David wrote Psalm 61:1-2. I often quote verse two when I’m facing the impossible. It says, “From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

We stay the course by not looking back. If a farmer does not focus on something stable at the end of his row, his furrows will not be straight. Our past has passed ~ forever. We cannot go back and change anything that happened. 

Neither can we receive what the Lord wants to bestow on us in the present when we keep looking back. Hebrews 12:2 says that we are to keep looking to Jesus. He is the Author of our faith. He endured because of the joy set before Him ~ us!

We stay the course as we gaze upon the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18. As we gaze our inner being is supernaturally transformed. We become more in character like the One we are beholding. 

Hebrews 10:35 is one of my anchor verses. Why? I love the Greek word for endurance ~ hupomone. It comes from two words: under, and to remain. Note in my Bible: It describes the capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances, not with a passive complacency, but with a hopeful fortitude that actively resists weariness and defeat.

Have you ever been tempted to give up? I often think of David and his men when they had come back to their city. This is how I picture it. I am sure that they were bone weary. The hope of seeing their wives and children kept them going.

They crested the hill and looked down on Ziklag. It was all burned and there was no one around. 1 Samuel 30:4 says, “Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.”

David’s men talked about stoning him. Verse 6 says, “…because the soul of all the people was grieved…But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” David knew how to stay the course. Stressful situations can cause us to become distressed.

Paul wrote out a prescription for trials. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Our trials are God’s temporary instruments to mold us to reflect His character. They build in patient endurance so that we might glorify Him through them. I love to think of our trials in light of Ephesians 3:10.

It says, “To the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.” God displayed Job before satan. James 5:10 says that He had a purpose ~ an intended end ~ to reveal how compassionate and merciful He is.

We learn to lean hard on God’s grace through each new trial. Though 2 Corinthians 9 was written about finances, we can apply verse 8 to our trials. It says, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”

All trials come stocked with God’s special provision of grace. Hebrews 4:16 bids us to come boldly before His throne of grace. Why? That we may receive His mercy and grace needed in our trial.

Paul learned to lean through the revelation that the Lord gave him. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 He told Paul that His grace would carry him through the thorn in his flesh. In verse 10 Paul got the revelation and rejoiced. He said, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then  I am strong.”

Remember in John 16:30 Jesus said that He had nothing in Him that belonged to the devil. Unresolved issues are areas of ground occupied by demonic influences ~ inner strongholds that need to be destroyed. Jeremiah 1:10 says, “…to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.”

Isaiah 5:13 says, “Therefore My people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge…” Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

We bury emotional pain because we don’t know the Lord’s character. This is so true as children. We bury to cope because we are not emotionally mature enough to process what happened. As we get older, we learn to rely on ourselves instead of Him because we have not become partakers of His nature through His promises. 2 Peter 1:4.

I love Mark 4:22. It says, “For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.” This is such great news. There is nothing that we have buried and forgotten that He does not know.

We are created to glorify the Lord. Isaiah 43:7. We glorify Him by bearing much fruit. John 15:8. Unresolved issues contaminate our heart’s soil, allowing weed seeds to propagate. When a garden is first planted, weed seeds germinate quicker than fruit bearing seeds.

The Holy Spirit taught me years ago to pay attention to my over-reactions. They indicated that something was hidden. In my first book, Freedom! From Past Hurts, there is a chapter called Concealed Rage. Have you ever spouted off in anger? Have you ever had tears well up for seemingly no reason? Likely they were self-protective reactions because something hidden was exposed.

We need to have the mindset of going out to conquer. I encourage you to ask yourself, as I did, ‘What needs to be conquered in my life? What strongholds remain that need to be destroyed? What habits tenaciously hang on that do not exemplify the Lord? What emotional fillers do I turn to in order to neglect my hidden pain?’

In 1975 I had my light switch  hooked up to my radio. The moment I walked through the front door I would switch it on. Why? I wanted to drown out my emotional pain. The radio was my effective distractor.

In 1983 the Holy Spirit began dealing with the unresolved issues buried in my heart. That changed the course of my spiritual life. I had no idea. He is so faithful. He waits until we have the necessary groundwork of truth laid before He reveals the hidden. 

I love Hebrews 4:13 Amplified. I use it in prayer and counseling. It says, “For not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.”

I love the verse in Revelation 6:2. It says, “And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.” To me it speaks of being intentional.

Romans 8:37 says, “Yet in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” The Greek word is two parts: over and above and to conquer. Jesus’ death on the cross conquered our enemy.

Colossians 2:15 says, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”  1 Corinthians 15:57 says, “But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2 Corinthians 2:14 says, “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.”

Matthew 23:23 says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”

I encourage you to go back and read Proverbs 24:30-31. The young man neglected to take care of his vineyard. His land was overgrown with nettles and the protective hedge of stones was broken down.

Neglect means to fail to care for something properly. I use the Song of Solomon 1:6 as a goad for myself. The Shulamite woman said, “…they made me the keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept.”

When I have an essential ‘weightier matter’ to carry out but don’t want to, I say, ‘My own vineyard I have not kept.’ That becomes my motivation to right then do what needed to be done. Right now I am pulling weeds that have been neglected.

What Chokes Our Fruit? Part Two

Psalm 34:10 says that those who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing. God’s wisdom makes us rich. Proverbs 3:13-16 says that the man who finds wisdom and gains understanding is happy. Wisdom: proceeds are better than silver, and more precious than rubies. Verse 15 says, “…all things you may desire cannot compare with her.” 

Other things are indicative of wrong priorities. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” ‘These things’ referred back to worry.

Worry, doubt, fear, unbelief, irritations, broken expectations, bitterness, and unforgiveness all have one thing in common ~ misplaced desires. They enter into our thoughts. If we don’t control them, they take over and choke out our fruit.

Thorns and thistles spring up. If they are not removed they sow weed seeds that propagate. I know. My back field had Star Thistle. The weed seeds contaminated my garden and flower beds. It was a fight to keep them dug out so my tender new plants could flourish.