Posted on 11/22/2012 8:16:21 AM PST by virgil283
"If you haven’t noticed that we live in a negative world, you just haven’t been paying attention.
These negative influences have been especially evident during the last few months of the presidential campaign. Each party has spent millions painting a picture of the worst possible scenarios for Americans if their opponent is elected. Not nearly as much has been spent expressing hope.
Add in things like sickness, the loss of a job, or marriage problems, and you can see where, over time, the pressures of the world, if allowed, can steal the love and joy from your life.
In Matthew 24:12, Jesus said this: “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” He said this would be a characteristic of the end times. Jesus was saying that the negative things going on around us—not necessarily in us—would cause the love of many to grow cold.
The word “waxed” used in that scripture is really significant. It goes back to the way candles are made. A wick is dipped into hot wax and then taken out and allowed to cool for a few seconds, leaving a thin layer of wax. The process is repeated hundreds of times until the wick is buried deep within the wax.
"Joshua 1:9—
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
(Excerpt) Read more at awmi.net ...
And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.
Things looked bleak. David was in a situation where everything in the natural said “Be discouraged and dismayed,” but David encouraged himself in the Lord. Do you know how he did it? He took the Word and began to encourage himself, and it was only a matter of hours until all God had promised him came to pass and he became king. If he had given in at that last minute, he would have lost........
"The Bible says in Isaiah 26:3 that the Lord will “keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed” upon Him because he trusts in Him. Our peace is linked directly to what we think. We are plugged into this world like no group of Christians has ever been—reading, listening, and watching the same ungodliness as the world and then wondering why we get the same results. It’s simple—garbage in, garbage out.
I’m telling you, unless you have a deliberate plan to encourage yourself in the Lord, you aren’t going to be encouraged. It is not normal to be encouraged; it’s normal to be discouraged. It’s abnormal to be strong and of good courage, but it is certainly doable. God’s Word will tell you exactly how to do it......" (more)
Frankly, I don’t know how people who do not live under the grace of Christ do it. Especially in this world.
One thing I do know is that if life was fair and we all got what we deserved, I’d be dead.
So would everyone else.
Seems to me that a lot of people are intentionally and desperately negative.
I doubt God looks kindly upon it.
Thank you! That was a great read and a valuable lesson. I needed that today! :)
A mighty fortress is our God
Author: Martin Luther
A Mighty fortress is our God,
A trusty shield and weapon;
He helps us free from every need
That hath us now overtaken.
The Old evil foe
Now means deadly woe
Deep guile and great might
Are his dread arms in fight;
On earth is not his equal.
With might of ours can naught be done,
Soon were our loss effected;
But for us fights the valiant One,
Whom God himself elected.
Ask ye, Who is this?
Jesus Christ it is,
Of sabaoth Lord,
And there’s none other God;
He holds the field forever.
Though devils all the world should fill,
All eager to devour us,
We tremble not, we fear no ill,
They shall not overpower us.
This world’s prince may still
Scowl fierce as he will,
He can harm us none,
He’s judged; the deed is done’
On little world can fell him.
The Word they still shall let remain
Nor any thanks have for it;
He’s by our side upon the plain
With his good gifts and Spirit.
And take they our life,
Goods, fame, child, and wife,
Though these all be gone,
Our victory has been won;
The Kingdom ours remaineth.
What a bunch of baloney. One party spents millions trying to inform people of the wretched record of the incumbent Destroyer-in-Chief. The other party spent millions lying about everything under the sun, manufacturing phony “issues” to scare the uninformed and slutty, and spewing PERSONAL, vicious smears of their opponent.
This “even-handed,” “above-it-all” “Christian” rhetoric is nauseating. No Christian is entitled to be neutral between a lying, looting baby-killer, and a decent, if bourgeois, vision-impaired candidate.
Sorry you didn’t like it. Yet it was nothing about “...“even-handed,” “above-it-all” “Christian”... Because we all see and deplore these evil things too. This is about not giving up or being dismayed. If your enemy can discourage you before the battle then he’s got it won. As one man said that ‘ Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty’, we can’t ever give up or hide in our bunker, not ever. It’s our duty to encourage ourselves and others daily and keep on say and doing whats right.....
Your words are right on but discouragement should not be confused with godly grieving. Jeremiah was constantly chastised for bring bad news, so much that he was labled the “weeping prophet”. Yet he knew what was laid up in store for Judah. Our Lord Jesus lamented over Jerusalem because He knew what their sinfulness would mean. One can grieve but not be discouraged because we know who is in control. I grieve that this county has essentially turned its back on God and founding principles. That does not mean that I’m discouraged. I know this is all towards God’s divine plan and purpose.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.