A New Day Has Dawned--Don't Look Back!!

Last week, right after my last post, I was attacked with an unexplainable rash. The itch was unmerciful, and it wiped me out. I was so uncomfortable and miserable and could not function properly. I spent a week feeling awful, avoiding certain activities and generally feeling low as can be. Wearing clothes made the itch worse, so I'd get dressed when I HAD to go out, then I'd go back home & put my pajamas back on. The looseness of the pajamas made me feel more comfortable physically, but it wreaked havoc on me mentally. I started to feel lazy, and had symptoms of depression. Each day was a struggle just to function. Since then, I've needed to lean on the Holy Spirit to direct & correct my thoughts.
Yesterday I felt brand new. Still suffering with my itch I had decided to just accept it and do whatever I was led to do to help it, but not to let it affect me in such a way that it would consume me. It is definitely an affliction, and if I allowed it to, it could drag me down to another place.
But God knows what He's doing, and He is there through this whole thing. My affliction has caused me to seek Him more continually, and rely on Him completely. If I don't, I will fall tremendously. I believe that complete reliance on Christ is the exact reason we are so afflicted. A test of our faith & a reminder of our continued dependence on Him. Have you ever felt strong, yet helpless at the same time? It's possible to feel that way, I assure you, as that is exactly how I felt when I got up today. I felt so strong of mind, but as my body failed me I began to feel so helpless. I had a headache and I was so very very tired. All I wanted to do was sleep, but yet, I just couldn't. I had way too many things I was responsible for today. I turned to something that has been giving me strength these past days...music.
It has been said that music calms the savage beast. It has most surely proved true for me this past week of suffering. Worship & meditative music has kept me in line this week as the devil has sought to use this affliction to paralyze me spiritually. Today, when I was feeling completely worn out and I had to force myself to leave the house & pick my daughter & my nephew up from school, I turned on my music to seek comfort. The Lord gave me 2 songs in a row on the drive to pick my daughter up, and the words spoke to my Spirit something the Lord is showing me through this whole journey.
The first song was "His Strength is Perfect" by Stephen Curtis Chapman. Read these words:
I can do all things
Through Christ who gives me strength,
But sometimes I wonder what He can do through me;
No great success to show, No glory on my own,
Yet in my weakness He is there to let me know . . .

His strength is perfect when our strength is gone;
He’ll carry us when we can’t carry on.
Raised in His power, the weak become strong;
His strength is perfect, His strength is perfect.

We can only know
The power that He holds
When we truly see how deep our weakness goes;
His strength in us begins
Where ours comes to an end.
He hears our humble cry and proves again . . .

His strength is perfect when our strength is gone;
He’ll carry us when we can’t carry on.
Raised in His power, the weak become strong;
His strength is perfect, His strength is perfect.

As I was listening to those words, my Spirit was testifying that this is what God wants me to know. I was especially affected by the part that says,
"We can only know
The power that He holds
When we truly see how deep our weakness goes;
His strength in us begins
Where ours comes to an end."
Yes, through this affliction I realize that He has been my strength through this time of suffering & struggle. We really DO get to know the power that He holds when we see how very deep our weakness goes. I was pushed to a point where I felt so very weak & I had no choice BUT to rely on His strength. Would I have done that honestly, relied on Him so much, if I was not so weakened? Most of us don't. When we feel strong, we revert to doing things in our own strength and then we forget God. And so often, when we are suffering, we think God has removed Himself from us. What a lie from the enemy...a tactic of his that he uses to draw us away from God. I know this is a lie because He has not left me, nor forsaken me, just as His Word promised. I feel physically weak, but I feel spiritually strong! THAT is God!

Isaiah 41:10 says; "Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

Deuteronomy 31:6 says ; "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."

Deuteronomy 31:8 says ; "And the LORD, He is the one who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed."

Joshua 1:9 says; "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

God also gave me another song. It's called, "The River Will Flow" by Whiteheart. Here are the words:

There inside my dream
I heard the river roar
I stumbled through the darkened mist
But I couldn't find the shore
Then a voice within the mist said,
"Tell me what do you seek?"
I said, "I have a mighty thirst,
but I feel so tired and weak"
He said, "I am the river
full of power and truth
you've been looking outside yourself
when it's there inside of you"

And the river will flow
The river will flow
Through all of the times of your life
The river will flow
And the river is love
The river is peace
And the river will flow through the hearts
of those who believe

So put your hands in mine
Oh, put your hands in mine
And let us all go down
And kneel by the river's side
we'll cry our tears of joy
Cry our tears of pain
We'll let them fall down from our eyes
to be washed in the sacred stream
Even the secret tears
buried in our memories
Let them all be swept away
to the depths of the endless sea

And the river will flow
The river will flow
Through all of the times of your life
The river will flow
And the river is love
The river is peace
And the river will flow through the hearts
of those who believe

We must remember that He is there for us to cry out to, to lean on, to carry our pain & our hurts & to hold us tightly through it all. How often we forget that HE is the river of life. John 7:37- 39 says; " On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus was standing in the temple courtyard. He said loudly, "Whoever is thirsty must come to me to drink. As Scripture says, 'Streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.'" Jesus said this about the Spirit, whom his believers would receive." Well we who are believers HAVE received the Holy Spirit & He testifies within us all of the truths found in Gods word. If we make God's Word a part of our daily life, if we read it & meditate on it just as the scripture commands, then the Holy Spirit can call it up to the surface of our minds & allow it to work the power it holds. When I heard the words to that song, I was reminded that I was safe in the hands of my Savior. The words, "I have a mighty thirst, but I feel so tired and weak" really spoke to me and when I heard the 'answer' in that same song, "I am the river full of power and truth you've been looking outside yourself when it's there inside of you" I was jolted into a reality. How often do we seek our answers in other books and self help measures and how often do we search for what we THINK we need when everything we need is right there within us. We possess the Holy Spirit, the greatest power available, and we willfully CHOOSE not to use it! How frustrating that must be for our Lord as He watches us struggle. We are fighting a powerful foe, that is true, but we have THE power on our side and He has already defeated the enemy! Consider the story in Mark 1:23-27. Jesus was teaching in the synagogue and those there were "astonished at his doctrine". Why were they astonished? Because "He taught them as one who had authority". Apparently they never heard someone teach with such authority, as that was not the way the scribes taught. Well He gave us that same authority, as He told us in Luke 10:19; "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the powers of the enemy: nothing will harm you"
There is a great lesson in Mark 1:23-27. Hear the scripture; "Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!" But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He [Jesus] commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."
As we have already established, Jesus was teaching in the synagogue. I heard a bible lesson this morning that said, "When the gospel is being preached, the power of God is on hand to take the devil out." It pointed out that the devil spoke to Jesus and asked, "are you here to destroy us?" The devil instantly recognized Jesus...He KNEW He was the holy one of God! What was Jesus doing? He was preaching the word! When the word is preached, the devil is exposed. He is fearful of God's word because he knows that when it is spoken that is how we get the victory against him. The power is in God's Word. As soon as we speak the Word, we show the same authority that Jesus did. We have authority only because Jesus gave it to us, and when we speak the Word, we exercise that authority. The devil had possessed that man with more than one spirit, evidenced in the words "let US alone." We can be attacked by many different demonic spirits and that's important to recognize. The devil can tell you things, and you can choose to listen, not acknowledging that it is he who is speaking these lies to you. Maybe you don't even recognize that it's him that is telling you these lies, but ANYTHING that sets itself up against the truth of God's Word is a lie from the enemy and that's why we have to test the spirits.
If the devil doesn't know who you are in Christ, then he will continue to hang around with you and attach himself to anything he can just to get to you. He can succeed in getting you as long as you are weak and if you are not drawing your strength from Christ and His Word, then you will fall as easy prey. You are, at that point, like a weak or wounded gazelle. You no longer possess the cunning to escape your enemy, and because of that, you have fallen prey. The devil, like a "roaring lion" has been prowling around. He's been waiting to pounce. He has been seeking someone to devour, and you just gave him exactly what he was waiting for. I think it's interesting to note that in 1 Peter 5:8, the devil is described as a roaring lion. Did you know that a male lion's roar can be heard up to 5 miles away? If the prey heard the lion roaring, do you think he would make himself available to be caught? Yet isn't that exactly what we do when we get the warnings that the enemy is near, yet we choose to give in to the lies that cause our defeat? We see that something is from the enemy, yet we give in to it, and we do not use our greatest defense, God's Word, against it. When the devil cried out, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!" note what Jesus did. He rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" Jesus stopped the devil IMMEDIATELY! He didn't argue with him, and he did not let the devil get a foothold. Ephesians 4:27 warns us, "do not give the devil an opportunity" We do that FAR to often, and because of it we succumb to the trap & are snared. Each day, God gives us a new opportunity to exercise our faith & the power He has given us. When the attacks weaken us, He is our strength. He has given us all we need to win. We must not dwell on our failures, but on our victories. Each failure is an opportunity to learn. In this affliction, I have learned to embrace He who is my strength. I cling tight, for I know that if I let go, I will truly fall. We never look back, we only look forward, and when we feel like giving in or giving up, we remember that we have the authority that was given to us in Christ. There is no retreat, no surrender! We must be in it for the long haul and claim the victory that is ALREADY ours! If you are struggling with something today, if you are afflicted, cling to Christ and lean on Him for your strength. Then embrace your affliction for it is what has drawn you to Him, and it is what will keep you relying on Him. James 4:8 says; "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you". He will use your afflictions to develop great things in you and you will be used by Him to fulfill His great purposes.

Remember, a new day has dawned! Don't look back!!!

God bless!