Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. – Psalm 136:1 (NLT)

Have you ever been scrolling on your phone, looking at all the images of other people? And then as you see how great the lives of other people appear to be, you begin really feeling sorry for yourself.

You begin to see that don’t have as good of clothes as she does. Maybe you realize that you don’t have a cute of a girlfriend as he does. And you see all the ways your life doesn’t measure up to the lives of others.

One of the hardest things to do in life is to be thankful. It’s difficult to practice thankfulness when you are bombarded with ads constantly reminding us of all the things you don’t have. If you’re not careful, you can begin to let unhappiness take root in your heart because you’re so focused on what you don’t have.

Today’s Challenge: Be Thankful

One of the best ways to combat unhappiness is to be thankful. When you’re being thankful, it’s not that you’re denying that there are things you don’t have. Rather, it’s choosing to focus on the things you do have.

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It doesn’t matter how hard your life is right now, there is something you can find to thank God for. It might be something as simple as thanking God that you woke up today. Or that the sun is shining. But each day, there is something you can find to thank God for.

God is good.

God is good, He loves you and wants to be your source through everything you face. So today, challenge yourself to be thankful. Realize that simply knowing Jesus is a reason to give thanks. Yes, we face challenges in life, yes there are times when it feels like everything and everyone is against us. But if we choose to focus on thankfulness, it helps us.

So today, if you’ve become unhappy, determine to change your focus. Instead of always thinking about the things you don’t have, practice thankfulness for the things you do have. There is always something you can thank God for!

And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. – 1 Samuel 23:16 (NIV)

In yesterday’s Bible verse, we learned that David was being chased by Saul. Saul wanted to kill David and because of that, David had every right to be afraid. However, Saul’s son Jonathan helped David. Jonathan helped David focus and find strength in God.

Like David, when you’re facing a scary situation, who you listen to matters. David didn’t listen to fear, which was probably speaking loudly in his ear. David could have done that. He could have listened to the reports that told him Saul was coming to kill him. He could have listened to the voice of fear and let that cause fear to grow in his life.

Fear Speaks Loud

The truth is, when we’re faced with fear, fear speaks loudly! It seems so loud, so big, it’s hard to imagine or think about anything else.

That’s why when you’re afraid, it’s good to do what David did. When faced with a big and scary situation, David realized that what he listened to was important. Instead of feeding his fear, he listened to what his friend Jonathan said. Jonathan reminded him to find strength in God.

David defeated fear in his life by listening to God and reminding himself of what God had told him. God had told David that he would be the next king. David listened to a word from God instead of his fear.

You can do the same. Yes, you might be facing something big and scary like David. However, you can choose what you listen to. Fear might be speaking loud in your life, but you can choose to listen to faith. You can listen to what God says about your situation rather than what your fear says. When you do that, you will conquer fear every time!

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This e-book will provide you with helpful scriptures and practical tools to help you win the battle against fear in your life.

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Here’s a recap of this week’s devotions on fear

Day 1 – Fear Feels Big
Have you noticed that fear always feels bigger than what you think you can handle? In this powerful devotion, you’ll learn that even though fear feels big, you’re not facing it alone. See how God can team up with you to defeat fear in your life!

Day 2 – Fear Speaks Loud
When you’re facing fear, it speaks so loud. It’s hard to see anything else or imagine ever being free from the fears that hold you back. Learn in this devotion how to drown out fear and see God move on your behalf.

Day 3 – Fear Stops At The Word

When God speaks, it has to come to pass. That means the things that God has promised you will happen! This devotion shows you how to stop fear with the Word of God!

Day 4 – Faith Holds You Steady In Fear

Fear will try to rock your world if you let it. Choose instead to cling to faith to combat fear. Learn how faith can be the anchor to hold you steady when fear tries to capsize your life!

If you’d like to keep reading great devotions to help you in your battle with fear, check out last week’s devotions on fear.

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? – Luke 12:25 (NIV)

One weekend, I was convinced that I had lost my library books. I thought of how much trouble I’d be in for losing them. All weekend was spent looking for my lost library books.

On Monday, I went to school. When I got there and checked on the books, I learned that I had already returned them to the library. I must have returned them earlier in the week and forgot all about them.

That weekend, I realized something powerful. I found out that worry is pointless. I had lost an entire weekend to worrying about something that didn’t even happen. It’s so easy to get into the habit of worrying about things.

When we worry, we show that we don’t fully trust God to take care of us. We think that it’s up to us to do everything instead of relying on God.

Today’s Challenge: Put Your Trust In God

The sad thing about worry is that it hurts us. It causes us to not enjoy life and instead be fearful and upset. So if worry has been something that has held you back in the past, choose today to develop new habits.

Choose to put your trust in God. Look to Him to take care of you. Don’t spend your energy trying to do everything in your strength. Instead, lean on God. Let Him take care of you and rest in His peace.

If you enjoyed this week’s challenges on fear, here’s a quick recap video.

• Challenge 1 – Practice Faith in the Midst of Fear
  So today, choose to practice faith in God. Choose to believe that God can and will take care of you. Determine not to let fear rule your life. Even when fear shouts loud, choose to listen to faith.
• Challenge 2 – To defeat fear, keep your focus on God.
  When our focus becomes anything other than God, we can become fearful.
• Challenge 3 – Fix your focus on God.
  If fear has been an issue in your life, determine to focus on God. Fixing your focus on God will bring you freedom from fear.
• Challenge 4 – Put Your Trust In God
  Choose to put your trust in God. Look to Him to take care of you. Don’t spend your energy trying to do everything in your strength. Instead, lean on God.
• Challenge 5 – Remember Jesus is With You
  We’ve got Jesus with us and in us all the time. Yet too often we forget all about Him. We go through the storms of life afraid simply because we didn’t realize that Jesus was right there with us.

https://n6v.61c.myftpupload.com/product/tips-for-conquering-fear-pdf/

The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? – Psalm 118:6 (NIV)

Have you ever felt left out? I remember a time when I was the only friend that wasn’t invited to a birthday party. Situations like that can make you feel really bad. Even when people let you down, you can be encouraged that God is always on your side.

Today’s Challenge: Fix your focus on God.

God isn’t going to leave you out or forget you. Unlike friends that can be fickle, God is always on your side. That means that no matter what happens you win!

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God plus you is greater than anything you face.

So if fear has been an issue in your life, determine to focus on God. Fixing your focus on God will bring you freedom from fear.

If you enjoyed this week’s challenges on fear, here’s a quick recap video.

• Challenge 1 – Practice Faith in the Midst of Fear
  So today, choose to practice faith in God. Choose to believe that God can and will take care of you. Determine not to let fear rule your life. Even when fear shouts loud, choose to listen to faith.
• Challenge 2 – To defeat fear, keep your focus on God.
  When our focus becomes anything other than God, we can become fearful.
• Challenge 3 – Fix your focus on God.
  If fear has been an issue in your life, determine to focus on God. Fixing your focus on God will bring you freedom from fear.
• Challenge 4 – Put Your Trust In God
  Choose to put your trust in God. Look to Him to take care of you. Don’t spend your energy trying to do everything in your strength. Instead, lean on God.

If you’d like a resource to help you in your battle with fear, check out our teen devotion: 5 Devotions to Defeat Fear.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. – 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)

We all face fear at times in our lives. No one is immune to it. However, it’s important to realize that fear isn’t from God.

God gives us power, love, self-discipline. He gives good things to us, not bad things like fear.

So when you’re struggling with fear, realize that it’s not from God. Fear often comes when we get our eyes off God and onto our circumstances or feelings. When we forget to focus on God, we can often become afraid of the things going on around us.

Today’s Challenge: To defeat fear, keep your focus on God.

So if you’ve noticed that you’ve been fearful lately, take inventory of what you’ve been focused on. Perhaps you’ve become consumed with something that has shifted your focus off God. When you do that, it allows fear into your life.

When our focus becomes anything other than God, we can become fearful.

[Tweet “When our focus becomes anything other than God, we can become fearful – @studentdevos”]

If you enjoyed this week’s challenges on fear, here’s a quick recap video.

• Challenge 1 – Practice Faith in the Midst of Fear
  So today, choose to practice faith in God. Choose to believe that God can and will take care of you. Determine not to let fear rule your life. Even when fear shouts loud, choose to listen to faith.
• Challenge 2 – To defeat fear, keep your focus on God.
  When our focus becomes anything other than God, we can become fearful.
• Challenge 3 – Fix your focus on God.
  If fear has been an issue in your life, determine to focus on God. Fixing your focus on God will bring you freedom from fear.
• Challenge 4 – Put Your Trust In God
  Choose to put your trust in God. Look to Him to take care of you. Don’t spend your energy trying to do everything in your strength. Instead, lean on God.

https://n6v.61c.myftpupload.com/product/5-devotions-to-defeat-fear-e-book/

For I hear the slander of many; Fear is on every side; While they take counsel together against me, They scheme to take away my life. – Psalm 31:13 (NKJV)

Today’s Bible verse feels like the truth. There are so many things to be afraid of right now. Maybe you fear a shooting at your school or fear speaking in front of your history class.

Fear comes in many different forms and it often feels overwhelming. So how do you deal with fear when it’s all around you, often yelling louder than everything else?

Overcoming fear starts with faith. You’ve got to have faith that God will take care of you. When you realize that God is there to help you, provide for you, and protect you, you realize that you have nothing to fear. That’s not to say that faith is easy. It isn’t.

Fear is easy. Faith is hard.

But even when you’re surrounded by things that are scary, you can choose to put your faith in God. When you put your trust in God, you can have peace even when you have every reason to fear.

So today, choose to practice faith in God. Choose to believe that God can and will take care of you. Determine not to let fear rule your life. Even when fear shouts loud, choose to listen to faith.

Find Bible verses about your fear and speak them over your life. As you build your faith, your fear has to go!

Today’s Challenge: Practice Faith in the Midst of Fear

If you enjoyed this week’s challenges on fear, here’s a quick recap video.

• Challenge 1 – Practice Faith in the Midst of Fear
  So today, choose to practice faith in God. Choose to believe that God can and will take care of you. Determine not to let fear rule your life. Even when fear shouts loud, choose to listen to faith.
• Challenge 2 – To defeat fear, keep your focus on God.
  When our focus becomes anything other than God, we can become fearful.
• Challenge 3 – Fix your focus on God.
  If fear has been an issue in your life, determine to focus on God. Fixing your focus on God will bring you freedom from fear.
• Challenge 4 – Put Your Trust In God
  Choose to put your trust in God. Look to Him to take care of you. Don’t spend your energy trying to do everything in your strength. Instead, lean on God.
• Challenge 5 – Remember Jesus is With You
  We’ve got Jesus with us and in us all the time. Yet too often we forget all about Him. We go through the storms of life afraid simply because we didn’t realize that Jesus was right there with us.

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. – Psalm 139:14 (NLT)

Have you ever let how other people treat you cause you to question your value? If so, you’re not alone. We all let the words and actions of others affect how we feel about ourselves.

If we don’t get asked to the dance by our crush we feel worthless. If the girls in math class laugh about your outfit we feel ashamed. Often, we let the words and actions of others have more weight in our lives than how God feels about us.

Today’s Truth: I Am God’s Best

To God, you are His best. God doesn’t make any creation that is inferior. There is nothing wrong with who you are.

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God loves you, He knows everything about you and still thinks you are His best!

Don’t give in to the lie that you don’t matter or that something is wrong with you. Nothing could be farther from the truth. You’re important, you are loved and you matter!

God has a great plan for your life and you truly are His best!