Darkness and Holidays

Times can be hard. Life can be hard. Each person will face times of pain, separation, loneliness, despair, grief, and loss. These times seem to hit us hardest during holiday seasons. We each want to be joyful and cheery. We want to laugh, but the pain often overwhelms us. What should cause joy to erupt from us, holidays and celebrations, causes inner turmoil and pain. Tears easily come to our eyes as we think of that which assaults us.

Some people mean to be kind when they tell you, “Dig deep and you can overcome the problem.” Other people say you must put your mind to it and pull yourself out of the black, dark hole. Some people shake their heads and consider you a weak person for allowing yourself to stay in the miry bog. Satan wants you in that place. He pushes down on you, so you feel alone and overwhelmed with your pain, grief, loss, loneliness, despair, and separation.

When you dig deep within yourself, you can only go as deep as your own strength. We are human and only have mortal strength. Our strength is not overcoming strength. Putting your mind to the problem isn’t always enough. Our minds are fragile and not strong enough to overcome every pressure of life. We are human and so we are not strong enough to combat alone some of the troubles Satan throws at us. Yet, there is One who is stronger than anything or anyone who can come against you. God, the Creator of everyone and everything, is greater and stronger than anything the forces of darkness can hurl at you. None of us is strong enough to combat the arrows and darts of Satan all the time, but God is.

How does that help us while we are battling to stay afloat in the raging waters of our troubles? Because God is greater, stronger, more powerful, faithful, and loving, He wants to walk with us as we go through troubling times. Nothing can overpower God; He is immortal and omnipotent. Consider what Paul wrote to the Roman Christians in Romans 8: 28, 31, 33, 35, & 37-39,

²⁸ And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
³³ Who will bring a charge against God’s elect?
³⁵ Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
³⁷ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, not depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. [NASB]

Jesus is the Conqueror, and with Him as His disciples, we can overwhelmingly conquer whatever Satan hurls toward us. Consider, too, God said to seek Him, and He will be found. The Bible records God saying this many times: Jeremiah 29:12-14, 2 Chronicles 7:14, 1 Chronicles 28:9, Deuteronomy 4:29, and Proverbs 8:17. Other scriptures passages state this, too. God tells us He is always available to us; we must seek Him with our whole being-our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

How can you get through your trials, troubles, and pain? Seek God. How do you seek God?

Pray. Humble yourself and seek Him. Ask Him to make Himself known to you. Tell Him your troubles, pain, and difficulties. Express your understanding that you cannot handle these alone. Give your troubles, your burdens to Him. Paul said in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” God already knows your situation, but when you come to Him in prayer, you humble yourself and recognize you are too feeble to fix the problem and God is almighty; He is able. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Listen for God’s guidance. Wait for Him and His relief. Lean fully on Him.  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 [NASB]) God will be with you. He will walk with you through your hard times and give you His strength and peace for the journey.

Read the Bible. Added to praying, you can read the Bible, God’s Word, to hear from Him, to gain encouragement and guidance, and to know Him better. Through Scripture reading, God reminds you how He has worked in the past. He tells you how He wants you to live in the present. God assures you He walks with you through this current trouble, pain, and trial. Hear God’s words to Joshua and the Israelites in Joshua 1:5b. “I will not fail you or forsake you.” Consider Deuteronomy 31:6, “Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave or forsake you.” David wrote in Psalm 46:10-11, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted over the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.” Over and over in the Bible, God reminds us He will be with us if we seek Him with our whole being. God loves each of us and wants to be your God, to guide you, give you strength, and remind you of the hope you have in Christ Jesus.

Pray again. After you’ve read God’s Word, and He’s brought to your mind His words and deeds of power and encouraged you, pray again. Pray thanking Him for His love, guidance, power, and faithfulness. Pray asking Him to give you His strength to get through your trials. Pray asking Him to help you keep your eyes on Him and not on your storm. Pray asking Him to fill you with His joy even in the midst of your troubles, pain, and trials. And, if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, pray asking Him to save you from your sins and to give you new life in Him. God is always faithful to His children. He says He will always be found by those who seek Him with their whole being. When you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you, too, will be a child of God.

Other. Maybe prayer and reading the Bible is enough for you or possibly God has given you another voice by which to express yourself. Use that voice, whether in music, song, writing, dance, art, or whatever the medium to bring your cares before God, process His Word, and give Him your trust, your heart, and your trouble. Let that voice help give you release and relief by giving your cares to God. Express your faith in Him to walk with you through your hard time, and gain strength from Him-His faithfulness, love, and power. Consider how David felt in the midst of trials. He took them to God and lamented to God about his situation. Then he praised God for what He was doing and would do to bring him through those hard times. Consider Psalm 34. David began this psalm praising God. He then moved to acknowledging God comes to the aid of the righteous. David ended this psalm with this comforting thought in verse twenty-two, “The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.” David and other righteous people throughout history have used this “other voice” God gave them as a gift to talk with God, process their own situations, and recall and resolve for themselves that God is good and is able to take care of all our needs, including walking with us through hard times. Besides crying out to God by your “other voice,” you can speak with a Christian pastor, elder, or other Christian. They can pray with you and help you carry your burdens to God while encouraging as you face your trying days.

During life’s holidays, troubles, pain, and trials can cause us to sink within ourselves and not celebrate. If we allow them, they will keep us in a vortex of darkness and anguish with no joy. God does not want us to go through these times alone. He gives us hope because He loves us. God is greater than anything that comes against us. Consider Mary. She became pregnant before Joseph laid with her. By law, Joseph could have broken the engagement. Mary must have been frightened about what the outcome might be. Yet, the angel told her not to fear. (Luke 1:30) Mary trusted God to make this situation of being pregnant outside of marriage work for good, God’s good. Joseph, when he learned Mary was pregnant, did not want to disgrace her because he was a righteous man. Because of this, he planned to send her away quietly so she would not have her reputation ruined. God sent a dream to Joseph in Matthew 1:20. In that dream, an angel of the Lord said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.” Joseph gave his trouble and potential ruined reputation to God and trusted Him to make everything work out for the best. God chooses all His children for a purpose. He has a purpose for everyone. God’s purposes are always for the best. Had Mary or Joseph acted on their predicament without God’s intervention, she or he may have done good things according to the Law, but not what was best according to God.

God is here for each person who calls on Him with their whole being. His plans are best. God’s plan includes growing us to be more like Jesus and to be in a close relationship with Him. That can happen through hard times. It can happen in good times, too. Right now, if you are experiencing anguish, pain, loneliness, trials, grief, fear, or any other difficulty, don’t give up. Don’t isolate yourself and spiral down into the dark pit into which Satan wants to trap you. Let Him guide you and give you strength. Your hope, our hope, is in the Lord who made heaven and earth. This LORD God sent His Son, Jesus, to be born as a human on earth so He could die to give us salvation and an eternal relationship with Him. This is our hope. Jesus is our hope. If you are going through a hard time right now; turn to God. Pray. Read the Bible. Pray again. Use your “other voice” and bring it all to God. Seek a Christian friend or pastor to help you. Don’t let Satan take you down into the dark pit.

There is hope.

Jesus is the hope of the world.

And once more, Isaiah says, “There shall come the root of Jesse, and He who arises to rule over the Gentiles, in Him shall the Gentiles hope.” Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:12-13 [NASB])

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:1-5 [NASB])

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 [NASB])

Oh, Lord, so often I have felt like I couldn’t go on. I felt like the dark vortex would swallow me and I wanted to give up. But then You, in Your great love for me and in Your faithfulness, reminded me of Who You are, what You’ve done, and how much You love me. Lord, You took me back to Your Word and showed me You have always been with Your children through the hard times, and, Lord, I know Your love never fails. You are faithful. Lord, forgive me for not coming to you sooner. Forgive me for giving up on the hope You provide because of the death and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus. Lord, I promise I will always walk with You. Please walk with me now through this dark trial. Grow me to be like Your Son and to be in a closer relationship with You because of this trial. Lord, keep reminding me of the hope You give and fill me with Your Spirit so that Your joy is my strength. Help me have joy and rejoice even when I am going through darkness because of who You are. You are my strength and shield. You are my fortress and my very present help in times of trouble. Thank you, Lord for what You’ve done. Thank you for what You will do in my situation and in me. Thank you for being faithful even when I lost hope and felt forsaken. Thank you for not letting go of me when I let go of You. I love you, Lord. Amen.

Hebrews 12:5-8, 11-13 A Devotion

5 Have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,

and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.

11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. [NIV]

This devotion continues the thought from yesterday’s devotion. Yesterday the author of Hebrews encouraged Christians not to grow weary when faced with trials and suffering because we are not suffering anything the saints who went before us did not suffer. They continued running their race in the midst of persecution and trials and remained faithful. In addition, Jesus endured persecution and suffering but did not waver in but kept running the race so that ever person of the world could be saved from sin and death. We must continue to run the race because we are like them and they continued their race. That was point one.

Point two was that the great crowd of witnesses watching us from heaven as we live our lives in the trials and persecutions (in addition to the times of joy and exhilaration) cheer us on to remain faithful and endure to the end. We have a cheering section at the stadium who encourage us to keep running, not to give up.

In today’s passage, we hear the writer’s words in our minds and recognize God’s voice telling us our times of trial are permitted to affect us so that we can be disciplined. Any athlete who is good or wants to be good at his sport disciplines his or her body so that the muscles work like a well-oiled machine. The muscles are trained by the determination of the person’s mind.

That is what our trials are like. They are discipline. Discipline is not punishment or chastisement, but a way to develop the body or person. God allows trials to come to develop and grow us to be more like Him, to be more righteous and holy. The writer said this in the verse seven when he said, “Endure hardship like discipline.” Discipline is not punishment, but training. It is a growing experience to mature our minds, hearts, and bodies.

The writer of Hebrews used the analogy of a father disciplining his child. When the child is more mature, he or she sees what the father did as a positive thing, a way to mature the child so that he or she would be a properly functioning adult and member of society. That father is compared to Father God. God allows trials to grow His children to be mature in their faith as well as righteous and holy – like Himself.

That is the first point – we are to look at trials as discipline, an opportunity to grow. So look at it in that way when you face a difficult time. How can you grow from that difficult time? What does God want you to learn from that experience?

The second point of this passage is that we each have to determine for ourselves to strengthen our mind, heart, and body for the task of growing through the trial. We must decide in our minds that we will get through it, realize it is an opportunity to be used for Father God (heart), and then focus ourselves and our bodies to be strong and endure. By doing this, our faith grows and our bodies are more prepared to live the Christian life on earth as a more pure, righteous, and holy child of God. That is strengthening our feeble arms and legs and making paths straight.

Choose to be trained by trials and suffering. Choose to stand strong in your faith so that God can make you more like Christ – holy and righteous. Being a child of God requires the head, heart, and body – mind, soul, and body. Choose to be disciplined and grow more like Christ. When we go through trials and grow stronger in our faith, we can then say as Paul did in Romans 5:3-5,

"We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." [NIV]

Romans 5:20b - 6:14 A Devotion

5:20 Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin.

 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. [NASB]

Points to consider from this passage –

1. God’s grace is greater than the amount of sin people commit. His grace abounds. He gives righteousness for every sinner to cover all their sin through Jesus Christ.

2. Does that mean we can keep on sinning because God’s grace will forgive us no matter what? It is your decision to live the life Jesus Christ died to put into you.

a.    If you continue to sin because you say grace will always cover you, you are making yourselves slaves to sin again instead of living the freedom Christ gives to you through His resurrection.

b.    When we accept God’s gift of grace, we accept forgiveness and salvation as well as newness of life – escape from the old life of sin, which entangled us in sin from which we could not escape on our own. This new life is united with Christ Jesus so we have the power of Christ to overcome temptations and sin to be free from the entanglements in which Satan wants to keep us.

c.    So we understand since Jesus Christ rose from the dead to which Satan thought he banished Him with crucifixion on the cross and since we have accepted His gift of grace and salvation which gives us new life, we know we, too, are raised from the dead and are no longer slaves to sin and the resultant death it brings to us.

d.    We have the power to beat Satan and His schemes. We are alive to God in Christ Jesus.

e.    So do not obey sin and its lust so that it continues to reign in your earthly bodies, but give yourselves to God as alive from the dead. With God, sin will not be master over you.

3. Then we can say with Paul, “Thanks be to God that though you [I was] were slaves of sin, you [I] became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you [I was] were committed [the teaching that enslaved you to sin], and having been freed from sin, you [I] became slaves of righteous [which is freedom and results in sanctification, the being made holy and pure by God].”

Considering this passage from Paul and knowing he spoke the truth as revealed by God and experienced by himself, will we continue to choose to sin after we have been freed from it, from its enslavement. Make no mistake, choosing to sin imprisons you. One step towards it leads to another and then another, then you become blinded to the truth of God by Satan’s deceptions. Do not make that mistake. Take on the new life Christ died to give you, the life of truth, grace, love, and life. Do not let sin entangle you, then you can give thanks to God as Paul gave thanks to God for the Roman Christians who gave their lives to Christ. The life Christ died to give you is the taking on of His freedom of sin and receipt of eternal life as well as His attributes. It is the becoming more life Christ with each day. We each have to choose whether we will accept this gift from God or if we will continue to walk in the blindness of Satan and sin still more.

What will you choose –

God’s love, grace, forgiveness, and eternal life through Jesus Christ, who gives freedom from sin

or

Continuing in your old life of sin, which leads to slavery to sin/Satan and death?

Choose life. Choose freedom from sin.

Choose to live the new life Christ died to give you.