Staff -founder / president Melissa Pearce
-copy editor Laurie Hamby
-contributing writers Jamie Clawson Katie Cline Pastor Chuck Hamby Toni Hembree Maureen Kurp Melissa Pearce Ronald Pearce Mary Beth Pecora
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Winter can be a very difficult season for many.
For us in the Eastern side of the United
States, we are beckoning for the warm air and sunshine again. during this time?
Why do we struggle so much
Why is there an increase of depression that sets in during the winter season?
For many, people struggle during the winter months because of our productivity or the lack of it.
We are not able to go outside and move about freely.
The limited exposure to sunshine
impacts the vitamin D levels that we need, yet as I was evaluating this season, I knew in the end it has to be good.
Why? Because God created it.
God created natural seasons – spring, summer, fall and winter. purpose for developing and maturing His creation.
Each having their own specific
God has created not only natural seasons
for us to enjoy and endure, but He has given us spiritual seasons to develop and mature in Him. One of the main reasons many people struggle with the winter season in the natural is because of the lack of productivity they endure. them into a winter season.
In the same way, many struggle when God leads
You read it correctly, God leads His children into spiritual winter
seasons. When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though it was shorter.
For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds
and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Seas.
The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle (Exodus 13:17-18 - NIV). Do you see how God led the Israelites into a certain direction? them better than they knew themselves.
He was aware of their weaknesses and tendencies,
yet God wanted to do something new within their lives. off of them.
Why, because He knew
He wanted to break old patterns
He wanted to have them fulfill their destiny in Him, and He knew it could not
be done by any other way than teaching them to completely depend upon Him to be their Source. We struggle when God leads us into spiritual winter seasons.
We often misinterpret God’s
actions as a form of punishment towards us, but in reality, God is trying to birth something new in you.
He wants to replenish you soul with His everlasting love so you will produce
not only more fruit but new fruit for His Kingdom. Can I encourage you? If God is closing a door for you in an area of your life, don’t fret. Keep your eyes focused on the Great Shepherd, who is ever leading you down this path. He knew this day would be in your life before you did.
Trust Him to work out all the details.
The last word of encouragement I want to release to you is that your identity of who you are does not rest in what you do for God.
Your identity rests in knowing who you are in
God!
When things go dormant within your life, it gives you an opportunity to go deeper with
God.
God wants you resting in Him.
He wants every part of your heart to be utterly
captivated by Him. Embrace this time with God for He is looking to birth something new within you!
I am not a counselor or psychologist.
I am, however, a follower of Jesus Christ who happens
to battle depression from time to time. I hear His voice.
I know God intimately; His Spirit is alive in me, and
And I can tell you from experience and because I know Him that He
absolutely does not leave you when you're low.
We may not always be able to feel Him
near, but that doesn't negate the truth of Who He is.
Once we belong to God through faith
in Jesus Christ, He tells us – Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you (Hebrews 13:5b, NIV). If you read through the Psalms, noting the ones that David penned, you'll find plenty of times when he was down and crying out to God.
And God never rebuked him for it.
of fact, David is known as a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). was high or low, his heart was always seeking God and wanting Him.
As a matter
Whether David
Paul includes in
Romans 8:39 that neither height nor depth...will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (NIV).
We live in a hurting, fallen world, but whether we're
high or low or standing on a plain, God's love does not change. Speaking of a hurting world, be aware that not everyone is going to understand what you're going through if you're battling depression. an unassuming way.
People can be harsh and cold – even if it's in
Just as you can't fully relate to someone fighting cancer or loss, or
any hardship if you haven't been there yourself, so it is with depression.
People may tell
you to snap out of it, or look at what you have to be thankful for compared to others who “really have a reason to be depressed.” If people have spoken things like that to you, go to God!
He understands when others don't.
a rhyme or reason – it can just happen.
The truth is, depression doesn't always have
Because it's an internal battle, there are no tangible
symptoms that others can see to make what you're going through understandable to them. Most people naturally want to fix others, but only God can renew and restore us. you have people in your life that uplift, support, and encourage you through tough times.
I pray Just
be careful to focus on God's love and understanding of you and your situation, if others don't get it. Jesus told us … In this world you will have trouble (John 16:33, NIV).
He also said … I
have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10, NIV). How can both be true?
Don't they negate each other?
No, they don't – because one is speaking of our
physical life, and the other of our spiritual one.
I have seen that the deeper and more intimate
I get with God, the troubles of this world have less of an effect on me.
Depression still feels
like depression, but the closeness I have with God emboldens my spirit man to press on when my flesh doesn't feel like it.
The more I know, the less I doubt when I can't feel.
more I know Him, the less the enemy can rob truth from me during difficult times. we have done everything we can do.
At that point, He tells us to STAND.
The
Sometimes
Therefore put
on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand (Ephesians 6:13, NIV). stress enough the importance of knowing Him, and knowing who you are in Him!
I can't
It's in that
depth of your relationship with Him that you can stand when trials and temptations come! Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist (the truth of Who He is, being the center of who you are), with the breastplate of righteousness in place (so when your accuser comes to whisper lies in your ear, you know Whose you are and the right standing you have in Him as His child, redeemed by the blood of Christ), and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace (being ready to share the hope that you have, even in the midst of trials). In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith (even when you can't feel Him), with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Take the helmet of salvation (which protects your mind; see 2 Corinthians 10:5) and
the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (He does not change, and He is your weapon). And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests (never stop petitioning God, and allow Him to pray through you when you don't know what to pray for) (Ephesians 6:14-18, NIV, emphasis mine). Whether the enemy is attacking you when you're down, if others don't understand, or if you're down on yourself for the way you feel (which is a classic catch 22 of depression) – remember these truths:
God is for you, not against you (Romans 8:31).
brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18).
He is your Restorer (Psalm 51:12).
new – including YOU! (Revelation 21:5). Praying for you, dear ones! Jamie C.
He is close to the He makes all things
What does a frozen heart look like in us? afraid, we freeze.
Simply put, it looks like... Fear! When we get
Fear comes to stop us, and we don’t step forward.
Furthermore, we may
turn cold and isolate ourselves from others and God, or conceal who we really are, what we’re really dealing with, and what we really think.
We may act out or feel as though we
are living in the midst of a raging blizzard because there is so much fear. Maybe we fear change, rejection, failure, loss, pain, or any number of other things. enemy because it makes us stuck!
Fear becomes our worst
No wonder we should beware the frozen heart!
What do you do if you struggle with this frozen heart, this fear? As is heroically portrayed in “Frozen”, all is not lost! “An act of true love will thaw a frozen heart.”
Jesus committed
the ULTIMATE act of true love when He gave His life for us and had victory over all death, even over death to our souls, which is where fear resides (in our mind, will, and emotions). The Bible says in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
John 3:16-17 emphatically
says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever would believe in Him, would not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world through Him might be saved.”
The Greek word for “saved” in this passage, which is the original intended
meaning of this scripture, is “sozo”, which means “to save, deliver, protect, heal, preserve, do well, and be made whole.” spirit, soul, and body.
Jesus came that we might be whole. We are three part beings:
In order to be whole, we are to be whole in our spirit, soul, and body.
Since our soul (often referred to as our heart) is a combination of our mind, will, and emotions, we need to allow Christ’s act of true love to thaw our frozen heart, to deliver us from fear so that we are doing well in our minds, wills, and emotions and on our way to wholeness. How do we do this?
In the movie Frozen, sisters Queen Elsa and Princess Anna both suffer
from a frozen heart.
For Queen Elsa, she is consumed with fear and it causes her to isolate
herself, try to “fix” and figure things out on her own, and act out.
Because of this consuming
fear, she will not allow herself to receive Anna’s love for her and offer to be there for her.
For Anna, when her heart is frozen, it causes her to slowly become stuck until she is totally unable to move.
Both are delivered by an act of true love.
Queen Elsa is delivered by
receiving an act of true love, in which Anna gives up her life in exchange for Elsa’s.
Princess
Anna is delivered by giving her own act of true love towards Elsa, which thaws her own frozen heart. Both girls are saved from death and destruction both in their souls (mind, will, and emotions) as well as in their physical bodies.
The Bible draws a connection between
our body and soul in 3 John 1:2 saying, “Beloved, I pray that in all respects, you would prosper and be in good health, even as your soul prospers.” To me, this is a portrayal of receiving Christ’s act of true love for us, which is both a receiving and a giving on our end.
In our receiving, we are not only getting what He gave (sozo),
but we are choosing to receive from Him.
Our choosing to receive from Him is our giving
back to Him. How does receiving His act of true love equate to us giving an act of true love back to Him?
The Bible says,
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.”
By receiving from Him,
we are choosing to turn over to the Lord the control of trying to fix it and figure it out in life with our own mind, will, and strength. are choosing to rely on Him, not ourselves.
We
The Bible says that self-sufficiency is a sin.
Jesus says in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches.
If you remain in me and
I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” that the only way we can bear fruit in our lives is to rely on Him.
He clearly tells us
You could equate bearing
fruit to doing well in life, which is what Jesus came to offer us as part of sozo. cannot happen apart from Him, which Queen Elsa found out the hard way.
But, sozo
She was trying
to do it on her own; her own way, her own understanding, her own thoughts, her ownplan. There was no good fruit (John 15:5) that came from this.
Instead, Elsa was even more
devoured by fear in that she was taken prisoner because of it (fear enslaves), the storm raged (circumstances getting worse), and the door was opened for a liar from another kingdom to steal their kingdom (a picture of Satan, coming to use fear to keep us from the fullness of our Lord so that we will not step in to our true destiny). Oh, beware the frozen heart!
As I was praying in preparation to write this article, the Lord brought the lyrics to the song “Make a Way” to my mind as a word of direction for us from Him, “Make a way for the Lord. Make a way for the Lord. And let His glory be revealed unto all mankind.”
We have a part
to play too, which is to make a way for the Lord. How do we make a way for the Lord so that His glory can be revealed? Simply put, we choose to receive from Him by making an exchange.
What kind of exchange?
The Bible
says in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.
But, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”
Those scriptures tell us the exchange:
Instead of trusting in our own understanding and trying
to make our own paths straight, we choose to STOP in the midst of all of our ways (all of our thoughts, understanding, perspectives, decisions, feelings, and fears), and confess them to Him.
We then exchange our thoughts for His thoughts (what does His Word say, what
has He spoken to you personally and/or prophetically), our perspective for His perspective, and our understanding for His understanding.
When we make this exchange, we are giving
the Lord our act of true love by choosing Him and His ways over own; in other words, we are loving the Lord our God with all of our mind and our emotions will eventually follow.
When
we do this, we are making a way (as those lyrics say), clearing a pathway for the Lord to move in our lives and circumstances and lead us into our destiny. when we make a way for the Lord?
His glory will be revealed.
You know what happens
What is His glory?
In Exodus
33:17-19, when Moses asks God to show him His glory, God tells Moses that His glory is His goodness! Simply put, if we want to see His goodness manifest in our lives, we need to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and make this exchange.
We
need to receive God’s own revelation of Himself or else we will have a false image of God. A false image of God will cause us not to deem Him trustworthy enough to make this exchange. Without this exchange, we remain in self-sufficiency, which robs us of knowing His sufficiency. Without this exchange we are not fully receiving His act of true love (sozo), and we are not giving Him our act of true love of receiving Him fully and making the exchange, so our hearts remain frozen, and like Elsa, we live under our own plan based on our own understanding, which will prove to be the lesser thing.
Beware the frozen heart! As Princess Anna sings,
“Love is an open door,” because, Praise the Lord, an act of true love will thaw a frozen heart!
But then “reality” sets in as the fire starts to dwindle and the embers start to fade. One moment, you are singing praises to the Most High, the next you are cursing under your breath at your boss’ ridiculous request, or laughing at a crude joke in your email.
You had
good intentions about getting up early to read your Bible, but you hit the snooze button one too many times. And you can forget about making time during the day with the responsibilities of work, children, and spouses. By the end of your exhausting day, all you want to do is curl up on the couch and “veg” out with your favorite TV shows awaiting you on the DVR player. Then there is the weekend, but that “free time” fills up just as quickly as the week did. Before you know it, you feel a million miles away from God. How could you ever possibly keep up with the demands of life and still have time for God? Do you wait for the next conference or trip to Israel to recharge your battery? It happens to everyone, and it’s understandable; but it’s really not justifiable. As with any natural relationship, what you put into your relationship with God is what you will get out of it. If you want a little power in God to overcome life’s obstacles and the enemy’s attacks, then spend a little time with Him.
But if you want a lot of power in Him to overcome these things,
then you have to be intentional about spending more time with God. So, what does that look like and how do we get there? Here are a few examples from God’s Word to illustrate what He can do when we are intentional about spending time with Him. During the Babylonian Captivity, the great prophet and high official Daniel, prayed three times a day “giving thanks to God just as he had done before” in spite of King Darius’ initial decree that everyone was to worship the king (Daniel 6:10). We think our lives are busy, but someone who is third in command to the king of the great and powerful Persian Empire probably lived on very little sleep. However, Daniel was intentional about setting aside, not one, but three times a day to connect with God. And then what happened? Well, a lot! Daniel was spared from being the main course on a lion’s dinner plate; King Darius testified to the power of God and issued a new decree to worship Him; Daniel was given favor in the king’s court for the remainder of his days; and he interpreted dreams and received great visions (some of which have yet to be fulfilled)!
And Daniel’s obedience and resolve to serve the
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, despite the cultural influences and pressures surrounding him, are part of the reason why the remnant of Jewish people remain on the earth to this day.
If this does not convince you that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:16b), or if you think this is an extraordinary example, then let me go here. Moses, the one sent to rescue the Israelites from the Egyptians after 400 years of bondage, had to check his attitude several times when coming down from Mount Sinai. Yet, God still used him to do great and mighty things. Why?
Moses made intentional efforts to connect
with God. In Exodus 19-24, 32, and 34, we read about Moses’ experiences on Mount Sinai. It wasn’t until Moses came down from the mountain the final time, with the reconstituted tablets (after hurling the first set of Ten Commandments with anger toward the fickle Hebrews), that his face was radiant with God’s glory. He had to revisit his mountain top experience several times before he got it right. Each time, Moses got closer to the power God wished to place on him, yet he let his anger get in the way of his blessing. Each time Moses was on the mountain, God gave him fresh revelation, wisdom, and knowledge. Yet as soon as he entered the camp, his “high” quickly dissolved.
But Moses remained intentional about doing things
God’s way. Hence, because of human nature, Moses needed to go up to the mountain several times more before he could move forward and erect the Tabernacle, which had only been a vision until that point. He finally reached the place in his relationship with God where he resolved to take his “mountain top experience” to the valley and be the leader the Hebrew people were waiting for. Perhaps during one of your mountain top experiences, the Lord revealed some great plan that you were to be a part of, but it hasn't come to fruition yet. While you are in the valley, be intentional about going to the mountain.
Make this year, 2015, the year that you
will be deliberate about spending time with God so that his power can manifest in you. You don’t have to be a reverend or a scholar; you just have to be willing to set aside some time to connect with God.
If you don’t know where to start, pick a spot either in your house,
on your porch, or out in public (a café, bookstore, library, etc.), and just get alone with God. Read His Word, pray, and seek Him out, and I promise that you will hear from Him! And if that still seems too demanding, then simply get on your knees at some point during the day and acknowledge God by giving Him thanks for the life He has given you. Whatever you decide to do, resolve to be intentional about it! Pray with conviction and expectation that God is able. If God could change the fate of a nation through one man’s prayers, think of what He could do with all of our prayers!
A yoke is a device used to join animals, normally oxen, together to accomplish their work.
According to the dictionary, the word
“yoke� is generally used with a negative connotation inferring subjection or servitude.
During the time that Jesus walked the
earth, He used parables and analogies to teach spiritual truths. Since He lived in an agricultural region, the people of that time would have been familiar with the yoke and the purpose for which it was used.
Yet Jesus did not teach that yokes are
oppressive, but freeing! Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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.
(Matthew 11:28-30 - NIV)
This month's S.I.M.P.L.E. Tips will help you assess your yoke and hitch it solely to Jesus: 1.
Assess... Is it well with your soul?
We sing the song, but do we really live in that place
of wholeness and peace? Jesus certainly wants us to!
It's part of the salvation package,
but there's an action step for us – Take my yoke upon you (Matthew 11:29). made to be placed around the back of the neck to lead its wearer. that which it holds. Your family?
So what's controlling you?
Your job?
our souls to rest.
Your finances?
Your mind?
Your schedule?
A yoke is
By nature, it controls
Your health?
Your emotions?
The yoke Jesus offers us leads
If your soul is not at rest, you probably want to unhitch from your current
yoke. 2. Slide into position.
As we've learned, a yoke joins two things together; so when we take
Jesus' yoke, we're hitching ourselves to Him! and one follower. his work.
A yoke, then, is a coupled pair – one leader
The leader forges the path; the follower is there to help the leader complete
The weight of the load is on His shoulders.
The direction of work is His to lead.
It's interesting that Jesus says ...learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart (Matthew 11:29).
First, we see that He wants to guide and teach us.
how to do the work.
We don't know the way or
But the more we follow His lead, the better we'll get at our jobs.
we are to be “humble in heart” as He is.
The opposite of humble is proud.
in an effort to do well or prove ourselves, do we try to go at it alone?
Second,
How often,
That's pride, and
it hinders us from being effectively linked to our Leader. 3. Keep your eyes fixed on Him.
Hebrews 12:2 tell us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author
and perfecter of our faith (NIV). Once we're hitched to Jesus, life will still undoubtedly produce obstacles in our path. anything alone!
The glorious thing about being hitched to Jesus is that we don't face
He is all-knowing, and He goes before us!
close behind, He'll lead us through anything life throws at us.
As we trust Him and follow
When you fear your weaknesses
may disqualify you from your position, take heart in knowing that [His] grace is sufficient for you, for [His] power is made perfect in weakness.
Therefore I will boast all the more
gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
That is why, for Christ's
sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians Do you want an easy yoke?
A light burden?
12:9-10 - NIV)
All you have to do is ASK.
For