You're a Good Mom

Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up. ~ Proverbs 12:25 NLT

For over a year now, I’ve been attending Wednesday Morning Prayer at one of our church campuses. One morning, several months ago, a man I didn’t really know walked up and said, “While I was praying, God spoke to me and said to tell you ‘you’re a good mom.’ When I heard that I said, ‘Oh Lord,’ but He said to tell you. You’re a good mom.” Those words really rocked me at my core. Honestly, I haven’t really felt like a “good mom.” I always felt like I was trying to play “catch-up” with all those “other good moms.” I felt like I was on the bottom of the bell-curve. Somehow, the hurtful words of people and the lies of the enemy were easier to believe…

But my Daddy, He says I find my truth, my strength, and my identity in Him. If I believe that He is a good and perfect Father, then I must also believe that what He says about me is true.

Maybe you’ve been like me and you’ve believed the lie that you’re not good enough. Just as a man at a prayer meeting told me, you need to know: You’re a good mom. I can say that because we are made in our Father’s likeness and image and He promises, “I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you,” (Isaiah 46:4 NLT). Though we’re often given more than we can handle in our humanness, God doesn’t give us more than His strength in us can carry…because He’s carrying us.

If someone you know—or even you—has been struggling to believe the truth, remind them that their identity is found not in a lie or some hurtful words, but in their good and perfect Daddy who is madly in love with them.

©Heather Potts 2016

Nevertheless

“Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security.” ~ Jeremiah 33:6 NIV

Yesterday, I was talking with a friend about the battles and struggles in our lives, the attacks that keep relentlessly and vengefully coming against us. She said in her life, when the attacks are hardest, she keeps coming back to, “But God.” But God who is rich in mercy. But God who gives the increase. But God. I said for me it’s, “Nevertheless.” Nevertheless, He will bring health and healing to it. Nevertheless.

You’re battling illnesses and the doctors report no hope; nevertheless, God will bring health and healing to it. You’re at odds with your kids and/or spouse and you feel defeated; nevertheless, God will bring health and healing to it. You’re facing insurmountable odds in your finances and debt; nevertheless, God will bring health and healing to it.

No matter what you’re facing, no matter how it looks, humble yourself, come before your Father and hear Him say, “Nevertheless.”

©Heather Potts 2016

Thinner

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened ~ Ephesians 1:17-18 NIV

What’s the difference between obsessed and passionate? Recently, we’ve been battling a lot of spiritual warfare—somethings better disguised though battled before and others new to us. The difference between obsessed and passionate is the driving force behind it.

“Thinner” is what I need to make my waffle batter in order to make cones instead of just waffles. Because the answer came to me in a pre-6am moment, I had to check myself: was Holy Spirit helping me or was it something else? A few weeks ago, I became obsessed—and I mean literally—with our budget. The numbers, details, and nuances consumed my thoughts all afternoon, overnight, and into the next morning. But Holy Spirit finally opened my eyes to see that a spirit of fear and anxiety was driving a need for control, resulting in obsession. I rebuked both the fear and anxiety and reminded them and myself that God had already given me His Spirits of Power, Love, and a Sound and Disciplined Mind. Finally, the anxiety was replaced with peace.

If something has been consuming your thoughts, check the driving force behind it. Has God opened your eyes to something that He wants you to know better and uncover the truth behind? Or is the enemy trying to put his spirits upon you, keeping you spinning in circles? Ask God for a Spirit of wisdom and revelation and to open the eyes of your heart and the answer will be revealed.

©Heather Potts 2016