Daily Doses of Gospel "PiLLs": salvation

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Have You Gone Out Full Only to Return Empty?

Read the Book of Ruth

How many of us have gone out ready to win the world, full of hope, dreams, and ambitions only to return gleaning sheaves of empty hopes and promises? Raped and victimized by this thing call life. That education you invested so much time and money or that marriage of many years that ended up in heart-breaking divorce, the ministry your poured into, the people you faithfully served that turned out to be a disappointment, the business deal that never took off, or the business that went bankrupt? How about the dream of motherhood and life-long parenting, only for it to be shattered by miscarriages, the inability to conceive, or death?

Have you gone out full like Naomi, which means "pleasant, lovely, and delightful", only to come back Mara, "bitter and sad"? Naomi knew the joy of going out full and the devastation of coming back empty. She knew what it felt like to have dreams dissipate like smoke rings in thin air. Does this sound anything like you?

Jeremiah 29:11 speaks of God's designed plan for our lives. He has a purpose for our lives, but it is only when we acknowledge Him will that plan be revealed. Life is a grindstone, and whether it grinds you down or polishes you depends on what you are made of and your view of God. Do you believe that God is in control of your most difficult circumstance? Your circumstance may have surprised you, but it didn't catch God by surprise.

If you've gone out like Naomi only to come back empty, then may I suggest that you give the broken pieces of your wounded life to the only one who can put it back together again. God can heal a broken heart, but He has to have all the pieces.

Narda Goodson

First Lady of Whitewright, Texas

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Monday, November 23, 2009

When Faced with Opposition, Take Your Position!

Discouragement and desperation are tools that the enemy uses to keep us from reaching our goal in Christ. From the beginning of time many have given up their dreams and hopes due to the incessant assaults from the enemy. This is why we are admonished in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to cast down every imagination and thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.

There are times we will feel like we want to concede defeat. The pressures of life dig at you without mercy. The relentless stress, anxiety, and demands of your problems increase as you find your ability to cope decreasing. You begin to lose your grip in life and eventually, you breakdown in despair.

The word discourage in its verb form means oppose, hinder, inhibit, prevent, stop, and suppress. It also means dishearten, cast down, and depress. When you have been beat down by ‘discourage’, you fall into a state of discouragement.

Discouragement is a saddened and cast down feeling we experience when we disallow the Word of God to have absolute dominion over our thought life. It is a deterrent, whose ultimate goal is to lead you away from God. Once discouragement has settled and permeated your heart, its doppelganger, desperation kicks in.

Desperation is the state of extreme anxiety. At this stage, you encounter the brutal assaults of distraction, misery, harassment, and nervousness from “the thing” that initially came against you. The continual onslaughts of “the thing” that opposes and suppresses you have brought you to this gloomy place called desperation.

When we are desperate, we become forgetful and apprehensive. We do not function at our best because we focus more on “the thing” rather than staying committed and steadfast to what the Word of God has said about the situation. While it is the enemy’s assignment to pursue and hassle you to the point of taking you off course, your job is to keep your guard at all times. 2 Timothy 2:3 says that we are to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

There are many who are being “opposed” by the enemy. This word is a reminder that you are to take your position in your opposition, for the battle belongs to the Lord. The Bible declares that He that has begun the good work in you will complete it (Phil. 1:6).

God’s grace is more than enough to get you through the storms of life. By refueling your spiritual gas tank with the Word of God, your enemy will not be able to wear you down. Determine that you will finish what God has started. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Destroy the spirit of a quitter!

Tilt your heart towards the SON!