15 (total depravity, manipulation)   and  16A (God's Will, babies)  and  16B (sin, evil, suffering)  and  17 (double-speak and the gospel) . Sixteen B (I broke #16 up into two halves, so picking up where we left off in the last post...) And now, moving on from the bulk of my comments to the bulk of the Calvinist quotes, showing you Calvinism in its full glory.  (And you thought you were almost done, that you already read the bulk of the Calvinist quotes.  Oh, no, we're just getting started.) Buckle your seatbelts, ladies and
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"The Last Goodbye" - A song for us Hobbits

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(a post from my other blog , from March 28, 2022) There's a song at the end of  The Battle of the Five Armies  (from the Hobbit trilogy) that's become one of my favorite songs.  I feel this song, especially the line about "Many places I have been, many sorrows I have seen..."  That's kinda been my last several years: many sorrows I have seen.   Many trials.  Many heartbreaks.  (Everyone who lives long enough will have many of these.) Most recently, I had the awful experience of being on the witness stand for three hours, giving testimony against my mom.  And after nearly a week of trial, she was found guilty of ... well, of something really bad.  (She insists she didn't do it, but we think otherwise.  It's not exactly like the prosecution says, but close enough.)  And now she will spend her life in prison.   Many sorrows I have seen. I don't know if I'll ever see her again.  The last memory I have of her could very well be her sitting in the courtr
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