Christ Will Rescue You

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

When We Take Our Eyes Off God

It was hard to listen to one of my dear friends’ frustration this week. For nearly 30 minutes, she complained that her significant other of two-years will never take responsibility for his mistakes. They’ve had many conversations on wanting to move their relationship to the next level, which is marriage, but they have two huge problems. The first is their lack of trust and the second is their inability to communicate with each other about difficult issues. Both are huge barriers that keep popping up and prevents them from moving forward in their relationship.

2 Peter 1:3 (NIV) says “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” The knowledge of God’s Word gives us all the instruction and guidance we need; it covers everything that pertains to living a Godly life. All problems can be resolved through the wisdom of God’s Word, and He has certainly instructed us how to treat one another in a relationship. Whether you’ve been in each other’s lives for six-months or sixteen years, there are disciplines expressed through God’s love that will build a solid foundation for any relationship. One of these disciplines is that both individuals must be vulnerable to one another and be accountable for their actions. This is necessary for the success of their union.

When two people first meet, they should want to bring their very best to the table. They should be the best representation of themselves. As the relationship develops, this shouldn’t diminish but increase. Often, the exact opposite occurs. After the courtship has lasted a few months, folks become too comfortable, and they stop valuing each other as they once did. They allow those very best qualities they exhibited in the beginning to take a backseat.

Colossians 1:11(NLT) contains a discipline that should be in our continual prayer lives. It says, “We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need.” Life in general requires us to be spiritually strengthened through God’s power, and marriage will most definitely require it. Endurance and patience are fruits of the Spirit. God commands us to produce the Spirit’s fruit so we can handle any situation. If we obey His command, we will increase in faith and remain poised to minister to our spouses. Through endurance and patience, we will love and operate out of God’s grace. Yes, there are going to be things about the significant person in our lives that we won’t exactly be pleased with, but the love of God in our hearts will help us navigate this in a way the preserves the unity of the relationship.

We can’t take our eyes off God’s standards or principles. Doing so would allow the enemy an opportunity for his evil attacks. Romans 5:2-5 tells us that our goal must be for God to receive the glory in every situation. This is the hope we can rejoice in. And not only this, we can rejoice when we go through tough times, because they produce patience and endurance in us, and these build character. They build character because we begin to recognize that through tribulations and troubles, God’s strength and power works best. When we look to Him and lean on His love, His Spirit will give us what we need to endure the difficult times in a relationship.

Many of us look to the significant person to be the hope, but our hope must be in God who works in every person that loves Him. It is a hope that will never disappoint, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that indwells us. So, making the decision to trust God and lean on His strength activates the best in us, and it will keep us walking in this grace if we choose love every time.

We can become so engrossed in the demands of a relationship that we lose sight of the reality that our purpose is to be a blessing, not to lose ourselves in the person. When we start constantly blaming them and not looking at ourselves, we lose an opportunity to see God at work within. Doubt then comes into play, because we’ve taken our eyes off God. 2 Timothy 2:5(NLT) tells us, “And athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules.” In significant relationships, we must learn how to submit ourselves to one another in humility and always keep our focus on loving with a heart full of the love of Christ. If we truly want the prize of a loving and faithful relationship, we must follow God’s Word, patiently endure, and let His Spirit take the lead in every aspect of our union.■

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.

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

The Lessons of Love and Heartbreak

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.”

The first time I remember reading 2Corinthians 12:9 was in my late twenties. I was going through a very emotional time and was trying to mend my brokenness. I had an emotionally wrenching breakup with a man that I cared for very much. As with any couple, things were not always easy. We had tough times, but had gotten through most of them, and I truly believed he was man that I’d share my life with, but he didn’t feel the same way. This left a void in my life, and if you’ve ever experienced heartbreak like this, you know how terrible it can feel and how much you want the hurt to stop. It was during this time that 2Corinthians 12:9 brought tremendous comfort, because I knew I needed God’s strength and grace to get me through.

Both my ex-boyfriend and I were Christians. We were adamant about pursuing the things of God and living by the example of Christ. Through most of our relationship, I thought we were on the same page, that we were both preparing for the likely possibility of marriage. I was wrong and ended up being crushed. I couldn’t understand it. Everything had felt so right, and it didn’t make sense for things to fall apart the way they did. As I waded through all the emotions and hurt, I did what must of us do when we’re in the shock of heartbreak; I asked, “God, why did you let this happen to me?”

Proverbs 14:12 tells us that there is a path that seems right, but it ends in death and destruction. None of us really believe we’ll choose this path. We think to ourselves that we’re intelligent and astute enough to not make decisions that end badly, but life really doesn’t care all that much about our intelligence. God has designed life to respond to the truth, so what matters to Him is that we are humble. Our humility keeps us on the right path.

How does it do this—how does humility keep us on the right path? Jesus Christ tells us that without humility, we can’t enter God’s Kingdom; it’s just that important! 1Peter 5:6(NLT) tells us, “So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.” The greatest lesson we can learn about hurt is how to trust God to get over it. The other very important lesson is revealed to many of us in hindsight. After our hearts are broken, we realize the extent to which we must lean on God, so that we make decisions that are guided by Him. Even when we think a person has all the attributes that would make him or her a good spouse, we simply can’t know this to be true. Only God knows who is best for us. If we humble ourselves before Him and ask for His guidance, He will help us make the right decisions.

It was not an easy process of getting over the hurt of this heartbreak, but I prayed a lot, and most importantly, I trusted God. I trusted His Word. Psalm 46:1(NKJV) says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” This verse is my reality and I’m so thankful. It will be your reality too if you trust Him. During the process of God healing my heart, there were times when my mind drifted to doubt and dismay. I had the kind of thoughts can distance you from the understanding you need, but the Spirit of the Lord comforted me. The Lord taught me patience and humility. Through His process, I learned another important spiritual lesson; and it perhaps is the one that most keeps my feet from falling into another trap. I had allowed another human being to be the center of my emotional strength. I depended on another person to do for my soul what only God’s love can do. Lordship belongs to Jesus Christ and no other, and when we humble ourselves to this reality, our healing will be long lasting and life changing.

We don’t have to be defeated by heartbreak. If we pray, obey God, and lean totally on Him, He will elevate us far above the heartache we’ve experienced. The Lord wants us to walk in victory and have a happy life. He will bless us to have a fulfilling relationship that will last, and we must never doubt this. It is natural to mourn the lost of something that has meant so much to us, but we must not campout in misery too long. We should give ourselves a little time to mourn, but then we must remember that we serve a God that gives us grace and mercy. His power works best in our weakness, and as we are committed to move further in His Will, at the right time, He will lift us up and cause us to our heartbreak to fade away. ■

“The Lessons of Love and Heartbreak”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2020. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

God’s Love is Perfection Beyond Compare

1 John 4:18(NKJV)

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”

How do we get the most we possibly can out of love without getting hurt? It isn’t too much of a stretch to think that many have been searching for the answer to this question a long time. Heartbreak, sadness, let-down, loneliness, and disappointment are some of the most painful feelings. We all run the risk of experiencing them when we allow ourselves to care for another individual, but God has given us a way to avoid risking our hearts through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He does this by first helping us to discern real love, and then He gives us a defining characteristic of this love. It doesn’t have fear.

There are many people that will say things like, “I am very careful because I’ve been burned before.” This is typically spoken by a person that has gone through a painful relationship and break-up. It reminds me of when parents warn their children to stay away from fire or anything that is so hot it could burn them. Well, children have been known to disobey their parents, but usually all it takes is one time to touch a hot stove. The burn is so uncomfortable that it makes an indelible imprint and the child will most likely not need to be warned again.

God gives us a similar warning in Proverbs 4:23(NLT). He tells us, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” To guard is to watch what goes in and watch what comes out. God would not tell us to do something we are not capable of doing. He has instructed us to be careful what goes in and out of our hearts, because this is something He holds us responsible for. He’s given us free-will, and we are in charge of this aspect of soul housekeeping.

The love that God is talking about in 1John 4:18 is the love of Jesus Christ. This is the real love that God expects and has commanded us to fill our hearts with. Because we have been saturated with the world’s or society’s definition and standard of love, we mistakenly make this our own, and we must renew our minds to God’s definition of love to correct this. He tells us in Romans 12:2 that we should not allow the world’s culture, traditions, and standards to conform us, but instead, we should saturate our minds and hearts with His Word so that He can transform us into what He desires us to be.

Many of us have developed a fear of people getting too close, because we’ve gotten too close to the hot stove before, and we got burned. It’s the worse feeling but we should know that protecting or guarding our hearts is different from having fear about them. This is because the motivation behind the two is different. Our motivation to guard and protect our hearts should be, first and foremost, to make sure they are open and pliable to God. It’s not about losing ourselves in another person, because this is always a big mistake. We don’t belong to ourselves. 1Corinthians 6:19 tells us that we belong to God, because He purchased us with the price of His only begotten Son’s life. We should only want to lose ourselves in God, to the point that we become like Him and exhibit His nature. We must walk in the example of Jesus Christ so that we please and honor God, and this must always be the most important thing in life to a follower of Christ.

1Thessalonians 2:4(NLT) gives us our mandate. It says, “For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.” Our job is to keep our hearts pure so that when God examines them, He will not find anything like obsession, fear, anger, jealousy, or resentment. Instead, He will find our commitment to put Him first. When we do this, any walls we’ve constructed of fear will come tumbling down, because God’s love is real and perfection beyond compare. It will keep us in perfect peace, as we humble ourselves and stay anchored in His protection and care.■

“God’s Love is Perfection Beyond Compare”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2020. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

When Your Faith is Tested by the Fire

Pain will often bring things to the surface. If we deal with them instead of stuffing them back down, God will heal us so we can go higher in Christ.

1 Peter 1:5-7(NLT)
“5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”

We live in a world where satan blinds the minds of people, and they cannot see the good news about Jesus Christ. Because of the enemy’s tricks, plots, and attacks, we are not going to like everything that happens around us or even to us. Sometimes, things get ugly. They can be both disappointing and devastating, and when these are coupled with worries about our jobs, relationships and our futures, we feel hopeless. Sometimes we question why we should even try. Well, God tells us in His Word that nothing happens by happenstance. For everything, there is a reason. We may not always understand the reasons why things happen, but we can be sure that God wants us to trust Him and keep the faith, no matter what we’re facing or going through.

If you find yourself in a dark and dismal place, where you’re asking, “What am I living for?” The answer to this question can be found in the Words that our God spoke to Moses in Exodus 9:16(NLT). He said, “But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Our lives do not belong to us, they belong to God. He purchased them with the highest price that could be paid in all of eternity, and that price was the life and sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. We are alive because God loves us, and He wants to reveal this love to, by, and through us. He thought about us long before we ever entered our mother’s womb, because Ephesians 1:11 tells us, “Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.”

It’s never God’s intention for us to live beneath our privilege or to experience lack, loneliness, and problems, but sometimes we encounter painful situations in life. When we go through difficulty, Jesus Christ wants us to lean on him and trust God with all our hearts. He has all power in His hands, and because of His great love for us, He will use his power to help us through any situation we face.

Romans 8:28(NLT) says, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Heavenly Father tells us that HE causes ALL things to work together for our good. We must continually feast on these words as we face tribulations and trouble. These challenges are sent our way by the devil, and they are to test our faith and to draw our attention away from our relationship with God. We must not allow this to happen.

Yes, sometimes our faith is tried by the fire, but 1Peter 1:5 tells us that God is protecting us by His mighty power. Trouble doesn’t last, and God has promised that wonderful joy lies ahead if we endure. And we endure by renewing our minds, by constantly capturing those negative thoughts and replacing them with the truth of God’s Word. This is how we hold tightly to God’s hand as He walks us through the healing process. So, we must never give up, no matter what the devil throws our way. We can be strong because our God is strong. Leaning on Him in faith means that we are using our lives to bring Him glory, and we are acknowledging that He is an Awesome God who makes life worth living.■

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.

“When Your Faith is Tested by the Fire”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2020. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Thursday, May 28, 2020

Praise Him Through the Pain

Psalm 137:1-4(NLT)

“Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. 2 We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees. 3 For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!” 4 But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land?”

God’s people knew that praise was very important to Him, and they loved to praise Him through song. Even so, the Bible records in the Old Testament that they were a vacillating people and did not always remain faithful to Heavenly Father. They did the unthinkable, and worshipped idol gods, and this was something our Heavenly Father forbids. Because of their disobedience, terrible things happened. They were exiled in Babylon, and their hearts were broken because of how far they had fallen from the lives they once had when they worshipped God. The passage in Psalm 137:1-4 tells us that they sat by the rivers of Babylon and cried. They put away their instruments and couldn’t imagine even singing anymore because their souls were so full of sadness.

This passage allows us to look through the keyhole and examine the cost that the Children of Israel paid for choosing to disobey God. When they were living the good life, able to do just about anything they wanted and could enjoy the fruit of their land, they were contented and comfortable. They took God’s blessings for granted and got to a point where they no longer thanked Him for His goodness, grace, and mercy. Then tragedy struck, and many of them were forced to live in bondage in a foreign land while their home, Jerusalem, was ruined.

What do you do when you find yourself in a place in life that you never expected? Many of us today are facing the darkest times that quite possibly we’ve ever seen. Many have lost their loved ones, while others have lost their jobs and have no way to support their families. The stress of the unknown is mounting in leaps and bounds, and child and domestic abuse is increasing as well. Many are saying the same thing the Children of Israel said, “How can we praise God while we are suffering?”

Life has a way of delivering the unexpected. You can end up in places you never in a million years thought you’d be. You pray relentlessly for God to take away the hurt and pain, but the pain lingers, and it feels overwhelming. In Philippians 4:6(NLT), God tells us exactly how to handle our emotions in troubling times. He said, “Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”

Your troubling situation does not define you. We are going through, but God guarantees that if we remain obedient and cling to Him, we will come out on the other side. Jesus Christ won the victory for us on the Cross of Calvary. He redeemed us from the curse of sin, and because of his stripes and the brutality he endured, we are healed of all sickness and disease. Not only does God instruct us to pray, He tells us also to praise. Many of us commit to the first part, but neglect the second part. Heavenly Father commands that we to come to Him with the reality of the cross and what Christ has done for us on our minds and hearts. We are to remember continually that He gave His only begotten Son to die so that we can have a more than abundant life.

God tells us to thank Him as we pray. To thank Him is to praise Him already because we’re confident He’s going to honor His promises and bless us. We are to rejoice in thanksgiving while we pray because of who we are praying to. He is the One True God, the Alpha and Omega, the Creator of all that we see. He wants to celebrate His strength and power with us. It should never be said of anyone that loves God that we celebrate and praise humans more than we praise Him. Only He is worthy of our praise.

We are greater than the pain we go through. Romans 8:37 tells us we’re more than conquerors in every situation through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Burdens sometimes get heavy, and it isn’t easy facing some of the troubles we endure, but God is our Deliverer. He is a very present help, and He will honor His Word. So even though our feelings might try to rob the song in our hearts, we must resist this and give God the praise and honor He is due. Our victory is in the praise, and if we continue to hold on to God’s hand, we will witness His amazing power and grace in our situations. ■

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Never Give Up

Isaiah 40:31 (NLT)

“But those who trust in the lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”

Christians are not exempt from trials and tribulations. As a matter of fact, because we are Children of God, we are likely to have even more difficult hurdles to jump through. Jesus Christ told us in John 10:10 that the thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy. The thief that Jesus is talking about is the devil, God’s number one enemy. God has told us about the devil so that we would not be ignorant of his devices. To prevent the growth of our faith and our relationship with God is the devil’s main objective, but God’s Word declares in 1John 4:4 that the Spirit of God that is in us is greater than the evil spirit that runs the world.

We must see through the enemy’s tricks and plots, because we need to be as spiritually strong in these dark times as we possibly can. The question you may be asking yourself is when will the pain and hopelessness go away? You just want to be happy and feel good again, and you think it’s hard to feel good when you’re not sure of your future.

Uncertainty causes all kinds of mental and emotional pressure. This is why Isaiah 40:31 brings us such incredible comfort and clarity for these turbulent times. Our trust must be in God, and we cannot have more faith in the bad stuff than we do in Him. Our trust in God is the antidote to our pain. He will cause us to find new strength, it’s a source of strength we never thought about before. He can do this because He knows us through and through, and His resources and blessings never run dry.

James 4:7(ESV) tells us, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Submitting ourselves to God means that we humble ourselves under His mighty hand. It means that we understand He is all-powerful and all-knowing, and most importantly, it means that we know that He gave the most precious treasure He had, His Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for our sins. This is how much God loves us. So, we have to ask ourselves a question. What do you do when someone loves you more than words can say? Well, the answer is very simple. When someone loves you more than anyone else is capable of loving you, more than likely, you love them back.

You and I can’t make God more than what He already is, but what we can do is love Him the way He says we ought to. The way that you and I show our love for God is to let Him change us from the inside out. We do this by surrendering to Him totally and giving Him total control over our lives. We can bring Him our pain, worries, and sadness, and He knows exactly what to do with them.

1Thessalonians 5:5 tells us that when we accept the love of Christ into our hearts, we become children of his light, and we are no longer of the darkness. God’s love brings us out in the open, where we stop allowing our feelings to make decisions for us, and instead find our strength in God. Only through Him can we soar high on wings like eagles. Only through Him can we run and not grow weary. He is your strength, and if ever you feel like you can’t go on, never give up. Turn to God. Trust Him, because He loves you, and His love will carry you through. ■

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

A Life that Brings God Honor

Jeremiah 13:1-11(NLT)
“This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it on, but do not wash it.” 2 So I bought the loincloth as the Lord directed me, and I put it on. 3 Then the Lord gave me another message: 4 “Take the linen loincloth you are wearing, and go to the Euphrates River. Hide it there in a hole in the rocks.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates as the Lord had instructed me.

6 A long time afterward the Lord said to me, “Go back to the Euphrates and get the loincloth I told you to hide there.” 7 So I went to the Euphrates and dug it out of the hole where I had hidden it. But now it was rotting and falling apart. The loincloth was good for nothing.

8 Then I received this message from the Lord: 9 “This is what the Lord says: This shows how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem. 10 These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They stubbornly follow their own desires and worship other gods. Therefore, they will become like this loincloth—good for nothing! 11 As a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me, says the Lord. They were to be my people, my pride, my glory—an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me.”

“Haven’t you learned anything!” This is what my grandmother would say to me if I made the same mistake repeatedly, especially if she had told me several times not to do something. I cringed when I saw that look of disapproval on her face. I never wanted to disappoint her. God’s people in the passage of Jeremiah 13:1-11 took a very different approach. They didn’t think twice about the harm they’d do to their relationship with God by repeatedly disappointing Him. They were consumed with their own agendas. They did very wicked things that were against His Will, and they refused to listen to Heavenly Father. Romans 8:7 tells us that this is a mindset that is an enemy against Him, and it is the worse place to be in life.

As we mature into adults, life becomes a bit more complicated than when we were children. Everything was much simpler when we relied on our parents and caretakers, but as we grow and develop, our expectations change, and we want more. Wanting more is a sure sign that more will be required of us. We’ll have greater responsibility, and we will be held to a higher level of accountability. For many of us, this is where fear kicks in as well, because we feel as though we don’t have what it takes to measure up to life’s’ demands. This fear can also cross over into relationships with the significant people in our lives.

We all have an idea of how we want things to turn out. The kind of house we want to live in, the kind of person we want to marry, the job, the car…we see ourselves having all these things. They are included in our dreams and aspirations but acquiring them isn’t nearly as easy as we imagine, and sometimes the things we want do not line up with God’s will and plan.

God always wants what’s best for us. He tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6 to trust in Him with all our hearts and don’t lean on our own understanding. He knows the path we should take in life and He will direct us on this path if we will acknowledge Him in everything we do. This is where some of us fall off the wagon. We don’t acknowledge God’s power, guidance, and provision. Like the people in Jeremiah 13:1-11, some of us stubbornly follow our own desires and worship other people, relationships, and things rather than the Creator who made them.

When we take this kind of attitude and behavior, nothing works out the way we want it to, and it is because we will not listen to God. We must change this. God reminded His people living in Old Testament times of the covenant He had made with their ancestors. This covenant was that as long as they worshipped Him and kept His commandments, they would be a blessed people. But they continued to do as their ancestors did and worshipped idol gods. They would not turn from their wicked ways. The world we live in today may not look like it did two thousand years ago, but God’s Word and Will has not changed. He demands obedience.

Because of what our Lord and Savior accomplished through his sacrifice and resurrection, today you and I live under a new and better covenant. His blood was shed for the remission of our sins, and through Jesus Christ, we have been made clean and given the gift of righteousness. There’s nothing more we have to do but choose to live for God. He desires an intimate relationship with each of us.

The loincloth used in the record of God’s instruction to Jeremiah was indicative of what happens when our lives are not used for God’s glory. Our dreams and aspirations turn to mush. They rot and our lives fall apart, but through Christ we can change this. We must choose to let the Lord lead us, even when things don’t look and feel the way we want them too. We must be confident in His love for us and follow the example of Christ so that our lives will be for God’s glory and bring honor to His name. ■