Showing results for "The Darkness" in Spiritual Growth

Victory Over the Darkness emphasizes the importance of believing and internalizing the cardinal truths of Scripture as a base from which to renew the mind and fend off Satan's relentless attempt to convince us that we are less than Christ empowers us to be.

Find comfort in dark times and grow your trust and faith in God with this inspiring and insightful guide from Lakewood Church pastor and #1 New York Times bestselling author Joel Osteen. All of us will go through dark times that we don't understand: a difficulty with a friend, an unfair...

Where is God in the struggle? Looking away from despair toward hope can feel risky. What if God doesn't come through for you? What if you don't feel instantly better? Instead of offering simple platitudes or unrealistic cure-all formulas, Edward T. Welch addresses the complex nature of depression with compassion and insight, applying the rich treasures of the Christian gospel, and giving fresh hope to those who struggle.

Trauma often disrupts a person’s faith in God. At times, it even causes people to feel as though they have lost their faith in God altogether. Making Friends with Darkness joins the ongoing conversation about PTSD and moral injury recovery with an approach from the Scriptures, providing a plan that is non-formulaic, helps people heal from their trauma, and helps remove barriers to God.

Even as a young boy, Kynan Bridges understood that he was not alone in this world. He sensed the presence of God, but when he rededicated his life to Jesus in 1996, he also encountered the dark side of the spiritual realm firsthand. For several months, he was tormented by nightmares, demonic attacks, and the spirit of fear. Little did he know that such demonic attacks on the mind and body were not unique to him. Many people in the church battle with the realm of darkness, yet they remain silent and therefore stuck in its throes, with no knowledge of how to achieve victory.

"I am the descendant of drinkers and drifters better at passing on their love for the bottle than family history..." Prepare yourself for an unvarnished, harrowing look at one Christian's life. A powerful memoir of knowing and being known by God through the pain of loss, tragedy, and...

Clarissa Moll knows the landscape of loss all too well. Her life changed forever in 2019 when her husband, Rob, died unexpectedly while hiking―leaving her with four children to raise alone. In her debut book, Clarissa offers her powerful personal narrative as well as honest, practical wisdom that will gently guide you amidst your own loss. Whether you’ve lost someone dear to you or you’re supporting a loved one as they mourn, you can learn to walk with grief. And as you do, you might be surprised to discover the path is wide enough for the Good Shepherd of your soul.

Suffering engulfs our lives in an unavoidable darkness, leaving answers and explanations obscured like a sorrowful fog. The gospel of Christ, however, gives us something infinitely more valuable than answers or explanations. Finding God in the Darkness: Hopeful Reflections from the Pits of Depression, Despair, and Disappointment is not an attempt to decode or decipher every nook and cranny of sorrow and suffering. It is a journey wherein faith, hope, and love are unexpectedly found along the way, in the midst of darkness. Much to our surprise, that's where God shows up, too.

Do you feel like you are walking through the dark, looking for any flash of hope? As Chad Roberts’ eyesight rapidly deteriorated at the age of thirty-eight, he would soon find himself living in the dark, a familiar feeling for so many walking through seasons of suffering. But in the darkness, Chad found God to still be good, even when the challenges he faced did not appear to be.

Charlotte Thomason endured unspeakable sexual, physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her parents and other family members throughout her childhood. What Kind of Love is this? Finding God in the Darkness, follows Charlotte as she guides her granddaughter, Angel, through her chaotic life. As the story unfolds, Charlotte is mired in doubt that anyone could love her, let alone God, and her life is torn apart by sexual addiction and mental illness. She realizes her life depends on remembering, accepting God's love and learning to cope with her forgotten childhood trauma.

Mark Meynell articulates a heart pain that most of us simply couldn't express. He connects strongly and immediately with fellow cave-dwellers.

Jesus is beside you on your darkest days, and he has good words for you. In thirty-one short, digestible readings, Edward Welch helps you to converse with him honestly amid your pain.

Rediscover the God of joy, who defies the suffering of this broken life—from the author of Not Forsaken “A gift to all who search for hope.”—W. Lee Warren, MD, author of Hope Is the First Dose When Jennifer Greenberg escaped her abusive childhood home at the age of twenty-one, she...

Life and relationships can be complicated and frustrating. But when we see ourselves, others, and the world through the eyes of Jesus, everything changes. Instead of pain we can see purpose. Instead of opposition, opportunity. Instead of fear, freedom.

He helped save people every day—but he had no idea how to save himself. Jason Sautel had it all. Confident in his abilities and trusted by his fellow firefighters, he was making a name for himself on the streets of Oakland, California. His adrenaline-fueled job even helped him forget the pain...

In This Beautiful Truth, Sarah Clarkson shares her own encounters with beauty in the midst of her decade-long struggle with mental illness, depression, and doubt. In a voice both vulnerable and reflective, she paints a compelling picture of the God who reaches out to us in a real and powerful way through the "taste and see" goodness of what he has made and what he continues to create amid our darkness. "To recognize and trust God's gift in pain," she writes, "empowers us to create and love as powerful witnesses to God's healing love in a hopeless world."

Do you or someone you love struggle with depression? If so, know that you and your loved ones can go on. Beauty in the Browns author Paul Asay knows this from personal experience - his and his son’s. As he shares their stories in an honest, practical, sometimes painful, and occasionally humorous way (with input from mental health professionals), you’ll find someone who understands what it means to live as a Christian with depression. Even in the bleak browns of depression, even when the world looks hopeless, God still has a plan for people dealing with this issue.

Monsters aren’t real. As reasonable adults, we know this. But we also know that, while fake, the monsters of fairy tales, movies, and Netflix series embody our very real fears. Large, powerful beings that hunt us in the dark make us feel small, weak, vulnerable. When characters in these stories run away, they temporarily feel safe, but it’s not until the monster is faced head on that the story can have a happy ending - and, more importantly, the hero can become all he or she was created to be.

For Christians, particularly those in vocational ministry, the stigma surrounding mental illness and mental health often creates an atmosphere of secrecy where the enemy's lies reign. Julie Busler understands the pain of mental illness and has learned that trials not only humanize us but increase our capacity to be used by God. In Joyful Sorrow, she invites us into her own journey where a mental breakdown took her from being a missionary to a suicidal patient. With vulnerability and grace, Julie demonstrates that even in the sorrow of mental illness, joy can coexist.

Demons are real. If you find this hard to believe, you are not alone. Yet many of the problems you deal with come directly from the realm of darkness. They are demonic. But this is no cause for fear. In fact, there's freedom in knowing you can overcome these problems! Help is available for you. And you do not have to wait for somebody else to deliver you. With Jesus' help, you can free yourself.