A Message

I feel this thing in my heart that I feel the Holy Spirit is wanting me to say. Do you realize what you are in Christ?! How dare any of us go out into this world hanging our heads?! YOU are a child of God! Do you realize what that means?! Your Father runs the universe! Jesus Christ loves you so much that He DIED for you! He died, was buried, and rose again and then He stepped into the control room of the universe and He is working ALL things together for your good! How can you be discouraged?! How can you be dismayed?! Your Father loves you with a deep, indeed an INFINITE love, and He reigns over everything you see! It pains God to see His VERY OWN CHILDREN going out into the world like they were insignificant, mediocre, worthless, or unimportant. You are absolutely individual! There is NOBODY just like you in the entire world! Yes, of course we sin! Of course we make huge mistakes sometimes! Of course we struggle and hurt and don't perfectly exhibit the greatness of God but NONE OF THIS changes His unfathomable, passionate, intimate, furious love and passion for you! If you are on fire for God, don't make the mistake of thinking you are more excited about your relationship with Him than He is! Yes, Jesus calls us to absolute commitment but NOBODY is more committed to their relationship to God than God Himself is! Don't EVER be discouraged! NOTHING that happens to you anywhere or anytime was engineered to discourage you or frustrate you! Isaiah 41:10 says "Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." There are 2 commands in this verse and 5 reasons to obey!

Command #1: "Fear not"
DO NOT BE AFRAID! Do you know what the word "Fear" meant in the original manuscript? It meant FEAR! As children of God we have absolutely no right to be afraid! NEVER be afraid! Not in any circumstance! No matter what situation we face! No matter how people treat us! No matter what our boss says or what our friends say or what the news reports say or what we hear or see anywhere! God has commanded us "Fear not!"

Command #2: "Be not dismayed"
DO NOT BE DISMAYED! Never be discouraged! Never be frustrated! Never be overwhelmed or anxious or downcast or depressed or joyless! Never! Never ever! No! Not Ever! NEVER be dismayed! No matter if you get fired tomorrow! No matter if all your friends walk out on you! No matter if your significant other says they are leaving! If you lose all your money and your house burns down and everybody looks at you thinking that you are an absolute idiot and you find out you have cancer and you get injured in a freak accident! Not under any circumstance! God says, "Be not dismayed!" DO. NOT. BE. DISCOURAGED.

Promise #1: "I am with you..."
GOD is with you! GOD is there for you! GOD! The One who stretched out the corners of the universe and planted all the trees of the forest! Who set the stars blazing in the nighttime sky! Who loves you with a deep and everlasting love! Who says "I will never leave you nor forsake you! Who forgave your depraved, wicked, degenerate, filthy, God-awful rebellion and said "I want you to be my child!" THAT God. The one who knit you together in your mother's womb! Who sees your past, present, and future! Who knows every sin you have committed, are committing, and will ever commit in the future and still says "I love you!" Who sees your best deeds as filthy rags and still says "You are my beloved!" HE is with you! Emmanuel! God is with us!

Promise #2: "I am your God..."
He is not just with you. He is YOUR God. You have a personal relationship with Him. He does not say "That guy there!" when He refers to you! He says "My child [insert your name]" He is YOUR God. You are HIS child! You have a personal relationship with God Almighty who is so far above you in every way yet chooses to relate to you in a personal, intimate fashion! He does not distance Himself from you emotionally. He has clearly defined a relationship that exists between you and Him! He is not just God. He is YOUR God!

Promise #3: "I will strengthen you..."
He is with you! He is YOUR God! And He says "I will strengthen you!" Do you know how much energy God has??? Well, you really can't put a number on something that is infinite! Infinite. We sometimes forget what that word means! God strength has no beginning, it has no middle, and it has no end. There was never a point in time where God did NOT have limitless energy! He never climbs out of bed and has to get a drink of coffee to get his power flowing again! He does not have to lift grogginess with anything! He never has to do something in order to get his energy running full force. His energy never began! His energy has no middle! There is never a point in time where God is MORE able to do something than at other times! And His energy has no end! God does not get tired! He does not hope for Friday to come around so He can take a break! He never has to recharge His batteries or get an extra shot of espresso to keep Himself going late into the night! God's power is INFINITE! And what does this promise say?? "I will strengthen you." When God says He will strengthen you, watch out! This means there is NO situation He cannot put you in! You may find yourself in some REALLY difficult circumstances and situations! When God says He will strengthen you it means there is NOTHING He cannot ask you to do! There is no situation you cannot face! If EVERYTHING in your life falls to pieces and the bottom falls out and your existence turns into absolute misery, GOD will strengthen you! Never be discouraged! Never be afraid! Never be dismayed! Never be downcast or frustrated or angry or bitter or bummed out! God will strengthen you!

Promise #4: "I will help you." You can't come up against anything that will frustrate God. He does not get discouraged or upset or downcast or dismayed or bitter. "I will help you," He promises, you have God inside of you strengthening you, and you have God working in your situation to help you! "You are my child! I took you into account when I laid down history and decided how to engineer your circumstances!" He will help you! Within and without HE is on your side! He will never give you too much to bear but will fit your circumstances to your level of faith AND will strengthen you to bear difficulty and pain that you would not be able to handle otherwise! "I will help you," says the Maker of Heaven and Earth!

Promise #5: "I will uphold you with my righteous right hand!" You will not fall! Your situation will not overpower you! At the end of the battle, YOU will still be holding your ground because the LORD God Almighty, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, the sea, and all that is in them will hold you with His victorious right hand! You are on the side that will win the war! No matter what device of hell may be leveled against you, you may laugh for you serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! NEVER will He let you go! NEVER will He let you be overwhelmed! NEVER will His righteous right hand fail! NEVER! NEVER EVER! NOT EVER! NO! NEVER! NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! No power of Hell! No scheme of man! NOTHING will ever pluck you from His hand! If you are His child, you will never ever ever ever ever slip away from Him! You are IN CHRIST! You are in the Fort Knox of Fort Knoxes! "I will uphold you with my righteous [victorious] right hand!" says God.

Hope you've been blessed by this! I've been blessed in the writing of it!