Finally!

Whew! Sorry it's been so long since I've been on here. I moved out of my mom's house a few weeks ago and into my first apartment! Yay! But getting settled in took alot longer than I thought it would! I have a confession to make. I haven't even opened Captivating since the move :( I've been so busy trying to get eveything all settled and I'm just now starting to get to used to my new life. I don't currently have internet at my place so I have to start doing this from school for the time being. I understand that the last blog that I left you with seemed a little depressing and my plan was to come in the next week and save the day with an awesome blog that was gonna make you feel so much better. Lousy timing huh? Well since I haven't had the time to study like I should've I've decided to share with you some other things that God has been working in my life about lately. If you've never done a Beth Moore study I greatly encourage it. I've done one and am currently doing another one at my church with some ladies. Kind of a small group sort of thing. The one I'm doing right now is called So Long Insecurity and boy is it a doozy!
You see, I am consider myself a pretty insecure person. I do not alot of people who are much worse than I am but for years I have watched as my insecurities about certain things have kept me from doing things that I knew I should do and frankly, I'm sick of it! There have been so many times when I felt like I should say something encouraging to someone or tell someone about the gospel but somewhere deep inside me there was a voice telling me "Don't do it! You'll look like an idiot. No one cares about what you have to say." So at that moment I listen to that voice and I keep my mouth shut. But then later I end up feeling so guilty about it because I knew that it was God telling me to say something but somehow the other voice seemed louder. But was that voice really louder? Or was I just not listening to God's voice as well?
For years I have justified my insecurities and I've done it to the point that they have become a huge part of my life and I don't know how I will ever part with them no matter how badly I want to. I went for years without using my voice for the Lord and really convinced myself that I what I was doing was okay. Until finally about two years ago I faced that insecurity and started singing in church. The relief was unbelievable but until recently I still lived with the shame of how long I had gone going completely against what I knew God was telling me to do. So, when my pastor's wife started this insecurity class I decided that I was going to join and that God was going to take away all of my insecurities. But it wasn't that easy.
I start going to the class and completely enjoyed it. However, the more I learned about insecurity and how it is a sin the more discouraged I became about my own insecurity. I felt like my insecurity had gotten to the point that if I ever did come out of it the process would take the rest of my life. Well in the book there is this prayer. We were given copies of it and told to take it home and apply it to our lives. There were parts where we were supposed to fill in blanks and really make it personal. I read over it and thought "well I'll give it a shot but I'm not sure how much it will help." This past Thursday night I sat down and read over this prayer. Before I read it I prayed and asked God that He would work a miracle in my life and that somehow this prayer would do something even if it was only the beginning of something bigger. The results completely took me by surprise! As I read that prayer God revealed so many things about myself to me. I saw myself in this prayer and realized that it was exactly what I needed to say to God. Do you realize how proud insecurity is? You see insecurity means that you don't think you have it in you to do something such as look a certain way, talk a certain way, or do something. Do you realize that you are nothing without God? There is nothing that you can do without Him! Even the things in your life that you aren't insecure about have nothing to do with you. It's ALL ABOUT HIM! If you feel that God is telling you to do something then He will give you what you need to do it. And by the way, that includes taking away your fears! 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." How amazing is that?!?! Listen to the voice of God as hard as you can! Quit listening to the devil tell you that you can't do it. He is out for your soul! He will destroy you if you give him the chance but God has already defeated him for you! Claim that victory! Let the devil know that he will not win this battle inside you because Christ is in you and He is stronger than the devil. We, especially us women, need to quit allowing the devil to tell us that we are less than we are. My friend, you are an amazing work of art hand crafted by the Master Artist. He has created you exactly as He wants you to be and that includes your looks, your personality, and EVERYTHING about you. If that doesn't get you excited I don't know what will!
I'm not trying to say that on Thursday night all my insecurities fled because they sure didn't. But I know now that there is hope. I know that God has forgiven me for all the times insecurity has robbed me of His blessing on me. It might takes years but I know that with God on my side fighting my battles against the devil for me that I can beat my insecurities and so can you! We all have insecurities about something. This week when you feel them creeping up on you call the devil out on them. Do it verbally! Say out loud that he will not win and that Christ is stronger! I promise you will see results. The devil cannot stay where he is not wanted. Claim God's promises for your life this week and see what happens. I'd love to hear about it. Send me a message on facebook and let me know! Hopefully I'll be ready to continue our journey through Captivating next week. Until then,
Cass