Christ Will Rescue You

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Don’t Fail Under Pressure

1Corinthians 10:13(ESV)
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

At the end of our day, some of us just want to collapse on the sofa and forget about everything, but we know we can’t. Most of the time, life feels like a chore, and we’ve forgotten what happiness looks like. The pressure to keep all the balls in the air is relentless, and in the back of our minds, we’re wondering how much longer we can go on with things the way they are. It seems that pressure is coming from all directions, and that’s not the way God designed life. Many people feel boxed in by anxiety over problems they don’t believe can be solved, and this kind of pressure shows up in all kind of situations; social, recreational, work, and family. It causes us to feel as though we must achieve and accomplish everything on our plate in order to meet the expectations of others. In this way, some pressures in life can create a kind of personal pain, and it moves us further away from the peace and contentment God wants us to have.

A vital piece of information that is very helpful to handling pressure is the reality that we can change its impact on our lives. The stresses of life are different for everyone, and by the same token, each of us handles them differently. What you consider stressful might not be stressful for someone else. The situation is very similar, but the other person might communicate and respond to it in a way that masters the moment. So, we can very definitely be taught to tap into our innate and intuitive skills in a greater way. If we take a pause and retrain our minds to respond in faith, we can end up being a strong and resourceful benefactor to our very own lives.

This is possible, and we know that it is because God tells us so. 2Timothy 1:7(NLT) declares, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” This verse informs us that God has given some yummies. He’s given us spiritual gifts and callings, and Romans 11:29 tells us that He doesn’t do a take-back. In other words, He will never revoke or withdraw them. So, in 2Timothy 1:7, He provides some phenomenal and extremely helpful information. First, He reveals that fear and shyness or timidity are spirits, and they don’t come from Him. The second is the glorious reality that He indeed has given us a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline. These came from Him, and He will not take them back.

We are empowered by God to run the race that He has set before us, and He tells us in Hebrews 12:1 to strip off all the weight that slows us down so we can run with endurance. There’s so much that we can glean from that wisdom. Right off the bat, we see that we need to strip off some stuff, and we are the ones to do the stripping. We are not weaklings. In truth, through Jesus Christ, we are spiritual powerhouses. Hebrew 4:16(NLT) says, “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” We are to come before God’s throne with the boldness of knowing who He has made us in Christ. He knows what He’s given us. He knows that He’s empowered us to be more than conquerors through Jesus Christ, but we have to know it, and we have to own it.

You are not a failure, so do not fail under pressure. Through Jesus Christ, God has made you able to walk this earth with confidence, peace, and enjoyment. He’s given you the spirit of love, power, and self-discipline to accomplish this. So, when we pause to contemplate our lives, we must recognize that some of the stuff we’ve been carrying has nothing to do with the God’s purpose for our lives. We must wake up to the reality that running the wrong race with extra weight we were never meant to carry is not a workable strategy. When we can’t see a way to strip off what weighs us down and put on what sets us free, the pressure has interfered with our ability to concentrate on the purpose for which we were called. It’s moving us away from the place God has destined us to be. We must have total confidence that He can get us back on track, but we have to want this for ourselves, and we must be willing to surrender to Him.

God says in Philippians 4:6(NLT), “Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” That’s a choice! It’s a choice to say to God that you are willing to place all your trust in Him. This is precisely what He commands us to do in Proverbs 3:5-6(NLT), “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” God is the One with the plan for our lives, and when we decide to lean on Him, He will make our burdens light. Come boldly before God’s throne. Tell Him all about your cares and do so with faith and a humble heart. Then listen, for He knows how to get your attention. He’s going to give you strategies for peace and victory, and as you follow them, the pressures in your life will be relieved. ■

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.

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, April 25, 2023

Use the Keys

Ephesians 6:11(NLT)
“Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.”

1John 4:8 tells us that God is love, and it also says that a person who doesn’t love doesn’t know God. Human beings are God’s creation. We were made from His love and He expects our lives to be the very essence of His love. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are His masterpiece, His finest work, and He created us to do the good things He planned even before the foundation of the world. In case you didn’t know it, God has a plan! And because He knows the end at the very beginning, His planning skills are off the chart! He’s brilliant beyond brilliance, and magnificent beyond magnificence. His plan is so magnificently brilliant that we can behave poorly, make all kinds of mistakes and bad calls, and spend our whole lives on ridiculousness, and none of that will alter His plan one bit. He hopes that we will go along with His Will so that we can receive all the blessings that come with it, but this is a choice that He leaves completely and utterly up to us.

God commands us in Ephesians 5:2(NKJV) to “walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” To walk in love is to first understand what love is. Christ is our example of what it means to live in Christ-like love, so we need to always keep our eyes on him. To walk in love conveys the reality that love is action. It is not stagnant or stale. It does not sit around and wait for action. Love is defined by the nature of our God, and by its very definition, love motivates, creates, and changes things for the better. Love does not push or shove. God tells us in 1Corinthians 13:4-5(NLT), “4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.”

God makes it clear to us in 1Corinthians 13:4-5 that love has a beautiful nature and a high standard of care, compassion, and do-rightness. God didn’t make this difficult for us to understand. In truth, it’s easy to comprehend how love behaves, and we’ve been empowered by God to duplicate love’s behavior and actions. We should all aspire to love in the way that God has instructed us, and we most certainly should stand flatfootedly on what He has said and not invest in a significant relationship where someone loves us less.

Deep down, most of us realize this. We know that we deserve to be loved well, but in some cases, the person we love begins to behave as if they don’t love us. They abuse us. Sometimes they push and shove, physically and/or emotionally, and it’s painful and heartbreaking. When domestic violence and abuse imprisons our existences, we don’t feel as though we have a key that opens the door to our freedom, but indeed we do. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 16:19(NLT), “And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” Jesus Christ has given us access to the Kingdom of Heaven. We have the key! And no one can ever take it away from us.

The act of abusing another living being is not logical, rational, or natural. Abuse doesn’t come from the Kingdom of Heaven, but from the realm of darkness. It is confusing and chaotic for both the abuser and the person being abused. Trying to make sense of it by anything other than darkness and oppression isn’t possible. However, what you can do is make sense of your own life, because the truth of God’s Word makes it crystal clear that your life is supposed to make sense. When things are chaotic, Jesus Christ has given us a heavenly approach, and it’s not complicated, we just have to use the keys!

Everything is spiritual
John 4:24(NLT) tells us, “For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” God is Spirit, and everything He does and everything He creates has its origin in His spiritual realm. From this, we can know that everything begins with the spiritual. Through prayer and faith, we draw it down and transfer it into our physical or natural realm on earth. So, to use the keys, you must be aligned with who God is and who He has made you through Jesus Christ. To do this, there are three things you must believe wholeheartedly in your mind and heart. The first of which is in Hebrews 11:3(NLT), “By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.”

Everything, from the rooter to the tooter, came from something that cannot be seen with physical eyes. We cannot see faith and we cannot see the Spirit of God, but through His faith, God made everything, and we can see His handiwork of creation. Hebrews 11:3 affirms that everything was formed at God’s command. Therefore, everything is spiritual, because everything in the entire universe was made by God. If we understand and believe this, we are poised to take possession of our peace, love, power and authority in Christ.

The Spiritual is more real than the natural
We must never forget that God is our Creator, and He created everything. Often, people think of this world as being more real than the spiritual realm of God, but nothing could be further from the truth. 2Corinthians 4:18(NLT) says, “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” This three-dimensional world is temporary. It will not last forever, but God’s Kingdom will never end. The Spiritual realm of God is more real than the world our physical eyes see. This is the second truth we must wholeheartedly believe. When this is firmly anchored in our hearts and minds, we’ll understand that the keys that Jesus Christ has given us are infinitely more powerful than anything this earth has to offer.

God’s Spiritual Armor never fails
Weapons made by human hands and techniques developed by human intellect will not defeat a spiritual enemy. The fight is a spiritual one. Ephesians 6:12-13(NLT) tells us, “12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.” You are a spiritual being having an earth experience, not the other way around. Many of us are in a spiritual battle, and we don’t even know it. We’re trying to fight a spiritual war without God’s spiritual armor, and that won’t work.

The keys give you access to the wealth of heaven, but if used on the wrong door, they can also give you access to the exact opposite of God’s blessings. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9(NKJV), “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” Jesus Christ is the door you want to enter. Your willingness to stop leaning on yourself and others, and to lean solely on him is what allows you to walk through that door.

Confusion and chaos are the enemy’s territory, but Christ has given you the keys to victory and peace. Make a commitment to cooperate and give your full attention to him. Use the keys with faith! Say what he says and think what he thinks about you. Speak good things over your life and do the loving and kind things that Christ does. Build yourself up in his strength by feeding your mind the scriptures. Stay off social media and stay in the promises of God’s Word. Let the power of God work through you and trust that you will accomplish more for your life through your faith in Him than you ever could without it. ■

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Rejoice in Your Inheritance

James 2:5(NLT)
“Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn't God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren't they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him?”

As His people, the Lord calls us to always keep our eyes on the greatness of His glory, love, power, and majesty. He is a sovereign God, and no other in all of eternity can compare to Him. He requires us to keep our minds on His goodness, and this prompts us to stay in the present, and not get ahead of His guidance. God knows the end at the beginning, and the events of life and history unfold the way they do because every Word that proceeds from His mouth is true. It’s a done deal. If God says something is going to happen, it is going to happen. He is not moving us about like robots, but His prophecy will unfold exactly as He has spoken, and every drop of what He has spoken in His Word has either already come to pass, or it will do so in the future. He knows everything there is to know about everything, so we can place our total trust in His protection, provision, and care, because our future is in Him, and indeed our future belongs to Him.

God said in Jeremiah 29:11(NIV), “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” You and I don’t know our futures, but God does. We can’t predict what is going to happen, but even before the foundation of the world, God knew every detail of our existences. Nothing we do is a surprise to Him. What is important to God is that we are with Him and have faith in His love, strength, and power.

In Jeremiah 29:11, He tells us that He wants us with Him for a very, very, very long time. He is the only One that can give us a future, and He reveals His plan to us. His plan will not harm us, but instead give us hope and a future with Him. He secured that future for us when He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to give his life as a sacrifice for our sins, and then He resurrected Christ from the dead. Through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God made good on His promise to give us a future and a hope. He’s given us an inheritance in Christ, so He has even more treasures to share with us? His giving and goodness never ends!

God’s Will and desire for us is to have a wonderful present and future, enjoying our relationship with Him. In the past, before we gave our lives to God through Jesus Christ, we were in rough shape. Ephesians 5:8(NIV) tells us, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” We were in the dark before we knew the light of Christ, and for some of us, that darkness was one struggle after another.

A while back, I read the testimony of a woman in an abusive marriage. After an adulterous affair, her husband left her and their three children, but refused to give her a divorce because he didn’t want to pay support. Afraid of what he might do to her, she felt imprisoned in a home she couldn’t afford on her own. She was afraid that he could come in at any time and reap havoc on their lives and abuse her even more. She was desperate, and for the first time in her life, she prayed and asked the Lord Jesus Christ to come into her heart. After that, things were very challenging for a while, but she discovered that through Christ, she was much stronger than she thought, and many doors began to open for her and her kids. They escaped that terrible situation, and now they no longer live in fear, but in the light of Christ.

We must believe and trust God that we can come out of the darkness and into the light where His love and strength abides. He doesn’t want us to struggle and live a painful existence; that’s not His Will. Jesus Christ said in John 14:6(NIV), “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus Christ is the way, and if we will allow him, he will lead us out of darkness so that we can see the blessings that God has for us. In the dark, we can’t see, but when we accept Jesus Christ into our hearts and as our personal Lord and Savior, the light gets turned on. We leave the old in the past and welcome the new!

God is showing us what it means to be wrapped in His love. It means that He gives us the bounty of His spiritual goodies now, and He still has an inheritance waiting for us to receive even more. 1Peter 1:3-5(NLT) says, “3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance--an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 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.”

In our relationship with Heavenly Father, He wants us to enjoy the communion and fellowship we share with Him. We can’t do that if we’re worried, anxious, and afraid about our futures. If we’re panicked with uncertainty, we wouldn’t delight in Him in the way He deserves. In Peter 1:3-5, He lets us know that He’s taken care of all our worries about the future. He guarantees a wonderful inheritance for all those who love Him and have accepted Christ, and to give us assurance of this, He’s placed His Holy Spirit inside us. Ephesians 1:13-14(NLT) says, “13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.”

Romans 8:17 says that we are children of God and fellow heir with Jesus Chris, our Lord. We are in Christ because we accepted the salvation God offered us through him, and Christ is in us because his Spirit lives on the inside of us. God is showing all the treasure that is in Christ because through Christ, He is dwelling in us. Our Heavenly Father wants us to know that when we look in the mirror, we are seeing His best because we are seeing Christ. God is not hiding away. He’s in us! And there’s so much more on the way. So, let’s never give up hope. Learn about all that God has given you and rejoice in your inheritance. Your completeness is in Christ, and as you awaken your mind and heart to your reality in him, his brilliant and everlasting victory on the cross will transform your life! ■

“Rejoice in Your Inheritance”, 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.