Dear Judy,

I go to church and listen to the sermon and leave feeling pretty good. Then I hear the news and look at the overwhelming issues in my life and that feeling of giving up arises. I need some answers please.

Dear Stressed One,

Going to church and listening to the sermon are both great, but then you need to take what you heard and apply it to your life. Just going to church and hearing a sermon is not going to keep your faith high. I trust you are a born-again Christian. Some people think going to church makes them one, but it does not. We become a believer only when we have applied Romans 10:9: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Then once we believe in Jesus, we must study His Word, the Bible, ourselves and apply the promises found in it. That is why I call the Bible our manual for success because there is no other way.

Listening to the news a lot will undermine our faith if we are not careful. Overwhelming crises hit us all, and the only way to keep from giving up is to focus on the promises of God more than on the crisis. Hebrews 6:19 says This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil. This scripture alone will hold us steady if we trust and believe it.

“Soul” refers to our mind, will, and emotions. It is our soulish realm that gets us in trouble. An anchor keeps us from moving back and forth; it keeps us steady and believing in the midst of it all. Continue to read, pray, trust, and believe that Jesus and His Word are true and are true for you.

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. (Jeremiah 29:12) Do you have a question? Send your questions to Judy Baus, baus1@juno.com