The Opposite Is True

Have you ever been so tired, worn out, broken down, frustrated, hopeless and discouraged that you feel like you can’t even make it through the day and dread facing tomorrow? Do you feel like you are completely spent and totally done? Discouragement and disappointment both come our way to throw us off track and make us want to give up. Both of these things work hand in hand and Satan will use it against us all the time. Discouragement wants to knock us down and shut us up! It wants to keep is down so that we will not shine our light of truth in a dark world full of deceit and lies.

I have struggled to write in this blog for a couple of weeks because honestly I have felt very discouraged. Some of my life’s circumstances left me feeling very vulnerable which gave Satan a opportunity to creep alongside of me and say, “See the Good Shepherd is not interested in you. He really doesn’t care.” Then the discouragement came bringing its companion fear. Since fear is the opposite of faith and hope, it is designed to discourage the soul and deflate the spirit. The enemy of my soul had deflated me.

Now I am deflated, disappointed, and feel like I just want to quit. My situations are starting to seem Unmanageable, Unreasonable, Unbearable, and Unfair. Inside I feel myself saying “Good Shepherd, I just can’t take it any more. When I am frustrated, annoyed, or even angry my inner voice starts shouting so loud that it confuses my logical mind. My logical mind knows Satan’s target is my mind and his weapons are lies and a subtle use of misinformation, but in my discouragement I forget he is a crafty enemy and he knows just what it takes to destroy my hopes, happiness and my need for the Good Shepherd. He was strangling my faith and my joy was diminishing.

I remember reading a story where Satan once held a sale and offered all the tools of his trade to anyone who would pay the price.  They were spread out on the table and each one was labeled – hatred, malice, envy, gossip, and lust – all the weapons that everyone knows so well.  However, off to one side lay a harmless looking instrument labeled DISCOURAGEMENT.  It was old and worn looking but was priced far above the rest.  When Satan was asked why this was, he replied, “Because I can use this one so much more easily than the others.  No one knows that it belongs to me, so with it I can open doors that are bolted tightly against the others.  Once I get inside, I can use any tool that suits me best.”

There are several accounts in the Bible were Satan used his tool of discouragement very effectively. There are many sad stories about people who lost heart and gave up. David made a decision based upon emotional discouragement. He was down and out. He felt that he was about to be killed. There's no indication in the Bible that God would allow Saul to kill him. But the young man who killed the giant now found a giant within his own heart. Worry and anxiety flooded his soul. He felt helpless and hopeless. 1 Samuel 23:14(NLT) David now stayed in the strongholds of the wilderness and in the hill country of Ziph. Saul hunted him day after day, but God didn’t let Saul find him. 1 Samuel 27:1(NLT) But David kept thinking to himself, “Someday Saul is going to get me. The best thing I can do is escape to the Philistines. Then Saul will stop hunting for me in the Israelite territory, and I will finally be safe.”

Discouragement says “the world is not fair” and leaves out “the Good Shepherd is good”. It leads to doubting and talks a lot of non-sense. It destroys faith and it leads to complaining, murmuring, and a life of sour grapes and total defeat. Satan was using discouragement to crush my heart’s hope in the Good Shepherd. My eyes were not fixed on Him and I was letting the choices of others drag me down. I had forgotten that He  sees everything and His perspective is the only one I can really trust! I was forgetting the opposite is true: 

When Satan says “your witness is a joke. No one even notices or cares” (really means) “You are like a blinding light in peoples faces. How can I possible get you to turn that off?”

“Okay, so you’ve impacted a handful of people, but that’s it”. (really means) “The Good Shepherd is using you to take apart some of my greatest strongholds and I have to stop you!”

Galatians 6:9(NLT) says: So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. But sometimes I do get tired of doing what is right and I do feel like giving up! But quitting can never be an option. If we lay our weapons down, we just become an easier target for Satan. He will keep attacking until he has robbed us of our faith to believe in the goodness of the Good Shepherd. By listening to Satan’s lies and becoming discouraged are we putting ourselves on the side of Satan against the Good Shepherd? When we give into discouragement are we telling the Good Shepherd we do not believe in His word?

When I am discouraged the Good Shepherd cannot use me, because He uses people of faith. In my discouragement I am saying “it just can’t be done” and that is the exact opposite of saying “I know the Good Shepherd can do it because he has said…” He needs me to get back up, stand straight, and face the enemy. He wants me to rise up and know who He is! He wants me to know that this season will pass and His joy will come in the morning. He wants me to shake the dust off and get back to work! When a sculptor is trying to sculpt a masterpiece, the first time the hammer hits the chisel everything is not going to fall off into a beautiful sculpture. The Good Shepherd it still chipping away at me and that is the way life is.

What form of discouragement are you struggling with? What depressing conclusions does Satan keep trying to form in your brain? We need to remember what a consistent liar he is. To understand what is really going on, you must learn to turn everything he says around…the opposite is true.

At the end of my life all that will matter is I pleased the Good Shepherd when I was here on earth. All He really cares about is how I respond to Him in my soul. Did I sincerely want Him to have his way with me. Did I make him feel honored, exalted, and blessed by the way my soul treated Him?

Satan is going to constantly tell me that really pleasing the Good Shepherd is a difficult thing that requires much straining and striving to achieve. But the truth is the Good Shepherd places great success well within the reach of every soul He created. All He requests is that we fully submit to Him in life

I want to keep my eyes on the Good Shepherd and Him alone. I want to listen to His voice, seek His heart, and follow His indistinct encouragement in all things. Remember you are never a failure until you quit. Resist discouragement and finish the race the Good Shepherd has set before you!

Hollow Words and Twisted Scriptures

In the world I grew up in the pastor and his family always had to be perfect. I was raised to put my best face forward and pretend all was well. I was taught to respect the authority of the Bible as the inspired word of God. I was part of a Bible quizzing program in which other church teams would compete against each other over our knowledge of the scriptures. I would study the Bible constantly, often memorizing lengthy passages or even entire books.

So why would I even dare to question when I am told over and over the scriptures say I was a vile sinner that deserved to go to hell. Was I really an abomination to God? Scriptures were twisted and used like a stick to beat me down. Scriptures like: “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive” and “if you resist, you will receive damnation”! (Hebrews 13:7KJV). “For there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resistith the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.”(Romans 13:2KJV)

There was no tolerance for questions, sharing concerns or thoughts.. They were God’s servants; who was I to question? To question or disobey meant you were questioning and disobeying God. To question their authority meant you were questioning the authority of God. “Don’t question” was a powerful rule growing up. If you question decisions or standards of leadership you were ostracized and humiliated. Their viewpoints of the scripture were considered unquestionable truth. They were the only ones who “heard” what God was saying; apparently God couldn’t speak to me directly, he had to go through “others”.

There was no uncertainty, no unanswered questions, no gray areas, and no doubts. The Leaders/Pastors were right, and others were wrong. They were spiritual, and others were not. They were thoroughly committed to Jesus, and others were not. To disagree with him was to disagree with God. They were, of course, the final judge and jury of what the Bible says, and they rationalized and defended their behavior under the disguise of shepherding.

The Bible gave them a certain level of spiritual authority, and they abused and misused it, going well beyond what the scriptures allowed.

Everyone was so busy telling me what I could not do they failed to tell me what the Good Shepherd COULD do. I cannot begin to tell you how much mental and emotional anguish was caused by being told what to believe, how to think, and how to speak. I felt like my soul had plummeted into the depth of hell. I was NEVER going to trust God again or what the Bible had to say. How could I ever trust a pastor again? All Pastors were just “men of God” who would cause me to stumble and lose out on eternal life. I remember thinking to myself, “so this is what it feels like to not know what you believe anymore”. I had no confidence in my own ability to discern truth from error which added to my distorted perception of God and I wondered how I was every supposed to have a relationship with Him.

The Bible had become a book that made no sense to me and had become an emotional trigger. For the longest time I could not even open a Bible. All the grace had been sucked out of any faith I might have had. I was beat down and confused. I didn’t know which scriptures were false and which were true, or if any of them were true at all. My trust had been shattered and I desperately needed someone to listen to me with compassion. Not only did I need to overcome the abuse , but I need to be reconnected with the Good Shepherd because my spiritual truth had been warped by those who twisted scripture and fed me many lies. Sometimes I would silently scream “will the REAL Good Shepherd please stand up?” There was just so much chaos and confusion.

When it was recommended that I start seeing a licensed Christian therapist who is also an ordained pastor, I remember being so scared I would physically start shaking. It took a lot of trust on my part to agree to this but when I look back on this I know it was the Good Shepherd taking care of me. I had to begin to confront and dismantle the rules that had governed me for so long. I was beginning to trust my therapist because he provided me a safe and confidential setting to do that in. Sometimes it seemed like untwisting the scriptures was like that big ball of tangled Christmas lights that you pull out for the holidays. It looks so tangled and twisted it seems to take forever to unravel and at times you just want to throw it down and give up. The only way I knew how to have a relationship with God was based on fear and performance. I really didn’t know what grace and unconditional acceptance was until I met my best friend (who is a pastors wife) and others who were willing to show me who the Good Shepherd really is. They helped me learn how to trust again, think for myself, and question when things didn’t seem right. They kept gently reminding me it was not the Good Shepherd who had violated me it was people.

It has taken me years to rebuild my life and my faith in the Good Shepherd. Even after asking Him into my heart, the thought of reading the Bible or listening to anyone read scriptures churned my stomach. With lots of encouragement I continued to work on that tangled and twisted ball and eventually found myself wanting to know more about what the Bible really said. I was learning that I did not have to jump through spiritual-performance hoops to earn the Good Shepherds approval. That is something I already have for free because of His death on the cross. It started to feel like I was a dry sponge soaking up the truth of His word for the very first time. Even though those twisted words and scriptures left me scarred mentally and emotional I was beginning to trust again and started uncovering hope for my recovery and becoming whole. I was learning that my identity IS in the Good Shepherd.

Many who have had similar experiences as me often end up becoming Atheists or Agnostics. Or they become so bitter they have no hope that there is a God (who I call the Good Shepherd) that loves and cares for them. I am heartbroken for these people. They have been hurt so badly that they have given up on this whole “God Thing”.  Please don’t let what others have told you about the scriptures or the Good Shepherd stop you from finding out who He truly is and what His Word truly says. Read the scriptures for yourself and let Him reveal His truth to you.

It’s important that a church leader, responsible for the affairs in God’s house, be looked up to—not pushy, not short-tempered, not a drunk, not a bully, not money-hungry. He must welcome people, be helpful, wise, fair, reverent, have a good grip on himself, and have a good grip on the Message, knowing how to use the truth to either spur people on in knowledge or stop them in their tracks if they oppose it. (Titus 1:7-9MSG)

Who Am I To Judge?

The effect of growing up with critical and judgmental parents still haunted me as an adult. I swore I was never going to be that way, but I found out I did have a strong critic in me as well. After all I had learned from the best. I was taught very well growing up to hide my inner struggles and conflicts and pretend to be righteous and look down on everyone else and their imperfections.  I remember many times listening to my mother slice someone to pieces at home and then wrap it all up in a pretty package with a bow and hand it to that person at church while smiling to their face the whole time. I would look at those people differently when I saw them and condemn them silently in my heart.

My father would preach about “Do Not Judge” and how we must “Love Everyone”, yet why were there so many people in the church acting so judgmental and critical towards others? The so called “Christians” I knew were condemning everyone who disagreed with them to the burning flames of hell. They seemed more focused on preaching, judging, and condemning, then loving and caring for others.

So what did the Good Shepherd mean when He commanded us, “do not judge others?” (Matthew 7:1NLT) Did He really mean we should never judge others? How literally do we take His words?  Is it wrong of us to have an opinion? The next verse says: “For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use on judging is the standard by which you will be judged.” (Matthew 7:2NLT) So should we be careful of what we think and say about others because we will be held to the standard we force upon others? Did He mean that we have no right to point out someone’s faulty behavior in order to teach them the correct behavior? Did He mean that we are just to accept each other’s bad habits and tolerate all sorts of rudeness and sometimes evil attitudes and actions?

I believe it is about the kind of judging that simply condemns people. The kind of judging that wants to put people in their place. It’s the judging that has a spirit of criticism and that isn’t really interested in forgiving, understanding, working something out, or simply trying to connect with the other person. It’s an attitude of putting people down when you think they are wrong, rather than finding ways to build them up. It’s the self-righteous attitude that points out where others have failed while neglecting to first evaluate your own life. Its being a hypocrite by pretending to have it all together, but call other people on the carpet for their sins and shortcomings. And that is the blind, hypocritical, self-righteous judging that I grew up with.

I remember my mom always used to talk about how my uncle (her brother) and his wife were going to hell because they were sinners (according to her). They were the most loving people and I loved spending time with them and my cousins. I even secretly wished that I could stay with them and not go home with my family. But every time we left to go home I cried because I was so afraid my uncle and aunt would die before I saw them again and burn in the eternal fires of hell. Even though I loved them dearly I still judged them as sinners because that was what my mom taught me to believe by her judgment of them.

When my mom passed away I remember a lady came up to me in the funeral home and told me “you better get your heart right with God because you will never get to see your mom in heaven if you don’t.”  I was so angry! How dare she say that! She knew nothing about my heart and my relationship with the Good Shepherd! As I thought about this incident later, it hit me like a ton of bricks that my mom did not know my uncle and aunt’s hearts either when she judged them as sinners, and I had judged them also without knowing their hearts…who was I to pass judgment on them about their relationship with the Good Shepherd? I wrote a letter to them asking them to forgive me.

There have been many times I have been guilty of gossiping about others and making critical and negative remarks about someone as a putdown. Someone that didn’t live up to MY value of “hard work”, I judged as “lazy.” Someone who didn’t follow MY idea of “giving”, I judged as “selfish”. One day I heard what was coming out of my mouth and I stopped in mid sentence. I was becoming that critical hypocrite that I always vowed I would never become. I was all worried about the specks in everyone else’s eyes while a log was in mine. (Matthew 7:3-5) I sat down on the couch and sobbed. I ask the Good Shepherd for forgiveness and for Him to help me with my attitude.

It is hard for me not to judge others when I look through my unfiltered human eyes. I seemed to see everything that is wrong and nothing that anyone does as right. I am to quick to think I know it all and have an answer for everything. That day I started praying that I would be able to look at those I come in contact with through the Good Shepherds eyes…through HIS filters.

He showed me it’s about loving and encouraging each other to be the very best we can be, with His help. Understanding, seeing, hearing, and accepting someone for who they are is love. I need to overlook the faults and weakness of others and if I need to speak up to someone it should be with an attitude of humility and concern for the other person. That there is a difference between judging a person and judging a person’s actions or behavior. Everyone of us was created in His image and for that reason we all deserve respect. However, judging behavior and actions is a necessary part of life. I still make judgments about a persons honesty or integrity or when deciding whether someone can be trustworthy friend. 

People are always entitled to make their own choices and I shouldn’t judge them, ESPECIALLY when I have never walked a mile in their shoes. I need to keep my judgments to myself and keep in mind that my judgments are only based on the limited knowledge I have. I cannot control anyone else’s behavior, I can only control my own (words, attitudes and actions). And I am not accountable for anyone else’s behavior, only my own. 

I believe the Good Shepherd expects us to judge actions and behaviors. We have a responsibility to judge someone’s behavior as to whether it is right or wrong especial as it relates to us , but we do not have the right to judge that person. There is a difference. We have no idea what someone has been through or the things that led them to be the way they are. Only the Good Shepherd knows those things, which is why He is the only one that has the right to judge them.

If we spend our time judging and looking down on people, how can we make a difference in their lives? We all are going to be confronted with choices in life where we can make each others journey better, or at least less miserable. I do not want to be the person who is too busy judging everyone else that I lose my opportunity to make a real difference in this world.

In the end the Good Shepherd is the only one who will judge us all, and He will judge in perfect justice and righteousness. He sees what is true in each of our hearts and will judge accordingly.

To look upon another — his weaknesses, his sins, his faults, his defects — is to look upon one who is suffering. He is suffering from negative passions, from the same sinful human corruption from which you yourself suffer. This is very important: do not look upon him with the judgmental eyes of comparison, noting the sins you assume you’d never commit. Rather, see him as a fellow sufferer, a fellow human being who is in need of the very healing of which you are in need. Help him, love him, pray for him, do unto him as you would have him do unto you. (Tikhon of Zadonsk)