Maintaining a healthy self esteem is a battle at times for all of us. Our arch enemy, Satan, understands how important a low self esteem is to bring us down. He does not want you to be happy, peaceful, or successful. Never forget that this dastardly enemy never means well — ever! If he fails in keeping you from knowing Jesus personally, his next endeavor is to keep you from having a close, loving, and joyful relationship with God. How does he set out to accomplish this horrible task? He does what he has always done from the beginning. He lies.
Satan wants you to feel terrible about yourself. He wants you to believe any good idea that comes to your mind is foolish. He will whisper that you are stupid, appear silly to others, that someone else could accomplish any task better than you, that you were born a loser and will always be one, that no one respects you, loves you, or believes you to be anything special. His lies are relentless.
Your Heavenly Father, by stark contrast, tells you the truth at all times. He tells you that if He puts an idea into your mind, it’s workable. He is not concerned that someone else may do the task better than you; He is only concerned that you understand the truth of Luke 1:37, “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” He also tells you in Zechariah 4:10, “Do not despise small beginnings for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.” Why does He rejoice? Because He knows what comes next. He knows this small task He has assigned to you, that He has trusted to you, is not only doable, but that pressing on to accomplish all He has given you to do will bring inner peace and joy that cannot be measured. God Almighty desires with all His heart of love that you grow in peace and joy. He wants you to have a healthy self esteem, to understand that He loves you so much, that if you choose to receive the gift of His salvation, you will live eternally with Him. He adores you so much it cannot be measured. Satan hates you so much it also cannot be measured.
Our arch enemy always whispers it can’t be done, you’ll fail, how foolish to even attempt. He always tells you you’re not as good as someone else. Your Heavenly Father urges you to go forth, to trust Him to be your everything to get you through anything. He whispers that He has a plan, custom designed for you, to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) You are in the center of His heart. You are the object of His love; that’s why He sent His Son to pay the ultimate sacrifice so you may live in perfect joy with Him forever. Concerning that future home, He gives us this magnificent promise in Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” Imagine that — gone forever.
God’s eternal joy is yours for the asking. Tell Satan in Jesus’ name to take a hike. Refuse to listen to his relentless lies. Choose instead to focus on Jesus. Do whatever He puts in your heart to do, knowing of a certainty, it’s not important that someone else could do it better — God chose you. He wants to bless you for your obedience to His ways. He knows that with His help you can do anything. If He didn’t know that, He would have never asked in the first place. So, lift your face to the heavens and go forth in joy. Your Heavenly Father is your best cheerleader an
Imagine you see someone fall in the water. It’s quickly evident the person doesn’t know how to swim. You throw them a life saver but they won’t grab hold. It’s their choice. You can’t make them reach out to grab hold of that which would bring them to safety and life. You can only warn and encourage. It’s the same in our spiritual world, whether we are giving needed instruction to a person who does not yet know Jesus personally, or whether it be to a Christian who is straying away from the ways of God. We can only warn and encourage, and this we must do out of our love for our struggling brothers and sisters.
I’m concerned, as many of you, for those who have tasted of God’s goodness, known the immeasurable joy of His comfort, but something happens — an attack by our arch enemy, Satan’s demonic forces. They whisper that sin is pleasurable, that committing sin won’t matter once in a while — but sin always matters.
The Bible often uses the disease of leprosy to illustrate sin and what it does to us. Leprosy damages a person’s sensory nerves. In time those senses become numb. Pain is not felt in fingers and toes; the lack of sensation grows into the arms and legs. This happens to us spiritually when we leave sin unchecked. We become calloused, hearts grow cold and unfeeling to the damage of sin.
Today there is effective treatment for leprosy, but if this disease is left without medical care, then the outcome is fatal. It’s the same with a person who lacks repentance for their sin. It leads to death; not a loss of salvation, but a loss of joy and peace that gives us comfort and strength to get through life’s trials. It also dulls our senses, leading us away from the wisdom of God, taking us instead toward bad decision making. This behavior hurts both ourselves and those we love who observe us as we choose ungodliness over God’s cleanliness.
As leprosy worsens, it renders that a person be outcast. The same happens spiritually. For a child of God to choose a path of sin, it leads them away from true heart fellowship with likeminded brothers and sisters. Such a person desires other things and other people with whom to share their dark ways. This path brings upon a person a growing self-loathing. There is only one cure for such misery — true repentance.
If this is you, do not delay. Return to Jesus again. Grab hold of joy and peace again. Worship in awe and ecstasy again. Truly repent, turning away in sorrow from sin, to life giving joy once more. It’s Jesus. Only Jesus. There is no other life saver upon whom we may grab when we fall into sinful waters.
After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death (James 1:15).
Have you experienced situations in your life when something painful occurs, perhaps something so horrid, that even thinking such a thing could ever take place is unfathomable? When such suffering, even torment roots itself in heart and mind, do you cry out in anguish to God only to feel as Job when he declared, I go east, but He is not there. I go west but I cannot find Him. I do not see Him in the north, for He is hidden. I look to the south but He is concealed (Job 23:8-9 NLT). Does God ever truly absence Himself from us?
Jesus expressed great emotional stress when He knew the time of His agonizing death was near. He prayed the night of His arrest, O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will (Matthew 26:39 NKJV). We know why there could be no other way; because blood had to be shed to pay the penalty for sin. In both physical and emotional agony, Jesus went to the cross trusting His Father. Job’s attitude was the same. We know this because after his declaration above, he went on to write in the next verse, But He knows the way I am going. And when He tests me, I will come out as pure gold (Job 23:10) Then Job writes in verses 11-12, and this is utterly important to anyone’s emotional well-being, I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed His ways and not turned aside, I have not departed from His commands, but I have treasured them more than my necessary food. Job and Jesus gave us perfect examples of how to get through the most difficult suffering we could ever imagine — trust your Father anyway and wait before Him as you pour out your heart full of pain.
Henri Noun, in his book Reaching Out, wrote concerning Jesus’ depth of suffering on the cross, when a sense of both aloneness and trust met each other: “In that moment of complete emptiness all was fulfilled. In that hour of darkness new light was seen. While death was witnessed, life was affirmed. Where God’s absence was most loudly expressed, God’s presence was most profoundly revealed.” Since we know that God does not change and He is the same today as He was yesterday (Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8) then we can know, as Jesus and Job knew — He is our everything to get us through anything, and He will indeed do that very thing. Therefore, give Him your suffering today and trust in His working in your life. Joy is promised along with peace that passes all understanding. As surely as the sun rises after every dark night, so also comes joy in the morning (Psalm 30:5).
The dictionary definition of transformation is: a marked change in form, nature, or appearance. This is what happens when anyone receives Jesus as their Savior. Old things truly are passed away while all things become new (II Corinthians 5:17). Becoming a Christian is far more than forgiveness of sins and a guarantee of eternity in Heaven, although that would be wonderful enough. It is an inward transformation of our mind. That is why Apostle Paul tells us in I Corinthians 2:16 that we have the mind of Christ. What does this mean?
When old things are passed away and we take on having the mind of Christ, we take on attitudes and behavior that Jesus had right here on earth. We see situations and people in a new light. We see hope when life offers despair. We see fear turn into joy. Love begins to permeate our thoughts toward those around us. We see the unlovely person as one whom Jesus loves; therefore, we feel compassion for those who are lost and struggling and who have no hope for a better tomorrow.
When we have the mind of Christ, we do not dwell on sins of yesterday, but upon opportunity to walk in holiness today. We do not seek worldly pleasures that fill our senses with short-lived happiness, but we seek Jesus and long-lived peace and joy. We do not focus on the growing evil in the world, but upon the promise of a new Heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1-5) where sin, nor death, nor sorrow or tears exists any longer.
Our transformed lives today on earth is a training ground to make us ready to see Jesus face to face. When we choose to keep our mind focused on the beauty of God’s Word and upon the power of the Holy Spirit residing within us, Who daily shows us the way to walk and talk and behave, then we are being changed into the image of Jesus, taking on His character. When we change in this manner, then the light of God’s love and joy and peace, is shining for all to see (Matthew 5:16) that other’s, too, may be drawn to be transformed by knowing Jesus. When we walk in our transformation we will surely not be embarrassed or ashamed at how we lived our lives when we finally see Him (I John 2:28).
Let us never waste even one day to walk as kingdom people. Let us ask the Holy Spirit daily to point us in the way to go, to fill us with zealous hope that we may seize opportunities to shine our Light for all to see. Let us seek to offer hope where none exists, to point to Jesus as the only One who gives perfect peace that passes all human understanding (Philippians 4:7).
May blessings overflow upon you today as you live and move in your holy transformation.
Many people take comfort in the beautiful poetry of the book of Psalms. It’s a book in which we see our own humanity with its frailties and failures, while seeing the almightiness of victory and strength in God alone. The verse that comes to mind today is the first part of Psalm 96:1, Sing a new song to the Lord. There are many hymns and praise songs with more being written every day. Is this what the verse is instructing of us? To learn newly written songs? Actually, the meaning goes far deeper. It’s not about a recently developed song, but about an element of us being restored and reinvigorated.
Like David, who wrote most of the Psalms, we find ourselves in perplexing situations. We face anxiety, fear, sorrow, and doubts. Our enemy, Satan, seizes every opportunity to whisper lies that there are no answers, fear is our lot in life, and sorrow and doubt will never go away. These lies can weigh us down, rendering it difficult to even think of a new song, let alone sing one, but this is what we must do. A new song is renewed praise. It is fresh encouragement that comes through praising. It may understandably be asked, Am I to thank God for terrible things that happen in my life, to my loved ones, and in situations around the world?
The above attitude means our focus in on the sorrow itself. It is saturated with fear. Our focus sets our course. As an athlete keeps eyes looking at the goal, so our eyes direct the course on which we run. Paul said, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us (Philippians 3:14 NLT). When we choose to keep our eyes looking at Jesus as we run our race through life’s journey, then songs of praise, refreshing us, comes to our mind and sings from our heart. Our new songs are heart songs that proclaim praises to Jesus.
Troubles, deep troubles, come to us all. We have a choice: focus on the troubles only, and fear will grow, or focus on Jesus who leads us through the troubles, and joy supersedes all our anxiety. A new song is fresh songs of praise no matter our difficulty. Praise and worry cannot co-exist. One will rule over the other. What governs our mood; be it joy and calm or fear and worry, depends upon our focus. Troubles or Jesus? I hope we each choose Jesus who calms the storm, rather than the storm itself. One has us sinking in despair; while the other has us walking on water.
I remember as a child when my mother would often come to my father with a large jar of dill pickles in hand. “Would you open this?” she would ask. I watched as Dad strained with his attempts to open the jar but the lid wouldn’t budge. He would then pass it over to me and say, “Vickie, you try.” I also strained but just a bit as the lid turned and I proudly pushed the now open jar back to my mother. Do you know, I was nearly fully grown before it dawned on me that Dad was always loosening the lids for me. I asked him about it with a laugh. He smiled and said, “You were always so happy that you could open those jars. It made me happy just watching you.” It’s no different with our Heavenly Father.
There are times in all of our lives when we feel what I call, the holy nudge. We sense the Lord leading us in a certain direction, but we feel scared and unprepared. Perhaps it’s something we have never done before. Maybe an opportunity of service to God in our church or community comes across our path. We feel ill equipped to even try. It could be a character flaw that the Holy Spirit has brought to our attention. We need to give Him our anger issues or our fears but we know we can’t do it. It’s in those moments we must remember — we can’t but He can. You and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).
Is Father leading you to do something today, to tackle an obstacle, to tread upon a path you have never gone down before? Please remember, in Christ you are never alone. He is forever loosening the jar lids of life so you can go forth in victory, having opened them, not in your strength, but in His power which never fails.
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