The Lord Will Fight For You.

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints …” (Ephesians 6:13-18)

“The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” (Exodus 14:14)

“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, ‘Destroy!’ ” (Deuteronomy 33:27)

“But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.” (2 Thessalonians 3:

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)

“When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.” (Isaiah 59:19)

“Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.” (Psalm 20:6)

“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and You right hand will save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerns me …” (Psalm 138:7)

“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.” (Psalm 34:17)

“For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.” (Isaiah 52:12)

Do not say, “I will recompense evil;” Wait for the Lord, and He will save you.” (Proverbs 20:22)

“Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth; yet they have not prevailed against me … The Lord is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.” (Psalm 129:2)

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.” (Psalm 18:2)

“But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him.” (Psalm 37:39)

Gods Promises For Families

God's promises are something He always keeps. 

Psalm 89:34, TLB. "No, I will not break my covenant; I will not take back one word of what I said."

The promises of God are yes and amen. 2 Corinthians 1:20 NJKV. "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us."

Proverbs 14:26 In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge.

There is no want to them that fear him. They that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing” (Psalms 34:9, 10).

Isaiah 49:25, NKJV. "For I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children."

Psalms 127:3-5, NKJV. "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate.”

Corinthians 7:3, NKJV. "Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.

Ephesians 5:25-33, NKJV. "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body,[d] of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband."

Isaiah 26:3, NKJV. "You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."

Philippians 4:6, KJV. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

119:165, NKJV. "Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble."

Revelation 21:4, NKJV. "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Zilis

www.Zilis.com/Stephanie

Suicide

I wrote this just now to encourage a friend. This friend, and si many like her, encourage me each day to keep pressing on. If you're reading this, I hope that you, too, may find even a tiny glimmer of hope to press on. ~Stephanie
I used to think a lot about running.
Like, if I went far away, then no one would know what happened and then I'd be able to do it...
I just could never figure out a way to do it without hurting people I cared for.
Then, the tables flipped, and all I could think about was how to do it and make it so my mother would hurt in the worst way possible, for the rest of her life.
My final solution was to hang myself from the tall tree in her front yard. I just couldn't figure out how to do that and stab her in the face at the same time!
I've lived with the spirit of suicide since childhood, as long as I can remember. It has been a living. Hell. An ongoing nightmare from which I could ever wake up.
All I could think about was the in-deniability of the constant, never ending pain and heartache that kept cycling over. And over. And over. Always. It has been torture. Since birth I imagine.
I'm not the one who chose to keep going...
God chose that for me.
He showed me in my spirit that he would not allow me to die until his assigned time.
In this revelation, I realized I didn't want to have to live with the stigma and embarrassment of a failed suicide attempt. I didn't want to have to share a testimony of that kind of survival with my children and grandchildren. Through this, God showed me that deep inside the God shaped hole inside my heart and soul, I desire to live. Not survive... but truly live.
Some days, I open my eyes and think oh my God. Another. Fucking. Day. I'm still. Fucking. Breathing.
A deep sigh, each of those heartbreaking days, and I breathe out, okay God. If you want me to live, you're gonna have to make me. Because I don't have the strength, stamina, or interest in doing it on my own. And it is only by his grace, and through HIS power, that I am capable of living, every. Single. Day. One moment at a time... accepting hardship as a pathway to peace.
I should be dead. The very breath in my lungs, every single day, is absolutely and unquestionably Gods merciful miracle. Because No. I don't want to live another breath without holding my precious 3 children in my arms. Without being able to tell them I love them. Without the ability to watch them breathe... sleep... wake.... and grow.
I don't want to feel another second of this staggering pain in my chest when I inhale the bitter taste of betrayal brought to me by my own blood. People I trusted to love and protect me, no matter what!
Still, I breathe. I awake. Occasionally, I'm blessed with sleep. Regardless of my inner desire to stop feeling this excruciating pain, The Holy Spirit comes in like a flood, and gives me peace, and some kind of crazy, terrifying hope of a tomorrow that isn't wrought with torture and grief.
With this spirit driven peace, is joy. I constantly battle the fear of being disappointed with Gods answers and my reality each day. The what ifs cycle through my mind at a terrifying pace, nonstop. I must consciously, and intentionally rehearse scripture in my head, the truth of what I know to be real, regardless of the fact that every ounce of my flesh cries out in a horror film of emotions.
My prayer is, Lord, If you're gonna make me live through this, USE IT. Use it for your glory Lord! Don't let a single tear drop fall in vain, to be wasted without absolute, God given purpose. I live out loud not just to survive, but to thrive. I share the hells of my life experiences with others so that they too, may know they aren't alone. That the pain is not in vain. That God has a plan and purpose for each of their lives, just like he does mine! There's nothing special about me. Nothing at all that's good IN me. I am a sinner in need of my savior, and uncountable distance from perfection.
I find purpose through encouraging others to find their hope and freedom in Christ... Sometimes God allows me to see a smile, or sigh of relief, or even a glint of hope in someone he's touching through me, it it fuels my next breath. My next day. My next week. Month. Year. He truly is all we need, and I can attes to this truth because I have literally lost every. Single. Piece of everything I love, at one time or another.
Except Jesus.
His promise never to leave me (or you!) is truth.
His oath of being our anchor and hope is truth.
That I have been given the mind of Christ... is truth. That he will give us strength to stand. That's truth too.
It's a battle to choose His unfailing truth over my faulty and fickle thoughts and emotions. But by his mercy and grace, he walks with me and shows me that it's possible, every single step of the way. Hope. Just a tiny bit. Faith... terrifying as it may be to know that each time I rely on his promises, things may not turn out the way I hope, is worth it. It grows. It's like tiny little seeds each time we take a step along His pathway to peace.... tiny steps, no matter... we must continue to move forward, trusting that he will make all things right if we surrender to his will! Serenity. It's possible. It really is. I love you precious one. Gods not finished with you yet. One. Step. At. A. Time.

We walk this valley together. We will walk the mountaintops together too. We will share our faith with each other when the other is running low! Together, we can do this thing called life. Not only to survive, but to thrive. Choose life.