The Swamp of Despondency

Psalm 107:2-6  (ESV)

2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble 3 and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. 4 Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in; 5 hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. 6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

In his book, Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan has written one of the most beautiful allegories about the journey we all travel as believers. The book describes the hero, Christian, and his journey from the City of Destruction to his heavenly destination, the Celestial City. Now there's one part of Pilgrim's Progress that I want to focus on today -- walking through the Swamp of Despondency!

At one point during their travels, Christian and his companion suddenly find themselves there....in the Swamp of Despondency. Still bearing his burden, Christian, begins to sink in the mire. His traveling companion manages to get out, but he returns to the City of Destruction without giving aid to Christian. Christian is left all alone and sinking even deeper in the mire, until Help, the allegorical figure for the Holy Spirit, pulls him free from the swamp.

Christian then asks Help why this dangerous plot of land has not been mended so that poor travelers might go safely to the Celestial City. Help replies, "This miry slough is such a place that cannot be mended."

How true it is in real life! As hard as we try to avoid them, whether young in the Lord, or spiritually mature...swamps of despondency seem inevitable, and we must struggle through them!

Charles Spurgeon once wrote to his students in the book, "Lectures to my Students", "Fits of depression come over most of us. Usually cheerful as we may be, we must at intervals be cast down. The strong are not always vigorous, the wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous, and the joyous not always happy. There may be here and there men of iron...but surely the rust frets even these."

There are times in our lives when we will struggle through the swamps of despondency -- but praise God that He has provided us a helper for those times of need! We need to press through, seeking and trusting the power of the Holy Spirit to pull us out of those nasty swamps, and set our feet back upon the Rock of our salvation. Let's also look around to see our brethren who may be struggling in the swamps of despondency, so that, rather than abandoning them, we might give them a hand on their journey to the celestial city!

Dear Lord, help us to press on through the swamps and find those who are struggling so that we may be able to help them. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.  

He brings forth an abundance!

Luke 9:16-17 (ESV)

16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17 And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

The disciples worried -- we only have five small loaves and two fishes! Whatever will we do?? Five loaves and two fishes could never feed the multitudes in the natural realm! But we have a God who is in the multiplication business! He works on an entirely different mathematical equation than we are accustomed to -- He takes the little we offer and turns it into more than we could fathom!

How often do we feel as if we have little to offer? The Lord is interested in everything we have to give, even if it seems minuscule to our eyes!

Let's not be afraid to offer up our gifts, talents, abilities, accomplishments and material things that we may find insignificant. They are not! When we give up even the littlest of things to the Lord, He brings forth an abundance!

Dear Lord, help us to give our gift, talent and ability no matter how small or big they are. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Looking forward to the eternal world

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (ESV)

17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

As believers, we are all called to transform the little world around us. C.S. Lewis offered a thoughtful perspective on remaining heavenly minded while continuing to make an impact in this present world. In Mere Christianity, he said. "Hope...means...a continual looking forward to the eternal world...it does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next...It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth 'thrown in': aim at earth and you will get neither."

Being heavenly minded is not natural. It happens when we focus and meditate on the reality and wonderful hope of the world to come. When we do, we can bring a taste of heaven to the little world around us. So let's not become complacent -- but stay focused there, so we can be effective here... and soon enough we will hear the Lord saying, "Well, done thou good and faithful servant!"

Dear Lord, we pray that we would have our focus on heaven. Help us to be effective here on Earth as we strive to bring as many with us to Heaven. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Don't get dried up

Isaiah 58:11 (ESV)

And the Lord will guide you continually

    and satisfy your desire in scorched places

    and make your bones strong;

and you shall be like a watered garden,

    like a spring of water,

    whose waters do not fail.

One of the great marvels of the Roman Empire was the invention of the aqueduct system to provide water over vast distances. It was an absolutely ingenious method which made use of gravity, with stone arches to support the water channels. An aqueduct was built in 109 AD which carried water to the city of Segovia for eighteen hundred years. For nearly sixty generations this aqueduct provided cool water from the mountains above. But fairly recently, it collapsed.

A well-intentioned citizen, observing the ancient structure, remarked, "This aqueduct is so great a marvel that it ought to be preserved for our children, as a museum piece. We shall relieve it of its centuries-long labor." So the city decided to construct a modern water system with iron pipes to carry the water, intending to give the aqueduct a long-deserved rest. What they failed to realize, of course, was that attempting to preserve the aqueduct by stopping the flow of water through it, assured its rapid disintegration! As the sun beat down on the now dry mortar and stone, the centuries old structure quickly began to fall apart. Amazingly, nearly two millenia of service would not accomplish the destructive work of less than a century of idleness!

This story ought to really encourage us in Kingdom work...since, continuing to allow Jesus' living water to flow through us, we are constantly renewed and preserved, rather than drying up with idleness and atrophy.

Dear Lord, we pray that we would always allow Your living water flow through us. Help us not get dried up and useless for You. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

He is worthy of your worship

Psalm 2:10-12 (ESV)

10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;

    be warned, O rulers of the earth.

11 Serve the Lord with fear,

    and rejoice with trembling.

12 Kiss the Son,

    lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,

    for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

In the beginning of Psalm 2, David points out that the kings of the earth are against the Lord and his "anointed". David recognized the true authority of God and advises the kings and rulers of the world, as well as their subjects, to "kiss the Son, lest he be angry." The act of "kissing the Son" would be one of homage to a king, and would indicate submission to the kingship of the Son. Those who are wise will do so before the Son, the Messiah, comes to judge the world!

Men have often tried to appear holy and righteous before other men - but God is seeking those who will worship Him in "spirit and in truth". 

In the 17th century, Fenelon was the court preacher for King Louis XIV of France. On one particular Sunday when the King and his attendants arrived at the chapel for the regular service, there was no one else present except the preacher, himself.

"What does this mean?", King Louis demanded.

"I had published that you would not come to church today, in order that your Majesty might see who serves God in truth and who flatters the King," Fenelon replied.

Let's be sure that our worship of God is true and faithful and that we aren't trying to please men in doing so. Serve the Lord with a Godly reverence for who He is, and what His Son has done for you, since He is worthy of your worship, and... He is looking at your heart.

Dear Lord, help our worship be true and faithful to You. Help us to serve You with the reverence that You deserve. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Die to your self

Romans 8:13-14 (ESV) 

13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Once upon a time, there was a prince who received a very rare and beautiful bird. He named her Goldie and placed her in a lovely, 14K gold cage. But the poor creature was not impressed by the gold at all. She pleaded for her freedom but the prince loved her much too much to part with her. Still, she continued to beg. In final desperation, she asked that he at least allow her go to her relatives and tell them that, though captive, she was still alive.

The prince was not certain she would return if he allowed her to go, so he decided to go and inform them himself. He went into the forest, where Goldie directed him and he found her sister. When she heard the awful news of Goldie's capture, she immediately fell to the ground and died.

Sorrowful, he returned to his castle and told Goldie the sad news that her sister had died. Immediately Goldie collapsed and died in the same manner.

Perplexed, but a tear rolling down his cheek, the prince then took the poor bird out of the cage, gently wrapped her in a cloth and placed her on his window sill in order to bury her. Suddenly, to the prince's amazement, the cloth began to move and Goldie fluttered out. She quickly flew out the window and landed in the nearest tree.

"You don't understand, fine prince" called the bird from the nearby, "by pretending to die, my sister taught me the way to escape."

The moral of the story is simply this. If we want to truly be free -- we have to die!

If we want to truly live a life of freedom, a life full of peace and joy, a life which provokes others to jealousy -- we must learn to die to our flesh and give our all to the One who has given His all for us! Let's take up our cross once again today.

Dear Lord, help us to learn to die to our self and give ourselves completely to You. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Muscular Christians

1 John 2:5-6 (ESV)

5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Momentum is simply the force or speed of movement that carries an object to its final destination. If you want to break through, you need to have a certain amount of momentum. In order for a rocket to blast into space, it needs tremendous momentum to break the gravitational barrier - but with the enormous power of jet engines and rocket fuel the ship is propelled faster and faster till it breaks free of the earth’s gravitational pull.

Often our challenge is gaining the spiritual momentum to break through. It requires real power. Eric Liddell, the Olympic runner once remarked that the Lord requires "muscular Christians". Believers who are serious in their faith-walk are people who stand steadfastly against difficult obstacles, and who pray with great fervency and devotion for the causes of their Lord. This produces spiritual power for significant breakthroughs in the spirit realm.

Sin and self-indulgence will compromise and slow the spiritual momentum required for our break through. But if we nourish the vision and cultivate the habit of pressing on to the higher calling, we'll be inspired to forsake our sins and focus on the glory and joy of the Lord's victory.

And one more thing: it is often true that the most ferocious battle, requiring the greatest momentum and perseverance (just like the rocket blast into outer space), will occur just before the breakthrough to victory.

Regain momentum in your spiritual life through repentance toward God, and steadfast perseverance in that specific vision and call He has given you. There is a great victory waiting for you from His heavenly realm and soon enough you’ll see it manifested right here on Earth!

Dear Lord, help us to regain the momentum in our spiritual life.  Help us stay in Your word  and pray to daily so we may become stronger and stronger. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.