Recognizing Spiritual Battles: How to Know When You’re Under Attack
The Armor of God in Real Life: It’s Not Just a Sunday School Lesson
Confidence vs. Comparison: Finding Your Worth in Christ
Walking in Your Kingdom Assignment: You Were Made for This
Breaking Off False Labels: You Are Not What They Called You
The Fostering Faith Blog
Faith-filled encouragement, podcast reflections, and devotional insights to help you grow closer to Jesus every week.
Recognizing Spiritual Battles: How to Know When You’re Under Attack
Have you ever had a week where everything went wrong? Not just normal hard — but a strange, heavy, relentless kind of hard? Your thoughts are dark. Your relationships are strained. You’re exhausted for no reason. You can’t focus, can’t pray, can’t seem to get any traction.
That might not just be a “bad week.” It might be a spiritual battle. And you can’t fight what you can’t see — which is exactly why the enemy works in the dark. In this week’s episode, we got practical about how to recognize when you’re in a spiritual battle versus just having a hard day.
Signs you might be in a spiritual battle:
• Sudden, intense discouragement that doesn’t match your circumstances
• Relational conflict that erupts out of nowhere
• Confusion and inability to hear from God
• Unusual temptation in areas you thought you’d overcome
• Feeling attacked right after a spiritual breakthrough or act of obedience
How to respond:
• Name it — recognize what’s happening
• Pray immediately — don’t wait until you “feel like it”
• Open Scripture — the Word is your weapon
• Call your people — don’t isolate
• Worship — the enemy cannot stand in the presence of praise
This pairs with Week 2 of the April workbook. Download it free at fosteringfaithmedia.com/devotions.
▶ Listen to This EpisodeThe Armor of God in Real Life: It’s Not Just a Sunday School Lesson
Most of us learned about the Armor of God as kids. We colored the pictures. We memorized the list. Belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shield of faith — you know the drill. But how many of us are actually wearing it? Like, daily?
In this week’s episode — the kickoff to Spiritual Warfare Month — we broke down Ephesians 6 in a way that’s real, practical, and applicable to your actual Tuesday morning. Because spiritual warfare isn’t just a concept. It’s the anxiety that hits before a big meeting. It’s the lie that whispers “you’re not enough” at 2am. It’s the conflict that comes out of nowhere right when God is about to do something big.
Each piece of armor and what it means for your daily life:
• Belt of Truth — Standing firm in God’s Word when lies are flying
• Breastplate of Righteousness — Protecting your heart from condemnation
• Shoes of Peace — Walking in the gospel even in chaos
• Shield of Faith — Blocking the enemy’s fiery darts of doubt
• Helmet of Salvation — Guarding your mind from toxic thinking
• Sword of the Spirit — Using Scripture as an offensive weapon
This episode pairs with Week 1 of the April devotional workbook. Download it free at fosteringfaithmedia.com/devotions and start suiting up.
▶ Listen to This EpisodePreparing Your Heart for Easter: 7 Days of Reflection Before the Resurrection
Easter is coming. And I don’t want us to just show up on Sunday in a cute outfit and call it done. I want us to arrive at the empty tomb with hearts that are ready — hearts that have walked through the weight of the cross so we can fully celebrate the power of the resurrection.
Here are 7 days of reflection to prepare your heart this week:
Day 1 (Palm Sunday): Read Matthew 21:1–11. Jesus entered Jerusalem knowing what was coming. He didn’t run. He walked straight into it. Where is God asking you to walk forward even when it’s hard?
Day 2 (Monday): Read John 13:1–17. Jesus washed feet. The King of Kings got on His knees. Who can you serve this week with that kind of humility?
Day 3 (Tuesday): Read Matthew 26:36–46. Jesus asked God to take the cup away — but surrendered anyway. What have you been holding onto that you need to release to God?
Day 4 (Wednesday): Read Isaiah 53:3–5. He was despised. Rejected. Crushed. For us. Sit with that today. Don’t rush past it.
Day 5 (Thursday): Read Luke 22:19–20. “Do this in remembrance of me.” Take communion today if you can. Remember what it cost.
Day 6 (Good Friday): Read John 19:28–30. “It is finished.” The debt is paid. The work is done. You don’t have to earn what Jesus already bought.
Day 7 (Saturday): Sit in the silence. The disciples didn’t know Sunday was coming. Sometimes faith means waiting in the dark and trusting God is still working.
And then Sunday comes. And everything changes. Download the free Easter devotional workbook at fosteringfaithmedia.com/devotions for even more reflection this season.
Confidence vs. Comparison: Finding Your Worth in Christ
Can we be honest for a second? Comparison is exhausting. You scroll through social media and suddenly everyone else’s life looks better, their ministry looks bigger, their family looks happier, and their hair looks shinier. And before you know it, you’re questioning everything God put inside of you.
In this week’s episode, we went there. We talked about what comparison actually is — a distraction from the enemy to keep you so focused on someone else’s lane that you abandon your own. And we talked about what real, rooted, God-given confidence looks like. Spoiler: it has nothing to do with having it all together.
What we covered:
• Why comparison feels so natural but is so destructive
• The difference between worldly confidence and Kingdom confidence
• How to catch yourself in the comparison trap and redirect your thoughts
• Practical steps to build unshakeable confidence rooted in who God says you are
If you’ve been struggling with comparison, this episode is your permission slip to stop looking sideways and start looking up. You were never meant to be anyone but who God created you to be. Download the free March devotional workbook at fosteringfaithmedia.com/devotions to go deeper this week.
▶ Listen to This EpisodeWalking in Your Kingdom Assignment: You Were Made for This
Have you ever felt like you know God has a purpose for your life… but you just can’t seem to step into it? Maybe fear holds you back. Maybe comparison. Maybe you’re waiting for the “perfect” moment that never comes. In this week’s episode, we talked about what it really looks like to walk boldly in your Kingdom assignment — and it starts with understanding that God already equipped you for exactly where He’s sending you.
Your assignment isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being obedient. It’s about showing up — scared, messy, imperfect — and letting God use you anyway. This episode pairs with Week 4 of the March devotional workbook, where we dig even deeper into identity and calling.
3 Takeaways from This Episode:
1. Your calling isn’t a mystery — God reveals it through His Word, prayer, and your unique gifts.
2. Insecurity is a liar. The enemy wants you to sit down so you don’t step out.
3. Obedience always comes before clarity. Move, and God will direct your steps.
5 Scriptures to Pray When You Don’t Know Who You Are Anymore
There are seasons when life strips you down to nothing. A job loss. A broken relationship. A diagnosis. A move. A betrayal. And in the middle of that chaos, you look in the mirror and wonder: Who even am I?
If that’s where you are right now, hear me — you are not lost. You are being reshaped. And the best thing you can do in a season of confusion is go back to what God says about you. Not what the world says. Not what your feelings say. Not what that person said about you. What God says.
Here are 5 scriptures I pray when I need to remember who I am:
1. Psalm 139:14 — You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Not by accident. Not as an afterthought. On purpose, with purpose.
2. Jeremiah 29:11 — God’s plans for you are good. Even when your current chapter feels like a mess, He’s writing a story you can’t see yet.
3. 2 Corinthians 5:17 — You are a new creation. The old is gone. Stop dragging yesterday into today.
4. 1 Peter 2:9 — You are chosen. Royal. Set apart. That’s not motivational fluff — that’s your identity.
5. Isaiah 43:1 — God called you by name. You are His. Period.
Write these down. Tape them to your mirror. Pray them out loud. Speak them over yourself until your heart believes what your mouth is saying. Download the free March devotional workbook at fosteringfaithmedia.com/devotions to go deeper into identity in Christ this month.
Breaking Off False Labels: You Are Not What They Called You
Too many of us are walking around wearing labels that were never ours to carry. “Not enough.” “Too much.” “Broken.” “Difficult.” “A failure.” Maybe someone said it to your face. Maybe you’ve been saying it to yourself for years.
In this week’s episode, we dove into what it takes to break off false labels and start living under the truth of who God says you are. Because here’s the thing — the enemy doesn’t need you to believe a big lie. He just needs you to believe a small one long enough that it becomes your identity.
What we covered:
• Where false labels come from (childhood, relationships, failures, culture)
• How to recognize when you’re living under a label that isn’t from God
• The process of renouncing lies and declaring truth
• Scriptures that replace every false label with God’s truth
A Simple Morning Routine That Changed My Walk with God
I used to wake up and immediately grab my phone. Emails. Notifications. Social media. By the time I got out of bed, I was already anxious, behind, and overwhelmed — and I hadn’t said a single word to Jesus yet.
I knew I needed to change. Not a massive overhaul. Not a 5am-pray-for-two-hours kind of change. Just a simple, doable, consistent shift that put God first before the world got loud.
Here’s my morning routine now:
1. Wake up — phone stays down. I don’t touch it for the first 15 minutes.
2. Coffee + Scripture. I pour my coffee, open my devotional workbook, and read the week’s Scripture. Nothing fancy. Just me and Jesus and a warm cup.
3. 5-minute prayer. I pray about the day ahead. I surrender my plans, my worries, my to-do list. I ask God to lead.
4. One worship song. I play one song on my phone (now I can pick it up) and let it set the tone for my whole day.
That’s it. 20 minutes. And it changed everything. My anxiety went down. My patience went up. My perspective shifted. I stopped running on empty and started running on the presence of God.
If you’re looking for a structured way to spend time with God daily, download the free monthly devotional workbook at fosteringfaithmedia.com/devotions — it gives you Scripture, reflection prompts, and prayer starters for every week.