Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
More peace
17 Plays1 year ago
Are negative thoughts and over thinking taking over? Are you focusing on all that is going wrong instead of God's faithfulness? So many of us struggle with this. And then we are filled with shame and guilt for things we said or did. God is the one who can fill us with peace. He teaches us in Numbers and Deuteronomy that we can have boundaries. We can focus on the land of milk and honey in front of us, instead of all that can go wrong. Reuben and Gad are worried about what is going to happen when they enter this land, and Moses tells them your concerns are affecting those around you. Like it says in Ephesians 4:29, we need to be so mindful of what we say. Our heart, our thoughts, our actions don't only affect us. They affect the people around us. There is a better way! When we trust God and focus on His faithfulness we get a gift! The amazing gift of peace, no matter what we are facing.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Episode Theme
00:00:00
fillingyouupwithhope
Hi, it's Abby from Filling You Up With Hope. I am so glad that you're here. m Normally, episodes come out every Monday, and this did come out Monday, but there were some technical difficulties. So I'm redoing it, and it's out Wednesday morning. But most weeks, it's Monday morning. But this was just um such an important podcast that I feel like can really help people, and including myself,
00:00:31
fillingyouupwithhope
It's about living with peace and having boundaries with our thoughts. Cause so many times we just let, let the thoughts go and they can just take over our lives. And we can, before we know it, we could have been spending so much of our day, like replaying thoughts, having these, um, having thinking about these things that are not helping us. They are not serving us. They're actually.
00:01:01
fillingyouupwithhope
taking us further away from God. And that's what overthinking does.
Personal Experiences with Overthinking
00:01:06
fillingyouupwithhope
That's what um having negative thoughts does. So, and this week I was doing that. I was overthinking. There was a couple of things that I was really overthinking and it was just taking over. Like a I can get into, I was a political science major And I like politics, and um and then it but it can take over. And then I'm thinking about these things that are out of my control way way too much instead of thinking about God, right? And there's also things that happened with friends that I was replaying and overthinking.
00:01:58
fillingyouupwithhope
and But God gave me the wisdom for some reason to pray like God, ease my mind, ease my mind. May I not be thinking about these things so much. And I kind of poured my heart out about about those things. And I was just trusting that he could ease my mind, right? That I'm feeling obsessive.
00:02:27
fillingyouupwithhope
I'm overthinking, but I know of the power of God and I know that he can ease my mind.
Biblical Insights on Boundaries and Negativity
00:02:34
fillingyouupwithhope
And that prayer really helped me and I was not as fixated after that. So, but the readings today are tied, they're all tied to boundaries and boundaries with our thoughts, with ah with our actions,
00:02:57
fillingyouupwithhope
They're so important. And this starts in Numbers 32. And in Numbers 32, Reuben and God, they have concerns about going into the Holy Land. Like, what a gift that they get to go to the Holy Land. Moses doesn't get to, right? um And they get to go to the land of milk and honey. Thank you, Jesus. What a gift.
00:03:27
fillingyouupwithhope
but they're concerned, they have a lot of livestock and they're like, well, what's going to happen to my, to my livestock. They're, they're good now, right? Things are good now. What's going to happen? And so they, they share that those concerns with Moses and so, and, and Moses's response. Okay.
00:03:56
fillingyouupwithhope
This is number 32, verse seven. Why would you destroy the Israelites resolve to cross into the land that the Lord gave them? So this is something that god God told me about this, like to to take in, right? When we complain, and like I say in this podcast,
00:04:26
fillingyouupwithhope
I've been so guilty about this, and it's something I'm i'm working on. When we complain, right when we are being negative, it doesn't only affect us, it affects the people around us.
Impact of Negativity on Community
00:04:47
fillingyouupwithhope
Them complaining or them voicing their concerns to Moses,
00:04:55
fillingyouupwithhope
um that is, Moses is like, that that's going to affect how the israel how everybody else feels about entering the Holy Land. Before you know it, they're all going to be like, well, I have all of this bread here. Like, am I going to have all of that when I enter the Holy Land? um Or I have, um I feel safe here.
00:05:24
fillingyouupwithhope
Am I going to feel that way when I enter? Like, instead of in encouraging them that, um, which is what I think Caleb and Joshua did, right? With the spies and the spies can came back from the Holy Land and were like, there's people there. It's going to be tough. And, but no, Caleb and Joshua encouraged the Israelites that, you know, we have God, like.
00:05:53
fillingyouupwithhope
we can we can do this, but rather than like the ribbon and gat are kind of spreading seeds of negativity. And what I take from that is our seeds of negativity in our brain, in what we say, in what we do, that it and affect it doesn't only affect us.
00:06:23
fillingyouupwithhope
You're affecting your children when you do that. You are affecting your church.
Prayer and Venting to God
00:06:29
fillingyouupwithhope
You are affecting your family, your friends when you complain. when we're and And we say, no, we need we need to vent. right And I'm a therapist. People vent to me for my job. And I don't think that it's true that we need to vent. I think that God gave us all these thoughts. And David shows us in the book of Psalms that all of those all of those thoughts, those things that we need to vent about, the reason why we have the desired event is we need to be venting to God. We need to be pouring those things out to God.
00:07:22
fillingyouupwithhope
I think Jesus shows us too. like Our thoughts are not always like, oh, bless this person, bless that person. No, we need to be deep in our prayers. like God, I am struggling with these thoughts. I am struggling. What do you want me to do? Ease my mind. eat like Show me how I can be your love and light. And maybe he's going to guide you and tell you like maybe there's someone that you do need.
Scriptural Boundaries and Focus on God
00:07:52
fillingyouupwithhope
to talk about with this, because that person can encourage you like Caleb and joshu and Joshua did earlier on in the chapter. Right? um But if we're just complaining and complaining, we need to know that it's not that this affects people, and this affects our resolve, and it affects a lot of things.
00:08:19
fillingyouupwithhope
so So and we can have boundaries with that. And that's why the rest of the chapter, not the, that's why a lot of this chapter talks about boundaries. It talks about case laws, it talks about the the literal boundaries of the lands, right? The boundaries of the land of Canaan. um And so it goes through that, right? There's literal boundaries of land like this,
00:08:51
fillingyouupwithhope
Um, this is your land that your Southern but boundary extends from the zen desert, blah, blah, blah. Right. And, but we can have those boundaries in our mind. You know, when thoughts come in, is this something that is helpful? And it's, you know, it's not so easy to just, Oh, it's not helpful. I'm just not going to think about that. No, we need to deeply pray about it.
00:09:19
fillingyouupwithhope
and and watch what happens, right? But we do need to have boundaries with our thoughts because like we talk about, not all thoughts are true. Collagion's three is so amazing and it talks about thinking about what's above. And if we are complaining and thinking about our livestock, like Ruben and God,
00:09:49
fillingyouupwithhope
And, and Gad, sorry, if we're doing that, are we thinking about God and what's above and that we have eternity with him and that he told me that this is the land of milk and honey, so it's going to be okay.
God's Faithfulness and Promises
00:10:05
fillingyouupwithhope
So, and we, and we can question our thoughts and do that with them. Right. So, so we skipped down and we're going into Deuteronomy.
00:10:18
fillingyouupwithhope
We're going into our next book, and Deuteronomy 1.8.
00:10:27
fillingyouupwithhope
So this is, first of all, Deuteronomy starts with this. These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan River. So Moses is saying these things, okay? So this is verse 8. Look, I have laid the land before you.
00:10:46
fillingyouupwithhope
go and possess that land that are promised to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as to the their descendants after them. ah So are we focusing on what's going to happen to our livestock, or are we focusing on the land and ahead of us? Because we all have that ahead of us when we have Jesus. um We all have that. I'm just skipping and go. I just want to read the very beginning of Colossians 3.
00:11:28
fillingyouupwithhope
um
00:11:31
fillingyouupwithhope
Got my little marker in there. Okay. um Therefore, if you were raised with Christ, look for the things that are above. if If you were raised to Christ, if you put your old self to death and you're new with Christ, look for things that are above where Christ is sitting at God's right bright side. So Moses is encouraging the Israelites instead of like ruining their resolve, right? He's encouraging them that focus on that what God has done for you. Focus on this land ahead of you.
00:12:12
fillingyouupwithhope
And now we're reminded of something so important in and Deuteronomy 1, 9 through 11. At the same time, I told you, I can't handle all of you by myself, right? And and God helped Moses and gave him gave gave him help. But the lord your god the Lord your God has multiplied your number. You are now as countless as the stars in the sky.
00:12:41
fillingyouupwithhope
May the Lord your ancestors God continue to multiply you a thousand times more and may God bless you just as he promised. So what I take from this is how faithful God is. God told Abraham I'm going to make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. He was old. He didn't have any children. And um but he had great faith. He had great faith.
00:13:10
fillingyouupwithhope
Um, so much faith that we know the story of Isaac and, and we know that story and that, and that shows his face too. But what we get from this is how we can focus our thoughts on God is because he is faithful. He told Abraham that this was happening and look, it's hundreds of years later, but it is happening. Right. It is it has happened.
00:13:39
fillingyouupwithhope
has already happened, because they're they're that numerous. When God tells us that something is going to happen, it's going to happen. It's going to happen in His time, not our time. But we see from this His faithfulness. And He even told even told Moses that, look, you're going to free your people in Exodus, or I'm going to free these people. And you're going to go to this land.
00:14:10
fillingyouupwithhope
There's this land of milk and honey, this promised land, and there's gonna be people living there. um I think we talked about this last week. That's more of God's faithfulness, because the people living there i'm scared everyone. Like, what are we gonna do? There's people there that are gonna kill us. But God knew it. God knew that those people were would be there. And he said it to Moses,
00:14:36
fillingyouupwithhope
and early on in Exodus and ah through a burning bush. And so what God says happens, like we've been talking about a lot the these past few weeks that God is faithful. So that's why we can have boundaries with our thoughts and focus on Him, because He is the faithful one.
Trusting God's Guidance
00:15:01
fillingyouupwithhope
he's the He's the faithful one. So So Moses is going through, it's kind of like he's chronic chronicling what happened to the Israelites. And that's going to continue next week. And and he kind of cried and he's he talks about the spies that we just talked about who go into, they won't they checked out the Promised Land and they saw all the people there.
00:15:34
fillingyouupwithhope
and um
00:15:39
fillingyouupwithhope
And he goes through, and this is something like, take this in. If you're feeling, if you are feeling fearful about anything, this is so something to take in. He reminds, Moses is reminding the Israelites of how he he encouraged them. Don't be terrified. And I'm sorry, this is verse Deuteronomy 129. But I said to you, don't be terrified. Don't be afraid of them. Don't be afraid of the people who are in the Promised Land. Don't be terrified. Don't be afraid of them. The Lord your God is going before you. He will fight for you just as he fought for you in Egypt well you while you watched and i and as you saw him do in the desert throughout your entire journey until you reach this very place, the Lord your God has carried you just as a parent carries a child. So even if you don't feel it,
00:16:37
fillingyouupwithhope
So many people feel like God isn't listening. I'm pouring my heart out to him. He's not listening. um That's your feelings. Right right here, like we hear that he is with us and he's carrying you as a parent, parent carries a child. That's how much he cares about you. And so Moses was trying to encourage the Israelites, but they were just struggling.
00:17:06
fillingyouupwithhope
right, and they were filled with fear about what is going to happen to us. Maybe their expectations about the land was not that there would be a bunch of people there, right? But instead of turning to God about it, this is what they do. Verse 32, but you had no faith in the Lord your God about this matter. um I think that that can be said to any person listening to this, but you had no faith in the Lord your God about this matter, about what matters in your life. Do you not have faith about right now or in the past? Did you not have faith about?
00:17:53
fillingyouupwithhope
We're putting our trust
Reflecting on God's Provisions
00:17:54
fillingyouupwithhope
in God and then, and when we're having strong faith and then trust,
00:18:05
fillingyouupwithhope
but so But you had no faith in the Lord your God about this man matter, even though he went ahead of you, scouting places where you should camp and fire by night, so you could see the road you were taking and the cloud during the day. He was doing so much for them, so much. He was guiding their path so they could see the road they were taking. Like do we,
00:18:35
fillingyouupwithhope
do we realize all God has done for us? And are our thoughts rooted in that? Are they connected to man, all of the things God has done for us? there's There's this Bible study I did once where you make a timeline of your life. Because a lot of times, like for me, i I've always, as long as I can remember, I've loved God.
00:19:02
fillingyouupwithhope
and but I didn't like give my heart to Jesus until I was 29. and But if I go through, if I make a timeline of my life, I can see all of the places that he was there, the way that he protected me, the way that he carried me, the way that he got me through all of it. And Moses is reminding the the Israelites of that, that look at all
00:19:34
fillingyouupwithhope
You didn't have faith, even though he did all of these things for you. He parted the Red Sea. He provided for you. um So I think we could all do that, make a timeline and see see all of the things he's he's done, even through really challenging times in our life. So it's...
00:20:02
fillingyouupwithhope
Focusing on like when we're facing the fears when we're overthinking and having those thoughts Like reading Deuteronomy 129 do not be terrified like God is fighting for you. Even if you don't feel it He is and one day like that verse you you might not know now, but one day you're gonna know right so um
00:20:31
fillingyouupwithhope
So taking taking that in. And then um we're just gonna go down the the last verse we're gonna read today. Well, actually there's two. But the last one in Numbers is Numbers 2.7. No doubt about it. The Lord your God has blessed you. Whoever's listening to this, no doubt about it. The Lord your God has blessed you in all that you have done He watched over your journey through the vast desert, through whatever vast desert you've been through. Throughout those 40 years, the Lord your God has been with you, you haven't needed a thing. So even though they complained, they wanted to go back to slavery, they wandered. But through all of that,
00:21:29
fillingyouupwithhope
God provided for them. He gave them manna. He gave them water. He changed the bitter water to sweet water. He protected them. He was with them through everything, even in the waiting and the wandering that we all face when, like I said, like we feel like God, where are you? um david David says that in in the book of Psalms.
00:21:58
fillingyouupwithhope
Right? Like, where are you? But then he ends it like he knows that God is there.
Forgiving Past Negativity
00:22:05
fillingyouupwithhope
So God is there and providing for you, even if, even if you're not feeling it, like taking this in and reminding yourself. And when we really remind ou ourselves of that, our thoughts are going to be different.
00:22:27
fillingyouupwithhope
and we can have more boundaries with our thoughts. Why am I thinking that I'm a victim, right? When in reality, look at all the things God has done for me. And so I have the Bible app on my phone, like many, many of us do. And one of the verses when I was preparing for this podcast was Ephesians 4.29.
00:22:55
fillingyouupwithhope
Don't let any foul words come out of your mouth. Only say what is helpful when it is needed for building up the community so that it benefits those who hear what you say. So our thoughts are very important because they affect what we say. Our heart ah affects what we say. And when when we say things like,
00:23:24
fillingyouupwithhope
Like Ruben and Gad, it, like what we're talking about, it affects others. And our words need to be building people up, helping our community instead of doing the opposite. And and listening to this, I think a lot of us can feel guilt like, man, I cannot believe that I complained in this way.
00:23:53
fillingyouupwithhope
I cannot believe I said these things, Lord. I am so, so sorry that I said these things. And i I was feeling that way this week and I really felt God telling me to forgive myself. So many times we just live with this shame and guilt.
00:24:19
fillingyouupwithhope
and we And it keeps us, for we lose our the sight of the land of milk and honey, of focusing on things above, like in Collagion's Three. We lose that
Conclusion and Prayer for Peace
00:24:32
fillingyouupwithhope
sight because all we can see is our shame and our guilt of what we have done. And any human can do that, right? Because we're all sinners, we all fall short. So I feel like we can,
00:24:46
fillingyouupwithhope
learn from what we've been through and we can do better with our heart, with our thoughts, with what we say. And we can't do it ourselves, but with God, um he can ease our mind. He can help us focus on what he wants us to focus on. And and then we can have more peace, right?
00:25:16
fillingyouupwithhope
Because if we're living and overthinking, if we're living in negativity and complaining, then we're not going to have the peace that surpasses all understanding that God wants us to have so we can be his hands and feet. So I just pray that all of this gave you some hope this week and some peace. And I'm thankful for you. And I'll talk to you next week. bye