Pain

Tags

emotional, God, pain

Pain who likes it? No one does and yet no one is exempt to it. There are many forms of pain. But, I wanted to talk about a particular side of pain. I would like to talk to you about emotional pain. This kind of pain is not the easiest type of pain to deal with. I think that it can be discounted and overlooked sometimes. You see, if you have a cold or the flu you will stay at home, rest, drink a lot of fluids and eventually you will feel better.

But emotional pain is quite different. It’s not like you can take an Advil and the pain will disappear in two hours. But, although you must deal with it differently, you will find that you need to treat emotional pain with as much care as you would physical pain.

Emotional pain is an indication that something within you has been wounded. If left alone, it will affect your life in a destructive way. It’s kind of like this, if you stifle your emotions whether it be through ignoring them by drowning yourself in busyness or in something that makes you feel better you may be okay for awhile.

But because you have held your emotions in for so long, they can be a lot like a volcano suddenly exploding and causing a lot of damage to you and others around you. Why? Because you haven’t taken care of your emotions properly.

I would like to share with you a story about someone who was experiencing a lot of emotional pain and how he dealt with it. His name is Jabez and you can find his story in the Bible.

In 1 Chronicles 4 it says, His mother had named him Jabez, saying, ‘I gave birth to him in pain.’ 

Here you see Jabez who was just born and instead of being welcomed into the world with love, he was greeted with rejection. He did nothing wrong and yet here he was being mistreated. Jabez spent most of his life battling the pain of rejection and the feeling of being unwanted.

It definitely looked very grim for Jabez. His destiny seemed to be heading on a downward spiral. But then Jabez did something that changed his life forever. 

In 1 Chronicles 4 it continues on and says this, Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.

Jabez took all of the pain that he was inflicted with and he brought it to the one person who could help him. He brought it to the Lord. What’s so amazing about this story is that when he brought it to the Lord, God didn’t reject him and say this is just how your life is going to be. You are stuck with a life of pain.

No, the Lord listened to his request. “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.”

AND GOD GRANTED HIS REQUEST!!!! 

You may be experiencing emotional pain right now. Well, I have good news for you. There is a remedy and it is found in Jesus. You can bring Him all of your pain.

There’s a wonderful example of a man named David in the Bible. When talking about his relationship with God he wrote in Psalms 142 this, I spill out all my complaints before him, and spell out my troubles in detail:

He knew that God would not turn Him away but that as he brought his troubles before Him that He would deliver him. Why? Because that’s who God is. That is His character. Because David knew what God was like, he even goes the extra mile and says this to us in Psalms 62:5-8 My soul quietly waits for the True God alone because I hope only in Him. He alone is my rock and deliverance, my citadel high on a hill; I will not be shaken.  My salvation and my significance depend ultimately on God; the core of my strength, my shelter, is in the True God.  Have faith in Him in all circumstances, dear people. Open up your heart to Him; the True God shelters us in His arms.

We can have faith that God can take our our pain caused by circumstances and He can turn it into something beautiful. 

Isaiah 61 says, I will take away the ashes on their head, and I will give them a crown. I will take away their sadness, and I will give them the oil of happiness. I will take away their sorrow…

In the Bible, it talks about how when someone was really grieved they would put ashes on their head to express that they were in pain. In Isaiah you see God sending His Son Jesus to free people from their sorrows and pain. The scripture in Isaiah is Jesus speaking saying what He wants to do for us. Another version of this verse says that He will give us beauty for ashes. He will turn our sorrows into joy.

All He requires of us is that we bring our pain to Him and believe that He will do what He says that He will do. 

Today I want to encourage you. If you have been experiencing a lot of emotional pain from circumstances beyond your control, go to God like David did. Pour out your complaint before Him. Take every trouble that you have and bring it before Him. Just like He listened to Jabez He will listen to you and He will not turn you away. 

Say to Him, Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” 

Know this, God will grant your request!! Your life will never be the same. Your destiny that may seem like it’s in a downward spiral will completely transform into a destiny that is beyond your wildest dreams!! Let God give you beauty for ashes!! Let Him turn your sorrows into joy!! Let Him free you from pain!!  

 

 

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Grace And Mercy

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grace, Mercy, Need

 

What is Grace? Is it just a little prayer that we say before we eat? Is it something that is used to excuse the fact that we have done something wrong? The answer is no. I would like to share a quote with you to help better define the meaning of the word Grace. Joseph Prince says it this way, “Grace is integral to our walk with God – for Grace is actually Jesus Christ. He is Grace personified. His Grace is evident through the work of the Gospel – for the Gospel itself is Grace.

John 1:16-18 says, We have all received one blessing after another. God’s grace is not limited. Moses gave us the law. Jesus Christ has given us grace and truth. No one has ever seen God. But God, the one and only Son, is at the Father’s side. He has shown us what God is like.

I think that if we were to do an interview with people today about what God is like, we would most likely hear them react by saying that He is an angry God. You must perform perfectly for Him so that you aren’t punished. I believe this is one of the tricks that satan tries to use to keep people from really knowing who God is. This is how he hinders them from wanting a deeper relationship with Jesus and living a life of freedom. 

But, if you look in the Bible, you will see who God really is. He is not angry with us. Why? Because all of the judgment that we deserved concerning our sins was placed on Jesus when He died on the cross. When Jesus gave His life, He took on all the wrath that God would have poured out on us because of our sins upon Himself.

In Isaiah 53 it says this about Jesus, The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at him and people turned away. We looked down on him, thought he was scum. But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed. We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost. We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on him…Even though he’d never hurt a soul or said one word that wasn’t true. Still, it’s what God had in mind all along, to crush him with pain. The plan was that he would give himself as an offering for sin so that he’d see life come from it—life, life, and more life. And that God’s plan would deeply prosper through him. Out of that terrible travail of soul, he’ll see that it’s worth it and be glad he did it. Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant, will make many “righteous ones,” as he himself carries the burden of their sins.

Psalms 30:5 says His anger lasts for a moment but His favor lasts for a lifetime. Isaiah 54 says, “Just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again let a flood cover the earth, so now I swear that I will never again be angry and punish you. For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you.

You can rest assured that God is not angry with you. He will never be angry with you because of Jesus whose has made you right before God. When Jesus died on the cross for your sins, the last three words that He said was It Is Finished!! That means all of your sins past, present and future sins have been forgiven. How awesome is that? For example, let’s say that you had committed a crime and were taken to court. The judge gives you the verdict of not guilty. If someone were to try to take you back to court, there is a law called double jeopardy. The law of double jeopardy means that you can not be tried for the same crime again. God has given you the verdict of not guilty because, you have been made righteous through Jesus Christ. You don’t have to be afraid of Him lashing out at you in anger because, He looks at you through eyes of Mercy and through eyes of Grace. 

Hebrews 4:14-16 says, Inasmuch then as we have a great High Priest Who has [already] ascended and passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith in Him]. For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning. Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].

So what does that mean? It means that when you need God’s help He wants you to boldly come to His throne so that you can receive His grace and mercy. Know that God is for you and when He sees Jesus in you He wants to lavish on you His Love, His Favor and yes His Grace and Mercy!!

Treasure

Tags

God, love, Treasure

Everyone loves the thought of finding treasure. There have been many movies that have come out that are about finding the lost treasure. When I think of a movie that is about treasure, one of the first movies that comes to mind is the ever popular:

Indiana Jones. I always loved watching him be presented with a quest to find treasure. Then, he’d be off on an amazing journey full of danger and adventure. After having spent years of his life looking for treasure, he was always able to figure out the riddles in order to get to the final destination. 

Yes, finding treasure can be a lot of fun. For instance, when you are cleaning out the drawers of the dresser in your room and lo and behold you find $50.00. Wahoo!!! Talk About The Best Moment Ever!!! I know this because this has happened to me numerous times. I would be cleaning my room and find money. Or I would find old birthday cards and when I opened them a gift card was inside of it. It’s a nice little surprise indeed!! 

Which that reminds me of a story that I would like to share with you. Once upon a time, there was a man who was in love with a woman who he thought was the most beautiful woman in all of the universe. His intention was to marry her and live with her happily ever after. But one day, the woman had fallen into a trap of an Evil Schemer. This trap was built to separate the man and the woman for all of eternity. The man knew what the Evil Schemer had done.

Then the man did something unexpected. He disguised himself in such a way that he was able to enter the place by where the woman was trapped. He knew that in order to save her he must give up his life. Yet, He still chose to reveal himself to the Evil Schemer because of his great love for the woman. The Evil Schemer immediately had the man beaten and then brutally killed. The Evil Schemer felt such triumph in killing the man. The woman hearing of the news began to weep. Three days later, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see who it was and there standing before her was the man whom she loved. She was surprised to see him standing there alive and well. Yes, it was true that he had died. Curiosity overcame her as she didn’t know how he could be alive. He then explained to her of a secret law that he knew. The law was this if one willingly gave up his life for someone then the one who gave it up would in turn get his own life back.

She then asked him why did you risk your life to save me? The man looked at her with passion in his eyes and said because you are my treasured possession. Then after the man had defeated the Evil Schemer, he and the woman got married and they lived happily ever after for all eternity. The End.

This story that I just told you about is a symbolic story. The story is about you and me. The man represents Jesus. The Evil Schemer represents the Devil. The woman represents you and me. This is the story of how we had fallen into the trap of sin and how Jesus died for us because He values and loves us so much. He then rescued us because He wants to be with us for all eternity. I don’t think that there will ever be a moment when I am not awestruck by His love. But He really views each one of us as His treasured possession. 

Exodus 19:5 says, you are my treasured possession. 

Matthew 10:29-31 says What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.  And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. 

Zechariah 2:8 says, Whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye. 

I love this scripture. Think about your own eye for a moment. If anything tries to harm it, you will close your eyelid to protect it from getting hurt. When God says that you are the apple of His eye, He is really saying that He treasures you so much that He will go to great lengths to protect you. 

Psalms 139 says, O Eternal One, You have explored my heart and know exactly who I am; You even know the small details like when I take a seat and when I stand up again. Even when I am far away, You know what I’m thinking. You observe my wanderings and my sleeping, my waking and my dreaming, and You know everything I do in more detail than even I know. You know what I’m going to say long before I say it. It is true, Eternal One, that You know everything and everyone. You have surrounded me on every side, behind me and before me, and You have placed Your hand gently on my shoulder. It is the most amazing feeling to know how deeply You know me, inside and out; the realization of it is so great that I cannot comprehend it. Every detail of my life was already written in Your book; You established the length of my life before I ever tasted the sweetness of it. Your thoughts and plans are treasures to me, O God! I cherish each and every one of them! How grand in scope! How many in number! If I could count each one of them, they would be more than all the grains of sand on earth. Their number is inconceivable! Even when I wake up, I am still near to You.

There is not one moment that God is not thinking about you and how valuable you are to Him. You are always on His mind. He knows every single detail about you. He has you memorized. He is crazy about you!! He is madly in love with you!! You Are His Treasure!!! 

If I wanted you to walk away with anything after you are finished reading this blog, I would want you to walk away with not just the knowledge, but the revelation in your heart that you are God’s treasure and you are important to Him. He loves you so much!! I can try to convey this to you the best that I can in words but words can only go so far.

So my prayer is that you will experience His love if you haven’t experienced it before. And if you have experienced his love, my prayer is that you will have an even greater experience of His love. His love is beyond measure and it is all for you, His valuable treasure!!

 

The Fault Finder Part 2

I would like to give just a little side note.  If you have not gotten a chance to read my blog entry from last week, I would like to encourage you to do so as this blog entry is a continuation from the blog entry that I posted last week. I want you to be able to get the full story.

In my blog entry last week, I shared with you how Satan is the fault finder. If we are not careful we can begin to play his game called fault finding. In the midst of seeing all that Satan tries to pull over on us concerning fault finding, Jesus is His graciousness shows us how to deal with it the right way.

Take a look at this little clip. 

Here you see the story of the woman caught in adultery. There are three things going on here. First, you see the woman. She is the one who has been found with fault. She knew that she had been found with fault and was sure that she was about to die.

Then, you see the Pharisees her accusers pointing out her fault. They were ready to bring a death sentence on her because of it. Then, you see Jesus who was without fault. He had every right to not only condemn the woman but also to condemn the Pharisees. Why? Because every single one of them were with fault. 

But then, Jesus who had the right to punish all of them surprised everyone of them by saying, “Anyone here who has never sinned should throw the first stone at her.” Now, if you look up the word sin in a thesaurus you will see that a synonym of the word sin is fault. So let me say it this way. He who is without fault should throw the first stone. Jesus was without fault. He had every right to be the ultimate fault finder. He could have given everyone of them the sentence of death. But, He chose to forgive them and give them grace instead of judgment.

This says a lot about how we should live. I am sure that we can all relate to the fault finding game. Whether it be from the position of being the one found with fault. Or the position of finding fault with yourself or others. Jesus’ response to fault finding was the response of love and grace toward each person. This is His response to you and me. This is the response that we should have toward ourselves and others. 

John 15 says, This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. 

You may ask the questions, but what about those who are doing wrong and hurting a lot of people? Shouldn’t they be confronted? 

In John 21:21-23 it says, Turning his head, Peter noticed the disciple Jesus loved following right behind. When Peter noticed him, he asked Jesus, “Master, what’s going to happen to him?” Jesus said, “If I want him to live until I come again, what’s that to you? You—follow me.”

This scripture is so important. We can get so caught up in other people’s faults and play the blame game. We can play it in our friendships, families, relationships and even at church. As a result, many relationships become broken and Satan has won the game of causing division among us. Jesus is asking us to leave that all behind and just follow Him, keep our eyes on Him and do what He is asking  us to do.

Are there times that we need to confront issues? Yes there are. But before we would ever choose to confront someone it is important that we go to God about it first. Bring that person to Him in our prayer time with Him.

If it turns out that He does want us to confront that person, I think that we all know what the answer will be from Jesus. He will ask us to respond in His Grace and in His Love toward that person just as He has responded that way to us.

We have the right to choose to not participate in Satan’s game called fault finding. Together let’s choose to not live the life of a Fault Finder but let’s live a life of a Christ Follower!