Did you know that fear is a spirit? Fear tries to infiltrate from the outside and does not begin inside anyone including at-risk women, and the Bible says, “Stay alert, Watch out for your great enemy, the devil, he prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 NLT). Fear is from the enemy. According to Faith Gateway, “Fear leads to shame. Shame causes us to doubt. We begin to doubt God’s love and we begin to doubt God’s grace. Ultimately, we begin to doubt the ability of the gospel to work in our lives” (https://www.faithgateway.com/gospel-identity-overcoming-fear-shame/#X6DFCySnIU) . We forgot out identity is in our Heavenly Father. “For God will never give you the spirit of fear, but the Holy Spirit who gives you mighty power, love, and self-control” (2 Tim. 1:7 TPT). We will be teaching at-risk women how to receive God’s ability, attachment, and discipline. WE will share it through the curriculum that we are assembling through counselors/teachers who are women of God.
Faith is the opposite of fear. We all have had to deal with fear every day, especially in 2020. As stated in by Compellingtruth.org, “. . . fear cannot exist in the same space as faith.” Faith is the evidence of things not seen (Heb 11:1). Think about all the at-risk women who are alcoholics and drug addicts who have not been able to go to their meetings this year, due to Covid. Kristine has been sober for almost seventeen years. When she first stopped drinking, she likely would not have made it if she could not see her sponsor face to face. Kristine didn’t believe that God really cared, but she could see through the eyes of her beautiful, attentive sponsor that she trusted in a loving God. The at-risk women will need sponsors, mentors/life coaches and counselors/teachers to help them believe that God loves them and sees them for who they truly are for in Him. We will be cultivating a culture for at-risk women in how to receive God’s capability for them, bonding, and preparation and share it through the curriculum that we are assembling through counselors/teachers who are women of God.
As stated in Dictionary.com, confidence means “full trust; belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing. . . belief in oneself and one’s powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance; assurance. . .” How much assurance can an at-risk woman have that she will be okay when her life has been continually turned upside down because of the choices that others have made for her and her own choices? We can turn that around by loving the women and helping them gain confidence in who their Heavenly Father is and how much He loves them. Teachers, counselors, mentors, and coaches can teach these women how to dress, job interview, be on time, budget, cook, set boundaries, stay sober, be good family members, be responsible members of society, become a vital part of the ecclesia, and etc.
Thankfulness or gratitude is a wonderful habit to cultivate, and praise is a great way to defeat the enemy. Satan doesn’t want at-risk women to succeed, and he is like a lion prowling around seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). Dictionary.com states that the word risk is, “exposure to the chance of injury or loss . . .” At-risk women have been unprotected from the schemes and the lies of the enemy. Being grateful is a truth that our teacher, counselors, mentors, and coaches can teach these women to counteract the lies that they have believed for years. “A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit” (Prov. 15:13 NLT). Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life” (Prov. 13:12 NLT). Won’t you help us to be part of that “tree of life” for these women?
