“Don’t Give Up.”

“Don’t Give In.”

Despondency seeks to take you down. Despair,fears, disillusionment, are some ways the enemy of your soul seeks to dishearten you…{Nehemiah 6:9} “BUT GOD…” who is “the God of ALL Hope,” who imparts Hope by His Spirit, through His Word and His people has the final say{Romans 15:13, 2 Cor 7:6} He has imparted power and promises to enable us to deal with the attacks on the mind. We need to capture the thoughts by faith and view them through the lens of Scripture. Are the thoughts true, lovely, praiseworthy…let your mind dwell there” {Phil 4:8-9}…. take the thoughts captive to obedience to Christ and then REPLACE them with the TRUTH.

  • God is faithful {See 1 Cor 1:9}

  • God encourages {Romans 15:5}-“…God who gives encouragement.”

  • God imparts Hope, Joy, Peace.{See Romans 15:13}-“May The God all hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you may overflow with hope.”

  • God cares for you {1 Peter 5:7}- “Casting all of your anxieties upon Him, for He cars for you.”

  • God loves you! {Romans 8:38-39} – “ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”- {Romans 8:38-39}. Nothing can separate you from God’s intense love for you based sole on the perfect work of the Lord Jesus.” { Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:4-5- Rev 1:5-6}

 

If none of the thoughts which come to your mind are true of the Lord Jesus, or who you are “in Christ,” you must REPLACE, Substitute those lies with the Truth of God’s Word {John 17:17}. You have the power to begin to change the way you think and view life, because of the Holy Spirit who resides in you and His Word to direct you. THINK-THINK-THINK CORRECTLY UPON Jesus Christ. Seek for Him in HIS WORD! “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures….beginning with Moses and the prophets He revealed HIMSELF in ALL the Scriptures.” {Luke 24:27.31}. Intentionally look for Him.”He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” {Hebrews 11:6} Come with confidence, because He lovingly desires to have you come so He can impart to you. Come to  the throne of grace to RECEIVE mercy and find grace to help…in our time of need. Come to Him. Share with Him. Receive from Him in your “time of need.”The throne of God’s grace is welcoming to you and He desires to impart to the needy one! Are you needy? Come and receive by faith from Him!

  DO GIVE UP –  your thoughts of despondence, anxieties, fears to Him. He died to save us from our sins, and indeed that includes sinful thinking and from the “fiery darts” of thoughts that would seek to lead you back into bondage which wrong thinking can lead us to. These thoughts seek to dishearten and destroy us, “But God…” He has called us into  a love relationship with Himself {1 Cor 1:9, John 15:10, Galatians 2:20} He has made The way for us to renew our thinking {Romans 12:2} and to Think and Practice truth. {Phil 4:8-9}

 DO GIVE IN – to Thinking on His character and promises and power to enable you to think, and trust Him. You will trust the one who loves you. God loves you,”while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” {Romans 5:8}. He has given His Son, He has Given His Spirit, He has given us His Word. He has given us precious and magnificent promises {2 Peter 1:3-4}.

  • Do give in to the fact you are not alone. God is with you and He has promised “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”-{Hebrews 13:5}.

  • Do give in to resting in God’s grace for you. He has said,”My grace IS sufficient” {2 Cor 12:7-10} Whatever the difficulties without or within, He has promised Grace, favor, kindness and power that is –  moment by moment grace, to do the next thing, the right thing. Take a look at 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 and read, meditate and hide in your heart. Perhaps write it on a 3 by 5 card and carry with you and when you have free time, read and meditate on Paul’s circumstances. He asked three time for the “thorn” to be removed from him. The Lord chose not to, but did say He would impart moment by moment grace. Often we are hit with the thoughts of the “what if’s”.. and the enemy seeks to lead us to fears of the future or failures of the past, anywhere but living in the now, looking unto Jesus and applying present tense grace.”My grace IS sufficient…”

  • Do give in to… CHOOSING to rest on His Word by choosing to believe Him.{John 15:7}

  • Do give in to the truth  – “The Son of God loved me and gave Himself up for me…” {Galatians 2:20}

 

WALK BY FAITH NOT BY FEELINGS.

Lean in by faith on the Lord Jesus, trust in Him with all of your heart and DO NOT lean to your own understanding. {Prov 3:5-6} Walk by faith not by feelings.{See 2 Cor 5:7}.  Martin Luther said,”feelings come and feelings go and feelings are deceiving , my trust is in the written Word nought else is worth believing.” Feelings can be good, or wrong, but they can never be what is the foundation for our living, only His Word which He has given to us is the solid and sure foundation {See Matthew 7:24-27}  “Don’t give up!’

 GEORGE MUELLER and JEHOSHAPHAT.

Focus on the Lord Jesus. George Mueller who had 2000  orphans under his care and had learned to look to God to meet “all of their needs,” He grew in his faith giving glory to God. His faith was often tested but he turned the tough times to look away to the Lord. On one occasion while traveling by ship to Canada from England a dense fog covered the ship and the captain informed Mr. Mueller  the ship would not arrive in time for him to for his speaking engagement’s. They both went down stairs where Mueller prayed a simple prayer asking the Lord to lift the fog. When they went back up on deck the captain was amazed what he saw. The fog had disappeared. Mr Mueller said to him, “My eye was not on the density of the fog but on the living God!”

Too often we live by sight, looking at the fog of circumstances rather to him who is LORD over the circumstances. In 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat faced annihilation and he gathered the people and had a time of prayer  and fasting and he said,” Lord we don’t know what to do…. But Our eyes are on You!”

Both George Mueller and Jehoshaphat had learned the key, don’t finish with the problem but with the LORD.

 This is huge lesson we all must learn and be reminded of. Look at the situation Abraham did when he was near a 100, His wife well past child bearing yet we read “Yet he did not waver through unbelief, Abram did not waver in unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being Fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had PROMISED.” {Romans 4:18-21} George Mueller,Jehoshaphat and Abraham, all lived in different times, faced difficult and different scenarios but all three  teach us  to end not with the problem, ” BUT GOD…”

 If you listen to yourself  you will find who or what you are pre-occupied with – the problem or the Person?

 

Look at the problem and choose to give the circumstances to Him to work out that which will magnify Him in the circumstances!  Paul demonstrated this attitude in Philippians 1:12,”My circumstances have worked out to further the Gospel.” He was imprisoned, “shut in” but not “shut out” from praying for the spiritual welfare of others,{v9} and reaching out to evangelize the lost {v13} and encouraged God’s people to speak the Word of God boldly without fear.{V14}

Its not to deny the situation, but also its not to DENY the LORD is present with you in your situation and live as though He has left you alone. I know we can”feel” such at times, but that is when we must rely on what He has said,”It is written…I will never leave nor forsake you.”It is to choose to speak the truth to yourself and look by faith to Him, lean in on Him and like Isaiah when his difficult time cam,e when the king Uzziah died,”… I saw the Lord high and lifted up…!” The Lord is on the Throne.{Isaiah 6:1-3} End your problems with the LORD, not with your focus on the problems but choose by faith to look and lean on the Lord with expectancy, in the midst of your problems! It is to say as it were, “Here is my problem… “BUT GOD…”

Your focus determines where your faith is anchored, one is ultimately on a foundation of sand {Matthew 7:23-27}, the other is on the Most High who  rules and reigns in and From Heaven!

WHAT TO DO;

Keep looking away to Jesus by faith, and rest in Him.{Hebrews 12:1-3}

Relating all to Him.{1 Peter 5:7}

Resting in Him.{John 15:4,7,10}- His faithfulness. His love for you.{John 15:10; Galatians 2:20} His grace for you. Look to His character. Look to His promises.{2 Peter 1:3-4} Apply His power to your choices and actions.{Phil 2:12-13}

Look to Him by faith as you begin to choose to THINK upon Him. Cultivate your relationship with Him. Feed your mind with His Word, meditate upon it, memorize and apply.Trust Him. Tell others of Him!