Christ Will Rescue You: November 2022

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

God is Close Beside You

Psalm 23:4-5(NLT)
“4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. 5 You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.”

In the passage of Psalm 23:4-5, through the psalmist, King David, God demonstrates the wonderful reality of His faithfulness to us, His people. In the hour of our greatest struggles and deepest anguish, God is close beside us. He never leaves us defenseless or without access to His power and strength. In the face of our enemies, He really piles on the excess of His grace and provision. He causes us to prosper in victory time after time, and we can be fully confident that He is always there when we need Him most.

The situations of life that cause us pain seem permanent, as though they will never end, but this is not the truth. Through our darkest valley God is with us. Through His Holy Spirit, He victoriously walks us through the complexities and challenges of life. Romans 1:17 tells us that through Christ, God has made us right in His sight, and this is accomplished from start to finish by our faith in Him. We, as His children, move from faith to faith, witnessing God’s power and love in a multitude of ways. With each hardship, He teaches us more and more that truly He is all we need.

Those of us that have endured, and are currently enduring, domestic violence and abuse know a little bit about walking through the darkest valley. Most of us have dreamed of a love from a man that is so sweet, and the pursuit of it has driven us most of our lives. It’s ‘the thing’ for us, the breadth of a deep and wide salve that is meant to soothe the longing of our souls. In our dreams, it will transport us to sheer bliss. It comes through the one whose manhood fits so perfectly in the joy of our hearts that he fills us with a pleasure beyond words. As women, we want this, and the desire is wired so deep in us that the sorrow of being without it is all-consuming at times. It’s the sorrow of being without ‘the thing’ that drives us to accept far less, and this can leave us in a valley so dark that we forget the joy of the light.

Some of us are disillusioned, disappointed, and sad. We feel defeated, and we’ve grown so accustomed to this state of being that we can no longer weep for ‘the thing’ we don’t have. We’re in a state of shock almost, because what we have currently is so far from what our souls know we were destined to embrace. So, we’re not in our right place, and what we have is not our destiny. Many of us have not yet realized this, but the voice of what we’re missing is reverberating at a pitch too high to ignore. It’s spilling over into everything we touch and everything we do. We pretend to ignore it because our minds haven’t yet conquered fear. Our minds tell us that having nothing at all is worse than waiting for ‘the thing’ that may never be ours.

Too many of us are punishing ourselves by accepting far less than what God wants us to have. We’re constantly longing for that perfect and blissful love, and we don’t know what to do. Well, the psalmist, David, tells us exactly what to do. In Psalm 130:5(NIV), he said, “I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.” Here, God is giving us medicine for our souls, medicine that comes into our emptiness and fills it with God’s love, strength, and power. We can’t place our hope in anything or anyone else in life with any guarantees, but we can put our total and complete trust in God, because His Word and His love never fails.

God is nearer to us than we are to ourselves. He’s our Creator! His Spirit lives within, and He is always close. The love that we’ve been missing is the love He gives, and we need to receive it in the deepest part of our cores. We need the Word of God to be rooted in our hearts and minds so that we are not tricked by counterfeits, but we recognize the real deal. God’s truth is the meat our souls need. In good times and in the bad times, He will never leave us nor forsake us. He wants His love to be anchored deep within so that our voids are filled, and we live each day loving Him and enjoying the wholeness He’s given us in Christ.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Don’t Ever Give Up or Quit

2Timothy 3:1(NLT)
“You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times.”

The New Testament gives us the record of the Apostle Paul’s life and ministry. After he was converted on the road to Damascus and gave his life to Christ, he faced death and hardships many times. He was hated for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ and gained many enemies. To say that the Apostle Paul endured some tough times is an understatement, but he never gave up or quit and neither should we. Jesus Christ commanded us in Matthew 6:33 to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness first. This means that we should never place anything or anyone above our Heavenly Father, and we should always go to Him with anything we need. The Apostle Paul understood this. He went to God in prayer with every obstacle he faced. He knew that our Heavenly Father is the Source of all blessings and the lesson for us is to trust in this with all our hearts.

In 2Timothy 3:1, Paul told Timothy, one of his fellow brothers in the Lord, that there would be great difficulty in the last days. It is important that we know that we are currently living in the time frame that Paul spoke about. There can be no doubt in our minds that our modern times have brought about astonishing accomplishments in humanity. Our intelligence has advanced in incredible ways, but so has our arrogance, apathy, and darkness. Our attitude about the goodness of God has plummeted to the depths of doubt and unbelief, and the wickedness of the world has far exceeded any good it has achieved. Things are difficult, and they will become even more challenging as time progresses.

As God’s people, He tells us not to add to the confusion and chaos of the world, but to have faith in the hope that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, offers. No matter what we’re facing in life at this moment, no matter how difficult or tough it may seem, victory in Christ is ours.

Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. Because of him, we can run the race of life with confidence, but if we forget this and begin to place our hope in other things and people, we are going to have problems. This is especially true when it comes to the most significant person in our lives. As women, some of us make the man in our lives our everything, and this will lead us down the wrong path. Jesus Christ truly is our everything, and when we place another person ahead of him, we’re headed for disappointment.

When disappointment leads to heartbreak, we sometimes give up on ourselves. The gut-wrenching pain pushes us to our limits, and we start to lose hope in the victory we have in Christ. We must not quit the race to be all that God desires us to be. Instead, we must fight to resist those urges to sink in our minds and hearts. We must not lose hope and do all that we can to strengthen our faith in God. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing the Good News about Jesus Christ. We need to hear as much of God’s Word as possible. When we position ourselves to feast off God’s Word and digest as much of it as we can, we send a signal to our own hearts that we are clinging to hope and therefore, we are choosing to love God above all. Hebrews 11:6 assures us that Heavenly Father rewards us when we demonstrate this level of diligence in our relationship with Him.

Hebrews 11:1(NLT) teaches that “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” Even before the thing we’ve prayed to receives arrives, if it is according to God’s Will, we can claim it in the name of Jesus Christ. Yes, issues today are much more complicated, but God has not changed. Some of the situations we face in relationships are shocking and devastating, but no matter what the issue is, pray about it. Pray often and don’t claim depression and defeat, claim victory in Jesus Christ! God’s Holy Spirit lives within you, and he will help, lead, and guide you when you partner with him with your faith. The mind is where the battle for faith begins, so fight to rise your thoughts above doubt and fear and think only of God’s great plan for your life.

In Luke 18, Jesus Christ taught the disciples that they should always pray and never give up. This is the lesson he is teaching all of us today. When we’re facing problems and issues in our relationships, it can make us want to give up and quit fighting the good fight of faith. We may feel that there is nothing we do, but that is never the case. We must be diligent in prayer and faith. Most importantly, we must keep our minds and hearts anchored in the reality of our hope in Christ. We must never forget that the strength of God is within us because the Holy Spirit abides within. You are precious to God, so don’t ever give up. Claim His promises, pray often, and surrender all to Jesus Christ. Let God’s love lead your every action. Regardless of the situation, trust that God will keep His promise to love, protect, and help you as you increase in faith and follow the example of Christ. ■

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

God’s Power Works Best in Our Weakness

2 Corinthians 12:9(NLT)
“Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”

Janice’s daughter was modeling a beautiful wedding gown in a department store fashion show. With a mother’s pride, her eye’s filled with joy as her daughter elegantly strolled the runway beaming with confidence. She thought about how much her own self-esteem had been trampled after finally being free of a three-year abusive relationship. Things between Janice and her on-again-off-again boyfriend worsened during the restrictions and hardships of Covid-19. The arguing was out of control, and her ex-boyfriend dealt with the losses they both experienced by taking it out on her. The verbal and physical abuse was so bad that she began to think she might not survive. Finally, she ended things for good, and after she did, new feelings began to pleasantly resurface. They did so in ways that both surprised and fueled her motivation to live free and make wiser choices.

It doesn’t matter who we are or what station we’ve secured in life, choosing a wrong partner can do a number on your mentality and emotional well-being. We sometimes lose touch with the person we thought we were, and life becomes tainted with disappointment and trauma. Some of us tell ourselves things are going to get better, and we try our best to make them work out, but our self-esteem just gets buried beneath an avalanche of grief. Many of us don’t realize this is happening until we’re actually outside the walls of all that heaviness. We then realize that we had forgotten how to breathe and how to walk in the freedom that God wants every individual to have.

1Timothy 6:12(NLT) tells us, “Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses.” The word “fight” as it is used in this verse means to contend. It makes us think about the contest of athletes who give their all for the prize. In the realm of faith, to fight the good fight of faith is to exert and extend ourselves until we obtain the goal that God has set for us. We are to remain tenacious and encouraged, and we must persevere amid any and all hindrances, believing with all our hearts that we have victory in Jesus Christ.

1John 5:4(NLT) tells us, “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.” Every living and sane individual has a God-given capacity to live the life of abundance that Jesus Christ made available, and we are empowered by Heavenly Father to fight for this level of existence. The battleground of this fight is in our minds. That’s where we prove our faith or lack thereof. Make no mistake, as Christians, we’re commanded by Christ in Mark 11:22 to have faith in God. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that in order to please God, we must have faith in Him. We must believe that God exists, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.

Our minds and hearts, our thoughts and actions, either confirm that we trust and love God with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength, or they affirm the opposite. The mind is the place where the struggle to be free takes place. Jesus Christ gave his life on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins to free us from sin and death. He paid the price of our liberty, and through him we are free. Galatians 5:1 tells us that now that God has freed us through His precious Son, Jesus Christ, we should never allow anything or anyone to put the shackles of slavery on us again.

2Corinthians 3:17(NLT) says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” This is the truth. God has rescued us from any kind of bondage or oppression. This is where our faith and believing must be. Domestic violence and abuse is oppression. It’s a tactic of darkness to imprison an individual in fear and rob them of the power and liberty that Christ made available to us all. To prevent this imprisonment, we must remind ourselves what God told the Apostle Paul in 2Corinthians 12:9(NLT), “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” We are weak, but God is strong, and the way to be released from oppression is to believe what God has said in His Word. It’s to trust that He will strengthen us and continually come to our aid.

In Isaiah 46:4(NLT), God told His people, “I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.” Our Heavenly Father is our Rescuer. Any step we take that is aligned with our faith in His willingness and ability to bless will change things internally and externally. When our actions reveal our faith in Him, light is released in us from God’s Spirit, and the exhilaration of being free in Him is manifested in our emotions. We obtain new confidence, as Janice did, because we remember our identity in Christ and align with it. This is what God wants for us. You may not be able to envision it now but begin to study His Word and build your faith in Him. Look to Him for all you need and watch and see what He does for your life.■

“God's Power Works Best in Our Weakness”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Lord, Hear Me, Save Me, Protect Me

Psalm 86:1-5(NLT)

“1 A prayer of David. Bend down, O LORD, and hear my prayer; answer me, for I need your help. 2 Protect me, for I am devoted to you. Save me, for I serve you and trust you. You are my God. 3 Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am calling on you constantly. 4 Give me happiness, O Lord, for I give myself to you. 5 O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.”

“Lord have mercy upon me. I know that my help comes from You. I need You now!”

Tribulation is a distress or suffering that might oppress a person for quite some time. It can cause gut-wrenching pain that makes us cry out “Lord, hear me, save me, protect me!” Tribulations can strike at the most unsuspecting time, and we’re knocked off our feet because we didn’t see it coming. I recently heard that something like this happened to someone I know. She’s fifty-nine years old, and six months ago, she retired from her job of 35 years. After her retirement, she and her husband relocated to Florida and purchased a new home. She flew back to the North to finalize details of putting their old house on the market and to pack up the rest of their belongings. A few days after her flight back, her husband hit her with something that she never would have expected. He told her that he didn’t want her to return to Florida. When she first heard him say those words, for a moment she thought he’d lost his mind, but then she thought about his behavior over the last month. The signs were there, but she had refused to acknowledge that he was unhappy in the relationship.

After a relationship of over 25 years unexpectedly falls to pieces, you have to deal with emotions you never knew you had. The hurt cuts very deep, and you might feel as though you’ll never heal, but this isn’t true. 1Peter 2:24(NLT) tells us that Jesus Christ “personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.” When Jesus Christ died on the cross, he took all our sins, diseases, and sicknesses with him. Our Lord and Master had never done anything wrong. He was perfect in every way. He never sinned and never did anything against the Father’s Will. He, that was without sin, took on our sins and infirmities, so he could be made the payment for those sins. He was beaten, battered, and bruised for our sakes. He took our place on that cross and completed God’s mission so that we would be saved. Only Christ could accomplish this mission, and because of all that he endured, we can be free from the pain of struggle, strife, and devastating disappointment.

The work of Jesus Christ was not in vain. He suffered an unspeakably tragic crucifixion to save us from the darkness of sin and death. He shed his blood for us, so we cannot behave as though the price for our sadness, disappointment, sickness, and shortcomings hasn’t been paid. Indeed, it has. 2Corinthians 5:17(ESV) declares, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Tribulation cuts us to the core. It causes us to unwillingly travel to a place that we never knew was in us. In that place, pain is shockingly raw. It’s not new but old pain, and it has been residing in that dark place within, a place that has never been exposed to the love of God. It’s not pretty, but suffering can provide the necessary opening to God’s love like nothing else can. The work of our souls is not to allow the pain to remain hidden, but to face it with the confidence that God’s love is infinitely greater than our pain.

Psalm 86:1-5 teaches us that God is our Rescue, our Way-Maker. He hears us when we call. He will save and protect us. He wants us to call on Him when our hearts are broken, and we can’t find our way. Only God has the answers to life’s difficulty, and through Jesus Christ, He’s given us the victory. 1John 5:4(ESV) declares, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” Trials and tribulations are expected and guaranteed in life. The defining factor for any of us is how we weather these storms. Will we trust God and accept the victory Christ has won for us in faith, or will we continue to punish ourselves by blaming the other person and putting ourselves through the ringer?

We have got to trust and believe that God offers us an exponentially better alternative, and it is to let go and let God! Philippians 4:13(ESV) says, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” This is the verse we should be confessing and thinking about all day long. Through Jesus Christ, we are overcomers. Our Heavenly Father is here for us in every situation. He is so good and loving, and He’s ready and willing to forgive any and all our sins and shortcomings, so we must lean on Him for strength and comfort. Isaiah 41:10(NLT) says, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” God will help us, and He will never let us down.

James 1:3(NLT) tells us, “For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” Don’t deny yourself the privilege of witnessing God’s love in a greater way and seeing your faith and courage grow in Him. Heavenly Father doesn’t want you to be a glutton for punishment. He doesn’t like seeing you wallowing in sadness. He wants you to have victory in life, and He is asking you to trust Him with all your heart. No matter what we go through, God is with us, and if we’ll be patient and keep the faith, He promises to comfort and heal our hearts so that we become stronger, wiser, and prepared for all the good things He has in store for our lives. ■

“Lord, Hear Me, Save Me, Protect Me”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.