Crush Your Worries

One of our ladies bible studies we had...

Crush Your Worries 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroye The word “CRUSHED” means:

past tense: crushed; past participle:

1.deform, pulverize, or force inwards by compressing forcefully.

"you can crush a pill between two spoons"

synonyms:   squash, squeeze, press, compress; pulp, mash, macerate, mangle; flatten, trample on, tread on; informalsmush, smoosh

"essential oils are released when the herbs are crushed"

pulverize, pound, grind, break up, smash, crumble; mill;

Joshua 1:9  Have not I commaned thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest.

Romans 15:13   Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost

Philippians 4:13    I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Psalm 98:1  O SING unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.

2 Timothy 1:7  For God hath not give us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Psalm 34:4  I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered  me from all my fears.

Psalm 55:22     Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer righteousness to be moved

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Luke 12:7         But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value of many sparrows.

Psalm 37:1-4    Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee desires of thine heart.

Isaiah 41:10    Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Matthew 11:28-30    Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest in your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Deuteronomy 31:6     Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Matthew 6:34      Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take though for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is evil thereof.

Crushed-Devotional By Julia Bettencourt

I hear from hurting women all the time. Some of these ladies are not just hurting but crushed. Our church ladies groups probably all have at least one crushed woman in them and some may have several.

Circumstances have beaten these women down. Many women have heavy loads they have to bear and a rough life can take a toll on anyone no matter how tough they are.

Our churches have all kinds of programs for these women; classes for the abused, programs for those needing assistance, and all kinds of things. I think that is all well and good, but I think we forget where some of the biggest help is to getting out from under a heavy load. That is the help found in God's Word and allowing the Lord to help lift our burdens.

We need to teach women to memorize God's Word, to respect it, to hang on to it. Scripture can ease the pain that life has stacked on top of us.

I know when life gets me down I always have God's Word ready and handy to pull out of my memory. What is sad is that all Christian women can't say that. Sure, I learned a lot of that Scripture when I was a kid but I have to keep learning even though I am over fifty. Yes, it is harder when we are older. Our brains are not as quick with putting things to memory. But it is not just memory, we can retain so much just by studying and getting into the Word of God and reading it.

We are supposed to study God's Word (2 Timothy 2:15), hide it in our hearts (Psalms 119:11), write it on our walls (Deuteronomy 6:7-9), and desire it (1 Peter 2:2). Our women's ministries should be a place where we are encouraging women to hold on to Scripture. Life can be hard at times for many of us but think how hard it is for Christian women who do not know God's Word. We have to teach them to hang on to Scripture.

I have found that it is not even a matter of how long a woman has known the Lord. I see more and more that even women that have been Christians for years have really not gotten the basic Scriptures and doctrines under their belt.

We can blame it on our churches. We can blame it on our pastors. We can blame it on our women's ministries. It doesn't really matter why. It just needs to change. We need to teach women to learn the Bible. To hone in on studying, memorizing, and having a desire for the Word of God. Then when life comes knocking hard and crushing them, they have Scripture to cling to.

Conclusion:

Sure, we are all going to have times when we feel crushed and have some heavy burdens to bear. Each of us on different scales, but no matter what the degree of our burden whether it is on the epic proportion that Job faced or the little worries that weigh on us, we should be able to ease that crushed feeling when we get into the Word of God and soak it in for awhile. The Lord will be there for us to lift us up and carry us through.

"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed;

we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed." 2 Corinthains 4:8,9

www.juliabettencourt.com

I believe when we are worried we are choosing to focus and allow our feelings to affect our minds and we become consumed in our feelings of worry. It can lead to feeling hopeless and in despair. When we allow worry to set in, we can not have have faith at the same time. Yes, it is hard not to worry about issues in life, but we must cling to and hand over our worries to the Lord and trust in Him and His timing. He truly is big enough to take care of each and every single worry that you have…even the

smallest ones that even sound stupid! He loved you and He has told us to cast all our cares upon us, because He cares for us! He loves us so much and doesn’t want us to worry; He wants us to say, “Lord, by faith, not my feelings, I’m choosing to trust you! I’m gonna fix my eyes on you!” He loves us so much…He loves us more than we love our own children!!? Can you imagine that! We would do anything for our children!!! ANYTHING! Just as our God, Abba Father, will do anything for us!!! We may not know, understand or see what He is doing, but He does and is hearing our cries and prayers!!!

The devil wants you to worry and doubt God! Just keep in mind…Jesus has already crushed the Devil’s head!!!

Tell me whose report will you believe?

I shall believe the report of the Lord! 

I am free, healed, overcome and victorious!