Tag: Encouragement For The Downcast

¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will. ~ Romans 12:1-2

You were once a part of the world. You were once filled with sin. You were once a drunk. You were once an adulterer. You were once a liar. You were once a thief. You were once a homosexual. You were once a sinner. But that’s not who you are anymore.

The world will try to tell you that your past is your identity. Your own mind will try to tell you that your past is your identity, but it’s not once you accept Jesus. Once you accept that free gift of salvation, then you will see your true identity. The identity God intended you to have. I’m not saying that from that moment on, you will never be tempted again by these sins, and you will be perfectly happy. I’m not saying that.

I’m saying that it’s gonna take some work. Why? Because Paul tells us, we have to renew our minds. We have to change the way we think. There is no sin known to man that does not start with an idea or a thought. There’s a choice in everything, whether we see it or not. We have to allow the Holy Spirit to open our spiritual eyes that we may see our escape route.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek Your Escape Route.

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⁵⁰ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. ⁵¹ And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. ~ Matthew 27:50-51

The New Covenant is based on better promises through God –Jesus Christ– Himself. Since the Old Covenant brought death, the new one brought life. God said He would write His new law not on tablets of stone like the Old Covenant but rather on hearts and minds. Therefore, Jesus had to die physically, thus breaking through the veil, which is His body, to let us into the very presence of God. Now we can gaze upon His beauty with unveiled faces to behold the glory of the LORD.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Look Beyond the Veil.

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⁸ The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. ⁹ He will not always chide, nor will He keep His anger forever. ¹⁰ He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. ¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; ¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us. ¹³ As a father shows compassion to His children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him. ~ Psalms 103:8-13

A lot of us carry around the shame of our past, but we don’t have to do that. We don’t have to allow the past to keep us from our future. David said in the Psalms how amazing the love of God was; keep in mind this is pre-grace, so imagine how much more this is true today, during the time of grace. This was written during the time of The Law, but we are now under grace. Under faith. The Law of Liberty. So how much more true is this in today’s world?

Never let the world define your identity because they only want to focus on your past and your current struggles. But our identity isn’t found in those things. Our identity is found in our God. Why? Because our identity is Child of God. Not our sin that we struggled with. Not the sin that we struggle with now. But instead, we are Children of God Most High. We are confident Sons and Daughters of God Almighty.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Live Your True Identity.

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²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. ~ Matthew 11:29-30

Jesus encourages us by telling us that we can carry His yoke, but how is that less than the yoke we are given, as His yoke led Him to death? I believe Jesus was telling us that we can carry His yoke because He already paid the price, He already paved the way, we just have to follow.

Jesus already paid our debt. He paved the ground so that we have a road to run on; we just have to follow His path. Does that mean it’ll be easy? No. At times we will feel like giving up, but Jesus says that if we take His yoke and learn from Him, we will become more like Him. We will become humble, gentle, and most of all, we will find rest for our souls.

The yoke we are taking from Jesus is His peace, His love, His mercy, His kindness, His breath, His life. Through Jesus’ yoke, we can overcome. We are persecuted, beaten, crushed, but we are not overcome. We are not destroyed. Our LORD was persecuted and murdered, but He overcame and defeated death by rising three days later, and in doing so, we shall overcome and defeat death again.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Take His Yoke.

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²⁸ Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. ²⁹ But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. ³⁰ But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” ³¹ So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. ~ Galatians 4:28-31

We were once slaves to sin. We were once slaves to fear. We were once slaves in general, but now we are sons and daughters of God. We are now fellow heirs with Christ Jesus. We have displaced our mistress as we have become overcomers of the world. No longer having to bow down to sin, we are now free from our past mistress, the World. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Live Free.

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³ Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.” ~ Jeremiah 31:3

In a time of great distress and hardship, it is easy to feel hopeless. It’s easy to feel alone. But we aren’t alone because God is with us. Even when we feel alone, God is still there. He is with us always. He never lets us go through the storm alone. Cry out to Him, and He will come to your rescue.

Why? Because God has loved us with an unbelievable love, a never-ending love. He has loved us so much that Jesus was willing to endure a horrific beating and death by crucifixion that we might live with Him in eternity. We are valuable and loved by Him. These are only the signs of the times.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Look For His Second Coming.

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¹² But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. ~ John 1:12-13

We have been reborn of God. We are no longer simply flawed humans doomed to live in sin and filth for the rest of our lives. No, we are now cleansed, redeemed, purified children of God. We are no longer our old selves but instead a new creation in Christ Jesus. We have been redeemed, restored, and given a new life.

We have been set free from the yoke of slavery of sin and have been granted the status of sons and daughters of God The Father. So, we no longer have to give in to sin, but instead, we can overcome sin through Christ Jesus, for we overcome through the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony according to Revelation 12:10-11.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Overcome the Yoke of Slavery.

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¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ~ Revelation 3:15–16

So many people believe that they can hide from the eyes of God. That they can keep their sin a secret, and God would never find out. But God knows all of our deeds. There is nothing that catches Him by surprise or that He is unaware of. Why? Because He is the God who sees us.

And because God can see our every action, He can be there with us if we call on His name. We don’t have to be ashamed of our past because even though God sees our past, present, and future, He still wants us. He still died for us to be saved. We don’t have to be ashamed because no matter what you’ve done, God still loves you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Come Home to His Warm Embrace.

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¹⁵ Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.” ¹⁶ Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” ¹⁷ And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. ¹⁸ Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him. ~ Daniel 6:15–18

King Darius had no choice but to throw Daniel into the den of lions. These men are in agreement all the way. And that is how the devious are. Those who seek full control. Those who want what others have. They come in agreement and create laws that make it seem like it is in your best interest. It is all about you. We want you safe!

Yet, we don’t notice that the whole time the noose is slowly tightening around our necks.

The main aim of deceivers is to have the injunction signed and a stone laid over the mouth and sealed with the king or government’s signet ring that your situation cannot be changed. But God is able to deliver us!

We will not panic. We will not fret. We will have confidence in our God to deliver us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Have Confidence In Your God.

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^18b and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. ~ Matthew 16:18b

Ever since the time of Jesus and the inception of the Church, we have been under attack by our enemies. They have stomped and stomped, but stomp as they may, the gates of hell have never and will never prevail over the Church.

Trials and tribulations will come. Persecution and all manner of evil may come against you, but be encouraged today, because no matter what may come your way, the gates of Hell, the enemy, will never overcome you. For Christ has already overcome the world, and we overcome through Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Overcome Through Christ.

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