Don’t Walk Around Defeated!

Over time I’ve come to realize that amid everything that I faced, my most exceptional comfort is my relationship with God. Everything else left me feeling empty and wanting more. If you are experiencing this comfort, it is one of God’s most precious gifts to us. The scriptures say in Psalm 84:5-6: – Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. ⁶As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. It’s all about the relationship and journey of believing. He is who He says He is and will meet you right where you are. I never really realized what it meant to have somebody truly take care of you the way my God takes care of me.

When I think of the scripture found in the 23rd Psalm, I look at my walk with my Lord. I got a startling realization that if you’re not following the Lord or you are starting to feel your life is not up to par, then the reality is you probably have to start doing some soul searching and self-examination to figure out where the problem lies. This verse is so precious, and I could say so much about it, but for today lets focus on the fact that it tells me that even though I walk through the Valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. I know this is a famous bible verse for people to read for comfort at a funeral, and with a great understanding, I can see why, but I’m going to stretch you here a little bit. What if you didn’t just look at that verse as someone passing away from one world to the next; but let us look at it through the lens of life and of walking through hard circumstances we face every day here on earth. From this passage, I see that the Good Shepherd is right there to lead you through the darkness. It is because his word is the lamp unto my feet and the light unto my path and that he truly is the one that is taking me on the way that has the least resistance. It doesn’t mean I feel like this path is comfortable all the time. The unknown is a hard pill for many to swallow. I may not even understand the bends that are up ahead, but the peace I have from this passage is the good shepherd has gone before me to make sure that this path is the best possible path for me to have blessings overflow, protection, and provision.

I had come to realize when Jesus died for me; I was willing to give him 100% of my trust. It is when I follow him through these paths the narrow paths of life that I can ask him for anything, and he cares for me. I bet if you reflect as I did, you will see the many times he has lifted me and you up out of the miry clay and just sheltered us in ways we never thought imaginable. My life is to be a different and unworldly way. I know this path is a narrow one because of this verse Mathew 7:7-14 – Ask, Seek, Knock ^{7 “}Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. ^9″ Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! ¹²So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. The Narrow and Wide Gates ¹³Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

My prayer is that you have found the narrow gate. I know I have! When I need it, the sun shines its warmth on me and warms up my situation, causing me to realize that not only is there a God, but that he loves me, he cares for me, and he has a plan and a purpose for my life. See if you’re not following the Good Shepherd or you are starting to feel the functioning of your life is not up to par, Then the reality is you probably have to start doing some soul searching and self-examination to figure out where the problem is. Chip Ingram broke it down like this, and it’s so powerful these are the areas you need to reflect with yourself with God and with his word.

1. Stepping out in Faith for God – Spiritual adversity – Let me tell you what, the Devil will up his game if he thinks your gaining ground and fulfilling your God-given assignment to help bring in the lost to the kingdom of God. Its called spiritual warfare for doing what God has called you to do.
2. Physical Exhaustion – I got to do better I got to be strong enough! If this is your area, try to remember the verse, I can do all things through Christ that gives me strength. When you get to a humbling point in your own prideful, arrogant behavior, that you realize you can’t, you’ll hear what I heard the God whisper of I never said you could. I always can, and I said that I would!
3. Consequences of Sin – Even though it says in the Bible that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. The reality is that sin in itself is a death or decaying process. It’s the law of consequences and good choices end up with good results bad decisions have negative results, and sometimes sin causes us to have turmoil in our lives from walking out of the will of God. God put in his word to reveal to us what it means to be able to have an abundant life. It comes directly from the loving heart of God to help us to have less carnage in our lives.
4. Season of Fruitfulness – You’ve sought the Lord, and you haven’t had a moment where you’re stepping out in faith. You’ve checked all these other areas, and the reality is the Lord might be doing something called the pruning process. That is a preparation time of cutting one back or applying pressure for refinement. Its for you to become more like his son. It’s an opportunity for The Lord of the harvest to do a cutting back in your life of character defects that do not show attributes of Jesus Christ to help you be ready to bear much fruit in your next season.

I think too many people today as believers give the Devil too much attention and credit. Now is it truly an attack from the enemy; because a lot of people want to blame things on him, and we give him more credit and breath than he deserves because he is a defeated foe. It’s our own selfish, sinful nature that we’ve backslidden, and we’re not walking in the way of the righteous, and because of that, we have a good good father who’s trying to bring us back to where we need to see it all began. The day that we fall apart, and we feel overwhelmed, unable to cope probably is a good day to do a self-examination and find out what’s going on here.

What is this uncomfortableness or the slippery slope that I’m on? Maybe you seem like I keep having one bad thing after another lousy thing after another bad thing, and your life is starting to become victory to the wreckage. It could be poisoning your outlook on life instead of looking at everything as a blessing and looking at everything as if it is a curse. Stop looking at everything as if it’s overwhelming. It all stems from a deep-seated heart condition of not being content and not being thankful, and everything always goes back to the mindset of everything we have. Every breath we take every tragedy that spared from actually happening hasn’t come into our miss is a gift from God. When those circumstances do arise in our lives, we have an opportunity to let God use that as a platform to show that he is a mighty God worthy to be praised no matter if we have much or we have little or whether we are rejoicing or we are mourning. Whether we are moving forward or you come to a point on your path in life where you realize, and you admit to yourself and God that you’ve gone backward. No matter where we are on this path, though, he is a sovereign God that never leaves or forsakes you and loves you despite what you choose or not choose to do because he can’t deny himself for he is love.

What if we looked at adversity as being a tool God uses like a hammer that shapes us into something new. It’s an inactive thing that helps to transform your life; it makes you more confident, and it builds your character. I think a real transformation of self takes place when we get out of our comfort zones; this is where the new life begins because then we’re walking out of the old sinful nature. Hence, within life difficult things, we always remember that this is just a season. These two will pass when we cling on to the riches of his promises knowing that we’re in the comforting hands of an incredibly loving God.

So what are the key ingredients to a fruitful walk with God? First and foremost, it’s to trust God and his character! Is it not to lose heart but to keep a perspective that everything here in this realm is incredibly temporal by keeping our eyes on Jesus. We start to get a real understanding of what matters, and that’s how we’re able to have joy in all circumstances because he supernaturally fills us with joy. He is working on our behalf, and no matter what we face, none of this is a surprise to an all-knowing Supreme God. It’s in the hardest moments that we need to remember God always gives us what’s best, not still what we want but what is always best. The question you have to ask yourself during this hard time I know I’ve had to ask myself through different seasons is what is the source of this. You ask God in prayer and meditation while searching his word, and he will reveal it to you.

Keep pressing on keep pushing in and to keep walking by faith and not by sight! When you do this, that’s when you’ll start to live your life like you’re going to see a victory knowing that the battle is the Lords. He’s on your side, and he’s not against you, and that is what helps me to keep letting the Good Shepherd walk me down the narrow path.

Author: The Holy Spirit
Editor: JJ Michael Smith

God bless,
igotasavior

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