Christ Will Rescue You: January 2023

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

The Tough Part is Over

John 14:1(NLT)
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.”

Jesus Christ spoke the words of John 14:1 to comfort his disciples and boy did they need comforting. His ministry on earth was coming to a close, and they were living in truly perilous times. It was a hostile environment no matter how you slice it. Tensions were at a boiling point because people in high places were vehemently against Jesus Christ and those who followed him. The disciples understood that things were bad, but it wasn’t just that. The One that had taught them, protected them, fed them, cried and laughed with them, was going away and told them so. They were heartbroken, sad, and afraid, but Jesus Christ gave them a remedy to all of that, and this remedy is to trust in him.

In our modern world, we trust many things, and do so without thought. With road-rage and the crazy driving of some people, we literally take our lives into our own hands driving from point A to point B. Yet, we effortlessly trust our cars, the roads, ourselves, and other people, and we put our cars on the road each day without hesitation. We trust the technology of our cell phones, and never hesitate to use them even though we don’t have a clue about how they work. We trust the direct deposit of our paychecks in our bank accounts. Even though we have nothing more than a piece of paper, and the money is never placed in our hands, we trust that our paycheck will be in the bank when we need it. On an average day, the things that are in place and working behind the scenes to aid our daily routines are innumerable. We trust all of them automatically and never doubt to any significant degree that our daily routines will not go off without a hitch.

In the natural realm, we trust in what we cannot see. We couldn’t do anything from day to day without that trust, yet when it comes to the supernatural power of our Creator and the Son He sent to save us, many of us have thrown trust to the wind. That isn’t going to bring us the peace that God promises in His Word. We must make a change in our way of thinking.

In John 14:2(NLT), Jesus told the disciples, “There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” Our precious Savior is pointing the disciples and us in the direction of heaven because this is the place where we should anchor our hopes. Jesus is reminding us that when we give our lives to him, we are forever in his care. He didn’t want the disciples to become overwhelmed by the reality of him returning to his Father’s throne. He wanted them and he wants us to trust in the power of the Holy Spirit, and to keep our eyes continually focused on God and the glory He has planned for us.

Life can be tough. It can be far more challenging than any of us ever imagined. The lows are sometimes gut wrenching and devastating, but we are not in this alone. Our Heavenly Father is with us every step of the way, and He invites us to lean on Him. Philippians 4:13 declares that we can do all things through Jesus Christ who gives us strength. We can heal, be better, and be stronger through him. So, our prayers should be about increasing our faith and trust in God through Jesus Christ, because He is committed to helping us. The traumas and heartache we experience sometimes leave us feeling shaky, like there’s nothing holding us together or keeping us from sinking further into an abyss of sadness. More than any other, these are the times we should rest in Jesus Christ, because he’s the One holding us together. He’s our strength and he will never disappoint us.

We must recognize that trying to live without the power, strength, and love of Jesus Christ is the tough part of life. Once we accept him as our Lord and Savior, the tough part is over because the Spirit of Christ lives inside us. He told the disciples in John 14:26-27(NLT), “26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. 27 I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”

Jesus Christ is our Rock of Salvation. He’s our stability, and our everything. He has given us the gift of the precious Holy Spirit, and the Spirit will guide, teach, and remind us of the Words of Christ. Through our blessed Lord, we are not weak; we have power! It is true that we don’t always act as though we belong to God. We may not even feel like we belong to Him, but this doesn’t change the reality and truth that we’re His. God loves us, and He never intended our lives to be hard. He wants us to live life through His love, and we can do this if we surrender our cares and trust Him with all that we are.■

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, January 24, 2023

How Do You Face Life?

Hebrews 11:6 (NLT)
“And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”

I was 27 years old when I experienced what I consider to be serious tribulation in my life. Like any young woman, I had experienced my share of ups and downs with relationships in the past, but nothing could prepare me for a new marriage with an abusive husband. He turned on me like something you’d see in a horror film. I thought I knew this man. We had been dating for the longest time, and there were never any signs that I could recognize. I had been so excited about sharing married life together, but almost instantly my dreams were doused. The fact that I had been so wrong about him left me devastated and insecure about my ability to make good judgments. I had no idea that living day to day with my husband would be a constant fight for my mental, emotional, and physical survival.

Like so many individuals, I asked myself, “how can I face life when nothing makes sense anymore?” The person you love most is hurting you and seems to take pleasure in doing so. After our first big argument, I called my mother for advice. She told me to have faith in God and reassured me that everything would be ok. After repeated abuse, those words were no longer real to me. My pain seemed to be so much larger than my faith, and the distance between the two looked too far to bridge. How would God stop my husband from raging out of control? Did I need to change or do something different? This man had already stolen my peace and contentment, did I need to give him even more?

Proverbs 3:5 tells us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts. With the confusion and chaos of one trauma after the next, we might feel that we can’t get in touch with our own hearts anymore, but we can. Psalm 46:10(ESV), the Lord tells us, “Be still, and know that I am God.” When we’re unsteady, unsure, and insecure, we should turn our total focus on God. We must find at least five to ten minutes each day to get quiet with our Heavenly Father, and that time should increase as our peace in Him returns. In quieting our souls, minds, and hearts and in praying to God, His peace overtakes us. This will help us to more clearly hear His voice.

God also tells us in Proverbs 3:5(ESV), “and do not lean on your own understanding.” Domestic violence is a tool that evil uses to steal our peace and attack our minds and bodies so that we can’t reason as sharply as we should. We make the mistake of thinking that we can handle everything, but this isn’t true. We desperately need God’s help. He commands us not to lean on our own understanding because there’s no way we can see the big picture. Only God knows our past, present, and future. Proverbs 3:6 tells us to acknowledge Him in all that we do. When acknowledging the awesome power and grace of our God is our goal, He promises to direct our paths. He will set our feet in the right direction so that we can rest in His peace, strength, and love.

We don’t need to wrestle with trusting God. Doubting Him leads us to very dark places. Increasing our faith in God and acknowledging Jesus Christ as the head of our lives is the very necessary change that we must make. God wants us to bask in His love and to trust that He will use His power on our behalves. Our Heavenly Father is the Giver of life. He has predestined life’s course. We are not able to do this, and we must surrender to Him. If our mistakes teach us nothing else, they teach us that God’s purpose prevails, and we should follow His guidance to peace and contentment.

It is not always possible to know all the details of how God will rescue us, but He requires us to trust that He will. This is how we face a life that has been disappointing and devastating, with total faith in God. He is never silent when it comes to answering the prayers of His children, but we must quiet ourselves and listen for His voice. We must not allow the noise of life to cloud our spiritual hearing. Instead, we must trust in the reality that our prayers are never forgotten, and our faith will not fail us. Heavenly Father is with us, and He declares in Psalm 94:14 that He will never leave us. We must not leave Him either.

Stay in the presence of God. Changing your mind and heart so that you are on board with what God wants is so important. He tells us in Hebrews 4:16 to draw near to His throne of grace with confidence. And when we come to Him with this confidence and humility, He’s going to work within us. We desperately need to be transformed on the inside so that we can walk in His glorious light every moment of each day. Trust that God will do this work, and that your life will change when you invite the love of Jesus Christ into every aspect of your being. This is what God promises, and He is forever faithful to His Word. ■

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

God's Truth is Hidden in Our Hearts

2Corinthians 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.”

When Julianne met Mark, she said her heart skipped a beat, and that’s how it felt almost every time she was with him. It wasn’t one of those kinds of things where the attraction slowly sneaks up on you. She was hooked instantly, and because of those internal butterflies fluttering away, she allowed herself to fall for Mark completely. She made him her whole world. Her friends complained about her not spending time with them anymore, and her parents saw a different side of her as well. Julianne assured her loved ones that she was just in love, and they didn’t need to worry. She was head over heels about Mark, and very little else mattered. They texted each other at work throughout the day, and spent just about every available moment together, but after a few months, things changed. Mark was beginning to pull away and gave Julianne no explanation why.

Most of us have a sense of the kind of pain that was waiting for Julianne. We’ve either seen it experienced by someone we know, or we’ve caught a glimpse or more of it ourselves. It can be the most severe emotional pain. It’s like the person we’ve let into our hearts has, with one hand, reached down our throats to our very cores and is squeezing and crushing us simultaneously. It may seem like it, but the reality is that no human being has this kind of power over us. In most cases, the ex goes on about his business, and is nowhere in our proximity, yet we may still be hurting as if they were right there, abandoning the relationship all over again.

This is a vicious cycle of pain, and one of the best gifts we can give ourselves is to muster the courage and faith to step out of it. We need to confront our pain with the truth of God’s Word, so that God’s healing power can go down deep. Our Heavenly Father teaches us about how His healing begins in Hebrews 8:10(NLT). This verse reiterates God’s prophecy that was first given in the Old Testament to His prophet, Jeremiah. It states, “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the LORD: I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” For there to be a new covenant as Hebrews 8:10 tells us, there must be an old one. Our Heavenly Father gave the old covenant to His people living during Old Testament times, and He did so through His servant, Moses.

God wrote the Ten Commandments on two stone tablets. He commanded Moses to deliver the tablets to His people, but even while God was writing His commandments and meeting with Moses on Mount Sinai, the people had already violated them. When Moses came down, they had made an idol and were worshiping it. Moses later received a second set of tablets from God, but God’s people continued to violate His statutes and commandments, even after all the miraculous things He did for them. The psalmist wrote in Psalm 78:10(ESV), “They did not keep God’s covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.”

The old covenant is known as the Mosaic Covenant or Law of Moses, but God made a better covenant for us through Jesus Christ. Because of the finished work of the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has poured out His Spirit on us. God’s truth is hidden in our hearts because He has given us His seed, the person of the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:16(NLT) tells us, “For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.” Make no mistake, we are much more powerful than we think, and this is because we are our Heavenly Father’s children. We are strong because He has made us strong, and we need to be confident in this.

Through His Spirit, God has written His Word on our hearts and minds. This means that we have all that we need on the inside to overcome. We can do it because God says we can. Philippians 2:13(NLT) tells us, “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” God is working in us, and we need to have faith in Him so that we can manifest all the good things that He’s planned for our lives. This is what we must remember when the emotional pain we experience seems too much to bear.

2Corinthians 12:9 teaches us that God’s grace is all we need. His power works best in weakness, and life will most certainly reveal this. Julianne literally almost fainted when Mark told her he wanted to take a break, and he ghosted her to the point of total disconnect. She had to be a different kind of woman to heal and become stronger, and although she didn’t think she had it in her, through the Holy Spirit, she most definitely did, and so do we. ■

“God's Truth is Hidden in Our Hearts”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2023. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.