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Mind Games, Part 2: I Feel Abandoned

"I don't want to live. I feel abandoned. I lack faith. I don't need God." If you've ever found yourself thinking these thoughts, you've probably found yourself in the midst of a mind game.

\xa0\u201c\u2026..we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.\u201d 2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV

\xa0\u201cWe are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world.\u201d Ephesians 6:12 CEV

Fear: What does it do?

1.\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Consumes your mind.

\xa0\u201cHow long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?\u201d Psalm 13:2 NIV

2.\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Clouds your judgment.

\xa0\u201cThen seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, "This man was with him." But he denied it. "Woman, I don't know him," he said. A little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." "Man, I am not!" Peter replied. \xa0About an hour later another asserted, "Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean." Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times." And he went outside and wept bitterly.\u201d Luke 22:54-62 NIV

3.\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Controls your life.

\xa0\u201cWe have heard reports about them, and our hands hang limp.\xa0 Anguish has gripped us, pain like that of a woman in labor.\u201d Jeremiah 6:24 NIV

\xa0\u201cWhen the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."\xa0 Judges 6:12-13 NIV

1.\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Draw near to God

\u201cThe central promise in the Bible is not \u201cI will forgive you\u201d.\xa0 The most frequent promise is \u201cI will be with you.\u201d \u2013John Ortberg

\u201cThen come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone." Genesis 35:3 NIV

\u201c...Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9 NIV

\xa0"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" \u2014which means, "God with us." Matthew 1:23 NIV

\xa0\u201cDraw near to God and He will draw near to you.\u201d James 4:8 NIV

2.\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Listen to His voice.

\u201cI\u2019m not so different from you, we all hear voices.\xa0 We just have to decide which ones we are going to listen to.\u201d

\xa0Do you know His voice?

\xa0\u201cMy sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.\u201d John 10:27 NIV

3.\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Do life together.

\xa0\u201cCarry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.\u201d \xa0Galatians 6:2 NIV

\xa0\u201cWe loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.\u201d 1 Thessalonians 2:8 NIV

"The LORD bless you and keep you;\xa0 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;\xa0 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." \xa0Numbers 6:24 NIV

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