In Times of Despair - Conclusion

There often comes a time in a believer’s life when they succumb to the wiles of the enemy and sin.  This is to be a battle that we will constantly face, we see this in the Apostle Paul’s discourse on this in Romans 7:5-25.  This was nothing new to the Apostle, he was well aware that troublesome times lie ahead of all men.  Once sin takes place and we often try to deal with it on our own, it is not long before we find that we lack much in ourselves, we lack the power to overcome the onslaught of the enemy.  Without strength and without hope we finally turn to the Word of God and we do find that which we need.  The truth is, there is hope and that hope as always resides in Jesus Christ.  In our last post we began to draw a picture from the Old Testament when Moses led Israel out of the Egyptian bondage…

Moses did nothing more than which God had asked him to do.  His part was to trust, watch and believe.  To fully understand and experience God and His attributes so that we can fully and completely witness God in our lives we have to do the same, like Moses, we must trust, watch and believe.  We see this in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not unto thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.”  To fully understand this, we must never take our eyes off of Christ.  We need to understand that God will always be God, but if we take our eyes off of Christ, He will not always be to God in our lives.  The enemy is on a mission to de-throne God in our hearts and replace Him with sub-god’s which are not really gods.  Many believers today have fallen victim to the enemy’s ploys as they spend countless hours in worship these sub-god’s such as self, job, sports, TV, movies, idolism and the list goes on and on even to the depts of porn, adultery, gossip, theft and other sins that destroy families as well as lives.  The enemy’s mission is to keep us off balance, he strives to keep us off kilter if you will so that God is not our main source of strength, hope and joy.

When we willingly take our eyes off of Christ we unreservedly walk into sin, we are all familiar with Matthew 14:22-32 where we read about the Apostle Peter when he walked on water, though once he took his eyes off of Christ he began to sin.  We too, will soon begin to sink into the mire of sin once we take our eyes off of Christ.  We often fight against the urgings of the Holy Spirit of God to turn away from our sin, but we refused and once again became ensnared in sin.  The first step in our way out of sin is to purposely turn our hearts, our minds and our eyes away from the sin and fix them firmly upon Christ.  Once again, our hope resides in our example of Moses’ and we must follow his lead.  We do so by climbing up on the rock (which is Christ), it soundly rests between depression’s army and the sea of anxiety, here we must lift up our hands to Almighty God, then surrender our heart back to Him, and we open our eyes to see the salvation of our God.  The Apostle Paul was well aware of this as he lays out for us the armor of God in Ephesians 4:10-24.  Here in this passage, among the articles of armor we find that the Apostle Paul issues three commands.  The first is to stand, the second is to pray and finally to watch which is not much different from Moses’ “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.”  Both of these scriptural giants tell us to stand, both encourage us to watch and both emphasize that we are to believe.  The secret is in the fact that we do not have to DO as much as we have to BE.  Don’t try to do something, BE still, don’t try to hide, BE watchful and don’t doubt, BE prayerful, praying in belief.  The enemies’ goal in placing us in despair is to leave us like that rag-doll, weak and worn out without the strength to cry out for help.  But God is greater than our enemy and, in our weakness, He is strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) and in our weariness, He is our rest (Matthew 11:28) and when we are to frail to cry out, He is our ever-present help (Psalm 46:1).

 We need not give into the enemy, we need only to surrender all to Christ.  The closer we remain to Christ the less likely that the enemy can gain a foothold of your heart and mind.  The more we surrender and keep our hearts surrendered to Christ the more we fall in love with Him and in turn the more we see how vigilant a watch that He keeps over us.  This reminds me of one of the old hymns that we used to sing in the church and I do miss and love the old hymns, the one comes to my mind at this time is called “All to Jesus I Surrender.”¹  The first verse and chorus are noted below:

    All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give;

    I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.

    I surrender all, I surrender all.

    All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all

 When you are down and out, shaken and beaten down like that dog’s toy with no strength left of your own remember that He is there ready to help, ready to step in to do and be all that only He can be. “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (10) Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).  Learn to trust in and lean upon the strength and grace of our Lord Jesus, He will get us through each trial, He will always provide a way.  This He has already promised us in His word, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

 This message is not a cure all from despair but our goal is to provide you with direction to the right path out and encouraging you to take the first step in your way out.  It has been quoted of old saying, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”², make your first step count by taking a stand in Christ and firmly fix your heart and mind up Jesus.  The one true way out of despair will always reside in Jesus.

If you are struggling with despair, we do encourage you to seek help, you do not have to remain in the grasp of despair.  I do recommend that you reach out and talk to your pastor or the Soul Care ministry team in your church.  You do not have to lay down in the grasp of despair, there is help, and God will make a way through.  Trust Him and He will provide a way out of the depths of despair.

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1.      All to Jesus I Surrender - Lyrics: Judson W. Van de Venter (1855-1939) - Music: Winfield Scott Weeden (1847-1908)

2.      Lao Tzu Quotes, 6th century B.C – Great Quotes

And in Times of Despair - Pt. 1

 

There often comes a time in a believer’s life when they succumb to the wiles of the enemy and sin.  This is to be a battle that we will constantly face, we see this in the Apostle Paul’s discourse on this in Romans 7:5-25.  This was nothing new to the Apostle, he was well aware that troublesome times lie ahead of all men.  Though we all do try to live a godly life, we soon find that we all fail because of our sinful nature, we find ourselves in agreement with Job who said, “For man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward.” Job 5:7 NASB).  We soon begin to understand the craftiness of the enemy and how he can so easily lure us down a one-way street of his false promises of easy-isms.  Man, in his own strengths soon believes that he can defeat the enemy on his own but it is not long before his false sense of security overcomes him and he falls.  The once rosy path that he was promised soon turns into a miry pit of despondency.  It is not long before the believer finds himself wrapped up in sins deception and soon he is caught in the middle between depression and anxiety.  It is here that the enemy violently shakes us back and forth, shaking you much like a dog shakes a rag-doll.  It is not long before he has the believer in such a daze, that they do not know if they should wallow in depression or fret in a state of anxiety.  Once the believer is fully ensnared we find that the enemy drops them in their own self-pity much like the dog drops the rag-doll once he is finished shaking it.  They find themselves in such a state of despair, they are trapped, caught without even the strength to reach out to God for help.  They even feel as though they lack even the breath to cry out to God and lack the assurance the He would hear them even if they cried out.  Much like the rag-doll once the dog is finished shaking and dropped the believers finds himself lying on the floor in a heap, lacking strength, no will of its own left to move or help itself.  Lying as it were without hope in a pool of its own self-pity, wallowing in despair, believing that there is no help.

 Once sin takes place and you try to deal with it on our own, you soon find that we lack much in ourselves, we lack the power to overcome the onslaught of the enemy.  Without strength and without hope we finally turn to the Word of God and we do find that which we need.  We find that through confession and repentance that forgiveness does come from God according to 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.  The sad truth is that so often, so many believers have little understanding the depth of God’s forgiveness to the point that they dwell in the remanence of the guilt of the sin.  It is here that the enemy so often steps back in to once again steal the believers joy by replacing it with doubt, and once doubt has been established he swings into play and ensnares them again.  Then once in his grasp he is much again like the dog with a rag doll, grasping it firmly challenging all on comers to take his prey from him.  He swings them to one side and Anxiety has its hand on the believer and is leading them, haunting them, taunting them to wonder...  What’s going to happened me?  What if I get caught?  What if I get found out?  How could God still love me?  Why would God want to love someone like me?  Once they start to gain momentum on the anxiety the enemy throws them a curve.  He then swings the believer back the other way and Depression grips their soul and they in turn begin to wonder...  How could I have sinned this bad?  How could I have committed this embarrassment to my family?  How could I have ever done so to our loving and sovereign God?  How could God ever have loved me?

You go back and forth violently never resting on one side or the other, not staying on either side long enough to even begin to deal with the sin.  Your focus continues to withdrawal inwardly and your thought life become more and more dark because of the absence of hope.  It is not long before you embrace the despair as you begin to accept the ride on this downward spiral.  Self-pity has replaced God on the throne of your heart.  You begin to bow down to it as it constantly massages the low esteem that you have.  You are in for the ride of your life as he continues his onslaught keeping you in bondage of sin, riddled with both depression and anxiety.  You do not know which way to turn and soon end up in a heap without even the strength to reach out or even call out to God, resembling the ragdoll that the dog drops once it is finished.  We soon resemble that ragdoll, weak and worn out without the strength to cry out for help.

The truth is, there is good news, there is hope and that hope as always resides in Jesus Christ.  Let me draw you a picture to explain, picture Moses in the Old Testament when he led Israel out of the Egyptian bondage.  The climax of their withdrawal, the epitome if you will is when they were encamped at the Red Sea.  To the thoughts of many, and the enemy included, Moses had led the people of Israel into to a great place of ambushment.  It is here where we find Pharaohs army on one side, the Red sea on the other and stone walls on the other two sides; there was no humanly way out, it is here in this place the enemy had an “Ah-ha” moment as he believed the he had won.  But God stepped in, which we see in Exodus 14.  We need to follow Moses’ lead, we need to climb up on the rock between depression’s army and the sea of anxiety, lift up your hands to an Almighty and Sovereign God and open your eyes and “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.”  The Rock that we are to climb up upon Christ, He is the solid ground, He is our firm foundation, He is the one that we are to rest upon at all times, in all circumstances and in all situations.  He is the one who saves us, He alone keeps us.  Jesus calls to us to cry out to Him, He alone has the strength and ability to deliver us from the jaws of despair, from the bondage of either anxiety or depression.  He alone is our Only hope and strength as the scriptures says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  Psalm 46:1

To be continued…

Farewell to My Father

In sorrow today we have said our goodbyes, 

   To the one who has greatly influenced our lives.

From life’s beginning when we took our first breath,

   To today as you took your last breath in death.

You had often carried us around in your strong arms,

   As you captivated us with fatherly charms.

Sometimes we rode on your shoulders so high,

   As we felt as though we could have touched the sky,

By the hand you led us so often in life,

   Leading and teaching us how to walk thru this life.

In your shadow and footsteps we wanted to go,

   And follow your lead as you took us in tow.

You picked us up when life knocked us down,

   Stood us back up and turned us around.

In our trials and struggles you taught us to be,

   All that we are plus all we could be.

We were never afraid when you were close by,

   Making us feel so secure as we stood by your side.

As a young man I saw in you what a man had to be

   Loving and true to friends and family.

Laughter was always heard in your voice,

   Even in struggles we found we could rejoice.

Though life can sometimes treat us unfair,

   You were there to lighten the burden we had to bare.

Now you are gone we will see you no more,

   We now have a void that we’ll now have to ford.

Alone now we have to take the full reigns of life,

   No help for the choice, no fatherly advice.

His wisdom remains in our hearts and minds,

   Precious treasure to be reaped over upcoming time.

What will be missed the most is the sound of his call,

   Though never forgotten, by one and all.

On Tuesday October 15th at 1:10 PM dad took his last  breath and 
stepped off into eternity. He closed his eyes in our presence and 
opened them in the presence of the Lord Jesus.  
Just like the Apostle Paul he could say, 
“...the time of my departure is at hand.  I have fought the good fight,
 I have finished the race…”  (2 Timothy 4:6-7)  
91 years of life  - 1928 - 2019 

Help me not to be the “Ass” in the relationship

There are many passages of scripture in the Bible that have caused me to stop, think about and definitely ponder over.  One such passage is Deuteronomy 22:10, where God says “Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.”  This passage had always been one that I have spent some time over.  In the middle of telling the Hebrew children what to do before they go into the Promised Land God makes this interesting statement to them.  I know that this verse did have a definite informational and scriptural truth to it especially at that time, but I think that many today who read this passage fail to see or search out the meaning that is has for us today.  Before we can go into an interpretation for today we need to understand the real reason for the statement.  Bible Commentator John Gill says that “the reason why they were not to be put together was either (as some think) lest the law should be broken which forbids the gendering of cattle with a divers kind, (Leviticus 19:19 ) but Aben Ezra thinks the reason is, because the strength of an ass is not equal to the strength of an ox; and therefore he supposes this law is made from the mercy and commiseration of God extended to all his creatures; though perhaps the better reason is, because the one was a clean creature, and the other an unclean, and this instance is put for all others; and with which agree the Jewish canons, which run thus, “cattle with cattle, wild beasts with wild beasts, unclean with unclean, clean with clean (i.e. these may be put together); but unclean with clean, and clean with unclean, are forbidden to plough with, to draw with, or to be led together.”  The mystery of this is, that godly and ungodly persons are not to be yoked together in religious fellowship: see 2 Corinthians 6:14.” ⁽¹⁾

Other commentaries agree with Abner Ezra in that these should not be teamed together because the stride and step of an ox and an ass are physically different and that they could not pull together evenly or equally.  This unequal pull would cause an over work and effort bringing on an early weariness on both animals this is especially true because the ass being much smaller making his step shorter than the ox creates an unequal and irregular draft.  Thus the work would be nearly twice as hard for the ox and the ass because of the natural cadence of these two unevenly yoked animals and as we noted above, the law teaches us to consider differences in human beings, and not to be unequally yoked.  This commentary in relation to the upcoming community that the Hebrews were to experience with the children of this new land would be in alignment with the Apostle Paul who says in 1 Corinthians 6:14 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?”  How true is that in our relationship with the Lord?  How many times in our walk with Christ have we intervened in someone else’s life and tried to do that which belongs to God?  We make things worse trying to push or pull and in doing so we end up working against the Lord as we try to help?  Sometimes the unequal yoke is when we yoke up with another in God’s stead. 

It does not take a lot of research to understand the concept of an equaled yoke and the importance of it in service and in relationship of the two.  The bible says in Matthew 11:29, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”  Here in this passage we find the Lord asking us to yoke up with Him for both kingdom service and as we move forward in relationship with Him.  Too often I have heard others refer to this passage stating that Jesus in this passage is stating that He wants to carry our load, which is not what He is referring to.  I have learned that there are three important lessons to be learned when being yoked with another.  First, when you are yoked together with someone, both are expected to pull the load, but when one of the two fails to pull his share of the load it causes undue stress on the one they are yoked up to.  This may cause the one in the lead to begin to drag the one who lags behind, and possibly choke them.  Second, when you are yoked together with someone and you take on an aggressive stride to push on ahead you will quickly exhaust the one you are yoked up to and will exasperate them.  Third, when you are yoked up to another, you cooperate and learn to walk together.  This requires collaboration from both parties to succeed as note: (1) you need to learn the others step or stride and (2) you set your stride accordingly.  When this is done the yoke becomes a tool to help you walk alongside the other and both parties work together helping one another.  As the scripture says “Can two walk together, except they be agreed” (Amos 3:3)

I decided to look into this a little further and after a little more research looking into one of my favorite commentators, Jameison-Faussett-Brown I discovered even more information.  In their commentary they bring out one more additional fact to consider and that being in regards primarily to the ass.  They point out that “the ass often feed on more coarse and poisonous weeds, which would produce a foul breath and stench which could often be poisonous and offensive to the one it is yoked too.  It would be so offensive to the ox that it is said that they have been observed to often to hold their head away from the ass and to pull only with one shoulder.” ⁽²⁾

Now with this new insight in mind, let’s take an inward look at the sins that we all continue to hold onto in our lives that drastically affect our relationship with the Lord.  When we openly and honestly consider the scripture text mentioned above we will see that SIN in a believer’s life is much the same.  A sinful lifestyle causes a foul stench that is very offensive to Him.  We falsely assume that our relationship with the Lord is good, but it never will be as long as that sin retains a presence in our lives.  With this in mind, we begin to create an unequal yoke with the Lord.  Our relationship with the Lord begins to resemble the unequalled yoke of the ass and the ox.  This is because in our foolish attempt to continue to hold onto our sin, we become much like the ass in our yoke with Him.  We are smaller, we are definitely weaker, and the odor of our sin is very offensive to Him.  Instead of a sweet savor to the nostrils of the Lord our prayer offerings are more of an offensive stench to Him because they are produced from a heart and mouth that is tainted by sin and instead of sweetness there is a foul breath and stench of our sin.  He does continue in the relationship but He cannot look upon us as we know He cannot look upon sin (Isa:59:2).⁽³⁾  Much like the Ox that is yoked up to the ass he turns his face from us to avoid the smell that is coming from a heart that is still corrupt with sin.  This remains a problem as long as we still want to hold onto sin and profess a right relationship with the Lord. 

Our once sweet relationship with Christ will become more and more strained because of our willful disobedience as we hold onto sin.  If that is not enough, it will also begin to affect our relationships with others though it may not be evident to the sinning party as it will be to those who are sinned against.  Unconfessed and un-repented sin in the life of a believer (any believer) will become just like the foul stench of the “Ass” leaving a bad taste in the lives of those that they are around.  The remedy for this is that sin must be deal with, sin must be confessed, it must be forsaken and most importantly it must be repented of.  One must bring it humbly before the Lord, asking and trusting that the Lord eradicate it from our heart and life.  If we do not deal with our sin, God the Father will. 1 John 1: 9, says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  Only God can forgive us of sin, restoration comes to us solely from God.  If we humbly come to Him and repent of our sin, He will forgive us, and He will restore us. Then and only then will we be restored and equally yoked again to the Savior.

Our prayer to the Lord should be, “Lord, help me not to be the ‘Ass’ in our relationship with you, help that which proceeds out of my mouth to be a sweet savor to you and not to be tainted by sin.  May my breath before you and others be sweet because of my relationship with you and not foul or tainted with the stench of sin in my life.”

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1.       Taken from: https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/deuteronomy-22.html

2.       Taken from: https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfb/deuteronomy-22.html 

3.       Isaiah 59:2, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” (KJV)