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Supernatural Solutions For Habits & Things You Dislike About Yourself Power to become the person you want to be You would be surprised how many people have broken the stranglehold of crippling habits by tapping into a Higher Power. (Amazing Examples) This Higher Power is superior to us in every way, including intelligence and morality. Since love is at the heart of morality, this power should be thought of, not as an ‘it,’ but as a person. That staggers many people. As easy as falling in love Falling in love with the most wonderful Person in the universe is the key to being liberated from powerful habits. We rightly reject a religion that’s a list of dos and don’ts. To fill the unfillable hole within us, we need the exhilaration of a never-ending love affair. Without having our deepest (and often suppressed) needs satisfied, we will be forever lured by lesser things in an attempt to dull the gnawing ache. The things we unconsciously turn to could be overwork, overeating, compulsive behaviors, chemicals, inappropriate use of sex, . . . the list seems endless. Many of these things have a legitimate place, but they were never designed to meet our deepest needs. When forced into this unnatural role, they are as unsatisfactory as cardboard to a starving man, yet with nothing better to fill the emptiness, we often find ourselves enslaved to them. Since you have cravings that can only be satisfied supernaturally, I urge you to note this web address so that you can return to it, and find out about the ultimate love affair from the following webpage: What your fantasies reveal. Step into the unknown If the concepts raised in this webpage are foreign to you, I suggest using the following as the basis for a first-time prayer, modifying it as you feel appropriate. God, I’m not even sure if you exist, but I know I want to be free from . . . [name whatever is troubling you]. My motives may not be totally pure, and I might be blind to other things in my life that also need changing, but I’m asking you to open my eyes to your existence and to my need of you. Come close to me. Open my mind as I continue to read, and give me the courage to do what I should do. It’s not hard to imagine that anyone could break habits if they had the supernatural power of God flowing through them. But we’re contaminated with imperfection. God is too holy for us to relate to. The power of God would surely blow us apart, and his perfection makes him unreachable. When Jesus was crucified, however, the guilty and the innocent traded places. Jesus, the only human to ever live a perfect life, allowed himself to be treated as if he were morally corrupt, so that anyone who agrees to be part of this exchange can be treated as being innocent. I’ve compressed something very complex into a few words, but let’s skip the intricacies and get to the benefits. By Jesus accepting treatment we deserve, astounding possibilities open up, including having the holy God dwell within us, even though we have been a world away from being divinely perfect. In fact, you can enjoy powers and honors that would otherwise be reserved for God alone. And, of course, this includes the power to crush evil. Let’s look at this from another angle: A slave to habits Everyone who sins is a slave of sin ( John 8:34 ) That’s what Jesus taught, and any addict – whether it be to heroin or bad language, shoplifting or smoking, alcohol or anorexia, gambling or bad temper, pornography or paedophilia, incest or masturbation – is forced to agree. Behind life-controlling problems is a spiritual power. It is evil, much stronger than us, and it ultimately destroys its victims. It’s as though we have been abducted and enslaved by habits and evil forces. Resistance is useless. When you are a slave, if your master barks an order, you obey. He’ll whip your flesh to shreds until you do. He owns you. Your only hope of escape from a slavemaster is if he beats you to death or if another master buys you. That habit has you by the throat. ‘If the Son sets you free . . . ’ At the astounding cost of his own lifeblood, Jesus has offered to ‘buy’ you from your slave owner, paying your ransom to release you from your abductor’s death grip. Think of it as a prisoner exchange in which the innocent Son of God traded places with you. That’s what the cross is all about. Jesus let himself became Satan’s plaything, in exchange for your release. Evil did to Christ what it would have done to you. He was harassed, bullied, beaten, bound, tortured, killed. Once that evil tyrant had Jesus in his power, however, he discovered Jesus was too strong for him. The victim became victor! Innocence won! In Jesus, good overpowered evil, guaranteeing your release, by defeating the forces of evil and rising triumphant from the grave. If you accept Jesus’ offer, that cruel tyrant no longer owns you; your loving Savior does. Those forces that once enslaved you, can try their old tricks, threatening you with all their hellish fury, luring you with all their seductive charm, and you can just walk away. Drugs, drink, lust, greed, or whatever, haven’t changed. But they no longer own you. Jesus does. (If this seems simplistic, don’t be concerned. We’ll examine the complexities soon.) But note this: If Jesus isn’t our loving master, sin is. If we don’t obey Jesus’ wise commands, we’ll have to jump when sin commands. Oh, Yuk! We hate the idea of being pushed around by evil. The thought of being bossed around by God, however, seems not a lot more pleasant – until we discover that God is nothing like the selfish, power-hungry fun-spoiler we imagined him to be. Discovering that God is devoted to maximizing your happiness is a most liberating experience. He is the God who made every good thing we have ever enjoyed. How could we ever have imagined that he is a killjoy? And somehow we’ve ended up with the preposterous notion that God frowns on us – the One who loves us with such intensity as to pour out his blood for us when we were at our very worst. The reality is that from the moment that you are truly born again, God is thrilled with you. We might hold that thought for a few hours, but it quickly slips away. We often think that if God were ever pleased with us, it was some time in the past, not now. Why is that so hard to believe that God is smiling on us right now? Because we have a highly intelligent spiritual enemy who knows the only way he can dominate us is if he can weaken the joyful trust and delight with which we run into God’s loving, powerful arms the moment we encounter the slightest difficulty. To help strengthen your awareness of God’s love, please bookmark or note this website address, so you can return to it, and go to the following webpages: You Are loved! To God You Are Special If you feel battered by guilt feelings, there is also a helpful series of webpages beginning with: Handling Guilt Receiving supernatural power to break the evil hold of habits, hinges on a spiritual transaction. You can’t even trade an old car for a brand new one without some sort of formal agreement, much less a old life for a new one. In essence, you agree to enter into a life-long relationship with Jesus, in which everything you have becomes his (your sin – that’s what killed him – your time, money, relationships, etc) and everything he has becomes yours (his moral perfection, moral power, never-ending life, spiritual riches, status with God, etc). In every way, you win and Jesus gets the raw end, but God, in the intensity of his love for you, wants this more than you can imagine. For a better insight into what is involved, and how to enjoy the benefits of this divine offer, please see What your Fantasies Reveal. For more vital information about this key issue, see Becoming a Winner! I urge you to read it.

You are about to read some amazing things. And yet even more astounding is that they are just random examples of genuine events occurring around the world. To say that similar things have happened millions of times is probably no exaggeration.        The Power that did this is no mindless machine, however. There is no guarantee that your experience will be identical to any mentioned here. God is too exciting for that sort of dull predictability. But there is a guarantee that God will work powerfully in your life, if you let him. Connie’s Instant Deliverance From Alcoholism Nothing but alcohol was effective in helping Connie cope with her panic attacks. So severe was her condition that when all else failed, doctors resorted to four sessions of shock treatments, later followed by a further eight sessions. Nothing worked. Connie endured two years of torment before discovering that alcohol prevented the attacks, allowing her to live a fairly normal life. Few of us could imagine the horrific experiences of repeated panic attacks that forced Connie into the only solution she could find. She writes: I drank for ten years. By then, alcohol had a hold of me. I remember a two week period when I stayed drunk all of the time, and I didn’t want to live any more. Although raised in the Catholic church, I was not a born again Christian. I had tried praying a lot in the early years of my illness but figured that God didn’t hear me. I knew I probably wouldn’t live much longer drinking the way that I was, and I couldn’t believe that my life had turned out the way it had. So one day I decided I had better talk to God. As I did, I saw things in myself that I had never seen before; how I had held grudges against people and never really forgave. I told God about my life and that I didn’t know how I got to be that way, but I didn’t want to be that way any more. I told him that I just wanted to love people. When I got up from my knees, I was a different person. He delivered me from alcohol, nail-biting, bad language, fear, and probably things I don’t even know about. It wasn’t as if I said to myself, Well, I have had this talk with God, so now I have to clean up my act. I could not have done that. All of it was just GONE. I thought, Oh, there really is a God, and I’m probably the only person this has ever happened to. (Really, now! I am still amazed at thinking those things.) The astounding thing is that in addition to the normal pressures an alcoholic endures, Connie still had to face the panic attacks. She writes: I didn’t know how I was going to get through the attacks without drinking. So when the first one hit, I just got on my knees and the Lord got me through. To me, that’s a bigger miracle than if Connie had been instantly healed of the panic attacks. After that, the panic attacks became much milder. Connie has now been free from alcohol for 21 years. Gang raped After being gang raped, Sueanne found herself hopelessly addicted to alcohol for the next 20 years. To her astonishment the God she doubted was even real instantly set her free. Nearly two years later, she is still amazed at the new life God has given her. Sueanne lives in Australia and I know her personally. She writes: My father died of alcoholism, aged 56. Had I known what I now know, I might have saved his life. Off the alcohol, (a rare event) Dad was the most beautiful, kind-hearted man I have ever known, but the drunken violence was terrifying. Mum began drinking to be with Dad. Luckily for us she could control her drinking. From age 14 to 19 I played with alcohol and a few drugs. Then I was gang raped by bikers. How those torturous hours of rape ruined and haunted me is incomprehensible to the normal person. With the horror forever threatening to resurface in my mind, sexual abuse led to substance abuse. I tried to keep the memories at bay with drugs and alcohol. I never again drank because I enjoyed it. I drank in a desperate attempt to feel a bit normal. My friendships changed. I still don't understand why, but I looked for biker-type rough people to hang around. Day after day, year after year, I wasn't game enough to come out of my bedroom without two Prozac, a drink and a few Valium. And that was just the beginning of my day. I would drink until I dropped. Even my biker partners eventually got sick of my drinking and drugging, so I'd get another one who would put up with it for a while. I got into really heavy drugs. You name it; I've done it, except heroin. I began cocktailing them. Anything, as long as I didn't have to face reality. After 20 years of chronic substance abuse I had sunk as low as anyone could without dying. For a partner I was down to a homeless street guy who had no morals whatsoever. He ended up firebombing my home. If I could afford nothing else to get me through the day, I drank methylated spirits – rubbing alcohol rendered poisonous to exempt it from Australian alcohol tax. My children had all left. I was close to death. I had tried for years and just couldn’t stop my alcoholism, even though I desperately wanted to be normal, and by now my chemical dependencies kept me feeling far from normal. I also longed to quit so I could get my youngest daughter to come back home to me, but nothing worked. I accepted an invitation to a church service, hoping for a miracle, but not thinking I’d get one. This God they were praising didn’t seem real, but I was desperate enough to try anything. At the end of the service the preacher led me in a prayer. I asked forgiveness of my sins and asked Jesus to take over my life. I walked out feeling great. I had such joy I couldn’t understand it. My addiction was instantly broken. My cravings for alcohol or drugs simply vanished. My whole life turned around. I would never have believed it if it hadn’t happen to me. It’s a miracle. I could not have changed. I had tried for years. God can and will come into your life and change you completely, if you will let him. An Atheist’s Battle with Alcohol Greg Bond writes: I was an atheist my entire life. I really hated the idea that there was a God, let alone the Christian one. By having that opinion I had only myself to depend on for everything. At age 24, however, I found myself drowning in the depths of alcoholism. For two years, each weekday after work (Monday-Thursday) I was drinking at least a twelve pack of malt liquor and a pint to a fifth of a gallon (16 to 26 shots) of whisky. On the weekends I drank more. I was blacking out and losing all memory of what I had done every day. My wife pressured me to join Alcoholics Anonymous. I decided to give it my best shot. My sponsor in AA told me I had to pray to God every night and thank Him for my sobriety. Now I didn’t mind being a hypocrite in every other aspect of my life, but I had to draw the line somewhere! I said I didn’t believe in God and that by praying I would be a hypocrite. He said something to the tune of, ‘How nice. Just do it.’ So I prayed daily and I experienced about six months of sobriety. Then my wife left me. Shortly after, the night came when I knew I couldn’t resist the call of the drink. I found myself outside of a bar weeping. I was completely demoralized. I decided that other than suicide I only had one avenue of escape, if one existed at all. I prayed to the God I didn’t believe in. I told Him I didn’t believe in Him, but that I had nowhere else to turn. So if He in fact existed, I needed His help. As I finished praying a feeling of peace and comfort came over me and the obsession and desire to drink left me and has never returned. (I have now celebrated eight years of sobriety.) That night convinced me that God does indeed exist. It also demonstrated to me that He cares immensely about me. A year or so later, after looking into all sorts of religions trying to discover just who God was and what He wanted from me (if anything), I became convinced of the truth of the Bible and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It’s an incredible demonstration of God’s power that I have not once so much as desired to drink alcohol since the night he healed me. Yet even that astounding feat of God pales alongside my amazement that the God whose standard is absolute perfection overlooks my faults and treats me as his best friend. Comment: Greg’s gradual discovery of God is typical of most spiritual journeys. If the Lord waited until we had a perfect knowledge of him before moving in our lives, we’d have no hope! However, the deeper our knowledge of the true God, the more likely it is that we will experience his power. Even the phenomenal success of Alcoholics Anonymous rests more on the supernatural than is commonly realized. As of 1996, Alcoholics Anonymous, had two million members worldwide. This highly respected organization is founded not on some vague, impersonal Higher Force, but a loving God. Of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, six refer to God. The second step refers to ‘a power greater than ourselves,’ so it clearly is not referring to the power within, that some people vainly look to. These steps have proved so effective that Psychologists, Dr Ralph Earle and Dr Gregory Crow state that these Twelve Steps ‘serve as the foundation of virtually every effective self-help group that addresses addictive, compulsive, or co-dependent behavior – from Gamblers Anonymous to Overeater’s Anonymous, from Al-Anon to Nar-Anon. The most successful recovery programs for any addiction – including sex addiction and co-dependency – use them.’ Drawing upon the power of a loving God accounts for much of the phenomenal success of Alcoholics Anonymous. Sadly, for many members this remains a vague concept, and this dilutes the effectiveness of the program. Those who fail to tap into the supernatural are much less likely to succeed. In the early days of Alcoholics Anonymous an astounding 75% to 93% percent of its members recovered from alcoholism. Dick B. devoted at least six years to extensively researching this phenomenal success rate. He has written profusely, delving back into the early history of Alcoholics Anonymous and he is convinced that the higher success rate hinged on a higher proportion of its members relying on the Christian God and basing their relationship with Him on the principles of the Bible. Heroin-Opium Ralph, a former heroin addict, had been off drugs for quite a while. One day he got discouraged and shot up heroin. He remained as sober as a judge. David Wilkerson is founder of Teen Challenge, an organization with centers in many countries helping drug addicts and other people in need. In his multi-million best seller Cross and the Switchblade (also made into a film with Pat Boone playing Wilkerson) he relates an amazing incident. Ralph had been on heroin for three years and was mainlining it. After becoming a Christian and being freed from the power of drugs, Ralph went fine for quite some time. Then he decided to get a fix. He injected good quality heroin into his veins and it had no effect. It was the real thing, but it might as well have been water. Stunned, Ralph knew this had to be the hand of God. The heroin neither sent him high, nor got him hooked, it simply made him want to go to find the nearest church and ask God’s forgiveness! He learned that God is not someone to be toyed with. Though it should be medically impossible, Jackie Pullinger has seen very many opium addicts set free without withdrawal symptoms, through the power of prayer alone. Teenaged English girl, Jackie Pullinger felt sure God was telling her to go. The weird thing was that she had no idea where she should go. In desperation, she bought a one-way ticket on a ship, hoping that God would guide her. She ended up in the most lawless part of Hong Kong, working among opium addicts. One of the first to tell Jackie he would give Jesus a try was Winsom, a Triad gang member tragically addicted to opium. Within half an hour, he had painlessly and completely passed through withdrawal without any of the usual symptoms. As Jackie prayed for others, many more came off opium cold turkey (without medication, immediately ceasing all drug intake) with no withdrawal symptoms. This painless withdrawal of chronically addicted junkies should have been medically impossible, but it happened over and over and over. If withdrawal symptoms began, they would simply pray and the symptoms would go. The success of Jackie’s work among opium addicts has been acknowledged by the Triad, (‘the Chinese Mafia’), by the Hong Kong government and by the Queen of England, who awarded Jackie with the high British honor of an MBE. Secular newspapers around the world have hailed her work and she has at least two books to her name. Tobacco Jon’s life literally depended on him giving up smoking, but he still couldn’t quit. Then the impossible happened. He writes: Habit, addiction, pleasure, need, whatever you want to call it, smoking is for life. That’s the way it was for me and no amount of willpower was going to change it. My attempts to stop smoking for good were all just temporary lulls in a habit acquired before I was 16. Even after being hammered by congestive heart failure in a big way, my smoking never slowed down. I once made it five days with only one or two smokes a day. That fifth day, as I sat on the patio, sucking smoke into my tired lungs, I felt my heart rev up like a Formula One racer – the problem being that this car’s motor was on its last legs. I had to stop smoking or die. That simple. Did I stop? No. I could not do it. God called me to follow his Son a short while before this time, and I was still an infant Christian, too timid to ask for help in things spiritual. One day, I got down on my knees and confessed to my new-found God that I was weak, helpless and just plain stupid. I needed to quit smoking and couldn’t. Would my new friend Jesus, please help me? Please? I just can’t do it , I said, please help me or I will die . . . The very thought made me sit there and cry. Hey, I’d like to tell you about the big, fiery miracle that Jesus whammied onto my head, and the lightning and the voice from heaven that knocked me down and made me shake, but it just ain’t so. It was far more impressive than that could ever be. I simply never wanted another cigarette. Ever . Not once. To this day – and it’s been over a year. Not that I fought temptation and never smoked another one, you understand. Remember, I tried that and failed miserably. I have never WANTED to smoke another cigarette. If you have ever smoked, you have some idea of the mercy and the true love behind this miracle. There was no kinder or more impressive thing that my Lord Jesus, my new best friend and owner of my heart, could have done for me. It was a show of power to which no bolt of lightning could ever compare. Calm, sure, unwavering power. The kind of power that never needs to boast or openly display itself for the sake of proof or pride. Absolute power . Jon’s experience has been repeated in the lives of countless other people who have looked to Jesus for supernatural help. Here’s just one more example: When Judy Littrell had her first encounter with God she had been a smoker for 38 years. More times than she could count she had tried and failed to break her sixty-a-day habit. Soon after finding a new life in Jesus, Judy began frequenting her church’s prayer room. Concerned that the smell of smoke on her clothes could disturb other pray-ers, and desiring to enter God’s presence with a body undefiled by tobacco, she prayed for God to free her from the habit. In her own words, ‘One day I smoked, and the next I did not.’ There was no tapering off. Interestingly, many times since then, especially after putting on 25 pounds, Judy has wished she could smoke, but has been unable to. The very smell makes her nauseous. Judy has now been free from tobacco for three years. Bob Lydiate’s story is quite different. He loved smoking, but found God is not someone to be messed with. Bob writes: I challenged my Lord, telling him that I did not want to quit smoking and that I enjoyed it. If he wanted me to quit, then he was going to have to make me. He did. Shortly after my challenge, I came down with pneumonia. When I still didn’t stop smoking, I came down with strep throat and the pneumonia reached the point where I was told not even to get out of bed. Physically, I could not smoke. It hurt too much, and I was too weak anyway. By the time the strep throat disappeared, my body no longer craved nicotine. Stubbornly, I still tried to light a cigarette. It tasted so awful that I stubbed it out and haven’t smoked since. That was over 16 years ago. I have had no desire to begin again, and it doesn’t bother me to be around smokers (beyond the smell, if there are too many of them!). Comment: It is unusual for God to use sickness, but note how exceptional the situation. Here we find someone committed to serving God determined to continue smoking and at the same time issuing a challenge to Almighty God. Rather than let acts of defiance multiply until they threaten Bob’s spiritual life, God in his kindness revealed a fraction of his power by making a non-smoker out of someone who had no intention to quit.

The Quest For fulfilment An exciting, full length book by Grantley Morris Filled with . . . encouragement, challenge, comfort, inspiration and motivation Highly readable, deeply moving, sometimes hilarious. For Your Convenience: Many Options Hear this Book Chapter 1 (27 Mb) Chapter 2 (14 Mb) Chapter 3 (18 Mb) Chapter 4 (16 Mb) Chapter 5 (15 Mb) Chapter 6 (25 Mb) Chapter 7 (32 Mb) Chapter 8 (32 Mb) Chapter 9 (35 Mb) Chapter 10 (18 Mb) Chapter 11 (12 Mb) Chapter 12 (32 Mb) Chapter 13 (33 Mb) Chapter 14 (22 Mb) Chapter 15 (12 Mb) Chapter 16 (41 Mb) Chapter 17 (51 Mb) Chapter 18 (29 Mb) Chapter 19 (41 Mb) Chapter 20 (24 Mb) I am deeply grateful to Wyatt L. Timmins for all his labor and professionalism in producing the audio version of this book. Read this Book 1. PDF File 2. Microsoft Word 3. Rich Text Format The PDF and Word format display endnotes. Download book in Acrobat Format as a zip file Version 1: Single column, 8" of text destiny.pdf – 549 KB Version 2: Two columns (about 3.5" wide), with 3/4" side margins good for punching holes to fit into a standard 3-ring binder destiny-margins.pdf – 928 KB Why is this book free? Freely you have received Freely give Call me a fool if you wish, but I would rather live in poverty (which I am not) than make money out of the kingdom of God. This is a personal decision and not a criticism of anyone. I’m not worthy to be in the same room of some who sees things differently. Through this Internet ministry we seek to penetrate not just national, linguistic, cultural and religious barriers, but financial barriers. My longing is to minister to non-Christians and Christians without charge, and for local churches around the globe to receive all the benefit. To serve God’s people is an undeserved privilege. No donation is sought.

Breaking the shackles of a narrow view of ministry: A humorous, inspirational call to creativity and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit If you think you are called to a 'normal' ministry . . . think again Bible-based guidance in finding and exercising your ministry calling and vocation. Spirit-filled creativity and service. Our Leader's behaviour shocked the religious establishment. Christ partied with people considered by others to be crooks, drunks and sluts. A woman of questionable morals kissed his feet. He did things on the Sabbath he wasn't supposed to. He insulted dignitaries, calling them vipers, blind fools, whitewashed tombs and other endearing names. Those closest to him usually had no idea what he was talking about - he's warning them about the Pharisees and they think he's complaining about leaving the bread behind - but to those outside his inner circle, Christ wasn't nearly so intelligible. He was acknowledged by demons and rejected by theologians. He spoke to a fever, a tree, even a storm. Before long, Jesus' sanity was called into question and at one stage his family came to take charge of him. He was forever messing up funerals, wrecking beggars' only source of income - their infirmities - and outraging religious leaders. He made goo with spit and smeared it on a beggar's eyes. He stuck his fingers in a man's ears, spat, and grabbed the man's tongue. How many churches would tolerate such ludicrous behaviour? He took a short-cut across the lake - without a boat. He sent two thousand swine hurtling to their death. He physically assaulted temple workers. No one - whether friends, family, admirers; devout, legalistic or lax - could agree with him for long. Are you sure you want to be Christ-like? Being the embodiment of divine perfection made our Saviour such an oddity that no one knew what to do with him. Yet our fallibility will not pave an easier road. Christ pledged us his Spirit and if we dare follow his orders we can expect to be regularly jarring people's sense of propriety and intelligence, just as he did. That's the way it has always been. Sunday after Sunday, the works and lives of Scripture's heroes are reverently read in pulpits across the land. But if the Bible's motley crew revisited this planet, would they be honoured in our churches? Even the Pharisees revered dead prophets. It's the live ones that make us squirm. There's Jesus, who drank, and the Nazarites who abstained even from grapes. Solomon wore extravagant finery. Equally holy men wore rags. Paul's dress would get even an apostle black-listed in most churches. (Well, if it wasn't exactly a dress that he wore, what was it? A nightie ?) Some lived in palaces and some in caves. Some were free-thinkers in the realm of personal hygiene. Many were in public disgrace, some were even outlaws, yet they refused to conform. Whether they had ice in their veins or permafrost in their brains, you can decide, but they established new frontiers in outlandish behaviour. If you want to stand out like iridescent acne, have the spirit of an Old Testament prophet. Zany publicity stunts were their specialty. You'd think Ezekiel was vying for the weirdest entry in the Guinness Book of Records, lying on just one side for more than a year, fuelling his fire with dung to cook needlessly-rationed food. (God wanted him to use human faeces, but Ezekiel was too straight for that.) He dug through a wall, built make-believe siegeworks against a brick he called 'Jerusalem', and attacked shavings of his hair. Isaiah sauntered around almost starkers for three years. Hosea got involved with a woman. Pious eyebrows must have shot through the roof. Yet these were not the hare-brained schemes of religious nuts. Men of God were obeying the holy leadings of the Almighty. See Samson, flat on his face - tripped over his hair again. Nearby is a Nazarite, desperately trying to suppress his laughter (laugh at Samson and you laugh all the way to hospital). Under divine direction, the Nazarite has shaved his entire head. Here we have two men led of the Spirit. One we'd reject because his hair has never seen a razor, the other because his hair has seen a razor. Everyone knows saints must conform to our standards. I could prattle on forever about the mad-cap antics of clowns like Samson, the long-haired lout who brought the house down - on top of himself; Jacob, who had an angel in a headlock; Daniel, who ended up on the lion's menu, not because he prayed but because he insisted on praying on his knees with the windows wide open. I could lampoon whole armies - like the one that snuck off to battle insisting that the choir go first, or Joshua's troops who waddled around in circles to the (short-lived) amusement of Jericho's inhabitants. (How embarrassing to be in that dizzy army. The locals must have died laughing.) Or I could slip out of the Bible covers and tell of Luther, who threw an ink pot at the devil; of Wesley, who prayed for his horse's leg; of Finney who brought jesting factory girls to their knees by merely looking at them; of the nineteenth century 'funeral' procession where a Bible-thumper burst out of the coffin and launched a verbal assault on startled on-lookers. I'm telling you, you and I are the first sane Christians that have ever lived! But honestly, has God stopped prompting people to break with convention, or have we stopped heeding his prompting? Has God exhausted his creativity, or are we exhausting his patience? If we were more open to the Spirit's leading would the church have fewer Sunday School teachers and more clowns, cartoonists and puppeteers; fewer choir members and more yodellers, mime artists and totally new forms of music; fewer preachers and more entertainers, movie producers and computer whizzes? I am being neither radical nor dogmatic. I'm simply pleading for an army of Christ-centred saints, dedicated to allowing the Spirit of God express himself in the way he chooses, rather than the way our tomato brains think he should move. If your ministry seems bland, that's fine, provided it's a calling, not a cop-out. Ministers or mimic s? We seem to have thousands too many people queuing for nineteenth-century-style ministries like preaching, while the devil almost monopolises modern methods of communication, and virtually no one seeks the Lord of all knowledge for truly innovative ways of portraying the nature and message of God. I am not taking about gimmicks, but of being channels of God's splendour, free, like the prophets of old, from the straight-jacket of human tradition; willing to carry obedience to the extreme of appearing the greatest oddball since John penned Revelation . (John, by the way, was locked up before he wrote his bizarre book. In our era, he'd be put away after he wrote it. It was non-Christians who had him put away. Today it would be - no, I won't say it.) If we're less than ten years behind the world we're considered worldly. If we're a century behind, we're 'model Christians'. But if we're bound to the Timeless One, why aren't we ahead of the world? It's a sign of unintelligence, I was told in a psychology lecture, to always choose the same response to identical situations. Let's not insult the greatest Mind in the universe by implying he reigns from a rut instead of a throne. He doesn't even make two fingerprints the same. Part of us recoils from a God so superior that his acts take us by surprise. It's unsettling to have a God so vibrant, so bursting with life and creativity and personality that in comparison the most dynamic of us seem listless and boring. We'd much prefer God to be a machine; as coldly predictable as a lump of metal trapped by a simple law of physics. There's something reassuring about an idol. Within us lurks a desire to fashion a god in the image of a cuddly teddy bear that says 'I love you' when we press the right button and never disturbs us by doing or asking the unexpected. From cover to cover the Bible demonstrates that God's character is wonderfully predictable and his methods wondrously un predictable. When Jesus healed, for instance, you could never be sure whether he would visit, heal from a distance, or initially ignore the person. You would never know whether he would address demons or the illness, speak of sin or faith, bless, ask questions, spit, lay hands, or tell the person to wash or stretch or pick up a bed or see a priest. Lest we try limiting God to the vast array of Jesus' earthly methods, the rest of Scripture shows the Most High healing by the use of shadows, handkerchiefs, oil, fig paste, a dead prophet's bones, an image of a snake, lying on the afflicted, dipping in the Jordan - and if you want a full list you have still missed the point. For every impossibility the Almighty has unlimited possibilities. So let's not think that service must conform to our petty notions before it can sparkle with divine greatness. Let's cut the ropes and let God express his boundless creativity through us. We are so tradition-bound as to confuse ministry with mimicry. Unless we are called to a musty, second-hand vocation we conclude we're not called at all. Don't be a buzzard circling the corpse of a worn-out ministry when you could be an eagle soaring with the Spirit to fresh expressions of the grandeur of God. I feel like the preacher who after a moving sermon about sin was asked how he knew so much about the subject. Narrow-minded? I blunt my comb whenever I part my hair. Fleas shuffle single file across my cranium. Every human mind is chained to established practice and custom. All that distinguishes any of us is the length of our leash. The implications haunt me. Had his devout father succeeded, David Livingstone might never have left his indelible mark on human history. His father, believing books on travel and natural science to be incompatible with Christian service, tried to prevent David from reading almost anything other than theological works. For the rest of his life, this famous missionary was dogged by Christians who wanted to shackle him to a more conventional vocation. He was forced to declare, 'So powerfully convinced am I that it is the will of the Lord ..., [that] I will go no matter who opposes ...' When William Wilberforce teetered on the edge of conversion he assumed he should abandon politics and become a clergyman. He would have made a great preacher, but his childhood hero and father-figure, John Newton, talked him out of it. And millions have benefited. The abolition of the slave trade was just one of the accomplishments of this devout politician whom John Pollock labeled 'the moral leader of the Western World'. After Cliff Richard became a Christian, he felt he should quit show business and become a full-time teacher of religious education. Someone had the insight to show him that he could more effectively minister to this needy world as a pop star. Does that curdle your brain? It makes sense to me. In heaven's sight, a truly Spirit-led entertainer could be as much an ordained minister (ie divinely ordained to minister) as any pastor, bishop or missionary bearing impressive church credentials. Moral dilemma I'm going too far. I see you warming to this book as it burns in your fire. Nonetheless, I'll step over the edge because I ache for the tiny minority whose sacred mission clashes with our sense of decency. To underline the reality of this problem, I cite specific examples, though I do not claim to have the mind of God on them. I have enough difficulty discerning my own direction. Instead, employing the wisdom of Gamaliel, I refuse to hurl stones whilst a doubt remains, lest I be found opposing a work of God. What would you think of a man who felt divinely commissioned to spend countless hours viewing hard porn? Dr James Dobson is such a man, even though he is thoroughly convinced of the evil of pornography. Do you question Florence Nightingale's call to nursing? You might in her day, when nursing was renowned for gross immorality and drunkenness. Simon Peter had to fight his conscience to preach to Cornelius. Fellow Christians were aghast. 'Ill-natured, wicked, mistaken - deserves punishment ...' wrote the West Indian press about James Ramsay, a sensitive Christian who had inflamed public decency to intolerable levels. He was guilty of the 'absurdest prejudice,' roared men in England. Ramsay had published a book suggesting that the slave trade was wrong. Earlier this parson had had the gall to insert into the service a prayer for the conversion of blacks. The church was outraged. Some stalked out. The Churchwarden presented a formal protest against Ramsay's 'neglect of the parish'. Not everyone assuming the 'higher moral ground' should be trusted. In a move as bold and glorious as his original creation of the music, Handel took a composition which might have merely given goose bumps to fat Christians and turned it into a channel to flood the lost with the warm love of Christ. Yet even this involved a moral risk. The first performance of Handel's Messiah secured the release of 142 people from debtor's prison. Subsequent performances authorised by Handel achieved so much in aiding the poor that one biographer wrote, 'Perhaps the works of no other composer have so largely contributed to the relief of human suffering.' What's more, this composition - thought by some to have done more to convince multitudes of the reality of God 'than all the theological books ever written' - was bringing potent Scriptures in a powerful manner to the unchurched. I'd hail this use of his work as a magnificent achievement, but I lack the discernment of Handel's Christian contemporaries. The church castigated him for not restricting performances to the hallowed confines of its buildings. For John Newton - of Amazing Grace fame - Handel's 'secular' use of his Messiah was such a scandal that he is said to have preached 'every Sunday for over a year' against it. Like the Pharisees of old, we can be horrified at the actions of our spiritual forebears - adamant that we could not possibly be so blinded by religious prejudice as to oppose a work of God - and yet make grave misjudgements of the same magnitude that God-fearing people have been making for millennia. I make no plea for blind tolerance. That's one of the fad heresies of our age, and even the bigoted Pharisees wrongly tolerated temple money-changers. But whether they erred on the side of acceptance or rejection, the Pharisees' error was always the same: they let the accepted norms of their group ring so loud in their ears that they couldn't hear the heartbeat of God. Like us, they were sure they would never make such a mistake. So though I don't preach mindless acceptance, I urge caution - especially since God's primary concern is to enlighten me concerning his leading for my life, not his personal leading for everyone else. Cristina, claims a Christian monthly, beams the light of Christ into darkness so oppressive it's shunned by nearly every Christian. She's a regular act at a strip club. No, she doesn't remove her clothes - she repeats her act before children at circuses. As Australia's leading contortionist, she takes her audience's breath by twisting her body, not her morals. At what she is convinced is God's command, Cristina teeters on the precipice of hell, plucking souls from Satan's fangs. When I saw the impressive write-up in a leading Christian magazine, I assumed Cristina's daring exploits, spiritual power and soul-winning success had made her a celebrity in Christian circles. After months of feeling an unusual prayer-burden for her, I finally yielded to the urge to contact her. I was shocked when Cristina confided that she felt rejected by 98% of Christians and couldn't find one church where she felt accepted. The godly treat her like a Samaritan, though she alone is neighbour to the man wallowing in the gutter. Strategically placed in Satan's heartland, Cristina loves drug-addicts, prays for strippers, witnesses to transvestites, and gives back-sliding Christians a fright. Yet few uphold her in prayer. God uses preachers, singers, maybe even nurses, but a contortionist ? In a strip joint ? Next you'll be saying God could heal the sick with a handkerchief, feed a throng from a boy's lunch box, become a Man denounced by religious leaders for his 'low' morals ... For years Cristina battled with what seemed the call of God burning within and buckets of water thrown by well-meaning Christians. Being endowed with a rare skill nurtured from the age of four was not proof God wanted her to continue. Jesus called fishermen to forsake abilities burnished by years of experience. The moral tangle is daunting. I couldn't enter Cristina's work place without grieving God. Scripture teaches, however, that a few issues are not settled by an immutable law but by an individual's purity of motives, conscience, and personal leading from the Most High. This applies only to breaking rules of human origin - though, like pharisaical laws, such rules could be designed by well-meaning Christians to put a protective hedge around God's law. The fearfully holy Lord would never break his written word or smudge his awesome purity by calling Dobson to lust, Miss Nightingale to drunkenness, or Cristina to immorality, though flocks of halo-studded angels in psychedelic jumpsuits herald the call. Neither would God assign them such precarious tasks unless they were exceptionally resistant to the type of temptation they would face. We are often so conscious of sin being like leaven that we forget Jesus' teaching that the kingdom of God is also like leaven, which starts as a speck and transforms everything it touches. A potent Christian on a mission from God is a far greater threat to the Enemy than the Enemy is a threat to the Spirit-led Christian. It is quite another matter, however, when a Christian wanders aimlessly or sinfully onto enemy turf. So, though it will always be rare and subject to stringent conditions, God's leading could challenge a man-made moral code, even one that has protected millions of Christians. I have faced a moral dilemma in even raising the matter. Someone might twist it to their own destruction to excuse sin, yet if I stay silent others might quash God's leading by considering themselves holier than God. We must bow before the Holy One whose ways are not our ways. All our joy is to be found in the perfection of his will, no matter how it clashes with human tradition. God-given diversity We all know that humanity's first ministry was nude gardening. It worked. It had God's blessing. Yet - I hope - we feel no compulsion to emulate their approach to ministry. Nor do I see many people trying to organise their own crucifixion to replicate the most powerful ministry earth has seen. So why try to steal anyone's ministry style? We would end up looking as ridiculous as skinny David clunking an erratic course in Saul's ponderous armour. You're a unique work of God. Only a fool would vandalise Leonardo da Vinci's priceless works by trying to turn them all into Mona Lisas. God is most elevated, not by a hundred imitations of Billy Graham (or Cliff Richard), but by a hundred commonfolk each being true to their unique calling. The result will much more accurately reflect the multi-faceted character of God. Our great God is a humorist as well as a judge; a musician as well as an orator; a servant and a king. Just look at creation: God is an artist, an engineer, an inventor, a gardener. He's a bio-chemist, a mid-wife, a philosopher, a labourer, an architect - does the list ever end? In the vastness of God's nature there must be a tiny element that you can portray better than anyone else ever has - if you accept the challenge of a truly Spirit-led ministry, instead of a pale imitation of someone else. Just as the life-styles of Jesus and John the Baptist differed enormously, there should be a rich diversity within the body of Christ. Unfortunately, a warped view of holiness and/or submission often leads to drab conformity. In reality, this is carnality - the inability to love or appreciate anyone who is not a boring clone. Deodorised saints are the order of the day. Real saints get up hypocrites' noses. To reach the many different people groups he encountered, Paul became 'all things to all men'. If Paul as an individual could contemplate this, imagine the breadth that should be evident within the body as a whole. This is possible only if we allow the Spirit to nurture our individuality. Christians wishing they had the abilities of others are nightingales coveting a peacock's beauty or soaring eagles envying the powerful legs of an ostrich. Yet most of us feel this way at times. It's a pity our brain-waives have such an unconventional spelling. Don't despise the unique blend of abilities bestowed on you by the keenest Mind in the universe. Stop envying the ministry of others and start clarifying your own call. If, to your thinking, that call seems insignificant, the thing to be ashamed of is not your calling but your thinking! . . . from a fascinating web book crammed with goodies

A Sane Guide to Turning Your Life Around by Finding Hope When There is No Hope How to Rise from Hopeless to Hopeful Without Mindless Optimism The smog of despair, defeatism and pessimism snuffs the life out of us; smothering a bright future into bleak hopelessness. All hope might have fled in wide-eyed terror but it has not skedaddled as far as you might suppose. Hiding just over the horizon are genuine reasons for hope. You can find hope when there seems no hope and truly live. It is appallingly tragic that by mistakenly seeing themselves as overweight, skinny anorexics can end up not just needlessly tormenting themselves but starving to death. Just as anorexics have a dangerously distorted view of their bodies, so we can have a distorted view of our future – and the consequences can be just as dire. Innumerable suicides would never have happened if only people could have seen their real future, instead of the murky distortion that fooled them into needlessly throwing their lives away. Without hope, all meaning drains out of our existence. If our efforts were to end up achieving nothing, life would be meaningless – an utter waste – but we shall see that this is never a possibility for anyone committed to Christ, regardless of how hopeless things can seem in the short term. Life without hope is like a meal without food; a tree without water; a world without light. Many of us do not trust hope, however, and would rather shiver in the cold than let it warm our hearts. We think it as likely to remain as a mist on a summer’s day, and as dangerous as a rotting bridge suspended by a thread over an abyss. In stark contrast, the Bible describes genuine hope in God as being as solid and secure as a ship’s anchor (Hebrews 6:19). The clash between these different attitudes to hope lingers because human help differs from divine help as a spider’s web differs from the strongest safety net in the universe. Divine hope is the guarantee that, although we almost never guess how or when, Almighty God will ensure that good will triumph over evil – not merely in general, but in the life of every person who loves him. The God of truth has no partnership with off-with-the-fairies optimism, nor with living in denial. Your Lord is not the God of wishful thinking but the God of hope. So when the Bible speaks of hope, it means having a solid reason for knowing that good things are ahead. It’s the certainty that the God who never fails has good plans for you. Hope is one of the big three that stand the test of time: “. . . faith, hope, and love remain—these three” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Irrespective of your past, God longs for you to walk in hope as much as he wants you to walk in love. Regardless of how often you have failed, the holy Son of God makes you worthy of divine blessings the moment you surrender to him in genuine repentance. Then, no matter how dismal your current circumstances and your long record of disasters, the holy Lord declares that you deserve to sparkle with hope. If you struggle to believe that you are totally forgiven by God, you will struggle to have genuine hope. If so, your problem is not how much you have sinned but how little you understand the magnitude of God’s forgiveness. Elsewhere I have expounded in great depth the astounding extent of divine forgiveness and the exciting implications. So even though this matter is crucial to hope, I will only touch on it here and then move on to other things affecting our ability to maintain hope. The critical factor in determining your acceptability in the terrifyingly holy, all-seeing eyes of Almighty God is not the enormity of your sin but the enormity of both God’s love and the power of the cross to make you, in heaven’s analysis, as pure as if you were born in total innocence and remained so for the rest of your life. Feeling condemned or defiled or defeated or spurned by God is utterly irrelevant, because feelings are not spiritual reality. Through the stupendous miracle of Christ swapping places with you on the cross, the Holy One gained your sin and you gained the moral perfection of God himself. On the cross the spotless Son of God was so marred by your sin that he became the very embodiment of sin, and by putting your faith in him you completed the transaction and you became the very embodiment of God’s holiness: 2 Corinthians 5:21 For him who knew no sin [Jesus] he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God . The extent to which Christ has removed your sins from heaven’s consciousness is so staggering that God in his Word uses a vast range of different words to try to express it, including pardoned, forgiven, not remembered, wiped out, swept away, taken away, trampled on (destroyed), unable to be found, blotted out, cleansed, washed. Here are some more biblical attempts to describe the magnitude of what has happened: Isaiah 1:18  . . . Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. . . .” Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west [an infinite distance to Hebrew thinking], so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities under foot; and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. The technology when that last verse was penned was such that anything dropped into the depths of the sea was utterly irretrievable. There are times when the love of God compels him to pronounce people’s doom, but as final and as hopeless as it seems, it is actually a last ditch attempt to bring them to repentance so that their darkness breaks into the dawn of a bright new day. (Only after death is it too late to repent.) In Rejected by God I provide many biblical instances of this but here I will cite just one well known example. The prophet Jonah pronounced to the Ninevites that the entire city would be destroyed in forty days’ time. They repented, and so great is God’s love even for pagans that this divine prophesy was never fulfilled. Everyone was spared. If you still think your past might hold you back from God’s blessing, you need a link at the end of this webpage that further confirms the extent of God’s forgiveness. Forgiveness means that regardless of how defeated and inferior you might imagine yourself to be, the King of the Universe not only does not regard you as second class, he delights in you. No one in the universe is more loved of God than you are. You are intensely loved of God and uniquely special and irreplaceable in his eyes. Bursting with love for you, the Lord of creation yearns to pour out his blessings upon you. If you are less than utterly convinced of the magnitude of God’s love for you, however, this matter needs to be addressed urgently to stop it from continually eating holes in your faith. As I have written of my past struggles: I can easily believe that the atom-holding, earth-spinning, galaxy-sustaining, life-giving Source of everything wonderful can do whatever he likes. Even the devil believes God’s power. My difficulty is believing that God’s special love for me makes him long to use that power on my behalf. Few of us doubt that God can do amazing things. The weak link in our faith is believing that he would do such things for ordinary, inconsequential you and me. We suspect we are not sufficiently special in the Almighty’s eyes to warrant such attention. Oh yes, ‘God loves everyone,’ but we have a hunch that by the time that love reaches us it has spread pretty thin. I’m just one of millions. Why would God want to focus his omnipotence on me? If we could grasp the enormity of God’s love for us, our faith would sky-rocket. The implications for hope are mind-boggling. Nevertheless, I will not expound this glorious truth here because a link at the end of this webpage will take you to many webpages that fully explore how loved of God you are. Instead, I will assume you have already read those pages and understand this life-changing truth, and I will focus here on things about hope not covered in those pages. No matter how horrifically oppressive your life has been and how doomed you feel, the God who loves you is the master of the surprise happy ending. Your God is the Almighty Lord who unexpectedly snatches victory from the jaws of defeat and suddenly turns despair into wild celebration. He’s the God who reverses fortunes; the God who lifts high the lowly and brings down the mighty; the one who has the final laugh and has been planning for all eternity for you to enjoy the victory celebrations with him. You deserve encouragement. So, not only have I crammed this webpage with new material; I have also snatched snippets from a vast range of my other writings in my commitment to maximize the encouragement I can give you. It is natural to base our future expectations on past experiences. Doing so, however, is often not only illogical but dangerous. Regardless of whether it be good luck or bad luck that a person imagines he attracts, it can ruin one’s life to let a highly memorable but quite uncommon event – or string of events – trick you into thinking you are more likely than other people to experience a repeat. This fact of life has such dire consequences that we should briefly explore it to help us take it seriously. If you used a poker machine for the first time and soon had a big win, you might expect to be lucky at gambling in the future, but there is no rational, statistically valid reason for that belief. In fact, despite the big win, if you believed that this highly unusual event is likely to keep repeating itself, it could end up economically ruining your life, along with an avalanche of other tragedies, such as destroying your marriage, and so on. Likewise, if you were innocently walking down the street and were almost killed by an object that fell from a plane, you would afterward have no rational basis for being more ill at ease than anyone else about walking down the street. Psychologically, your nervousness might be understandable, but you would have every logical reason for acting as carefree as the next person whenever you go outside. What a pity if you let a one in a million event keep you a recluse; too afraid to leave your house! You might have suffered more bad things in your past than almost anyone but unless the actual people who hurt you still have access to you and power over you, the reality is that you are just as unlikely to suffer a repeat as anyone else. The tragedy, however, is that pessimistic expectations often become self-fulfilling – or at least seem to come true in the eyes of the person expecting them. As I say in How to Change Your Self-Image : Should, for example, I think everyone despises me, I would interpret it as an act of spurning me if people typically go about their normal business without interrupting everything to make me the centre of their attention. To my warped thinking, people’s normal shyness, fear of rejection, preoccupation with their own affairs, and so on, would “prove” I disgust them. Even if a few people actually went out of their way to say nice things about me, I would dismiss it as an act of insincerity (forcing themselves to be polite, feeling sorry for me, trying to manipulate me, etc.) or based on ignorance (not really knowing me, being poor judges of character, etc.). As a final resort, if anyone acts in a manner I find impossible to squeeze into the categories just mentioned, I would interpret it as “the exception that proves the rule” and would probably even find perverse satisfaction in restoring my equilibrium by deliberately recalling events that seem to confirm my distorted self-image. Suppose a wonderful woman has let her past exposure to unusually cruel people crush all hope of anyone finding her lovable. If, despite mistakenly believing she is unlovable, she marries, she will be far more likely than average women to expect her husband to leave her for another woman. No matter how good a wife she is and how passionately her devoted husband loves her, her irrational expectations make her likely to mistake innocent things for signs that her husband is about to leave her. This could play on her mind so much that, to stop prolonging her agony and precipitate what she believes is inevitable, she leaves him; oblivious to the truth of his pleas that he is utterly devoted to her and is continually faithful. I feel sick to my stomach to mention it, but I knew a man who sometimes paid men to treat him vilely in order to reinforce to himself that he was despicable and unlovable. Like many other people who engage in quite different forms of degradation and self-inflicted pain, he did it to keep killing his hope of being lovable. Yes, crushing his hope filled him with despair but he considered it worth the physical pain and feelings of hopelessness because he saw the relinquishing of all hope as self-protection. Such was his negative view of the future that he believed he was protecting himself from suffering the agony of dashed hopes. I dislike dwelling on such negativity but it is my conviction that the best way to find the cure is to understand the cause. Some people do such things as cut themselves, overeat, dress drably or neglect personal hygiene because their hope is so low that they fear the slightest trace of hope. They regard rejection as so inevitable that they deliberately create good reason to continue expecting to be rejected. They do this in the belief that they are protecting themselves from being caught off guard or bitterly disappointed when rejection comes. The heartbreaking reality is that treating oneself atrociously is usually an attempt to shield oneself from what are essentially the minor risks of life – such as the possibility of attracting sexual assault by dressing normally. People act this way when highly unlikely dangers loom so big in their eyes as to seem likely. Their fear is not based on a statistically accurate analysis but simply on the basis of highly abnormal events they happened to have suffered earlier in their lives. The tragedy of trauma is that it was not only distressing at the time; it usually gives those who suffered it a hideously distorted view of their entire lives. Unpleasant experiences keep coming back to them in the form of flashbacks and so on, and past horrors get so indelibly etched into their memories that they can hardy recall all the good times they have had. It is as though the bad experiences they have had scream so loudly as to drown out the sweet strains of good times, even though good things actually happened more often than the bad. For example, I know someone who, very many years ago, suffered a highly traumatic and prolonged custody battle in which she justifiably believed that her baby’s very life was at stake. It was a terrifying time until she finally knew the outcome of the case. It caused her to have an extremely negative view of the entire legal system as well as a crippling fear of courts and, sometimes, even a negative view of God. For years afterward, however, what hardly registered with her is that she won that custody battle. In court she had been falsely accused of awful things but the judge ruled that she was right and that her accusers had lied. She gained full custody of her baby throughout his entire upbringing and now that he is an adult he continues to love her and think highly of her. Nevertheless, the memory of that relatively short time, when the fear of a disastrous outcome was overwhelmingly intense, is carved so deeply into her mind that the positive outcome of the court case barely impacted her thinking and attitude to life. Thankfully, her outlook is now significantly improving as she keeps deliberately reminding herself of the positive outcome of that traumatic time and she learns to maintain a more accurate view of her life. Although the following was originally written for people who were physically abused as children, it is likely to be relevant even if you were not abused in this way. If you feel devoid of hope, it is likely that something in your past – perhaps repeated putdowns by authority figures or peers – has had a tragically similar effect on you as it has for those I was originally addressing. Don’t waste your life. Don’t let bad people win. You had no choice when you were little. Back then, they were so much stronger than you and their lies seemed so believable. Today, however, you are no longer a child; no longer helpless and easily duped. Those days are gone forever. As I have written elsewhere: To restrain a baby elephant, circus trainers must chain it to a huge stake driven into the ground. When the baby grows into an adult, however, it is many times smarter and stronger. What trainers must then drive into the ground is just a tiny tent peg. The baby had tried everything to break free. It had strained with all its might, pulling in every conceivable way, hour after hour, day after day. The huge stake refused to budge. So, rather than mindlessly keep trying to do the impossible, it did what at the time was the intelligent thing: it gave up trying. The baby grew into a powerful beast. Convinced by bitter experience that whenever it is tethered there is no point trying to resist, it never bothered to determine whether anything had changed. So it suffers indignities, even though, if only it could grasp the fact, it could easily rip up the peg and trample those who sought to dominate it. As an adult, it finds itself bound not by a stake but by a powerful psychological force. This powerful force has been given several names, one of which is Learned Helplessness. It has been the subject of much research by psychologists because, in one form or another, it binds millions of people. It is a factor – sometimes the full reason – in the peculiar tendency of many of us to be plagued by what seems to be bad luck, year after year. Consider, for example, the heart-wrenching fact that even after growing into adults, survivors of child sex abuse often find themselves staggering from one abusive relationship to another. Like the baby elephant, abuse survivors once found themselves in a situation in which escape was impossible. No matter how hard they tried, nothing they could do could free them from humiliation at the hands of those who sought to dominate them. Now they are older and have more options, but the devastating effect of their past ordeal is so crippling that if ever they find themselves in a slightly similar situation, it is exceedingly difficult for them to believe they could break free. No one convinced that resistance is useless has much chance of resisting with all his or her might. Or suppose an addict is utterly dominated by his addiction. Each of his many attempts to break free simply proved to him the impossibly of the situation. Then he is born again. Suddenly, resident within him is all the power he needs to quit his habit. But he fails to grasp just how radically things have changed. Convinced by his past failures that he cannot break free, he never bothers to use to the full his new, God-given power to break the habit. The result, of course, is that he remains a slave to the habit that he could be free from. I find myself hampered by defeatism in many areas of my life. Here’s one example. With many types of puzzles, for example, experience has taught me that no matter how hard I try, I will still fail to solve them. “I’ll fail anyhow, so why bother wasting lots of effort?” I tell myself. Weighed down by this attitude, I give up before giving it my best, most determined and most persistent effort. Surprise, surprise, with only a half-hearted attempt I don’t succeed, thus reinforcing my conviction that I’ll never succeed. It would seem that giving children puzzles that at their age they are unlikely to succeed in, might turn them into defeatists with such games. More worrying still, is that defeatism in this area might possibly carry over into other areas of life and might last throughout one’s life. I’ll continue by quoting from another of my webpages: Learned Helplessness saps from us the drive needed to escape, even when we grow stronger and gaining freedom becomes easy. It saps from us the drive needed to escape when we grow stronger and gaining freedom becomes easy. Being defeated in what is now the distant past has made you so used to being overpowered and having your hopes crushed that, now that it is easy, you do not want to even try to walk free. The prison door has been wide open for years but whether you walk out into the sunshine and truly enjoy life, or remain languishing in the dingy world of needless despondency and restrictions, is entirely your choice. Stop frittering your life away in unnecessary inner pain, despair and defeatism. Lift up your eyes and let God inspire you. The Almighty believes in you. Keep asking him to fill you with the same passion he has for truth, victory, healing and wholeness. Like the ancient Israelites, it is up to you whether you keep wandering in the wilderness or enter the Promised Land divinely prepared for you. It takes courage to enter into all of the blessings and fulfilment and achievements God longs to lavish upon you. As with the Israelites, it is simply a matter of faith – believing that with God on your side you can do it. You don’t even have to believe in yourself. Simply believe that God is not so pathetically weak that your weakness could ever negate his power. Fear feels so oppressi v ely real but it is just a feeling; not reality. Take God’s hand and walk through the open door. Not only can an unpleasant past dupe us into needlessly abandoning hope, there are certain medical disorders that trick the mind into thinking there is no hope. These medical conditions, despite being fairly common, are rarely understood and often undiagnosed and have the potential to cause serious spiritual challenges. Even if you feel certain it does not apply to you, it is important to read the following because it is surprisingly common to suffer clinical depression and not realize it, and clinical anxiety is even less understood. Moreover, they are simply extreme instances of attacks on one’s belief in a good future that we must all fight. Understanding how to combat the extreme should equip us to romp through lesser attacks. Clinical depression and/or clinical anxiety form too huge a subject to adequately tackle in this webpage but they are also far too significant not to be raised in a webpage that is serious about empowering readers to find hope. I am referring to depression and/or anxiety that are caused, not merely by external circumstances or one’s attitude, but by a medical disorder. I am not referring to feeling distressed about having an illness but about a medical condition that actually has depression or anxiety as a primary symptom – often the only symptom – as much as physical pain is a symptom of breaking a bone or a rash is a symptom of measles. And just as psychologists can help you learn to live with pain but it will not go away without the underlying medical condition being corrected, so you can learn to lessen the impact of depression or anxiety but it will not go away without the underlying medical condition being corrected. Unfortunately, the medical cure for neither anxiety nor depression is fully understood at present and, also for not fully understood reasons, these afflictions are becoming increasingly common in modern society, regardless of one’s walk with God. By not realizing the difference between medically-induced depression and that caused by one’s attitude, far too many Christians fail to understand that clinical depression is an illness and so they mistakenly see it as almost a sin. Most of these people do not mean to be cruel and heartless by harboring this misconception but, sadly, the result could hardly be any worse if they were deliberately hateful. Tragically, they are acting like Job’s “friends” who, despite genuinely trying to be helpful, exposed themselves to divine judgment by falsely accusing Job of sin because of the dreadful things he suffered (Job 42:7-8). Basically, to suffer either clinical depression and/or clinical anxiety is – through no fault of one’s own – to be plagued by intense feelings that flood a person with a devastatingly convincing illusion that there is no hope. For a person to maintain hope in the midst of either of these afflictions is as heroic as a marathon runner completing a race with a crippling injury. Depression and/or anxiety do not in any way imply that God is not planning a thrilling future for a person but it means the person will face enormous inner opposition to believing it. It is not that anyone feeling devoid of hope because of this illness has less faith than other people. It is simply that the person’s faith is challenged far more severely; like an injured marathon runner who is hit by a car during the race faces more severe challenges as he staggers on than all the other runners. It is not just by filling us with gloom that depression can dupe us into losing hope. Depression often deadens one’s feelings so that one no longer feels God’s presence, nor his love, nor his comfort. The temptation is to abandon faith in God’s promises never to leave us and to misinterpret this loss of feeling as indicating that God – our reason for hope – has left us. This second way that depression can delude us into losing hope is similar to how excess anxiety can deceive those with the misfortune to suffer it. Like depression, anxiety can mess with our feelings. If we make the mistake of trusting feelings as our spiritual guide, instead of trusting God’s Word, we leave ourselves highly vulnerable to deception and end up wrongly believing that God is displeased with us and no longer wants to bless us. The tempter cannot touch the magnitude of God’s astounding love and the power of the cross. All he can do is to manipulate our feelings. Because of this, all Christians must learn to force themselves to walk by faith, not by feelings. They must hold on to God’s truth, even when everything within them screams that the opposite must be true. Average Christians find this hard at times, but for those afflicted by clinical depression or anxiety, the intensity of feelings that are contrary to spiritual reality is ramped up many times higher. Even though depression is poorly understood by most people, ignorance of clinical anxiety is many times worse. It is said that people with the anxiety disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, (which can have enormous spiritual implications) suffer for an average of nine years before even being diagnosed. Literally hundreds of distraught people have e-mailed me detailing the devastating impact excess anxiety has had on their spiritual walk. Anxiety acts as an internal alarm warning us that something is seriously wrong. Alarms are designed to be unpleasant so that we don’t ignore them but it is even more disconcerting when a medical condition causes a malfunction and the alarm keeps going off, implying there is great danger, when it is actually only a false alarm. The false alarm feels like a guilty conscience – as if God were highly displeased with oneself – and the stress causes one to feel a million miles from God. Moreover those afflicted by this become so anxious about trying to please God that many end up monitoring their thoughts excessively. Unfortunately, the more one focuses on trying not to think about something, the more one’s mind focuses on that very thing. As a result, many of these devout Christians end up plagued by atrociously blasphemous thoughts that are the exact opposite of what they want to think and this further tempts them to wrongly suppose that God must be highly displeased with them. I have been so distressed by these people’s plight that I have devoted enormous effort over very many years to trying to help them see through the highly convincing illusion that their dreadful feelings and unwanted thoughts lessen the certainty that God is on their side, and to helping them see that their spiritual future is bright. There are links at the end of this webpage providing more information and encouragement about anxiety and depression but even without going into detail here, I must emphasize that feeling unforgivable, feeling abandoned by God, being overwhelmed by guilt feelings, feeling hopeless, and so on, are appallingly oppressive feelings that can be highly convincing. Nevertheless, they remain feelings, not spiritual reality. No matter how intense the feelings, they cannot change God’s commitment to bless stupendously everyone who comes to Christ. Now it’s time to explore why I commenced this webpage by saying that for one’s efforts to achieve nothing worthwhile is not a possibility for committed Christians. 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord . . . being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile [it is never wasted or to no purpose] . (Amplified Bible – emphasis mine) Galatians 6:9 Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up. Ephesians 6:8 knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive the same again from the Lord . . . Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them. The fact that we shall reap whatever we sow, applies both positively and negatively: Galatians 6:7-8 Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Matthew 12:36 I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. What we do matters. It sends ripples through all eternity: Revelation 22:12 Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work. Our every thought and action is highly meaningful and valuable and has eternal implications. The most basic aspect of the Christian message is that God rewards everyone who seeks him: Hebrews 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him . (Emphasis mine) Jesus was continually talking about rewards: Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds. Luke 6:22-23 Blessed are you when men shall hate you, and when they shall exclude and mock you, and throw out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven . . . Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High . . . Regardless of what it seems like in the short term, everything we do is rewarding because everything we do will be rewarded. Not even offering someone a drink of water will go unrewarded: Matthew 10:42 Whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, most certainly I tell you he will in no way lose his reward. Jesus kept emphasizing that even things you do that no one knows about are of immense value because God sees them: Matthew 6:3-4 But when you do merciful deeds, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand does, so that your merciful deeds may be in secret, then your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Matthew 6:6 But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Matthew 6:17-18 But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. People might suppose that things done that no one knows about are a waste. In reality, they are the very things that are special to God. Even the person who did those things might end up forgetting about them, but not God. And he richly rewards. Yes, trauma plays tricks on our minds, causing us to imagine a repeat is far more likely than it really is. And it makes it seem as if we have experienced far fewer good times than we really have and it entices us to give in when there is no need to do so. And there are relatively common medical conditions that – ably exploited by the enemy of our souls – can mess with our feelings; duping us into feeling there is no hope for us. Beyond all of this, however, is an even more staggering reason for not being haunted by the past and/or believing powerful feelings: through Christ, even our worst times end up being golden moments. To bring together what I have written elsewhere: It might seem impossible to believe that what was once your defeat and shame will end up being your victory and glory. It hardens into reality, however, because you are loved by the God of the impossible. You have a God of selfless love who passionately hates evil and is so powerful that he overcomes evil with good. Infinite goodness is the perfect antidote for evil. It is as if the Lord keeps pouring his goodness upon the mountain of anti-God things that were inflicted upon you. He keeps it up, year after year, until you can eventually look back on what was unadulterated evil and see so much good flowing from it that you are flooded with awe and gratitude. In his mind-boggling goodness, the Almighty uses his unlimited power to turn disasters into blessings, defeats into victories and shame into glory. Look at Jesus, who blazed this trail for you to follow. See him stripped naked, exposed to the world, as he hangs helpless on the cross. See him – if you can stomach it – mocked and scorned, humiliated and bloodied, being tortured to death as the nation’s esteemed religious leaders get their hateful way with him. He seems the embodiment of shame and defeat; growing weaker and uglier by the minute, as horrific pain sears through his tormented, broken body. What looked like the most humiliating disaster, however, turned out to be the greatest victory over evil the universe has ever seen. Forever and ever he will be worshipped by adoring millions; honoring him far above anyone else because he chose what seemed unspeakable shame. And that’s the path Christ blazed for you. Like him, and through him, your shame, pain and blame will be transformed into your glory; like a disgusting grub becoming a butterfly of breathtaking beauty. (Incidentally, beautiful butterflies exist only because they were once grubs.) You can see good coming from the horrors in Jesus’ life but you might think there are too many differences between Jesus’ suffering and your bad times for there to be any connection. Look at this, however: Romans 8:28-29 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son , that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Emphasis mine) Those who, through faith in the power of Jesus’ sacrifice, are in spiritual union with the triumphant Lord, not only share his destiny but are becoming increasingly like him. As I have written: Right now, your life may seem a hopeless mess of shattered pieces, but your devoted Lord treasures every fragment, even those life experiences you have suffered that seem worse than useless. Discarding nothing, he will lovingly treat each incident in your life as a critical piece of a jigsaw that only a supernatural genius could solve. He will reassemble every meaningless disaster, shameful failure and hideous sin, until together they form priceless beauty that no one would ever guess could emerge from such evil and chaos. Yes, things would have been better still had we not sinned, but when we come to Christ for cleansing, he not only removes our shame and makes us sparkle with his purity, he works all things – including our sin – together for good (Romans 8:28). Even our pre-Christian days will end up flooded with divine glory. Consider, for example, the apostle Paul’s atrocious sin. If anyone had reason for shame, it was this man. He arrogantly and brutally tormented Christians in the hope of destroying their faith and making them blaspheme Jesus and permanently renounce their Lord and Savior, thus destroying them eternally. With Christianity in its vulnerable infancy, Paul, like perhaps no one else in all of history, had the opportunity to totally wipe from the planet every memory of Christianity. And he was intent on doing so. God intervened, of course, but had Paul’s determined plans succeeded and Christianity were eradicated before any of the New Testament were written, all of us today would be without the Gospel, destined for hell. Given the eternal implications, this makes serial murder seem like a parking offense. How could even the God of the impossible wring any good out of that evil? There is no thought in the Bible of covering up the story of Paul’s atrocious, anti-Christ behavior, however. Amazingly, the story is told in detail not once, but three times in the book of Acts (Acts 8:1-9:20; Acts 22:3-16; Acts 26:9-20). That’s how significant Paul’s sinful background is to God. That’s how much the Holy One longs to use it for his glory. And in two of those passages, it was Paul himself recounting the story when a powerful testimony was needed. It was presumably a regular feature of Paul’s evangelism. In addition to being critical in turning countless sceptics of the power and authenticity of the Gospel into committed believers, Paul’s dramatic transformation from a violent, hate-filled opponent of Christianity has inspired millions. Throughout Christianity’s history, similar transformations of evil acts have been repeated too often for anyone but God to count. People’s former shame has been transformed into such powerful evangelistic tools and sources of inspiration as to tempt Christians with more mundane backgrounds to be envious. “I was a criminal,” “I was a Satanist,” “I was a prostitute,” I was a heroin addict,” declare Christians, who almost reach celebrity status because of pasts that should have been shameful. Past atrocities are no longer guilty secrets that shame them into silence but, through Christ, what should have been stumbling blocks have been turned not just into stepping stones but into launching pads to spiritual achievement as they use their past to win souls and inspire fellow believers. What about sins after conversion? Though you would be excused for expecting the opposite result, throughout history literally millions of Christians have drawn comfort and inspiration from Peter denying his Lord three times. “If there’s hope for Peter, there’s hope for me,” they gladly conclude. The same is true of King David’s shocking adultery and murderous cover-up. Moreover, who alone out of David's many sons did God choose as heir to David's throne and ancestor of the Messiah? Bathsheba's son, Solomon. This man should never have even been born. His mother should still have been married to the man David murdered. And yet God so forgave that he chose the product of David's greatest moral fall to be a key figure in Jewish and redemptive history and the one he endowed with astounding wisdom. As I have written elsewhere: ‘Then will I teach transgressors your ways,’ crooned David. When? After a calamitous moral fall (Psalm 51: title, 3-5, 12-13). ‘Simon . . . feed my sheep’ (John 21:17). When? After denying his Savior. ‘He slew at his death more than he slew in his life’ (Judges 16:30, paraphrase). When? After Samson’s greatest humiliation. Samson and David each knew the horror of spiritual failure. On the crest of their vocation, they plunged to abominable depths. Their lapses were inexcusable. Their ministries were desecrated. Yet they refused to dwell in defeat. They were failures for a moment, but they were overcomers forever. Grasping God’s hand of forgiveness, they clambered to new heights for the exaltation of the One who washed them clean. Oppression crushed Simon the rock into sand. On the brink of ministry, after years of grooming, he blew it. He lied. He invoked a curse on himself. He disowned his Lord (Matthew 26:74). Yet though it rocked him, this one-time rock didn’t peter. Empowered by his Savior, he again turned to stone. Though the righteous – that’s you and me in Christ Jesus – fall seven times, they rise again. That’s a promise (Proverbs 24:16, see also Psalm 37:23-24). It was just a hair-cut For the plaything of Delilah; And just a prayer-cut For Peter the denier. Strong they dozed But weak arose, And knew it not. Men destroyed by fatal cuts; Left to wallow in their ruts; Left with blame And haunting shame, In sin to rot. A seed so small and barely sown Meant to die, but how it’s grown! Things so small Grow so tall, But marvel not. If sin can grow, So can prayer; If prayers will flow, So will hair. With faith restored Hope will soar, And blunders blot. His repentance real, The victim of Delilah, Had victories still. And the spineless Christ-denier Shed his shame And became The church’s rock. Inspiration from the apostle Paul’s embarrassing moments extends way beyond his pre-conversion days. Consider his repeated humiliation when he was stripped and mercilessly beaten time after agonizing time, or shackled and jailed, or shipwrecked three times (what a temptation to think that God had abandoned him!) or went hungry (even today prosperity teachers find him an embarrassment). These were not Paul’s shame but his glory. Not only will he be eternally rewarded for enduring them, but down through the ages millions upon millions of us have been inspired by what he endured. We hail him as a hero because of them. You might think your suffering is less noble than Paul’s, but you underrate the significance of your testimony. As I have written elsewhere: Consider Scott and his team, who struggled to the South Pole only to discover their honor of being the first to reach the Pole was lost forever. Amundsen had beaten them by about a month. To add to the futility, they endured further blizzards, illness, frostbite and starvation only to perish; the last three dying just a few miles from safety. Yet today their miserable defeat ending with death in frozen isolation, witnessed by not a living soul, is hailed as one of the greatest ever epics of human exploration and endurance. Every fibre of my being is convinced that their glory is just a shadow of what you can achieve. Though you suffer in isolation and apparent futility, with the depths of your trial known to no one on earth, your name could be blazed in heaven’s lights, honored forever by heaven’s throngs for your epic struggle with illness, bereavement, or whatever. The day is coming when what is endured in secret will be shouted from the housetops. Look at Job: bewildered, maligned, misunderstood; battling not some epic foe but essentially common things – a financial reversal, bereavement, illness – not cheered on by screaming fans, just booed by some one-time friends. If even on this crazy planet Job is honored today, I can’t imagine the acclaim awaiting you when all is revealed. Your battle with life’s miseries can be as daring as David’s encounter with Goliath. Don’t worry that others don’t understand this at present. One day they will. And that day will never end. There is yet another way in which our past failures and apparent disasters can be powerfully used of God. To explain, I’ll again quote from another of my webpages: Your greatest contribution might flow from your greatest weakness. If you find my writings useful, it’s because I have felt useless. It’s the spear through my heart that binds me to the pain in yours. It’s years plagued with questions that have unearthed answers. Had something dulled my pain, you would not be reading this website. Great men like Whitefield and the Wesleys suffered enormously in their struggle to find salvation. Whitefield’s spiritual need was so all-consuming that his fastings almost killed him. John and Charles were inconsolable until at long last they found salvation. Spurgeon suffered so greatly in his quest for salvation that he wrote, ‘I had rather pass through seven years of the most languishing sickness, than I would ever again pass through the terrible discovery of the evil of sin.’ Not surprisingly, their subsequent ministries eclipsed that of almost all Christians who have been spared such anguish of soul. John Bunyan’s spiritual torment was horrific. With a severity that few of us could even conceive, year after year he was repeatedly overwhelmed by a consciousness of sin, hopelessness and the seemingly certain prospect of an eternity in Hell. Then followed long years of harsh imprisonment, intensified even when not in prison by the very real threat of execution or deportation. No wonder Pilgrim’s Progress is such an outstandingly powerful book. Much of it was virtually autobiographical. Mark Virkler’s torment was his inability to hear God’s voice. In vain he sought the help of those who regularly heard from God. They could not even understand his problem. For them, it’s as easy as prayer. Year after year, Mark wrestled in the agony of silence. Why would a Father who longs to communicate with his treasured children, allow him to suffer so cruelly? Because, unlike those for whom hearing comes easily, Mark now has answers which have swept thousands to ‘the other side of silence.’ Traumas qualify us for ministry like nothing else can. After losing his sight, Dr. William Moon prayed a prayer that was powerfully answered: ‘Lord, help me use this talent of blindness in your service . . .’ Barbara Johnson has touched incalculable numbers of people for the glory of Christ, because of the numbing horror of being robbed of two sons through death, losing a third to a gay lifestyle, and her husband being critically injured. Who would have heard of Corrie ten Boom or Richard Wurmbrand if they had not suffered in prison camps? Rather than test your patience by citing hundreds more examples, let me conclude by stating the obvious: for vast numbers of Christians, the spiritual impact of their lives seems directly proportional to their past agony. Situations they would have most wanted to avoid – times when death seemed preferable – empowered their lives like no other experience. Jesus revealed that the most critical thing in our entire spiritual lives is how much we love God (Matthew 22:36-38) and that those who love God the most are those who have been forgiven the most (Luke 7:42-43, 47 ). We are all equally unworthy of forgiveness but those who love God the most – and so delight God the most – are those who are most grateful for their forgiveness. Let’s get very practical. How grateful we are – and how much we end up loving God – depends on two things: how aware we are that God truly does forgive all sin, and how convinced we are of the magnitude of our sin. So if your past has caused you to think of yourself as the worst of sinners (as it did for the apostle Paul – 1 Timothy 1:15), that gives you the edge over the rest of us, provided you believe that Christ’s sacrifice is powerful enough to cleanse you. Because God bringing good even out of sin is so mind-boggling, I’ll give just one more example. Suppose you had an abortion. No matter how appalling the sin, the Lord is keen to forgive and once he forgives you, amazing things can happen. The Lord could, for example, use the experience to deepen your awareness of the magnitude of God’s forgiveness, or to keep you from falling into pride, or to give you ministry and witnessing opportunities by increasing your empathy for others who have suffered that way. Should we sin that grace may abound? Of course not! But our sufferings move God far too deeply for him to let them be wasted. Let’s return to the context of that Scripture that deserves to be chiselled into the brains of every Christian: Romans 8:28-29 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son , that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Emphasis mine.) This seems to be saying that the good that God works toward by manipulating all things that beset us is not so that we get our self-centred, short-term pleasure but that we end up conformed to the image of Christ. If that disappoints you a little, you haven’t thought it through. To be like Christ is something far more wondrous than any cheap thrills you might have had in mind. To be like Christ is to be filled with the fruit of the Spirit – love, peace, goodness, self-control, and so on. That’s thrilling, but there’s more. To be like Christ is to be not just dignified but regal; not just powerful but ruling from heaven’s throne; not just smart but having access to divine wisdom; not just attractive but radiant with unsurpassable inner beauty; not just morally upright but perfect in the piercing eyes of humanity’s holy Judge; not just happy but overflowing with inexpressible joy; not just youthful but eternal; not just sympathetic but empowered to transform lives. It’s something worth paying the highest price for. Here’s yet another reason for hope: as thrilling and inspiring as miracles are, virtually no one in the Bible experienced a miracle without first being painfully sick or in a distressing or even terrifying situation. Dreaded events are not the end but the precursor to exciting things. Consider the faith heroes acclaimed in Hebrews Eleven . All of them were victorious but they are heroes only because they faced situations that every sane person would want to avoid. None of them liked their initial situation but it ended up exceedingly worth it and they are now the envy of millions. Oppressive times did not mean God was not with them, nor that they were doomed to defeat. Dark times simply made their faith shine and turned them into inspirational heroes. And you were born to continue this tradition. It doesn’t take much Bible reading to learn that there are often disasters – frequently a whole string of them – before the happy ending springs out of hiding. Consider: * Joseph, sold into slavery by his own family, then falsely accused of a hideous crime, then forgotten by the prisoner he had helped and left to rot in prison * David fleeing Saul’s repeated attempts to murder him when his would-be killer had under his command every citizen and the entire nation’s military might, then David’s house being plundered and burned to the ground, his family kidnapped and his once-loyal friends so enraged against them that they, too, began plotting to kill him, and later David having to run for his life from his own son, Absalom, who had amassed an army to steal the throne from him * Job losing all his wealth and all his children and even his health and his reputation, with even his best friends accusing him of sin. Like Jonah thrown overboard in a raging sea and swallowed by a sea monster; like Daniel fed to the lions and his friends fed to the flames; and like so many others crammed between Bible covers and spilling over to literally millions more down through history all the way to you and even to Almighty God himself who is continually mocked and rejected: things can look disastrous in the short term. Nevertheless, with good reason Scripture declares: Micah 7:8 Don’t rejoice against me, my enemy. When I fall, I will arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. Proverbs 24:16 for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again . . . Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. Psalm 37:23-24 A man’s goings are established by the Lord. He delights in his way. Though he stumble , he shall not fall, for the Lord holds him up with his hand. (Emphasis mine) Psalm 107:13-14 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke away their chains. John 16:33  . . . In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world. 2 Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ . . . Romans 8:37 No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. 1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith. Through Christ, we truly are winners but there are two critical things we must understand: 1. We must be careful to embrace God’s definition of winning. 2. Winning is all about the final result, not what things look like before the finish. Let’s explore the first point. Earlier I touched on Learned Helplessness – the despair that results from being continually subjected to no-win situations so that one eventually loses all hope and gives up trying. It seemed as if a woman’s primary goal in life was to break people and dominate their emotions. She suffered a mental condition that rendered her incapable of loving anyone but herself. She was so miserable that no one could please her and she made sure they knew what failures they were – especially her children, who would be belittled and mercilessly beaten whenever they failed to lift her out of her depression. Moreover, in an attempt to increase her power to control others, she always claimed to have the moral high ground and asserted that God was on her side. Her adult daughter shared her heart with me. Although she had finally escaped the emotional maze her mother had locked her in, she would often revert to seeing things as no-win situations and finding herself oppressively tempted to cave in to despair. What turned events into no-win situations was her past experience – cruelly enforced by beatings – of feeling obligated to please people, even if they refused to do things God’s way. Her long history of abuse conditioned her to be terrified of displeasing anyone. Nevertheless, she was fully committed to obeying God. So she often found herself in the no-win situation of being committed to please God but, at the same time, feeling obligated to please people like her mother who wanted her to do things contrary to God’s way. That truly is an impossible situation, but it is not something our loving Lord expects of anyone. Not even God pleases everyone. In fact, there is no one on the planet who is as hated and misunderstood as him. Her no-win situations were solely of her own making. They existed only because her definition of winning was mistaken. Winning is not about pleasing people who expect us to live lives contrary to God’s leading. Yes, with Almighty God on our side we are winners, but the critical issue is how does one define winning? How a person defines success is the acid test of that person’s integrity and dignity. Is it success to be a lazy non-achiever who lounges around in fame and luxury; the envy of millions for the perfection of his/her plastic surgery? Is it success to rip off so many people that you get to fritter your life away in decadent self-indulgence and a thousand one-night stands? Is it success to be the envy of hordes of addicts because you have an endless supply of drugs and porn? To win is to have your treasure stored up in heaven rather than on earth; to be so filled with love that you love your enemies; to be so cleansed of sin and basking in divine forgiveness that it spills over in your generosity to everyone who seeks to hurt you; so full of joy that you rejoice in adversity; so peace-loving that you turn the other cheek; so self-controlled that you bless those who would infuriate a lesser person; so patient that you endure like a hero. To quote from my favorite book ( Waiting for Your Ministry ): We view Jonah’s ministry as exceptionally successful. Single-handedly, he saved the entire populace of magnificent Nineveh. You’d expect him to be as excited as a centipede at a shoe sale, yet his face was a good imitation of half a squeezed grapefruit. (Jonah 4:1-3) His whole message had been, ‘Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.’ (Jonah 3:4) Forty days later, Nineveh was celebrating and Jonah was suicidal. The envy of evangelists, perhaps, but as a prophet this man was a write-off. ‘Success’ hinges entirely on the measure used. Genuine success – the synthetic varieties don’t last – is achieving what God expects of us. Only God can measure it. Don’t gauge hurdlers by how high they jump, or pole-vaulters by how fast they run. Judge archers by their accuracy but don’t apply this measure to javelin throwers. If that seems obvious it’s because sport lacks the mystery of real life. In the game of life spectators speculate, the Judge judges. Eleven thousand teachers competed with Christa McAuliffe and lost. The winner of a seat on space shuttle Challenger was the envy of millions – until the shuttle disintegrated. Eleven thousand losers suddenly became winners. In the twinkling of an eye, the first shall be last. (1 Corinthians 15:52; Matthew 20:16; Luke 16:15) Until that wondrous moment, don’t assume you’re a loser. Many of us are far more successful than we imagine; perhaps more than our humility could handle. It is tragic to find in the body of Christ an ear accused of failure because it cannot see, or an eye that thinks it has let the body down because it cannot smell. What the world thinks, what other Christians think, what you think, is irrelevant. Nothing matters except God’s approval. It is the sole measure of a ministry. Having explored the importance of seeking God’s definition of winning, it’s time to consider the second critical point about winning: winning is all about the final result, not what things look like before the finish. 1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God. Permit me to quote from another of my webpages: The Showdown It was a duel between spiritual super-powers: the false gods of Egypt versus the one true God. Aaron throws down a rod. The stick becomes a writhing snake. What a victory – the raw power of God spectacularly displayed in the very court of Pharaoh. Face it, Pharaoh, you’ve backed a loser! Heathen sorcerers step forward. They drop their rods and each squirms to life. Before Pharaoh’s eyes is Moses’ solitary snake, hopelessly outnumbered by the magicians’ slithering brood (Exodus 7:9-12). A homeward-bound Levite needed to lodge for the night. Though a pagan place was more convenient, he chose the security of an Israelite town. Here he’d sleep peacefully, surrounded by God’s people. But to his horror, he discovered these people, despite having known God’s blessing and his laws, were more depraved than the heathen. Given half a chance, they would have raped him. They abused his concubine all night. She was dead by morning. An Israelite town had slumped to the putrid decadence of Sodom and Gomorrah. Outraged, the Levite summoned the whole of Israel. God’s law was explicit: those murderous perverts must die. But their tribe refused to hand them over. The entire tribe was so committed to wickedness that the Benjamites resolved to fight, if necessary to death, against the united armies of the whole nation, rather than allow the execution of God’s law. Greatly disturbed, the faithful sought God. It would have been tempting to by-pass this step. They were obviously in the right and the odds were heavily in their favor. Though the Benjamites had a few skilled fighters, they were their brethren, not some super-race, and Israel outnumbered them, 400,000 to less than 27,000. But they did the right thing. They consulted God, and he so approved that he gave them his strategy. On their side were natural superiority, righteousness, divine approval, and the wisdom and infinite might of the Lord of hosts. In obedience to their Lord, they marshaled their forces, high in faith and in the power of God. And they were slaughtered. In one day 22,000 of them were slain. They wept. They prayed. They sought the Lord again. Empowered by a fresh word from God, they mobilized for the second day. And 18,000 more of them were massacred (Judges chapters 19-20). The mighty Son of God came to earth. This was the climax of a divine plan conceived before the earth was formed, and for millennia intricately woven into the fabric of human history. It was the showdown: creature versus Creator, dust versus divinity, filth versus purity, mortality versus immortality. And Jesus died. In Pharaoh’s court, occult powers miraculously produce many times more vipers than God. In the time of the judges, God’s forces are routed by an army of inferior strength. At Calvary, God’s Son is dead. How I thank God for the Bible! Few other Christian books tell it as it really is: you can be flowing in the power of God, following his instructions to the letter in absolute purity and be routed by Satan’s puny forces. But only for a season. Aaron’s rod swallowed up the sorcerers’ rods. On the third day, Israel crushed the Benjamites. And Jesus, on the third day, swallowed up death, having crushed the devil. Expressed poetically: Hounded by defeat, Immersed in gloom. Confounded by a curse, Scorned and spurned. Haunted by despair, Mocked by words of doom. My eyes may fill with tears, But not with dread or fear. This grub, wings will sprout. This down-trodden worm will soar; Transformed by redemptive power, Set free by the Lord of all. No one sees it yet: The secret’s heaven-kept. They mock and jeer They do not know; Success is slow, but it is sure; Though it tarry, it will come. All Father touches turns to gold. It matters not what others say, The winning’s done; Like Father, like son! Founded on his Word; Embalmed by love. Surrounded by his arms; Washed and warmed. Granted all I need, Buoyed by thoughts above: From fear I find release, Becalmed by heaven’s peace. Here’s my final attempt to express this profound truth: God is making a smart cookie: If I’m covered with spilt milk, that’s marvellous. If there’s egg on my face, it’s a bonus. If I’m mixed up, I’m delighted. If I’m beaten, I’m making progress. If the heat is on, I’ll warm to my task. If I’m half-baked, something good is cooking. When I feel I could crumble, I’m nearing perfection. Everything is going my way . God is working in our lives, creating beauty like an artist. In the early stages of their creation, however, works of art usually look chaotic and even ugly. The finished masterpiece will be magnificent but for that to happen we must have enough faith in the divine Artist to cooperate with him as he completes his work. Since God is not an abuser, we either willingly cooperate with him, or we act alone and miss out. As in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-28), past and present blessings are a precious gift from God that we can bury and ignore, like the unfaithful servant who let fear rule his life (Matthew 25:25), or we can choose to be like the servants who won acclaim by repeatedly making the most of the good things entrusted to them. Unchecked, negative thinking is a cancer that will spread to every part of our lives and destroy our future. But we don’t have to let that happen. At any time we can fight back. Negative thinking quickly becomes a habit, and breaking habits takes determined effort and the establishing of new habits. But you can do it. Instead of downplaying or ignoring past or present victories, achievements, compliments, blessings and fun times, it is important to give them the prominence they deserve by regularly reminding yourself of them and actually celebrating them. Don’t be like I am far too often – so afraid of an inflated ego that I remain so deflated that I lack the faith to seize God’s best. Don’t let blessings and achievements fade in your mind but highlight them and keep savoring them in your memory. Otherwise your mind will deceive you by exaggerating the frequency of negative things and this will suffocate your hope. Keep working at establishing a habit of daily finding things to delight in. When you look hard enough, you’ll find hundreds of possibilities. It might be a flower, a sunset, a pet, a joke, food (but don’t overdo it), uplifting music, a work of art, or whatever, but when you spot something, pause to savor the moment. Dwell on it; deliberately storing it in your mind as a good memory. I suggest you keep a journal in which you record nice memories and good things that have happened to you, whether recent or from the distant past. You might also consider a box or a corner of a room where you store or display things that remind you of personal achievements, happy times, friendships, and so on. They might include mementos, such as a shell from a lovely walk on the beach, pictures, a thankyou note from someone, a positive e-mail from your boss at work, and so on. Here’s what I wrote near the end of my favorite web book: Despite my relentless longing to share these truths, it hurts to let this book be published. The more I work on the book, the more immersed in its truths I become. It’s continually washing away layer after grimy layer of negativity and buoying me ever higher. I hate the thought of this process ever ending, but dour experience affirms that it will – soon after I put the book down. I have had to reread it scores of times to halt my slide back into the bog. And still I need it. Though my need is chronic, I doubt if the mildest affliction could be relieved forever through one reading of this book. I expect you to feel better after a single dose but regular doses are essential for a permanent cure. So I urge you to keep this book handy, even after completing it. Long-term problems need long-term solutions. I covet a new life for you, not just a momentary easing of the pain. Experience suggests you will need this book year after year. We never reach the point where temptation leaves us forever. Negative thoughts have been roosting in our heads, pecking away at the fruit beginning to form in our lives. We’ve shooed these pests away, but they will stealthily return. That’s our cue to skim through the book again. Highlight the parts that especially speak to you or uplift you. Personalize them. Write them out. Display them. Memorize them. Add to them. Share them. Live them. They will keep the vermin away and bring you to new levels of fruitfulness. Find ingenious ways to keep in your consciousness truths you particularly need. At work I must set and use several computer passwords. I might say to myself I will praise the Lord at all times, while typing the first letter of each word. IWPTLAAT then becomes my new password. No one could guess such an apparently random string of letters and I can remember it only by rehearsing in my mind that positive declaration every time I must use it. Perhaps you could put a little heart somewhere to remind you how much you are loved by God. There are thousands of possibilities. Finding some that work for you will be well worth the effort. I’d be thrilled if my expressions sometimes help. I have tried to shape them to stick in slippery memories. But don’t be chained to my words. Using your words will help the truths become yours. And don’t be confined to the paltriness of my insight. Hound God with the passion and confidence of a cherished lover until you receive your own Bible-based, Christ-centered revelations. No matter how hot it’s served or how much it’s sweetened, second-hand revelation is as insipid as second-hand tea leaves unless the Holy Spirit comes upon you, exploding those words within you with such power that it becomes your own divine encounter. A hand-me-down word from God might bring a little refreshment, but a truth super-charged by the Spirit of God percolating through one’s life is so superior that no cost is too high a price to pay for it. Fervent prayer and Bible meditation is the usual price. Though I have prayed incessantly that this book bless you as much as it has me, I fear I’m asking God to break one of his principles. Why should he command us to seek and to ask and devote our lives to poring over Scripture unless that’s the way he prefers to reveal his truth? It is truths in the heart, not words in a book, that set us free. And lodging them there takes spiritual and mental effort. I crave the joy of serving you by doing all the prayer and study, but that’s like trying to play tennis for you – I get the healthy exercise and you miss all the fun. The more you have suffered, the more remarkable it is that you have survived. You could decide to see yourself as a failure with a history of suffering disasters, or you could decide to rejoice in having survived and see yourself as a winner with a proven record of having what it takes to overcome adversity. Without putting other people down, you could choose to see yourself as someone granted the privilege of having a significant edge over those whose supposed strength and faith have barely been tested, and over the do-gooders who are quick with advice in seeking to support people having a hard time but have never personally endured such adversity. We need to keep shining God’s light on our past to nurture a new perspective on life. To see our past, present and future as is really is, we must dwell on God’s truth. God’s Word is truth (John 17:17) and it never sugarcoats the fact that distressing times may have occurred. Note how strongly hope shines in the following, despite fully acknowledging the reality of adversity in one’s life: Psalms 30:5  . . . Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Psalms 126:6 He who goes out weeping, carrying seed for sowing, will certainly come again with joy, carrying his sheaves [a bountiful harvest]. Jeremiah 31:13  . . . I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. Luke 6:21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. John 16:20  . . . You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. 1 Peter 1:6 Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been put to grief in various trials. Such Scriptures stand in stark contrast to escapists who try to suppress memories in the hope of convincing themselves that past suffering never happened. Biblical teaching also contrasts with spiritual weaklings who seem to be strong but it is only because they have had an easy life and their so-called faith and hope have never been tested. The fact that you are still alive, despite having plunged through devastating times, means that you are already half way toward demonstrating the truth of these Scriptures. Let’s see some more of the multitude of hope-filled Scriptures shining triumphantly in the midst of dark times: Psalm 23:4-6 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death [yes, dark times happen], I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. [yes, you could have people who hate you but even in the midst of it God will look after you]   . . . Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the Lord’s house forever. Matthew 5:11-12 Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. . . . 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory; while we don’t look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Let’s pause on that last Scripture. Was Paul mad? Who in their right mind would call all of his shipwrecks, beatings, stonings etc, “light and momentary”? It is possible only for someone who takes his eyes off the temporary and looks to God to be empowered by faith to see the bigger picture. Here are some ways to keep that bigger picture in focus: 1. Keep reminding yourself of God’s promises: Romans 8:35-37 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . No, in all these things [in the midst of hardship, persecution, deprivation, danger and so on], we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Isaiah 54:17 “. . . No weapon that is formed against you will prevail; and you will condemn every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the Lord’s servants, and their righteousness is of me,” says the Lord. Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future. 2. Keep focusing on the positive: Philippians 4:8  . . . whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things. 1 John 4:1 Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 Don’t despise prophesies. Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good. 3. Keep reminding yourself of the good things you have experienced: Psalms 103:2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and don’t forget all his benefits Isaiah 63:7 I will tell of the loving kindnesses of the Lord and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has given to us . . . according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses. Psalms 40:2-5 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand. He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust . . . Many, the Lord, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are toward us. They can’t be declared back to you. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. 4. Keep striving to be joyful and thankful. It is highly scriptural to get in touch with your inner pain and grief and shed tears. (If you have the slightest doubt about this, see When is Positive Confession Living in Denial? ) This does not mean, however, that we should spend our entire lives there: 1 Samuel 30:3-4, 6 When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters were taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had no more power to weep. . . . David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all the people were grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters; but David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. Romans 12:12 rejoicing in hope . . . 1 Thessalonians 5:18 In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you. Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!” I can understand you groaning in contempt at Scriptures that tell us to rejoice . It feels as if you are being told to run a marathon when you are already exhausted and you just want to stay snuggled up in your cozy bed. Cheekily hiding in these annoying Scriptures, however, is an exciting and comforting truth. They are saying there is no need to endure the humiliation of allowing ourselves to be reduced to helpless victims of our feelings. We do not have to let moods become monsters that bully us into being their slaves. We can rise up, regain our dignity, and take control. What renders depression an insidious parasite, sucking the life out of us, is that depression makes it seem too much effort to do the simple things that would help us feel better – a little physical exercise, getting out of the house, social interaction, eating healthily, and so on. Christian thinker, C. S. Lewis, plunged into depression after the death of his wife. He described it as being like lying in bed, too cold to sleep, but feeling too tired to pull up a blanket. As much as we do not feel like it, we need to seize the initiative and break the impasse by making the effort to rejoice. This reminds me of the astonishing power of smiling. I’ve touched on it in several other webpages. Let’s bring it together: Research has confirmed that forcing oneself to smile broadly for two minutes reliably alters one’s mood. (Grimacing as if in pain has also been shown to alter mood – in the opposite direction.) According to researchers, not only are there psychological reasons, there are actually physiological reasons why, even if one feels miserable, the mere act of smiling lift one’s spirits. “Rejoice evermore,” says Scripture (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17, KJV). What sort of rejoicing produces a solemn face? If a bride had an atrocious headache, wouldn’t she smile for the sake of the camera? Is God more important than a camera? So deliberately smile. Forcing yourself to smile will initially seem – and feel – weird, but there are many good reasons for doing so. Even if the grin is entirely artificial, the mere physical act of grinning brightens one’s spirits. It is also likely to aid relaxation, which is also highly beneficial. Besides the psychological boost, smiling gives a spiritual boost by reminding you that you have much reason to be calm: you are spiritually safe. By making yourself smile, you are involving your body in an effort to impress upon your entire being that it is appropriate to be happy and at peace and that you can relax. 5. Praise – God’s anti-depressant and spiritual telescope Imagine you are terrified, expecting to be attacked at any moment by the biggest army the world has ever seen. On every side of you the ground gradually dips away, but if you stand on the tips of your toes, you can just make out the top of the heads of angels forming a single tight ring around you. “That’s nice,” you think, “but what are they, against an entire army of invaders?” Behind you is a huge stepladder. Its rungs are so far apart that it would be difficult to climb. The angels urge you to climb it but you’ve got things to do and it just seems too much effort. One day, you climb a rung and from that vantage point you begin to see the angels’ bodies. These beings are not as insignificant as you had thought. They are warriors armed for battle. You make the effort to pull yourself up another rung and discover that they are enormous. Each one looks over nine feet tall. That’s interesting, but they would still be hopelessly outnumbered by the huge army you know could attack at any time. The angels keep urging you to climb higher but you are tired and do not bother. Weeks pass. Eventually you decide to give that ladder another try. You struggle up two rungs to where you had reached before and decide to try one more. From there you see to your surprise that behind that ring of warrior angels standing shoulder to shoulder, there is actually a second ring of angels. That’s comforting but they would still be no match for an army. Later, you give the ladder another go and this time climb even higher to discover that behind the second ring of angels is yet another ring. You struggle up another rung of the ladder and see even more angels. Exhausted, you climb down again. Eventually you return to the ladder and go higher than ever; discovering that every rung you climb reveals still more angels until you can see not just hundreds, but thousands and then tens of thousands, and from higher still you see hundreds of thousands. By pushing yourself to climb even higher you see millions and then hundreds of millions of fierce warriors eager to defend you. Praise is like that hard-to-climb ladder. The higher you go, the more of God you see, and with each rung you discover that God is more powerful and more devoted to protecting you than you had thought. Eventually you discover that God truly is on your side and that nothing that could ever think of attacking you is anything to be concerned about. No one has ever climbed that ladder of praise and worship high enough to fully see how staggeringly stupendous God really is. This is such a vital topic that I urge you to read the link God’s Anti-Depressant provided near the end of this webpage. If you have abandoned your past sins and your own attempts to rule your life and have made Jesus your Master – surrendering to him and letting him control your life – your past is no longer your god. Its power over you has been broken, and ruling in its place is the infinite source and embodiment of love, goodness and kindness. For as long as you let Jesus reign supreme in your life, Jesus, not your past, decides your future, and Jesus is a God of new beginnings: 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Lamentations 3:22-23  . . . his compassion doesn’t fail. They are new every morning . . . Ezekiel 11:19 I will . . . put a new spirit within you . . . Isaiah 43:18-19 Don’t remember the former things, and don’t consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing. . . . Isaiah 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered, nor come into mind. Ephesians 4:22-24 that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man, that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit; and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. (Emphasis mine.) What happened to us in the past does not determine what will happen to us in the future. As I have written elsewhere: The shadow of his affliction fell across his life like a black and bottomless chasm. Reeling under hellish torment, bereft of all his children, cruelly stripped of his reputation, all of his possessions gone, Job coveted death. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing ahead but pain, accusations and despair. Job had nothing to live for (Job 3:1-26; 6:9, 11). Or so everyone thought. Before him lay joy and honor, a long and fruitful life, double his past prosperity and the fathering of a superb new family. (Job 42:11-17; compare Job 1:2-3) Job had everything to live for. The pain and the glory Hounded by defeat, Immersed in gloom. Confounded by a curse, Scorned and spurned. Haunted by despair, Mocked by words of doom. My  eyes may fill with tears, But not with dread or fear. This grub, wings will sprout. This down-trodden worm will soar; Transformed by redemptive power, Set free by the Lord of all. No  one sees it yet: The secret’s heaven-kept. They mock and jeer They do not know; Success is slow, but it is sure; Though it tarry, it will come. All Father touches turns to gold. It  matters not what others say, The winning’s done; Like Father, like son! Founded on his Word; Embalmed by love. Surrounded by his arms; Washed and warmed. Granted all I need, Buoyed by thoughts above: From fear I find release, Becalmed by heaven’s peace. Like vine branches, we are not continually laden with fruit. That would be unnatural. (Ecclesiastes 3:1) For a significant portion of its life, a grapevine is nothing but a dry, twisted stick; fruitless, useless for shade, worthless as timber; to all appearances fit only to be ripped from the ground and reduced to ashes. Yet those barren times are as vital in the life of the vine, as the seasons of fruit. If spring could tip-toe past nature without stirring it from its winter slumber; if the sun could slip through the sky without dispelling the night; if rain could fall to the ground without bringing life to the desert – only then should you fear dry times, dark times, lean times. Though you feel as useless as a fur coat in a heat-wave, the time will come when your warmth is treasured. For everything there is a season. We could stock a library with stories of spectacularly unsuccessful men and women who eventually sparked massive moves of God. Many closed their eyes in death without seeing the fruit their labors finally produced. God established the pattern millenniums ago: Abraham’s wife, Sarah, knew nothing but barrenness for ninety distressing years, yet became the ancestress of multiplied millions. God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would be the ancestors of entire nations, but they remained childless year after year after year after year. They had a choice: to keep themselves miserable by seeing themselves as childless, or to delight and honor God and bubble with happiness by rejoicing that they will end up having millions of descendants. Likewise, you have a choice: make yourself miserable and sadden your loving Lord by looking at your past negatively and imagining that the negative will keep repeating itself throughout your future, or thrill God by getting excited ahead of time that your devoted Lord has wonderful surprises planned for you. The second option will achieve far more than merely lift your spirits. Any fool can rejoice after the fact but to display your faith by rejoicing before you see it will bring you eternal honor; just as it did for Abraham who is forever hailed as a faith hero, even though he was so much like us that his faith was wobbly. You might complain that, unlike Abraham, God has not promised you that good things are ahead, but he has done just that in such Scriptures as Romans 8:28 and: 1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, “Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him.” Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us. 2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory Romans 5:3-5 Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is. Jude 1:24 Now to him who is able to keep them from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory in great joy Ponder the implications of these Scriptures: Hebrews 13:5  . . . for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or scared of them; for the Lord your God himself is who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you. Isaiah 41:10 Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. Because the above Scriptures are true, you can say: Psalms 31:19 Oh how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for those who fear you, which you have worked for those who take refuge in you, before the sons of men! Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the Lord’s house forever. Any traumatic or highly unusual experience assumes huge significance in our memories and perceptions of our past. We need to keep cooperating with God in restoring our view of our past and our view of our future. Let’s rise to the challenge of seeing things God’s way. It’s a key feature of being Godlike. When you invite God to rule in your lifestyle and in every decision you make, the past does not determine your future; God does. So no matter how dark your past, your future will be bright. And not just your future; even your past will end up shining in ways you would have thought impossible. Consider Joseph, whose status lurched from despised brother, to slave, to falsely condemned rapist, to forgotten prisoner, to Head of State. God loves surprise endings. Being sold into slavery in Egypt suddenly turned from calamity to Joseph’s route to becoming savior of the family through whom the Savior of the world was born. “You meant evil against me” he told his brothers, “but God meant it for good . . .” (Genesis 50:20). God loves surprises, and he loves you. We began this webpage by noting that many lose hope because they confuse human hope with divine hope. Here’s another confusing factor that can dupe us into losing hope: when our hope in the God whose ways are higher than our ways, good will triumph in our lives, but we can rarely figure how and when it will happen. If we presume to have guessed, we are likely to disappoint ourselves – like a stone-age tribe would be disappointed with a satellite phone if they guessed they were being given a new-fangled hammer. In the end, however, it will be proved that God’s choice, method and timing are exquisitely perfect and as superior to ours as every other aspect of God. Never forget the power of Romans 8:28 – that God works all things together for good in the lives of those who love him. The Master Restorer treasures what lesser persons discard. He lovingly and tenderly collects the ugly incidents in people’s lives that even the owners want to trash. He works on events that people think of as junk and builds on them. He keeps polishing them until they gleam with divine glory and builds on them until they become astonishing works of beauty that all of heaven will admire for all eternity. For more help in overcoming a damagingly negative view of one’s future, record the web address of this page so you won’t lose this list, then see : God’s Anti-Depressant God isn’t Fair? When is Suicide / Euthanasia Morally Acceptable for Christians? Too Old? Help & Cure: Fear, Phobias, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder How to Changing Your Self-Image and Boost Self-Esteem God Declares You Innocent! How Much does God Love Me? Receiving a Personal Revelation of God’s Love for You

Christian Therapy Anxiety is undeniably unpleasant. Regrettably, it is worsened by a senseless social stigma hanging over it. General ignorance is such that many with anxiety feel misunderstood or even looked down on by those so fortunate as to never having suffered from severe anxiety. Men can feel unduly shamed by it – as if it were somehow unmasculine to suffer certain afflictions. Christians can feel like failures, or even get mad at God, for suffering from it – as if having God as your best friend were somehow meant to make one immune from being human. Actually, anxiety is an invaluable spiritual opportunity. All of us are alarmingly vulnerable to spiritual deception until we learn to live by faith, not feelings. Like so many important things in life, there is only so much we can learn from a book. We desperately need real-life practice. Anxiety gives us a rare chance for hands-on practice in living by raw faith, when highly convincing feelings scream the opposite to spiritual reality. If you can become a concert pianist after a single thirty-minute lesson, you might quickly learn how to live by faith. For the rest of us, it makes many laborious years of practice. Anxiety is also annoyingly mysterious. Some people are anxious about specific things. Not so, for those who have generalized anxiety. Even when various triggers can be identified, however, the deeper cause can remain elusive. There are strong anecdotal pointers to there being a medical component: some form of imbalance in one’s body chemistry. Identifying the precise nature of the imbalance, however, can be exceedingly difficult. For a specific individual, it could be one of any number of possibilities. For some people it might be as simple as a mineral or vitamin deficiency (but which mineral or vitamin?). For others, it could be hormonal or something quite different. Anxiety can drive many afflictions, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), phobias, panic attacks, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). If you suffer from guilt or OCD, there’s a special version of this webpage that I suggest you now go to: Guilt, Fear, OCD: What Should a Christian Do? (Link coming soon) It is worth praying about seeing a doctor. Medical solutions often take the edge off anxiety but, even then, some of it lingers. So, medical considerations aside, when hit by anxiety what should a Christian do? Nothing. Yes, you read that right. Despite an overwhelmingly strong urge to avoid anxiety, fear it, run to someone for reassurance, beat yourself up for feeling it, fight it, or beg God to end it, the most Christ-exalting counter-attack is to do all you can to ignore it. I am acutely aware that choosing to do nothing in this situation is both exceedingly difficult and the exact opposite of what feels like the correct response. Note, however, that if doing what comes naturally were the answer, you would not be reading this; you would already be free from these attacks. You need a radically different approach – probably one you have not even considered. Regardless of how intense, prolonged and repeated those awful feelings are, it is perfectly safe to treat them as if they did not exist or had never happened. As shocking as it seems, you should view them as being of not the slightest consequence. You might have grown so used to letting anxiety alarm you, that reacting in fear whenever it comes has become a deeply ingrained, unthinking habit. And habits are hard to break. In fact, as ridiculous as it is, not being afraid can seem scary. It is time to break the cycle by choosing to act as if these unwanted feelings were not even happening. Don’t interact with them in any way. Don’t fear them, don’t be ashamed of them, or worry about them, or fight them, or ask forgiveness. Just, as much as you can, remain relaxed and unconcerned, and move on. Not only does acting in fear achieve nothing positive, it achieves less than nothing. It ramps up fear by reinforcing in one’s mind the lie that there must actually be something to be scared of. Let’s forget psychology and look at this spiritually: behind anxiety, panic attacks, PTSD and so on, is fear, which leads to ‘works’ – our own desperate attempt to save ourselves. What makes doing nothing the perfect counter-attack for Christians is that the spiritual opposite of both fear and ‘works’ is faith. Deliberately doing nothing in response to these attacks is faith in action. It is declaring to the entire spirit world that there is nothing to fear and that Jesus, not your efforts, is your Savior. Fighting the symptoms gives the illusion of helping because it can temporarily ease them. The sad truth, however, is that it actually ends up worsening them by reinforcing the unspiritual notion that you should act in fear, rather than in faith. Since fear fires the problem, you need to put out the fire. Instead, frantically fighting the symptoms – reacting as if there were something to fear – fans the fire and so inflames the problem. I once hyperventilated. It vividly illustrates why choosing to do nothing when hit by anxiety, is the ideal response. I was feeling a little unwell and began to focus on my breathing. Thinking I needed a little more air, I breathed slightly deeper. That did not seem to help, so I calmly breathed still deeper. That make me feel as if I needed even more air. I breathed even quicker and deeper. Soon I was caught in a vicious circle in which I found myself gasping for more and more air. Then my hands began to uncontrollably clench and go numb. Thinking I must be having a stroke or something, I panicked even more, which further affected my breathing. Someone with nursing experience placed a paper bag over my face (not recommended these days). Certain that I needed more air, I tried to fight her off. When it was all over, I was flabbergasted to learn that the entire incident had been fear-driven. Every part of me had seemed to be screaming that I needed more air and that I was having a medically dangerous episode. It turned out that it was not that I needed more oxygen, but that I was actually getting too much. I simply needed to calm down (not easy when so worked up) and act normally. That’s what it is like with anxiety. When in the midst of it, panicking and trying harder and harder seems the appropriate, Christ-honoring response and yet it drives a vicious circle that makes everything worse. As counter-intuitive as it seems, you actually need to do the exact opposite of what fear tells you. This is the safe, God-honoring thing to do, but it will not feel that way. Fear feels like a friend that protects you and helps you be a better person, when it is actually an insidiously cruel parasite that sucks spiritual life out of us and robs God of the glory he deserves. So reverse this. Choose to honor God by accepting that, regardless of all your turmoil, through Christ you are accepted by God. Despite this spiritual reality, anxiety causes us to panic and continually focus on a molehill until it looms in our mind as enormous as a mountain. So honor God by doing the opposite. Let even the molehill shrink to nothing by disregarding it. Anxiety is just a feeling until we start fearing and obeying it. Then we let it become a life-controlling problem. We expect that by yielding to it we are making life easier on ourselves. Nothing could end up further from the truth. To yield to anxiety is to empower it. Each time we obey its demands, it grows stronger and we grow weaker. Anxiety is like having the most annoying itch that incessantly demands to be scratched. If, despite that intense urge, you leave it alone, it will eventually calm down. Give into its demands, however, and do what feels like the natural thing to do – scratch it – and you will feel temporary relief but the itch will soon return even stronger than before. With eczema, for example, scratching can even cause infection. Enduring that irritating itch and refusing to scratch it, is agonizing and feels so unnatural, but it is the only way to stop it from getting worse than ever. This is the dilemma you face: will you do what feels natural and give the anxiety the attention it seems to demand, or will you trust that God can handle it? Will you act out that faith by deliberately doing nothing, despite the infuriatingly strong urge to believe the anxiety, or to fight it, or whatever you have been doing? Will you put your faith in Jesus or in your own efforts? Will you, by faith, accept that what seems to you a terrifyingly enormous mountain is nothing because of your almighty Savior? Or will you act as if he is pathetically weak and needs you to sweat, struggle and strive? You cannot stop fear from taunting you but you can stop yourself from doing what it says. It is not your choice whether fear follows you wherever you go but it is your choice whether you turn around and follow it, making it your god by doing whatever it screams. What fear does is up to fear, but what you do is up to you. The goal is not to try to stop anxiety but to disobey it. Don’t wait for anxiety to stop bothering you before deciding to no longer let it control your actions – you would be waiting forever if you chose that path. Instead, press on regardless of its presence. Let fear roar. It’s a clawless, toothless tiger. Despite every appearance of being ferocious, it is merely a feeling. It is harmless. The only way it can hurt you is if you give into it by doing what it says. To let fear order you around is to needlessly let a mere feeling become a life-controlling tyrant. None of us want to dethrone God in our lives and replace him with fear as our source of truth (the one we believe) and the one we obey. Nevertheless, it’s a hole we easily fall into. Thankfully, reversing this catastrophe can happen in an instant – just like at any moment an alcoholic can say no to a drink. What is difficult, however, is keeping fear off the throne – just like it is exceedingly hard for an alcoholic to keep saying no, day after day. Whether it is an addiction to obeying fear or to obeying the urge to drink, the first week or so is the hardest. Thereafter, however, occasionally the temptation to revert to old ways will again be agonizingly intense. That’s just the nature of a past addiction. Hold out during these times and life will get better and better. To squander one’s energy on trying to fight anxiety would be like an athlete in the midst of a marathon race continually running off course to scold random people for not applauding you. Focus your efforts on the real enemy: being intimidated by fear. The real battle is won by refusing to let fear bully you into obeying it, and by believing that through Jesus you have already won. That’s challenging when obeying fear has become a way of life. Nevertheless, you can do it. If you are on a journey, it is easier on yourself if you never slip and fall. Ultimately, however, what matters is not how often you slip up, but how often you get up. No matter how hard it might seem, if you get up each time and keep going, you will make it. Micah 7:8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. . . . Proverbs 24:16 for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again . . . A righteous person? That’s you because of Jesus. Consolidation & Beyond This webpage has been about the power of doing nothing. Rather than moving on from this theme, the next page will move us closer to it. Having no kinship with escapism, we will discover that doing nothing is actually doing something profound: it is facing head-on the reality of our smallness and God’s greatness; our powerlessness to achieve anything of eternal worth and our utter dependence upon the Eternal Lord. It is letting our incompetence be swallowed up by his competence. In contrast, escapism is distracting oneself in the rat race of frantic activity; it is getting giddy and so high on the adrenaline rush of desperately running around in dizzy circles that we fall prey to the delusion that we can save ourselves. The next page is about ensuring that doing nothing is not cold, tense emptiness – a place where anxiety could grow – but filled with warm contentment. And, even more powerful and fulfilling, letting God fill it with himself. If delighting God by doing nothing is a startling concept for you, now might be a good time to pause. First, bookmark this page, or record the web address, so that you can return to it when you are ready for more. Then, by all means, take a break but, if possible, before getting distracted by other things, let the insights so far discovered settle deeper into your heart right now by taking time to ponder and review them. That’s like adding cement to a carefully constructed sandcastle so that all your efforts are not lost by the incoming tide.

Beyond Redemption? Spiritual Fear & Worry Examined Are you forever fearing that you have lost your salvation or worrying that you are beyond forgiveness? Or you are a Christian suffering from unwanted thoughts so ugly that you wonder whether you are demon possessed? These are symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Although most people have heard of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, few recognize it when it turns spiritual. So we’ll look briefly at OCD and then consider how it causes Christians to be plagued with false guilt feelings and worries or suffer spiritually repulsive thoughts that horrify them. We’ll then examine whether these insights and modern treatments can be of practical spiritual help to Christians. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is an anxiety disorder. Some experts go deeper into the cause of the anxiety and call it a biochemical or neurological (nerve) disorder. This highlights that the anxiety is not the person’s fault or ignorance or lack of faith. It is still correct, however, to call it an anxiety disorder because it manifests itself as anxiety that, in turn, causes repeated, unwanted thoughts or doubts (obsessions). For many, but not all OCD sufferers, these obsessions lead to feeling driven to certain repetitive behaviors (compulsions) such as excessive cleaning, checking, counting or seeking assurances. A not uncommon form of OCD that is less publicized is for a normal heterosexual to be plagued with fear that he or she is homosexual. Another is for a normal, mild mannered person to be stricken with an abnormal fear that he or she will violently harm loved ones. The United Nations’ World Health Organization ranks Obsessive Compulsive Disorder high among the most disabling of all illnesses, in terms of the monetary and personal cost. Millions of people have their lives dominated by some form of OCD. It is so common throughout the world that if there are just one hundred people in your church, two or three of them probably have OCD, although there is a good chance that one is so embarrassed by it that he is trying to keep it secret, and another does not even know she has it. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a medical condition. Put at its very simplest, OCD seems to be the consequence of a brain mechanism intended to warn a person of danger, doing so excessively. Scientists think they have identified a small part of the brain that does not function as perfectly in people with OCD. A key role of this part of the brain is to filter out inappropriate thoughts and feelings. Unless this filter is functioning normally, another part of the brain becomes overactive. Scans have shown unusual patterns of activity in the brains of OCD sufferers. In a few cases, head injuries seem to have caused OCD. Scrupulosity is a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder that plagues people who are anxious to please God. For them, the unwelcome, involuntary thoughts or images feature God or the devil, and compulsions feature the need to keep seeking assurance of salvation, or repeatedly engaging in some sort of religious exercise – such as prayer or witnessing or confessing sin – beyond what other Christians feel is needed. The word scrupulosity alludes to the torment of an oversensitive conscience. It often involves mistakenly thinking that innocent or unavoidable things are sin and so feeling needlessly guilty. (Actually, it is other way around: anxiety feels like a guilty conscience, so the presence of excess anxiety causes its victims to feel needlessly guilty about minor or harmless things.) People afflicted with this condition often feel driven to do what to them seems to be minimum Christian requirements for God’s approval but is actually abandoning grace and heading for spiritual burnout in a joyless, exhausting religious works program. As mentioned, when scrupulosity turns to obsessive thoughts, it can generate upsetting, uncontrollable blasphemous thoughts or images about God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit, or exalting the devil. We’ll see later how people with an abnormally sensitive conscience end up hounded by the very thing they detest. We’ll also see that as the loving Lord holds no one responsible for being forcibly raped against his or her will, so he holds no one responsible for invasive thoughts or images that a person does not want. Just as some people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder feel compelled to keep checking locks or washing their hands, others feel compelled to obsess over blasphemous thoughts that they hate or to keep doubting their salvation. In fact, scrupulosity has been called “pathological doubt.” OCD sufferers do something simple – depending on the person, it might be locking a door, switching off the oven, or receiving God’s forgiveness – and then their illness causes them to worry abnormally over whether they did it correctly. They feel driven to keep seeking assurance far beyond what is rational. Scrupulosity can fill people with such false guilt that many are unlikely to admit to it, while others have no idea that they have an unhealthy sense of guilt and so suppose there is nothing wrong with them. Consequently, scrupulosity remains such a hidden disease that researchers have been unable to determine how common it is. One study of Catholic high school students found that a staggering 25% seemed to have scrupulosity. Perhaps there was something in their religious teaching that contributed to this astounding figure. Famous Christians often thought to have suffered from scrupulosity include Martin Luther, who spear-headed the Protestant Reformation, and John Bunyan, author of one of the most influential of all Christian books, Pilgrims Progress. If so, it highlights how Christians can not only survive but spiritually thrive despite this affliction. The Almighty can turn this horror on its head, even bringing incalculable good out of a most distressing illness. This most certainly does not mean, however, that the God of love who went to the extreme of the cross wants anyone to suffer the torment of believing they are unforgivable – to say nothing of the fact that such a belief insults our Savior. It is well known that in his early days as a monk, Luther was overwhelmed by feelings of utter depravity and terror of judgment. It is claimed that, despite desperately wanting to please God, he was assaulted by anger and hatred toward God, urges to curse God and, during prayer, obsessing about the devil’s rear end. It is frequently told how he threw an inkpot at a vision of the devil, but less well publicized is that he also threw an inkpot at a vision of Christ. I can only speculate, but perhaps Luther’s violent reaction was because the vision of Christ was sexual or in some other way grossly insulting to Christ. The great reformer often suffered such depression that he wished he had never been born. Interestingly, Luther’s wife, Kate, is thought to have suffered from a different anxiety disorder; Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Not only is this condition often treated with the same medication as used to treat OCD, it can also be spiritually bewildering. A dear friend of mine was tormented by mysterious guilt feelings and feeling cut off from God. He suffered from a serious illness that caused great physical pain and yet he found this inner pain far worse than the physical pain. The torment persisted for years despite him having a solid biblical understanding of salvation, being strongly committed to God and frequently being powerfully used of God. Eventually, he discovered that GAD was causing what almost seemed to be spiritual symptoms. I will not pursue this subject here, but keep it in mind as another possible cause of feelings of guilt and/or alienation from God. Other possible reasons for persistent guilt feelings include major depression, bipolar disorder, or even schizophrenia or delusional disorder. If there is no obvious psychological disorder, another possibility that should be examined is a besetting sin one is aware of, or maybe past sins that one finds too upsetting to think about or perhaps even consciously remember, but have not been confessed to God and repented of. There is a wide range of mental afflictions in which people are quite sane except for one small area of life in which their mind keeps lying to them. Take phobias and anxieties as an example. Most of us have one thing – perhaps heights or harmless spiders or public speaking – over which our mind, against all logic, floods us with fear or anxiety. Anorexic girls whose minds keep mistakenly telling them they are fat is another example. Hypochondriacs are people with healthy bodies whose mind keeps insisting that they must have an illness. Then there are people plagued with ridiculously low self-esteem. We could go on and on listing examples until nearly everyone on the planet is included. Almost all of us have one area of life over which our mind consistently goes haywire, setting off alarms when there is no need for concern. Scrupulosity, or religious OCD, is simply another example. If you suffer from scrupulosity, the sad, frustrating thing is that your sincere, heartfelt efforts have the opposite effect to what you want. The more you focus on your sin, the less time you have to focus on God’s love and grace; the harder you try to stop thinking about something, or the more it alarms or repulses you, the more you will think of it. It is like wiring people to detect the slightest change in sweat, breathing, blood pressure and pulse. Everything is fine until the stakes are raised by holding a gun to their heads and threatening to kill them if they show the tiniest bodily sign of nervousness. The more important it is to them that their hearts not beat faster, the more inevitable it is that this is exactly what will happen. Just like increased heart rate, unwanted thoughts are not a moral or spiritual issue but an uncontrollable psychological reaction to anxiety. Unwanted thoughts are not sin. Morally, any thought you regret is in a totally different world to deliberately cultivated thoughts that come from a heart that truly hates God. In fact, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder latches on to what is most precious to us. A common form of OCD, for example, involves being hounded by thoughts of violently harming loved ones. This is to be expected because, with OCD, the very reason thoughts keep returning is because the thoughts horrify the person. This distressing illness reveals people’s heart by showing what they most fear doing. With OCD, repeated thoughts reveal not what a person wants but what the person least wants. The God of infinite understanding and compassion knows this. The Almighty views obsessive blasphemous thoughts through eyes of love and not only does not see this behavior as sin, but sees it as proof of a heart that is anxious to honor him. Moreover, even if you had repeatedly and deliberately committed the most atrocious conceivable sins, it could not keep you from God, if you want him. As biblically expounded elsewhere on this site, God’s Word is emphatic that no sin is beyond the forgiving power of Christ’s sacrifice, provided the offender wants God’s forgiveness and trusts Jesus for it. Yes, even enjoying the most vile, sinful, disgusting thoughts about sacred things, cursing the Holy Spirit and selling your soul to the devil after fully experiencing salvation, is fully forgivable the moment anyone repents and trusts Jesus for forgiveness. Studies, such as one by psychologist Stanley Rachman, have found that normal people admit to having shockingly bizarre, perverted, sadistic or blasphemous impulses from time to time. It is an inescapable part of being human. Almost never, does Satan or one of his demons use his own audible voice to tempt anyone. His time-proven method is to tempt by speaking to us in our minds. Since Jesus was “tempted in every way, just as we are” (Hebrews 4:15), the sinless Son of God must also have at times suffered the type of temptation that comes in the form of unwanted thoughts and urges. As I have explained elsewhere, temptation is spiritual rape. And we know that Jesus was tempted to “bow down and worship” Satan (Matthew 4:9). (Would you panic if that thought came to you or an image flashed into your mind of you worshipping Satan? Would you wrongly think there is something spiritually wrong with you?) And let’s not suppose that Jesus was only tempted in the wilderness. When the forty days were finally over, Luke 4:13 says the devil “departed from him for a season” (KJV) or, as the NIV puts it “left him until an opportune time.” So it is scriptural to believe that the Holy Lord suffered from unwanted blasphemous thoughts and images, “yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Average Christians have the occasional blasphemous thought or spiritually disgusting image flash through their minds. They dismiss it as nonsense and are so unconcerned that they quickly forget that it had ever happened. If, however, you managed to fool them into supposing that such a thought could doom them to hell, the very terror would make it inevitable that they could not stop thinking about it. The thought would keep returning over and over, not because these people are sinful, but solely because they are excessively anxious not to think such thoughts. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, you will recall, is an anxiety disorder. Phobias are another type of anxiety disorder. OCD is similar in that both problems involve an exaggerated fear of something that is unlikely to prove a genuine reason for serious concern. And the fear might not be an accurate barometer of the person’s faith. There are ways, however, in which OCD is even more distressing than phobias. One is that the average person can more readily identify with, and sympathetically tolerate, people who have phobias. Even if someone does not fear spiders, for instance, he can usually put himself in the shoes of those who do. With OCD, however, the fear is of one’s own thoughts. The average person might find that harder to understand. People with OCD might display behavior that frustrates other people and those close to them might need to be reminded that OCD sufferers are coping the best they can. Most of the time, people with phobias can chose to avoid what they fear, even though avoidance might be most inconvenient. When the fear is one’s own thoughts, however, there is nowhere to hide and it could strike at any time. To try to reassure Christians with scrupulosity, I have gone way over the top in producing a vast number of webpages about the certainty of God’s forgiveness, starting at Feeling Condemned? There’s Hope! But just as arguing that someone’s hands are clean does not stop a compulsive hand washer from washing dozens of times a day, so rational, biblical arguments do not stop a Christian with religious OCD from continuing to feel anxious about his salvation and keep craving still more reassurance. Moreover, convincing arguments can only prove certain thoughts incorrect, they can never stop those thoughts from buzzing around in our brains like pesky flies. Seeking reassurance on the Internet is particularly dangerous because lurking in cyberspace are many wolves in sheep’s clothing and “know-alls” who know nothing about OCD. If you must keep checking, please limit yourself to your pastor, or people he delegates, and my exhaustive, Bible-based exploration of the subject. But know that doubts will persist, because that’s the nature of the illness, and the relentless nature of the Tempter. Salvation is by faith – by choosing to disbelieve your own doubts and guilt feelings and placing your faith solely in the fact that Christ died for the sins of the whole world, which must include every sin you could ever commit. No part of us – our consciences included – is infallible. The Bible insists that forgiven Christians can have hearts (consciences) that condemn them but this does not change the spiritual reality that the infallible, all-seeing Judge sees them as forgiven. 1 John 3:19-20 This then is how we . . . set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts . . . Saving faith is about choosing to exalt Christ above your own conscience. Faith involves stubbornly and defiantly believing in the unlimited power of Christ’s sacrifice to forgive, even in the face of a relentlessly accusing conscience. This is spiritual warfare at its highest and those who hold on to Christ, refusing to believe their faulty conscience, win heaven’s highest praise. Strongman Samson was eventually defeated by Delilah, a physically much weaker woman. Here’s how it happened: Judges 16:16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death. She wore him down by using the same old method day after day. It’s one of the devil’s favorite tactics. Be smarter than Samson. Keep resisting the nagging of your conscience, no matter how tiring it gets. To believe in the saving power of Christ’s sacrifice and yet be plagued with a guilty conscience is like having the misfortune of living in a house with a faulty fire alarm that goes off every few minutes. That would be most unpleasant, but taking the alarm seriously and fearing that you are about to be burned alive every time the alarm goes off, would needlessly turn an unpleasant situation into sheer torment. While preparing this webpage I received an e-mail from a middle-aged man. It illustrates the steadfast faith we can have in the power of Christ’s salvation despite numerous challenging issues in our lives. Over my life I have been hospitalized 23 times for mental illness. I have been a Christian less than a year. After I got saved I had another psychotic break and ended up in hospital for two months. Since getting out I have had disturbing thoughts of a sexual nature toward God and I am constantly reminded of these things. I am very disturbed by some of the things that go through my mind – distressing, unclean, profane, irreligious thoughts, etc. I don’t really like myself very much. I could dredge up a lot of memories that contribute to this. When I was 15, for instance, I forced myself on a girl. People could see us. It is extremely hard for me to call it rape but it was very nearly that. Now I deal with perverse thoughts that I compulsively think about. It even happens at church and takes the joy out of worship. When we sing praise I think about the devil and think I’m praising him and not God. I feel like killing myself almost every day. I am belligerent toward God. I am so preoccupied with my problems that it makes it hard for me to consider a relationship with a woman because all I can seem to think about is my problems. I remember hearing John 3:16 the first time and thinking, “God loves me? So what?” But I am beginning to realize that the overriding reality in life is God’s amazing love. Really knowing deep down inside how truly loved and valued I am makes a big difference. I will keep revisiting your webpages about God’s love for me, because a core issue of mine is thinking that I am not loved or am unlovable. Why would anyone love me after all the sins I’ve committed? I do feel worthless at times. Today I was really feeling like a person with a mental illness. I went to my mental health program for some horticultural therapy and really felt disabled. I had to come back to my apartment to chill out. I feel like I am letting God down. When I lie awake in bed for hours I feel guilty and the thought keeps coming that I am going to hell because I am not doing what God wants me to. The Bible verse that came to me yesterday was if I delight in the Lord he will give me the desires of my heart. I immediately discounted the thought and started thinking about Satan and having compulsive thoughts but was able to bring myself out it. Just believing that Jesus lives in my heart and will never leave me brings everything back into focus. (Emphasis mine) What a superb example of faith! How proud of him God and all of heaven must be! Great faith is not about instant changes to circumstances but holding on by sheer grit. Remember how Scripture repeatedly exalts Abraham as faith’s role model because he kept believing year after year after year that God would give him a child, despite there being no change in his circumstances, other than increasing age that seemed to make the situation increasingly hopeless. The Bible reveals that not just salvation but everything in the Christian life – the power to love, answered prayer, victory over temptation, wisdom, spiritual gifts, understanding Scripture, and so on – is God’s unmerited gift that becomes ours through faith. Since it is through faith that we receive all these priceless gifts, faith is without question the most precious thing in the universe. Just as our physical bodies grow strong by being repeatedly pushed to the limit, so it is with growing in faith. Scrupulosity pushes one’s faith to the limit. By doing so, it can produce spiritual giants. So if Luther and Bunyan and other outstanding people of God had religious Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, it comes as no surprise to me. Oppressively strong doubts, a condemning conscience and feeling unforgivable are nothing but temptations to stop believing in the power of Jesus’ sacrifice to forgive all sin. Temptations are as sure to come as pimples on a teenage date. Yes, even the sinless Son of God was tempted. We can stop temptation from entering our minds no more than we can stop the devil from existing, but no matter how tortured with guilt feelings we are and how many anti-God thoughts flood our minds, we can stop ourselves from being fooled into thinking our Savior cannot, or will not, save everyone – no exceptions – who wants his salvation. My mother has a phobia about birds. Intellectually, she knows that entering an aviary would be safe, but the thought of doing so terrifies her. This has nothing to do with her intelligence; it is a psychological condition. Likewise you can know that you are forgiven because you have put your faith in the power of Christ’s forgiveness, but you can still be afflicted with false guilt feelings, fears and unwanted thoughts. This has nothing to do with your salvation; it is a psychological condition. This Next Page is Short but Vital: The Surprising Answer to Hardness of Heart, Severe Condemnation, Doubt & Vile Thoughts

When Suffering Hardness of Heart, Severe Condemnation, Doubt or Vile Thoughts What Must a Christian do? When terrifyingly oppressed by what feels like hardness of heart, or devastating feelings of guilt and condemnation, or the vilest of thoughts, what should a Christian do? Nothing. Yes, you read that right. Christians have so much to worry about that they should be almost as stressed out as my cat. Despite an overwhelming urge to panic, beg forgiveness, run to a pastor, beat yourself up, or believe you are doomed, the most Christ-exalting counter-attack to such feelings is to do all you can to ignore them. I am acutely aware that choosing to do nothing in this situation is both exceedingly difficult and the exact opposite of what feels like the correct response. Note, however, that if doing what comes naturally were the answer, you would not be reading this; you would already be free from these attacks. You need a radically different approach – probably one you have not even considered. Regardless of how intense, prolonged and repeated your awful feelings or thoughts are, it is perfectly safe to treat them as if they did not exist or had never happened. As shocking as it seems, you should view them as being of not the slightest consequence. You have grown so used to letting these things alarm you, that reacting in fear has become a deeply ingrained, unthinking habit. And habits are hard to break. In fact, as ridiculous as it is, not being afraid can seem scary. It is time to break the cycle by choosing to act as if these unwanted thoughts and feelings were not even happening. Don’t interact with them in any way. Don’t fear them, don’t be ashamed of them, or worry about them, or fight them. Don’t even ask forgiveness. Just, as much as you can, remain relaxed and unconcerned, and move on. Not only does acting in fear achieve nothing positive, it achieves less than nothing . It ramps up fear by reinforcing in one’s mind the lie that there must actually be something to be scared of. Doing nothing does not mean wanting nothing. It is not, of course, losing all desire to please God. It is ceasing to imagine that human effort can ever save anyone. Neither is it giving up on God. On the contrary, it is believing in God more than ever – not merely believing in his power and willingness to forgive some people but in his power and eagerness to forgive you as you currently are, no matter how atrociously you have messed up. It is abandoning all hope of anyone ever being good enough for God, and redirecting that hope and faith into believing God is good enough, powerful enough and loving enough for you. Cease imagining you must somehow try to compensate for any inadequacies or reluctance in God’s ability to save you. Instead, realize that the almighty God of love is infinitely more that you will ever need to override your every inadequacy, no matter how gross or extreme your inadequacies could ever get. He’s your heavenly Father; the perfect guardian who totally outclasses any human attempt at parenthood. He’s the loving, competent one; you’re the helpless infant. No matter how much we grow in Christ, you and I always remain utterly dependent upon him and he is always up to the task. In Christ, the Almighty’s power and eagerness to forgive is always boundlessly greater than your power to mess things up. No matter how passionately and desperately you yearn for God’s acceptance, his yearning to accept you and his power to do so, is stupendously greater. And that is all that matters. As explained elsewhere, vast numbers of people have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) without even realizing it, and this is precisely the weakness that the enemy of our souls exploits when Christians are plagued with doubts, unwanted thoughts, and so on. Let’s look at this spiritually: OCD is fear-driven, which leads to what the Bible calls ‘works’ – our own desperate attempt to save ourselves. What makes doing nothing the perfect counter-attack for Christians is that the spiritual opposite of both fear and ‘works’ is faith. Deliberately doing nothing in response to these attacks is faith in action. It is declaring to the entire spirit world that there is nothing to fear and that Jesus, not your efforts, is your Savior. Fighting the symptoms gives the illusion of helping because it can temporarily ease them. The sad truth, however, is that it actually ends up worsening them by reinforcing the unspiritual notion that you should act in fear, rather than in faith. Since fear fires the problem, you need to put out the fire. Instead, frantically fighting the symptoms – reacting as if there were something to fear – fans the fire and so inflames the problem. I mentioned in a previous webpage that I once hyperventilated. Let me describe what happened. It vividly illustrates why choosing to do nothing when terrified by doubts, despicable thoughts and so on, is the ideal response. I was feeling a little unwell and began to focus on my breathing. Thinking I needed a little more air, I breathed slightly deeper. That did not seem to help, so I calmly breathed still deeper. That make me feel as if I needed even more air. I breathed even quicker and deeper. Soon I was caught in a vicious circle in which I found myself gasping for more and more air. Then my hands began to uncontrollably clench and go numb. Thinking I must be having a stroke or something, I panicked even more, which further affected my breathing. Someone with nursing experience placed a paper bag over my face (not recommended these days). Certain that I needed more air, I tried to fight her off. When it was all over, I was flabbergasted to learn that the entire incident had been fear-driven. Every part of me had seemed to be screaming that I needed more air and that I was having a medically dangerous episode. It turned out that it was not that I needed more oxygen, but that I was actually getting too much. I simply needed to calm down (not easy when so worked up) and act normally. That’s what it is like with OCD. When in the midst of it, panicking and trying harder and harder seems the appropriate, Christ-honoring response and yet it drives a vicious circle that makes everything worse. As counter-intuitive as it seems, you actually need to do the exact opposite of what fear tells you. This is the safe, God-honoring thing to do, but it will not feel that way. Fear feels like a friend that keeps you safe and helps you be a better person, when it is actually an insidiously cruel parasite that sucks spiritual life out of us and robs God of the glory he deserves. So reverse this. Choose to honor God by accepting that, regardless of all your turmoil, through Christ you are accepted by God. Why is fear dishonoring to God? When Christ died for the sins of the world (including your every sin) the God of the impossible achieved the impossible. You are washed clean – spotlessly pure – and totally accepted by the Holy Lord, not because of what you have or haven’t done, but because the eternal Son of God swapped places with you on the cross. When Almighty God looked at his innocent Son on the cross, he saw not Jesus’ perfection but your moral filth. Then God unleashed all his wrath upon Jesus until not a speck of anger remained. Finally, Jesus was able to gasp, “It is finished” and he died (John 19:30). He suffered all this so that when you simply look to him in faith, the astonishing exchange is complete. Now, when the Holy Lord sees you, he sees not your sin but the purity and moral perfection of Jesus. This staggering truth is summarized here: 2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. The exchange occurred not so that we could have our pathetic attempt at righteousness, but God’s righteousness. Moreover, as Jesus declared, it is finished. No need to struggle, beg, plead, shed tears, or whatever. It’s all over. You are divinely accepted and approved, because of Jesus. Despite this spiritual reality, OCD causes us to panic and continually focus on a molehill until it looms in our mind as enormous as a mountain. So honor God by doing the opposite. Let even the molehill shrink to nothing by disregarding it. OCD is like having the most annoying itch that incessantly demands to be scratched. If, despite that intense urge, you leave it alone, it will eventually calm down. Give into its demands, however, and do what feels like the natural thing to do – scratch it – and you will feel temporary relief but the itch will soon return even stronger than before. With eczema, for example, scratching can even cause infection. Enduring that irritating itch and refusing to scratch it, is agonizing and feels so unnatural, but it is the only way to stop it from getting worse than ever. This is the dilemma you face: will you do what feels natural and give the guilt feeling, unwanted thought, or doubt, the attention it seems to demand, or will you trust that God can handle it? Will you act out that faith by deliberately doing nothing, despite the infuriatingly strong urge to believe the deceptive feeling or thought, or to fight it, ask forgiveness, or whatever you have been doing? Will you put your faith in Jesus or in your own efforts? Will you, by faith, accept that what seems to you a terrifyingly enormous mountain is nothing because of your almighty Savior? Or will you act as if he is pathetically weak and needs you to sweat, struggle and strive? Basically, to have OCD is to be controlled by fear. The precise nature of the fear varies from person to person (and from time to time). With religious OCD, it usually boils down to a fear of being – or becoming – unforgivable. This, in turn, usually leads to people becoming enslaved (addicted) to some type of ritual they vainly hope might reduce the fear. Religious examples are begging for God’s forgiveness, confessing to someone, seeking someone’s reassurance, or beat oneself up (despite the fact that Christ was beaten for us). It often includes avoidance of things that could trigger fear, such as Bible-reading, church attendance or prayer. Fear becomes such a monster that even stopping the foolish rituals or avoidance becomes terrifying. You cannot stop fear from taunting you but you can stop yourself from doing what it says. It is not your choice whether fear follows you wherever you go but it is your choice whether you turn around and follow it, making it your god by doing whatever it screams. What fear does is up to fear, but what you do is up to you. The goal is not to try to stop fear but to disobey it. Don’t wait for fear to stop bothering you before deciding to no longer let fear control your actions – you would be waiting forever if you chose that path. Instead, press on regardless of fear’s presence. Let fear roar. It’s a clawless, toothless tiger. Despite every appearance of being ferocious, it is merely a feeling. It is harmless. The only way it can hurt you is if you give into it by doing what it says. To let fear order you around is to needlessly let a mere feeling become a life-controlling tyrant. None of us want to dethrone God in our lives and replace him with fear as our source of truth (the one we believe) and the one we obey. Nevertheless, it’s a hole we easily fall into. Thankfully, reversing this catastrophe can happen in an instant – just like at any moment an alcoholic can say no to a drink. What is difficult, however, is keeping fear off the throne – just like it is exceedingly hard for an alcoholic to keep saying no, day after day. Whether it is an addiction to obeying fear or to obeying the urge to drink, the first week or so is the hardest. Thereafter, however, occasionally the temptation to revert to old ways will again be agonizingly intense. That’s just the nature of a past addiction. Hold out during these times and life will get better and better. To squander one’s energy on trying to fight doubts, feelings and thoughts would be like an athlete in the midst of a marathon race continually running off course to scold random people for not applauding you. Focus your efforts on the real enemy: fear. The real battle is won by refusing to let fear bully you into obeying it, and by believing that through Jesus you have already won. That’s challenging when obeying fear has become a way of life. Nevertheless, you can do it. If you are on a journey, it is easier on yourself if you never slip and fall. Ultimately, however, what matters is not how often you slip up, but how often you get up. No matter how hard it might seem, if you get up each time and keep going, you will make it. Micah 7:8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. . . . Proverbs 24:16 for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again . . . A righteous person? That’s you because of Jesus. My wife, who has suffered greatly from anxiety, has found using the Lord’s prayer this way astonishingly effective. What especially surprised her is that, until the Lord showed her, she had never seen this prayer as a way of finding much-needed relief. She had been taught to see the Lord’s prayer as being self-focused and involving considerable effort, rather than God-centered and effortless. Then there are all those for whom the prayer has connotations of a meaningless ritual. For it to work, you, too, might need to use this prayer in what for you is a new way. It could be a wonderful adventure. Try imagining yourself in Moses’ sandals, looking after his father-in-law’s sheep, hour after endless hour, month after month, as they wandered on the far side of the desert. No crowds. No phone. No movies. No canned music; just the occasional bleat of a sheep or the distant cry of a bird of prey. No rush hour traffic; just the slow rhythm of the seasons. Think of David growing up as shepherd boy, or others waiting for their crops to grow. What a contrast to today’s pressures. What a relief it would be to have one percent of their stillness and laid-back lifestyle. As you ponder the Lord’s prayer, try to free yourself from the pressure to perform. Let go of any need to achieve anything within a certain timeframe. Ease yourself into it. It’s perfectly okay for an hour to pass with your mind drifting in and out of awareness of just one word of the prayer, with thoughts often wandering off-track like grazing sheep and little of consequence seeming to happen. If possible, get yourself comfy. You might even like to synchronize this prayer with calm breathing. Inhale deeply through your nose and exhale through your mouth. That can help settle a tense body. Our Father in heaven This is the focus any distressed person needs: letting go of the earthly – even if only for a moment – and dwelling on the heavenly; looking not at human inadequacy and concerns, but at our triumphant Lord reigning on high. Moreover, he is not aloof, but your father. Forget about human counterfeits: he is perfect. Let your worries vaporize: your well-being is your Father’s responsibility. may your name be kept holy. Let his concerns replace your own. Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Lose yourself in the bigger picture: all that really matters is God’s perfect will. Surrender to him like a shivering person to a warm bath. Give us today our daily bread. Unburden yourself. Hand over to him responsibility for meeting your needs, and even for determining what your needs really are. He is your provider, not just materially, but in every other way. He will take care of your needs, one day at a time. Don’t be distracted by the future. The eternal Lord has that in hand. All that matters is today. Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. You are not in the presence of a condemning God but a forgiving one. He holds no resentments. Rest in that, and likewise let your own resentments melt away. The welcome relief will be like ridding burrs from your socks. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Let the God of boundless wisdom, the one who alone has infinite intelligence and knowledge, be your leader. Hand over to him control of your life. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen. What matters is not your power and glory but his. Lose yourself in the greatness of the Almighty, the God of the impossible, the supreme Victor. Through Christ, you have spiritual union with the Perfect One. Like a vine and its branch (John 15:), you are a part of him, and he is a part of you. Through that union, you have his righteousness, his wisdom, his power. Bask in it. Rather than beating yourself up for your failings, let your heart fill with praises to him. Delight in him. Incidentally, the prayer begins not with my father – as thrillingly true as that is – but with our father, and continues in the plural throughout the prayer. Maybe no one on earth knows, or cares, what you are going through (actually, countless thousands would care if they truly knew) but no matter how isolated or rejected you feel, you are not alone. Accept it or not: you are part of Christ’s body: 1 Corinthians 12:15, 21-23, 26 If the foot would say, “Because I’m not the hand, I’m not part of the body,” it is not therefore not part of the body. . . . The eye can’t tell the hand, “I have no need for you,” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need for you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. Those parts of the body which we think to be less honorable, on those we bestow more abundant honor; and our unpresentable parts have more abundant propriety . . . When one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. Reading this webpage is like reading about how to get physically fit. It will not help until you practice doing what it says, and there will be no instant changes. You need to keep practicing until it becomes a way of life for you. Do not wait until stressed out to remember to do it. The more stressed you are, the harder it is to do. The key to practicing virtually anything is to start with the simple and then more to the harder as you get more proficient.

Originally called “shell shock,” Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was first recognized in war veterans, but it can occur in anyone who has suffered a severe trauma. CAUSE Typical events that could lead to PTSD include: * Severe accidents or natural disasters * Violent personal assaults like rape or mugging * Terrorist attacks such as bombing or hijacking * Witnessing serious injury or death * Childhood trauma, such as sexual abuse or domestic violence SYMPTOMS The American Psychiatric Association says victims usually have symptoms for each of the following groups, present for at least a month: * Intrusion – the traumatic event suddenly intrudes into the victim’s life, days or even years after the event, through vivid flashbacks, nightmares, and/or recurrent distressing memories. Exposure to anything that reminds them of the trauma can also trigger further distress. * Avoidance – sufferers avoid close ties with others, and/or situations which remind them of the trauma. Depression, a lack of interest in activities, survivor’s guilt, and feelings of shame, detachment, failure and unworthiness are also common. * Act as if constantly threatened – becoming irritable, on guard, or explosive, for no apparent reason. Difficulty concentrating, exaggerated “startle reactions,” insomnia, and panic attacks can also occur. Additional PTSD symptoms may include excessive sweating, paleness, headache, fever, fainting, dizziness, anxiety, tension, and agitation. TREATMENT Anyone who may be suffering from PTSD should seek medical advice. Treatment may involve the use of medication for clinical depression, anxiety, and other associated medical conditions; as well as psychological techniques, such as behavior therapy, exposure therapy, stress management training, and counselling. Support groups, exercise, and relaxation techniques may also be helpful. MORE HELP Finding Hope! Overcoming a Traumatic Past Help & Cure: Fear, Phobias, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Hurt & Confused by Fake Personal Prophecy In the Church Christians Hurt by False Prophetic Words from People Believed to have the Gift of Prophecy As proclaimed on the Day of Pentecost, Christ’s sacrifice and ascension culminated in ushering in the era when all God’s children could prophesy (Acts 2:17). It was the fulfilment of Moses’ longing that “all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” (Numbers 11:29 – Moses was himself a prophet – Deuteronomy 34:10; Acts 3:22; 7:37). Nevertheless, my heart – and God’s – weeps for the countless thousands of Christians bewildered, devastated or even led astray by a ‘word from God’ delivered with conviction by someone revered in respected Christian circles as a prophet, or at least purporting to be manifesting the spiritual gift of prophecy. To understand each other, we must agree on a definition of prophecy . Even if some of us differ over whether the genuine gift is even available today, we can easily agree that many people today claim to be manifesting what the Bible calls the gift of prophecy. So let’s define genuine personal prophecy as a message having all the characteristics of Bible instances. If we find in the Bible any hint that prophecy in New Testament times differed from personal prophecies in the Old Testament, we will opt for whatever the Bible reveals about New Testament prophecies. Otherwise, it makes sense to draw also upon Old Testament examples in our quest to ascertain the biblical pattern to which genuine prophecies could be expected to conform. A thorough examination of the Bible reveals that by prophecy it means not the product of the human intellect or drawing upon Bible knowledge but, a Spirit-filled, supernatural utterance: 2 Peter 1:21 For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit. A genuine prophetic message is, of course, thoroughly consistent with the Bible, but it is not declaring or expounding biblical revelation. It is revealing divine secrets; a special message from God. Whereas the Bible is God’s revelation to all subsequent readers, prophecy is God’s message to specific people in a specific era. For example: Acts 13:1-2 Now . . . there were some prophets and teachers . . . As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Separate Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work to which I have called them.” The Spirit of God, no doubt speaking through one of the prophets, had a message solely for them. It was not someone’s guess, nor was it some general truth, but divine revelation targeted specifically at them. Divine prophecies do not necessarily speak of the future but they often do. This is hardly surprising. After all, they are words from the eternal Lord who knows “the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10) and cares about our future. Moreover, responding to God’s revelation affects our future. So prophecy is by no means to establish doctrine or give general revelation (that’s the exclusive domain of Scripture). It is to provide divine guidance that is uniquely applicable to the specific needs of the target audience. It often includes feedback as to how God views their spiritual condition. The Danger Most of us realize that preaching to multiplied thousands is a huge responsibility. James, introduces his message about the destructive power of one’s words (the tongue), by warning that teaching people significantly ramps up the severity of the divine judgment awaiting us (James 3:1). I explain in How to Comfort the Hurting , however, that offering casual advice to an individual demands even more care than preaching to crowds because it carries more weight, since the recipient knows that what is said is targeted specifically at him/her. Claiming to be delivering a message direct from God is chillingly more serious than sharing one’s opinion, and directing it toward a specific person makes it the gravest of matters. I am ashamed to say that, in blatant disregard for God and for the people he loves, many Christians today have become appallingly flippant about this practice. We see here just how alarmingly different God’s attitude is: Deuteronomy 18:20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say . . . must be put to death. Ponder this warning: James 3:1-2 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. . . . If claiming to speak for God is a terrifying responsibility when presenting a general truth, imagine the danger when impacting someone with a personal word of guidance or an evaluation of someone’s spiritual life that is meant to be direct from Almighty God himself. We will learn from a wide range of Scriptures and discover that the nature of personal prophecies remains the same in both Testaments. This should hardly surprise, since they are inspired by the same Spirit of the God who changes not. There are even many who turn giving personal prophecies into an opportunity to line their pockets. If they want Scriptural precedent for this, here it is: Micah 3:11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD and say, “Is not the LORD among us? . . .” Note that Micah equates prophesying for money with a judge taking a bribe. Bribes corrupt people, swaying their judgment. And there are far more ways of financially profiting from prophesying than blatantly demanding money before giving a personal prophecy. I choose to believe that most people do not a deliberately distort their supposed word from God for the sake of money. I’m more concerned about sincere people being subtly – perhaps even sub-consciously – swayed by how what they say influences popularity, and hence income. If you wish to follow biblical precedents for prophesying for financial gain like those in Micah and elsewhere, go ahead, but it might be more in tune with your Judge’s heart to emulate this: Acts 8:18-20 Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money . . . But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! . . .” There are those who seem to think prophet should be spelled profit and use prosperity teaching as an excuse to grieve the Spirit by enriching themselves at the expense of the vulnerable. As we explore this topic we will discover that today’s supposed personal prophecies rarely contain anything remotely like the proportion of rebukes and warnings of trials found in the divine record of God-given personal prophecies. For example, like Jesus himself, both Peter and Paul had hanging over their heads the fact that from the very commencement of their ministries, they were given personal prophecies that they would suffer excruciatingly unpleasant things. Peter was no more thrilled about an earlier prophecy – that he would deny his Lord three times. Excited about all the wonders surrounding the birth of her amazing baby, Mary received this personal prophecy: “a sword will pierce through your own soul” (Luke 2:35). Personal prophecy not only exposed King David’s sin but said, “the sword will never depart from your house . . . I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun” (2 Samuel 12:10-11). The discrepancy between biblical examples of personal prophecies and what we often hear today, not only calls into question the authenticity of much that currently passes as being a prophetic word from God, it highlights why so much spiritual abuse can flow from supposedly edifying ‘words from God’. So many of today’s personal prophecies are such that just hearing those given to other people can make us envious (covetous) and not only inflame a craving for our own personal prophecy but make us feel inferior or even spurned by God if we do not receive our own equally exciting supposed word from God. If today’s prophecies matched those of the Bible, far fewer people would be flocking to meetings in the hope of receiving one. Consequently, those giving prophecies would be less enticed to corrupt their gift, as it would no longer be such an easy way to increase their fame or income. There are big names who make big bucks out of it but, sadly, sincere people who selflessly share personal prophecies away from the limelight can cause just as much damage to the recipient if they get it wrong. Many victims of fake words from God thought they were playing safe by waiting until a prophetic word was confirmed by receiving another independent personal prophecy along the same lines. The problem with that is so many personal prophecies today say what average Christians long to hear, and there are a limited number of things fitting that category. The result is that many words from supposed prophets are similar anyhow. Other victims believed they felt an inner witness or confirmation upon receiving a prophetic word. This sounds quite spiritual but how many people’s ‘inner witness,’ instead of being God’s Spirit confirming it to their hearts, is simply fleshly excitement about thinking they might be getting what they crave? Who wouldn’t feel excited to be told authoritatively that they will be vindicated, marry someone wonderful, have a fulfilling vocation, have the child they long for, or have what the world calls success and prosperity? I am not going to criticize those who believe that the New Testament’s teaching about prophetic gifting applies with as much force today as when it was penned. There is no need to delve into that controversy here, because whatever one’s take on that divisive issue, the result is the same: if we are taken by surprise by supposed Christian prophets saying wrong things, it is not through the Bible’s lack of warning. It is astonishing how frequently the New Testament warns of the presence of false prophets in the church and that Christians must be on guard against the possibility of deception. Moreover, the Word of God keeps warning about the need never to take on board anything we are told in the name of God without carefully and prayerfully examining it in the light of Scripture and what God confirms to our heart. The Bible insists that no matter how spiritually authoritative the source – even if it were an angel from heaven itself or a divinely appointed New Testament apostle – the message must be rejected unless it conforms to biblical revelation. Galatians 1:8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! Acts 17:11  . . . they . . . examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Revelation 2:2 I know . . . you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. Every supposed revelation from God needs to be carefully “weighed” and “tested” before being accepted as truth: 1 Corinthians 14:29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. 1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (Emphasis mine) The Old Testament gives similar warnings: Jeremiah 29:8-9 Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the LORD. Jeremiah 23:29-31 “Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? Therefore,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. Yes,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The LORD declares.’ ” Proverbs 14:15 A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps. This warning is particularly noteworthy: Deuteronomy 13:1-3 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place , and he says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Emphasis mine) Not even if the message receives spectacular supernatural confirmation is it to be accepted as being from God if it is contrary to Scripture. Moreover, “other gods” need not be the gods of pagan religion but a god who seems like the true one but encourages sin, such as selfishness. We must be wary not only of supposed words from God that clash with pet doctrines but ones that clash with the Bible’s emphasis on dying to self and warnings against the love of money, becoming people pleasers, and other forms of ungodliness that appeal to our sinful nature. And how fully conversant are we with all of biblical revelation in order to spot anything that doesn’t quite gel? Our greatest protection against deception comes not from letting some trusted person read the Bible for us and tell us what it says, nor from cherry picking the Word of God so that we thoroughly know snippets of Scripture but little about certain other portions. Although I believe our gracious Lord will compensate for those who are truly incapable of reading the entire Bible, the protection we need comes from reading every book of the Bible from cover to cover many times. Why this is so critically important is explained in the following section. I am of two minds about including it. You could lose patience, thinking I am sliding off-topic. Nevertheless, it enables me both to empower you and to expose a key reason why we stray from truth without realizing it and therefore fall prey to counterfeit personal prophecies. Divine Protection Against Deception Impressive intellectual familiarity with Scripture is not a cure-all for spiritual blindness. The theologians and spiritual leaders who rejected their Messiah when he walked this planet are tragic proof of that. (When you have time I urge you to read The Spiritual Essentials for Accurate Bible Interpretation .) Nevertheless, when spiritual factors are added to the mix, extensive Bible knowledge is invaluable, God-given protection. Our dilemma is that we want others to do the work and tell us their findings. No matter how good the teacher, the result is inevitably – and usually dangerously – selective. There is simply no substitute for reading the Bible ourselves. Even among avid Bible readers, the parts of the Bible we most need are often those we have not underlined. We have a disturbing tendency to latch on to Scriptures that give us a temporary buzz, rather than those that clash with our biases and preconceptions or those that convict us or help us become more Christlike by exposing our weaknesses. Citing many Scriptures on a single theme can be of immense value in bringing a particular biblical truth into focus. I am passionate about this, almost to the point of addiction. Despite my obsession, however, I am duty-bound to confess that this practice carries with it the very real danger of distorting God’s revelation by neglecting other equally important truths. Have you seen a topical Bible where people can look up any subject that interests them and read all the Scriptures related to that subject? It is a useful Bible aid but there is a vitally important reason why God’s Word was written as it is and not in that form. I love collecting lots of Scriptures and making a strong case but that never proves I’m accurately portraying either the heart of God nor the balance he wants you to have. It might happen to be an emphasis I need but your unique mix of strengths, weaknesses and needs is likely to be quite different. Consider this Scripture, for example: Hebrews 13:15-16 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. In the height of the charismatic movement, the first half of this passage was cited literally thousands of times, but the second half – still talking about sacrifices that delight the heart of God – was almost never mentioned. It is hard not to overemphasize the importance of praise but do you suppose the first half is literally a thousand times more important to God than the remainder of the passage? In this case, the needed balance is next door. Sometimes it is blocks away. Frequently, however, by the way the Bible crams diverse truths close to each other, God has done his utmost to keep us from missing vital truths and checks and balances. Samuel, Kings and Chronicles were each artificially divided into two to keep them a convenient scroll-length size. Beyond putting the two halves next to each other, however, the order in which the books appear in the Bible is a human convention, along with chapter and verse divisions. The order in our modern Christian Old Testament even differs from that of the Jewish Bible. Other than a few possible exceptions (perhaps parts of Psalms and Proverbs, for example), however, the way material is ordered within a book is as inspired as the words themselves and deserves to be honored by reading it that way, at least some of the time. My dilemma is that other than leaving it to you to read the entire Bible for yourself, I have no option but provide mere selections of Scripture. I might manage to point out some things in the Bible you have missed, but anything less than reading the entire Bible yourself carries with it the very real dangers I have just warned against. Practical side note: Although it is best to read each book of the Bible from beginning to end, I don’t recommend reading the books in the order that they appear in our English Bibles because similar books are grouped together. That means, for example, that you will read all the Gospels together and not see them again until you have completed the entire Bible. Perhaps you are different but, for me, a little variety stimulates my interest. I keep track of what books I’ve read by ticking them off in the front of the Bible where the books are listed. The Nitty-Gritty So what does a thorough reading of Scripture reveal about ‘words from God’ that we might miss merely by listening to and observing modern preachers and prophets? To get this right, we must understand that as critically important as it is to know the Word of God, it is even more important to know the heart of God. It is only by knowing God’s heart that we have any chance of consistently interpreting his Word correctly, or discerning when a supposed extra-biblical word is really from God. So I believe we must start with the deep conviction that God is wonderfully tender and compassionate. Pamper yourself by soaking in this sampling from Scripture’s rich array: Isaiah 40:11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. Isaiah 46:3-4 Listen to me, O house of Jacob, . . . you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. Isaiah 49:15 Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! Isaiah 63:9 In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Psalm 22:9-10 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Psalm 37:24 though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. Psalm 145:14 The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. Hosea 11:3-4 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them. Matthew 12:15-20  . . . Many followed him, and he healed all their sick, warning them not to tell who he was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “. . .  He will not quarrel or cry out . . . A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory. . . .” Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor . . . to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed. Luke 13:34 . . . how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings . . . Tender compassion is so basic to the nature of God that it is not just some New Testament revelation. You might have noticed that most of the above quotes are from the Old Testament. In fact, not only are eight out of eleven from the Old Testament, to lessen your reading I pruned out seven references, and even then the total of fifteen Old Testament references is nothing like exhaustive, but just my favorites. Unmistakable gentleness is particularly important to me because I need it myself and I am called to minister primarily to people who are deeply hurting. Such people are emotionally like someone with raw, open wounds. We all know that the gentlest touch on an open wound sends even strong people reeling in pain. Nevertheless, the advantage of reading all of Scripture is that despite our strong tendency to absorb things selectively, it is impossible to miss the fact that in his love and wisdom the Lord frequently sees the need to speak bluntly and point out error. Before citing biblical examples of divine correction, I must stress that if we fail to grasp just how kind, gentle, patient and compassionate God is, and that this tenderness drives all that he does, we will end up seeing everything in Scripture and everything in life through an alarmingly distorted lens. And unless our hearts are filled with divine love and tenderness, we cannot hope to accurately convey a message from God: 1 Corinthians 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries . . . but have not love, I am nothing. Unless love rules all that we do, such Scriptures as these come into play: Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Matthew 7:22-23 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name , and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Emphasis mine) Mark 9:42 And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. Even if we get the love part right, however, but fail to grasp the holiness of God and the eternal consequences of sin, we will still see everything in a dangerously distorted way. This is another of countless reasons for reading all of biblical revelation and not just topics that appeal to us. What might seem like love might be nothing more than people-pleasing and trying to manipulate people for one’s selfish advantage, such as increased popularity. Little children might think it is cool to have parents who never correct them. Such parents, however, are not being loving but foolish and irresponsible. Our dilemma is that we have never seen, let alone experienced, a perfect parent. Instead, we have both witnessed and fallen victim to a lot of mistakes, selfishness, pettiness, laziness, misjudging, miscommunication, lack of self-control and parental outbursts due to tiredness, frustration, moodiness and so on. These have, at least some of the time, left the children of even good parents feeling misunderstood, hurt, put down, neglected, frustrated and victimized. In fact, blasphemously ungodly and unloving things are frequently done in the name of love and/or God. All this confusion makes it disturbingly likely that we will misunderstand divine correction, reading into it a harshness that is not there and failing to see the tender compassion that drives it. There is nothing so comforting as the security of knowing that the keenest mind in the universe is looking out for us and will warn us if ever we are heading for disaster or even if only slightly missing God’s best. This privilege is lost, however, if we let ourselves be so weak that God is unable to lead us out of danger because he knows that, instead of benefitting from divine direction, we would crumble into a defeated heap; feeling condemned or rejected or a hopeless failure if ever we were told we had made a mistake. “The way to succeed is to double your failure rate,” said someone the world regards as an exceptionally successful man. Making mistakes never makes anyone a failure. What could make us a failure, however, is avoiding (rather than seeking out) someone who, by showing us any mistakes we are making, could empower us to succeed. May this never apply to us: John 3:20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. How strongly worded must a warning be for the hearer to give the appropriate pain-sparing or even life-saving or destiny-changing response? It all depends on the individual. People range from the highly sensitive to those barely moved by the most terrifyingly obvious emergency. The God who knows us intimately is more than able to perfectly tailor his message to the individual’s sensitivities or lack of them. He is stymied, however, if he knows that any indication that we need even a slight course correction will send us spiralling into a downer of discouragement. Both to avoid unknowingly going astray and to better discern between fake, flattering ‘words from God’ and those that are truly from him, many of us need a mega shift in our attitude to correction. Ponder these words from something I wrote elsewhere: Even if the forgiving Lord were displeased with us, it would prove how highly he thinks of us and how important we are to him. God’s disappointment would not be cause for depression but would affirm that our Almighty Helper, who knows us better than we know ourselves, emphatically believes in us and is certain we can do better. The Other Reason And there’s another factor: not only do we desperately need God’s warnings, he is so astonishingly in love with every one of us that I’m unsure how to describe it without making his infatuation with us seem foolish – which he most certainly isn’t. The intensity of God’s love means it pains him to be reduced in our lives to some sort of alarm system reserved for emergencies. The selfless Lord passionately wants the best for us and, more than we can fathom, living somewhat aloof from him robs us of so much. There is also a very different reason why living this way hurts and disappoints God: no matter how self-sufficient the Almighty is, he pines for our companionship. He longs for us to be so close to him that we hear his faintest whisper; not so far from him or continually preoccupied with other things that he must do something dramatic to get our attention, such as have someone publicly call us out in a meeting and give us a personal word. He aches for us to continually seek his face with at least a fraction of the eagerness he has to fellowship with us. This is why he pleads over and over with us to ask him for guidance. Consider this tiny selection: Jeremiah 33:3 Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. Psalm 50:15  . . . call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you . . . Psalm 91:15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him. Luke 11:9  . . . Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. John 16:24  . . . Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. God always takes the initiative – “he first loved us” (1 John 4:19) – but he takes the initiative by pleading with us to ask him to guide us. And guidance does not just mean ego boosts when we stumble upon the right choice, but correction when we begin to veer off course. Over and over, Scripture records godly people doing this. “I seek you with all my heart,” prayed the psalmist, “do not let me stray from your commands,” (Psalm 119:10). And again, “Teach me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path,” (Psalm 27:11). And yet again, “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me . . .” (Psalm 143:10). “Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you,” says Psalm 32:9. There are different interpretations of the words immediately prior to that but one rendition is “I will guide you with my eye.” Let’s run with that for a moment. Suppose the master hosts a feast. He’s not so uncouth as to bark orders in the midst of the festivities. Things seem chaotic; some guests are contentedly eating, one or two might need serving, some are engrossed in private conversations, some are feeling a little left out, and so on. Ignoring all the distractions, a servant focuses exclusively on the Master’s face. The master is engaged in various matters. Eventually, for a mere split second, he interrupts what he is doing, looks at the servant, then stares with a certain look at someone’s cup and quickly resumes what he had been doing. No one else detects it, but the servant knows the master so intimately and is so focused on him that he immediately realizes that, out of all the servants, he is being asked to top up that person’s cup. That is the sort of relationship the Lord craves to have with each of us – one in which we know him this well and are so focused on him; not one where he has to ask another servant to get our attention and tell us what our Lord wants. What would be the advantage of having the world’s greatest mentor, life coach, or personal trainer if we seldom sought his input? Anyone who values such a person would seek continual feedback. Such privileged people would want not only to know when they have finally got it right but what they should change in order to do better. Here’s a winning attitude: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me . . . See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me . . .” (Psalm 139:23-24). The way to get ahead is to power through life with an enthusiastic “show me how I can improve” attitude. In contrast, losers doom themselves to failure by slithering through life with the attitude of “don’t tell me if ever I slip up; I’d be just devastated. I couldn’t handle knowing.” The Lord guides the humble, says Psalm 25:9. The humble remain open to the possibility that they could have made a mistake. As a consequence, they actively seek God’s guidance. To be led of God we must humbly realize that at any moment we could need God to point out to us some mistake we have unknowingly made. “All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD,” (Proverbs 16:2). There are those “who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth,” (Proverbs 30:12). Even the apostle Paul said, “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts.” (1 Corinthians 4:4-5). When the Lord returns, everything will be crystal clear but then it will be too late to avoid judgment. Anyone aware of this will keep seeking God’s correction ahead of time. Proverbs 3:5, 7 pleads with you and me to “. . . lean not on your own understanding . . . Do not be wise in your own eyes.” Put bluntly, “He who trusts in himself is a fool,” (Proverbs 28:26). We need to keep actively seeking God’s guidance and correction because, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death,” (Proverbs 16:25) and “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). When we seek him passionately and with pure motives, we can trust God’s silences – times when he chooses not to speak in a dramatic way – but unless we seek him with such passion and purity we have no right to presumptuously assume we have not steered off course. The deceitfulness of the human heart means, for example, that what we are convinced is a God-glorifying yearning for ministry could actually be self-serving ambition and a desire for self-exaltation and popularity. To arrogantly think it impossible that we could have slipped up, is to harden our hearts. We could not only be closing ourselves off to legitimate guidance but opening ourselves to accepting fabricated, pride-inflating words as being from God because they confirm our delusion. We are in dangerous territory if we are only open to hearing what we want to hear. For example, who of us would want to hear that the divine ideal is to remain single for twenty or thirty years? And how many people would flock to a meeting after hearing someone receive a personal prophecy like this? If we needed such a warning, would we heed it or would we opt for doing what to our mind seems an obvious blessing – one that only God knows will end up souring into the torment of a string of relationship disasters that shatter a number of lives? As with Peter tempting Jesus to abort going to the cross, it is not impossible for Satan to slip in and suddenly start speaking through someone who had previously been accurately hearing from God. Any yearning we have that happens to be outside the perfect will of God makes us easy targets should any such thing happen. A very common area of vulnerability stems from not understanding the nature of the body of Christ. To adapt a couple of quotes from what I have written elsewhere: The way we revere a few gifts and denigrate the rest, you’d think the ideal body of Christ consisted of a giant set of flapping gums, a fingernail emitting divine bolts of power, and a few emaciated odds and sods. We must allow the Spirit to nurture our individuality. Christians wishing they had the abilities of others are nightingales coveting a peacock’s beauty or soaring eagles envying the powerful legs of an ostrich. Don’t despise the unique blend of abilities bestowed on you by the keenest Mind in the universe. Stop envying the ministry of others and start clarifying your own call. If, to your thinking, that call seems insignificant, the thing to be ashamed of is not your calling but your thinking! I’m still not quite ready to cite Scriptural examples that could cause us to lose sight of how tender and loving God is and how this drives everything he does. Before plunging in I urge you not merely to read but to prayerfully consider the implications of these Scriptures: Psalm 141:5 Let a righteous man strike me – it is a kindness; let him rebuke me – it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it. Proverbs 1:23-33 If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you. But . . . since you . . . would not accept my rebuke, . . . I in turn will laugh at your disaster . . . since they . . . spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways . . . For the waywardness of the simple will kill them . . . but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm. Proverbs 3:11-12 My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. Proverbs 6:23  . . .   the corrections of discipline are the way to life. Proverbs 9:8  . . . rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Proverbs 13:18 He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored. Proverbs 15:31-32 He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise. He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding. Proverbs 17:10 A rebuke impresses a man of discernment . . . Proverbs 25:12 Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man’s rebuke to a listening ear. Proverbs 27:6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted . . . Proverbs 28:23 He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favor than he who has a flattering tongue. Titus 1:13  . . . rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith Titus 2:15  . . . Encourage and rebuke with all authority. . . . Leviticus 19:17 Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. This is virtually saying that to not rebuke someone who sins is to hate that person. “Rebuke your neighbor frankly” is placed firmly in the context of what Jesus declared to be the second most important commandment: our responsibility to love our neighbor: Leviticus 19:16-18 Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the LORD. Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. (Emphasis mine.) In fact, this is the primary Old Testament reference to loving one’s neighbor as oneself. Love and rebukes cannot be prized apart without both of them disintegrating: Hebrews 12:5-6,11 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” . . . No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Revelation 3:19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. “The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin, ” says Lamentations 2:14 (emphasis mine). “Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations,” (Ezekiel 22:28). Regardless of what it might take to get us there, however, God’s longing is always to build us up. Jeremiah 1:9-10  . . . Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant . (Emphasis mine.) In 1 Corinthians 14:3 and 4, where it says that prophecy edifies, the Greek word literally means to build up, as in constructing a building. We should understand that if a structure is unstable, making it look better (Ezekiel 13:9-15: 22:28 speaks of false prophets whitewashing people’s sins) will not improve it. Instead, it encourages people to keep living in a building that will one day come crashing down, injuring or killing the occupants. Moreover, adding to it by constructing a new level on top will just make it more unstable and hasten its destruction. Only a con man tries to impress by building without first demolishing parts that will not last. Consolidating in Order to Surge Forward The best insurance against falling victim to the counterfeit is to thoroughly familiarize ourselves with the genuine. We would be in grave danger if we heard so many fake prophecies delivered with impunity in Christian meetings that they seem normal and we encounter authentic examples so rarely that they make us feel uncomfortable. To counter this alarming prospect, it is vital that we keep prayerfully immersing ourselves in Scripture in the hope that every biblical example of personal prophecy will eventually begin to feel like the norm. My goal has been to introduce you to the authentic by providing biblical examples. I have been slowly working toward this but I have felt the need to prepare you lest they rattle you. Let me highlight the problem by explaining why I have frequently wished I could hear the tone of Jesus’ voice and see his body language when reading the gospels. The same words can have a very different impact if delivered sternly or even angrily than if the speaker had a loving smile on his face or a compassionate gentleness in his voice. For example, if I am terrified, the words, “Oh you of little faith,” could be a stinging rebuke that fills me with resentment toward anyone who delivers those words a certain way but, if uttered very differently, those same words could be highly comforting; reassuring me that I am safe and making me feel so grateful to the speaker. We cannot rely on the impact that reading Jesus’ words has on us, because not only were we not present when those words were originally uttered, our personality and emotional state could be very different from that of the original recipients of those words. Although at times the way Scripture’s words impact us could be Spirit-led, the practical reality is that at other times the Spirit’s influence could be smothered by other factors, such as raging hormones, our personal sensitivities, upbringing, and so on. The devil is the deceiver. He cannot change the heart of God but he can mess with our feelings, and so he is forced to make our feelings a primary focus of his attack. Yes, the Almighty could continually override all of the natural and supernatural things that can make our feelings go haywire. But that is not how God operates. He has ordained that we live by faith, not feelings. We might not have such cues as body language and reliable feelings to discern Jesus’ heart as he uttered the words preserved in the Bible but to counter all this uncertainty we have the Bible’s revelation of the heart of God, and the more we immerse ourselves in this, the more sure will be our interpretation not only of Jesus’ words but of everything that touches us. As important as it is to read, study and meditate on God’s Word, however, it will not suffice. Receiving spiritual revelation and knowing God’s heart is more than an intellectual exercise. Our own hearts must be right with God, through repentance, faith in the power of Jesus’ sacrifice and total surrender to God, plus getting to know God through daily seeking his face. I have highlighted one aspect of biblical revelation, affirming how everything God does is driven by tender love, but we each need to keep prayerfully looking to God and his Word to keep deepening our understanding of God’s heart, as this is our greatest protection against deception. There is one final point I feel I should reinforce before finally providing biblical examples of personal prophecy. As previously mentioned, God knows precisely how strongly worded a message must be to have the desired impact on any specific individual. The biblical examples I am about to cite are not proof that God would put things so strongly if you were ever to go as far astray as the original recipients of these prophetic messages. The frequency of the examples I cite, however, is proof that many people need messages worded this way and that, regardless of wording, a significant proportion of genuine personal prophecies will be rebukes and that these will end up furthering one’s spiritual well-being infinitely more than pride-inflating, greed-promoting, flesh-indulging messages purporting to be from God. How genuine love and rebuke go hand in glove is a difficult concept for the many of us who have only seen one or both of these abused. If you still only barely fathom it, I understand, and urge you to take a prayer break before proceeding. The Plunge The key is to understand that divine prophecies are seldom set in concrete. They are God-given revelation of where one is headed unless one significantly changes course. Many are divine opportunities to repent, even if that is not hinted at in the words of the prophecy. Positive prophecies are likewise dependent upon one continuing the course one is currently on. For example, Saul was divinely promised the throne (1 Samuel 10:1, 7 ) but when he later veered off course, God’s word to him changed to a prophecy that he would not retain the throne (1 Samuel 13:13-14). Ephesians 5:11-14 affirms that God’s purpose for the ministry gifts of apostles, prophets, and so on is that “we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 5:11, 14 ). The role of true prophets is not to pamper, nor to keep people spiritual babes who remain dependent on them, nor inspire them to keep coveting things the heathen crave, but to bring God’s people to maturity and thereby keep them from falling into deception. In Ezekiel 14 the Lord says what will happen when anyone “separates himself from me and sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet to inquire of me . . .” (verse 7). He says, “I will set my face against that man and make him an example and a byword. I will cut him off from my people” (verse 8). The Lord goes on to say that if a prophet is deceived (that’s the word most Bible versions use) and gives a message to such people it is because God himself has deceived the prophet. Why would God be party to such deception? Because neither the prophet nor the recipients were seeking God with whole-hearted devotion. They did not want truth. They preferred to be deceived, so he let it happen. Those who seek a word from God with impure motives are unlikely to hear from the real God. The same applies to prayer: Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. On the other hand, a genuine prayer of repentance moves God as profoundly as the father in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:20-32). I believe being dangerously vulnerable to receiving a deceptive word from God applies to any deliberate sin dominating one’s affections. We have been looking at Ezekiel 14, however, and here it specifically mentions the person who “sets up idols in his heart.” It is perhaps significant that greed is synonymous with idolatry (Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5). Philippians 3:19 speaks of those whose “destiny is destruction” whose “god is their stomach.” Their “mind is on earthly things.” Lusting after material or fleshly things makes our hearts particularly liable to deceive us by leaping in agreement whenever we receive a purported word from God along those lines. It is alarmingly easy to deceive ourselves into supposing we are seeking divine guidance when we are really only seeking to be told we can have what we lust after. We are in dangerous territory if we are only open to hearing what we want to hear. The Lord deliberately allowed four hundred prophets to prophesy falsely to a king who was not passionate about serving God (2 Chronicles 18:3-19:3). That’s right: four hundred . How’s that for confirmation of a prophetic word! If we are unwilling to submit to words from God that we don’t like, we are exposing ourselves to full-on deception. A Fascinating Book A dear friend has been so astonishingly hurt by spiritual abuse that I have been truly staggered by how deep and difficult to heal her wounds are. Much of it stemmed from a mother who was narcissistic (I use that term very precisely) and, despite regularly engaging in secret adultery, claimed to be a prophet of God and was accepted as such by her church. Recently, while trying yet again to help my friend, I recalled John Bevere’s book Thus Saith the Lord? How to Know When God is Speaking to You Through Another , Creation House, 1999. Thinking it would be good for her to read, I dug out the book. Before handing it to her I glanced at it, after not having read it for many years. I was hooked. If you have read much of my extensive writings you will know it is most rare for me to quote well-known Christians. But although I add some of my own insights, I am amazed and somewhat embarrassed by how often I mention the book in the rest of this webpage. In fact, the book is so good that, as helpful as I pray this webpage is, it is no substitute for reading the book and I urge you to read it. Also, my own thoughts have permeated this webpage. Bevere cannot be held responsible for the result. To aid verification of times I cite Bevere, I have inserted the relevant page number of his book in brackets, where applicable. It was initially with reluctance that Bevere commenced this particular book, because his support base is in circles where the very abuses he addresses are commonplace. I honor his courage. He remains convinced that the gifts of the Spirit, as outlined in 1 Corinthians 12, and the office of prophet (Ephesians 5) are for today. He warns, however, that serious abuses occur in the name of this gift, even by some highly respected Christian leaders. He is so gentle and respectful that he does not even name any of those in the examples he cites who, despite having a “nationally known prophetic ministry,” gave ‘prophetic’ words that proved wrong and caused great harm in the lives of individuals. (6). This best seller is so highly regarded from a Pentecostal/Charismatic perspective that it is endorsed by Stephen Strang, the publisher of Charisma magazine – a leading voice for Charismatics and Pentecostals for over thirty years. In fact, he wrote the forward to the book. “While I have been personally blessed by prophetic ministry,” wrote Strang, “and believe it is a valid ministry to the church, I am increasingly alarmed by abuses that are occurring.” (viii). Over and over, the New Testament warns of false prophets infiltrating the church; vicious wolves masquerading as innocent sheep; deceivers with the potential to wreak spiritual havoc on unsuspecting believers. These imposters could be church leaders but lay people are also capable of tearing sheep apart. John Bevere makes the interesting point that Jesus spoke of wolves in sheep’s clothing, not shepherd’s clothing. He cites horrifying accounts of people with highly regarded prophetic ministries who said things in the name of God that sounded like innocent guidance but ended up harming people’s lives. Those that we must be wary of might not necessarily have bizarre doctrines. They are far more likely to slip under our defenses by having conservative beliefs and widespread acceptance among Christians. And it is not only those with evil intent who can harm us. Although there is a prophetic ministry “born of the will of the Father” and another “born of flesh and of man” says Bevere, “both are conceived through a genuine desire to fulfill God’s plan and promise.” (4) 2 Timothy 3:13 speaks of people who were not only deceiving others but were themselves being deceived. Although, in this context, the inspired apostle was referring to “evil men and impostors,” good, very spiritual people are capable of being deceived and can hence be convinced they are furthering God’s purposes when they are not. Consider Simon Peter. As previously alluded to, immediately after saying how highly he had been praised for the spiritual revelation he had received, Scripture records how Peter, moved by the highest motives – love for his Lord – protested at the thought of Jesus suffering. This was so satanically inspired, and seems to have been such a temptation to the one who agonized in Gethsemane, that Jesus retorted, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me . . .” (Matthew 16:23). Many false prophecies are uttered by good, sincere Christians who are simply a little overconfident in their ability to distinguish between their own feelings/desires/imagination and a revelation from God. Others get a little overzealous and confuse faith with presumption. Good motives and honest mistakes do not protect us from making dangerous mistakes. Some could have a track record of being right 98% of the time but their success is likely to make those on the receiving end of the 2% even more vulnerable to believing their mistakes must truly be from God. Cruel Kindness Some who mishear the heartbeat of God might tear us down not by criticizing us by flattering us. Proverbs 26:28  . .   a flattering mouth works ruin. Ezekiel 12:24 For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations among the people of Israel. Jude 16-19  . . . they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage . But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. (Emphasis mine.) The second half of the previous Scripture might, at least in part, have had this Scripture in focus: 2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. Has that time come? This Scripture strongly suggests that we get the leadership we deserve. Consider also these Scriptures: Isaiah 30:10 They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.” Jeremiah 5:31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way . But what will you do in the end? Jeremiah 29:8 Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have . . . .” Micah 2:11 If a liar and deceiver comes and says, ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’ he would be just the prophet for this people! (Emphasis mine) And ponder these: 2 Peter 2:18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. Romans 16:18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Too many of us have as our life goal not to be good, but to feel good; not to deny ourselves and follow in the steps of the one who embraced pain and sacrificed his all, but to indulge ourselves and follow our lusts. Are we willing to endure ridicule as we slave away in obscurity for our Lord or are fame, fortune and ease more alluring? Do we hunger and thirst after righteousness or do we crave divine approval of us feeding baser desires? There are those who seek God only because they hope he will be a combination of a sugar daddy, fairy godmother and celestial drug pusher who keeps us on an endless high. Anyone seeking such a counterfeit God might just end up with the counterfeit. To be itching to hear what we want to hear makes us dangerously vulnerable to deception. If we want an excuse to sin, the Tempter will be only too eager to provide one. Our sole protection is to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus. Variously referred to as becoming a slave to righteousness, losing or hating your life, being crucified with Christ, dying to self, and so on, it is what it takes to do any of the following: to obey the most critical commandment (to love God with everything within you), to seek first the kingdom of God, to hunger and thirst after righteousness, to make Jesus your Lord, to be a follower or disciple of Jesus, to truly repent. This liberating experience of total surrender involves committing ourselves to doing the will of God no matter how horrifically it might hurt, just like Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane. Put that way, it sounds dreary to the point of insanity, but I’m talking about being willing to trade earth’s plastic for heaven’s gold; of the ecstasy of living a life that is truly worthwhile by devoting yourself to the highest good in the universe and achieving things of eternal significance. This is about being wildly in love with the most astonishing, most beautiful, most important, most intelligent, most exciting and fascinating person in the universe; the one who is always right and always good; the perfect companion; the one you were born for and have always yearned for; the one who believes in you and is sacrificially devoted to maximizing your eternal happiness and is more in love with you than you dare dream. Emptying ourselves of self creates a vacuum within us that God will fill with himself. Put another way: if we obey the foremost commandment, our heart, soul and mind will be filled with love for God. If so, there is no room left for anything inferior. Just as filling a vessel with water displaces all the air, so loving God with all of our heart, soul and mind displaces all of self. We will rejoice in the Lord always. We will delight to do God’s will. The lure of money, comfort, human companionship, human approval, or anything else will be displaced by a longing to delight our Lord, the one who means everything to us. Whether, like the Apostle Paul, we are slandered, jailed, starved, tortured, or whatever, pleasing the love of our life, not pain-avoidance, will remain our greatest passion. People with such devotion to God – people for whom God is truly their God – are almost impervious to attempts at conning them with phony promises. Another matter making us vulnerable to the false, is the tendency of many of us to lose faith in God wanting a personal relationship with us and to revert to seeking human intermediaries. This happened not only in the Roman Catholic church with people praying for saints to intercede for them and believing that only priests could understand the Bible, but among too many of today’s Protestants. Not only do some seek prophets as if God were too snobbish to be their friend and will not speak to them except through a third party, but consider how many people seek other people’s prayers – especially from those who seem to have a healing gift or to be good intercessors – as if their own prayers carry little weight with Almighty God. There is a huge difference between letting others contribute to one’s life and losing faith in one’s own value in God’s eyes and in one’s power to move his heart and hear his whispers. Tragically often, however, this is precisely what seeking the help of others sometimes degenerates into. The Bible’s teaching on the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-27) is crystal clear that we should support each other and that we are stronger together. This is not an excuse for spiritual laziness, however, nor for surrendering to deceptive feelings of inferiority. To lose confidence in your own ability to touch God’s heart through prayer and to hear directly from him would be disastrous. Feeling dependent upon intermediaries between you and God is as tragic and ridiculous as asking someone to eat for you, to go on vacation for you or to marry your sweetheart for you. Your intimacy with God is far too precious to him, and too critical for your own well-being, to try substituting human intermediaries. You thrill God. No one in the universe is more loved of God or more important to him than you. For most of us, this astonishing truth clashes so strongly with our self-image that it keeps slipping from our grasp, and we need constant reminders as to how special we are to God. To help you with this I have poured enormous effort into How Much Does God love Me? Receiving your Personal Revelation of God’s Love for You and all the links there. Our desperation for spiritual reassurance, encouragement and direction, especially if coupled with lack of confidence in our own ability to hear from God (or, more accurately, doubting the ability/willingness of the Infinite Lord to get through to us) makes us targets not just for profiteering pretenders consciously using cold-reading techniques but victims of sincere Christians with good hearts who are over-zealous in claiming to have a message direct from God. Here’s an interesting quote from Brad Jersak: I have observed too many ‘prophets’ who act as psychics. They are in the habit of attempting to access others’ minds or other realms independently of God’s leadership. The Christian prophet who tries to scan other people and ‘read their mail’ rather than hearing God’s diagnosis is out of line. The Christian use of psychic power is not prophetic. It is a horizontal version of discernment, complete with the distorted lenses that come from reading man’s heart rather than God’s. These ways are fleshly. . . . A simple test that keeps me honest is the question, ‘Right now, am I reading this person’s heart or am I reading God’s heart?’ This helps me point my spiritual satellite dish in the right direction. (Emphasis Brad’s) Bevere seems to believe that people can misuse a God-given spiritual gift of being able to discern people’s longings and circumstances. I’m not so sure about a misused gift still being from God but I have no difficulty in believing demons could know things about people that strangers do not. Moreover, I can well imagine someone having a genuine gift from God and demons temporarily or permanently replacing it if the person starts seeking to use it for some form of personal gain. We have already seen how Satan was somehow able to momentarily speak through the apostle Peter even though I see no hint that Peter was sliding into greed or people-pleasing. In addition to the purely spiritual, however, there are natural abilities that can amaze. Surely the supernatural must be involved when, for example, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 says “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. . . .” Nevertheless, the Word of God does not cram every instance of false prophecy into the same basket. In Jeremiah 23:30-31, God speaks of “ prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me,” and he adds, “I am against the prophets who wag their own (emphasis mine) tongues and yet declare, ‘The LORD declares.’ ” This suggests human efforts to contrive prophetic words. In Jeremiah 23:36 the Lord complains that “every man’s own word becomes his oracle.” Elsewhere, Jeremiah goes as far as calling the words of false prophets “the delusions of their own minds”. (Jeremiah 14:14 and also 23:26). Ezekiel 13:3 speaks of “foolish prophets who follow their own spirit” (emphasis mine). Similarly, Jeremiah 23:16 refers to those who “speak visions from their own minds,” and both Ezekiel 13:2 and 13:17 speak of those who “prophesy out of their own imagination”. It is unquestionably possible to underrate the role of spiritual factors but it must surely be possible at some point to edge over to the opposite extreme and underrate the role of the natural. Does it matter? Perhaps. Deliberate deceit is certainly possible and is mentioned in Scripture. “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit ,” (Jeremiah 6:13, repeated in Jeremiah 8:10, emphasis mine). Zephaniah 3:4 speaks of “arrogant” and “treacherous” prophets. To impress people with their ‘supernatural’ ability, tricksters have done such things as have a co-conspirator feed them information via a concealed earpiece, hired someone to glean information about people by searching their trash, and so on. It appals me almost to the point of vomiting that anyone calling himself an evangelist, or whatever, could get so hooked on popularity as to stoop so low as to resort to such blatant deceit to pretend to have a spiritual gift. I have not verified it, so it remains hearsay as far as I’m concerned, but I have heard claims of it happening. I’m more alarmed, however, about natural skills that are so subtle that they deceive not only the recipients of false prophecies but the people who deliver them. A highly relevant natural ability is often called cold reading. This refers to acting like a Sherlock Holmes in making guesses about strangers based on their appearance, body language, subtle responses to what is said to them, and so on. To this, we can add the skill of speaking in a vague way and saying things that have a high probability of being true. It might be worth your while reading a little about cold reading. If it is not realized that cold reading is possible, some people might sincerely believe they are growing in faith and developing a spiritual gift when they could, without realizing it, simply be learning a natural skill and getting better and better at it. Today, it has become so commonly believed among Christians that prophesying is learned (by trial and error), along with so little awareness of the destructive power of false prophecies, that mistakes are widely tolerated and, in fact, expected by those in the know. Some groups conduct seminars, open to everyone, in which paying delegates are taught how to give personal prophecies to each other and are given practice sessions. In an advanced course some actually practice prophesying blindfolded, thus eliminating visual cues. (Why, by the way, should it be regarded as advanced? If the gift is solely about spiritual revelation, why not start blindfolded?) Does a blindfold eliminate cold reading or merely eliminate visual cues, thus giving people practice in tuning in to non-visual cues and wording things in a way likely to appeal and impress, so that when they are no longer blindfolded they have an increased range of natural skills? I don’t believe such seminars are deliberately trying to con anyone, but could thinking everything must be spiritual make us gullible? Side Note: Since I myself have only a vague understanding of cold reading, after writing the above I decided to do five minutes Internet research on the subject. I discovered that Wikipedia’s article on cold reading has a section on what it calls subconscious cold reading. It tells of a former New Ager who confessed to eventually discovering she had developed cold reading skills without intending to or even realizing it. The article goes on to say there are people who have very deliberately learned cold reading skills but after prolonged practice they became so proficient at it as to surprise themselves and to begin to wonder if they really were psy chic. Your situation is probably far more dramatic, justifiable and devastating than mine – so much as to move you to despise my stupidity regarding the mistake I’m about to confess. I risk this, however, to demonstrate just how vulnerable some of us are. I’m embarrassed to admit that even without the glitz typically accompanying supposed personal prophecies, I was once sent hurtling into depression when my over-active imagination joined forces with my desperation and an innocent comment by a dear friend that she had an inkling that God was going to do “something special” on my birthday. Not only did my false hopes end up pulverized by the end of that birthday but because my need continued year after year, the damage kept compounding for many more years because I kept thinking maybe it would happen on my next birthday. As I look back, I shake my head at how over-the-top my reaction was, but no matter how false my hopes and how ridiculous all of it was, the pain and disappointment were very real – all because I thought someone might possibly have heard from God over something that to them was inconsequential. My greatest ever source of pain – and it dragged on for decades – revolved around my not being married. It fuelled the above incident and it nearly got me into big trouble on another occasion. Let me explain. For years, feeling inferior to those who seem to regularly dramatically hear from God, I eagerly sought out every meeting I knew of where famous visiting ministries, in addition to a sermon, might give words from God to several people in the congregation. (The fact that many other people are like I was back then makes it very tempting for ministries to increase their popularity by doing this, even if not led of God to do so.) I was always overlooked in such meetings. Should I act so out of character as to choose to be rational, me being overlooked is hardly surprising, since there were usually hundreds, or even thousands, of people present, and few personal prophecies were given. Should I choose to be spiritual and add the benefit of hindsight I might conclude that by not being singled out for a personal prophecy (which could easily have been fake) it was the grace of God. Nevertheless, repeatedly missing out kept making me feel more inferior and neglected by God than ever, thus fuelling a vicious circle. My mounting frustration kept escalating to explosive levels. It kept taking more and more effort to fight the temptation to get furious with God for his silence or even to give up on God. But now, looking back, I see the problem was of my own making and I’m reminded of those who tested Jesus’ patience by asking him for a sign (Matthew 12:39; 16:4; Mark 8:12). Although I had no idea I was doing it, by continually seeking a personal prophecy I was virtually telling my Lord that I refuse to accept biblical revelation about his love unless he confirm it with a supernatural sign. I was calling into question both God’s love and his integrity. Eventually – through re-reading my own writings about God’s love, would you believe – I finally realized what I was doing, stopped looking for extra-biblical confirmation, and found peace. Anyhow, while in the midst of this, in one such church service I happened to be sitting next to a woman friend who liked me (a rarity, indeed). The visiting pastor with an internationally esteemed prophetic ministry gave a word to just two people: this woman and me. Wow! It had finally happened. He asked us both to stand up and prefaced his prophecy (which I don’t even recall) by saying, “I speak to you as a couple.” My mind seized those words and sped off with them like a starving dog with a bone. Thankfully, I sought him out immediately after the service, or who knows what sort of mess I could have gotten myself into. He said he simply meant he was speaking to both of us, with no hint that God had plans for us as a couple. Yes, there are people who are even saner than me and it is to these that I dedicate this webpage. Later, however, I will reveal the source of my insanity. It will shock many but will be enlightening, even liberating, to some. I was not going to mention this, but before moving on I guess I should say that, especially when combined with not having a ministry, my yearning for marriage sometimes left me longing for death. This combination left me almost insanely eager to receive a personal prophecy. And this, in turn, made me far too vulnerable, should a claimed word from God end up not being from God. Thankfully, I had one smidgeon of sanity that kept me from disaster: no matter how ridiculously strong my yearning for marriage was, I remained adamant year after agonizing year that I would rather be tortured to death by that harrowing trial than choose any path that would bring God less glory. Dying to self truly is important. The Core of Prophecy Some people might be disappointed to hear this, but a true prophet is not primarily a foreteller but God’s mouthpiece: Exodus 7:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. . . .” Exodus 4: 15-16 You shall speak to him [Aaron] and put words in his mouth . . . He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. The role of prophets is not to molly-coddle nor to pander to people’s self-interest nor to perpetuate people’s spiritual weaknesses. Their role is to expose and tear out everything displeasing to God; everything contrary to his holiness: Jeremiah 1:9-10 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” Jeremiah 5:14  . . . I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes. Jeremiah 23:14 And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible: . . . They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his wickedness. . . . Isaiah 49:2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword . . . Isaiah 58:1 Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. Hosea 6:5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth; my judgments flashed like lightning upon you. Revelation 11:3, 5 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy . . . fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. . . . By briefly quoting most of the Old Testament prophets (including Moses and Samuel) Bevere makes a strong case for concluding that their divine mission was to prick the hearts of their hearers so that they might return to God. He later confirmed this by briefly examining Revelation’s letters to the seven churches, and the ministry of John the Baptist. In the case of the latter, he alluded to the Baptist denouncing materialism (Luke 3:11-14) – not a popular message today!) and to this: Luke 3:7-9 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” I don’t, however, recall Bevere mentioning why this prophet was imprisoned and beheaded: he denounced Herod’s sexual impropriety (Matthew 14:3-4; Luke 3:19) – again rarely heard coming from the lips of today’s supposed prophets). From those who encourage personal prophecies I’ve heard much emphasis on “everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort” (1 Corinthians 14:3). Bevere tries hard to convince that this does not mean New Testament prophecy is as wishy washy as those words suggest, but perhaps we should take this next Scripture more seriously than I’ve heard anyone take it: 1 Corinthians 14:24 But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all  . . . (Emphasis mine) The Word of God specifically calls Jonah a prophet (2 Kings 14:25) and here’s the most important prophecy of his life: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown,” (Jonah 3:4). Forty days later, Nineveh was thriving and continued to do so for years! Did this make Jonah a false prophet, or have most of us failed to understand the purpose of genuine prophecy? In The Mysterious Nature of Prophecy I show from Scripture after Scripture that prophetic words from God do not make future events inevitable and were never intended to do so. The Lord gives prophecies with a view to eliciting a response, and whether the events mentioned actually happen hinges on how the recipient responds. Although at times the Bible’s prophets spoke of future events or declared words to individuals, Bevere concludes that these are but minor components of a prophet’s ministry. Today, he believes, many have slipped to majoring on the minor and some have reduced the sacred gift to fortune telling and, to use my harsher words, even a sideshow to attract an audience of thrill seekers rather than people who hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God. Bevere says that “though the words of flesh may be pleasant to our ears, they will lead us to defilement, destruction, or possibly death. Words of the Spirit, even if initially unpleasant, lead you to the heart of God.” (4) He says that despite him receiving numerous ‘prophetic words,’ only a handful proved to be truly from God and had he heeded many of the others he would have ended up confused and “most likely detoured from the will of God.” (4) He says that although it is wrong “to be so overly cautious and critical that we reject” messages that are truly from God, “At present I believe we err in Spirit-led circles to the loose acceptance of every word.” (5) Safeguards? Whereas some prophecies are intended for an entire congregation, personal prophecies are meant for an individual. We have been almost exclusively discussing the personal type, and I have a suggestion for the delivery of such prophecies. I ask no one to accept my suggestion but merely to consider whether it might cool the temperature enough to lessen some of the excesses and introduce some safeguards. Today’s personal prophecies are rarely kept personal but are turned into a public spectacle for people to flout their gift and for recipients to feel publicly exalted. Making a show of personal prophecies increases the dangers of onlookers becoming envious and of feeding the egos of both prophet and recipient. On the other extreme, it does not seem ideal for personal prophecies to usually be one-on-one. A degree of accountability and the presence of two or three discerning people is desirable. If, during a meeting, words for individuals are received, it seems to me safest not to deliver them in the meeting but to ask the individuals to remain after the end of the service and then be taken, one at a time somewhere private where the message is delivered in the presence of the church’s spiritual leader and a few discerning people who are humble but not overawed by anyone renowned for being a prophet. Those evaluating the prophecy should be encouraged to voice any concerns, provisos, clarifications, and so on. If a prophet considers himself too big for such scrutiny, it would make me question both his humility and his confidence that God would confirm the accuracy of his message. My Experience It was only while writing this webpage that I have finally realized what used to drive me to keep seeking a ‘personal’ (not technically personal but via an intermediary) message from God through anyone who seemed to hear from him better than me. I recalled how driven I used to be in seeking this and today I marvel with relief at how that yearning is no longer nagging away within me like a junkie’s craving for a fix. Upon reflection, I felt there must have been something amiss within me during that time of my life and I decided I had better seek God as to what it was, since identifying the source might help others. It turns out that it only applies to about one percent of Christians, so if you don’t feel led to read the following, that’s fine, provided you are not one of those it applies to. The answer came, but to explain it I must mention what had until now seemed an unrelated insight I gained years ago. In response to my webpages about coping with guilt feelings, I have had literally hundreds of Christians e-mailing me, obsessing over whether they are really saved/forgiven. They were seeking reassurance from me – some wanted a prophetic word – and although my earnest efforts in citing Scriptures and providing teaching and spiritual counsel could bring them peace for a day or so, nothing would satisfy them for long and they would soon be back seeking still more reassurance. Many were so beside themselves with distress that they felt so suicidal over it that only their fear of hell was keeping them alive. Deep compassion for the obvious agony they were in moved me to keep praying and pouring years into writing more and more and more webpages on the subject. If those webpages were made into a book it would be quite a large one. It took me years to finally learn what peculiar phenomenon was firing these people’s never-ending need for a supernatural sign from God and reassurance from a respected Christian ministry to confirm that all the Scriptures I cited actually applied to them and they truly were forgiven. Since I’ve never entertained the slightest doubt about the power of the cross to cleanse from any sin every person who puts their faith in Jesus, I saw no connection with my longing to receive personal prophecies. In my case, my weakness was feeling very insecure when it comes to believing I am special to God and it was this that kept driving me to seek out people who might give me some special confirmation that I was more than one of millions to God. For me, such confirmation was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – a rainbow that forever receded if ever I got closer to it. Prepare to be shocked as I explain the rarely-understood reason why some people, no matter how much they pray, study the Word and seek God, never find the reassurance they crave and are solely tempted to forever seek a supernatural word from God, like a dog chasing its tail. It’s no wonder it took me so long to find the underlying cause of people endlessly seeking assurance of salvation because I kept expecting the reason to be spiritual, when it is essentially not spiritual (although, of course, it can have serious spiritual implications). Yes, anti-God spiritual forces might exploit the weakness but the continual craving for assurance from a human spiritual authority and/or supernatural confirmation is typically driven by a medical/psychological abnormality. To help overcome your understandable scepticism, let me quote (with his permission) a bewildered pastor who e-mailed me describing how deep this problem gets: I have been seeking to help a man. His father was a pastor and he has been in church much of his life. He thinks he has lost his salvation and that he has worn out the grace of God. He lives in constant terror, with nightmares all night long, waking and going outside to plead with God. He considers he is completely separated from the love and grace of God and that he is under God’s condemnation. The problem is that this keeps continuing, despite the fact that after a half hour of going over Scriptures with him he feels much better, will praise the Lord, will say, “I get it,” and has a complete change in attitude and outlook. This has been happening a few times a week for over a year. I have also had someone from Neil Anderson ministries work with him. [Anderson strongly believes in the demonic, so I presume this was explored.] We spent five continuous hours in deep Scriptural therapy and prayer with the man with this problem and he was an active participant throughout the whole counselling session. He has also sought help from many other avenues. All of this has ended up doing zero good. Within a half hour of any counsel and any help of any kind he is right back to where he was, and possibly even worse. Help!!!! The primary cause of such behavior is an unnaturally high level of anxiety, due not to some spiritual deficiency but a medical condition. To take from what I have written elsewhere about this: Anxiety acts as an alarm that goes off within us indicating that something is seriously wrong and causing our brain to keep seeking the reason so that it can be corrected. Clinical Anxiety, however, means that the anxiety is driven not by a rational reason for concern but by a chemical imbalance. When, for example, a fire alarm goes off, it sounds the same regardless of whether it were triggered by an actual fire or by a technical malfunction. Since a false alarm sounds exactly the same as when it is triggered by genuine danger, it is very tempting to feel disturbed about the alarm continuing, even when you have checked and confirmed that there is no danger. So it is with anxiety. Unfortunately, for as long as someone suffers from this disorder he will just have to keep reminding himself that it is a false alarm and get used to it blaring and being unpleasant and refuse to treat it as if it were real. It’s easy for observers to be like a couch potato advising a sport star and glibly say, “Just keep on believing” – and this is what one must do – but this affliction hits only a tiny fraction of the population and the rest have no conception of what a stupendous battle it is to maintain faith when the inner alarm keeps blaring and everything within the person keeps incessantly screaming that there must be a serious problem. For those with Clinical Anxiety, living by raw faith is so much harder than for other people, but it is like a coach making his star athlete engage in much heavier training than others – it will end up making him stronger than others, even though in the midst of tough training sessions he will seem much weaker than those who are lazing around. It is like a runner lugging heavy weights on his back – it feels as if it is weakening him but it will actually end up making him stronger as he keeps struggling on. Here’s what I have to tell people who keep seeking assurance of salvation or keep finding new scriptures etc to worry about: I am desperate to help you, dear friend, but despite what one might expect, my very many years of experience with hundreds of Christians asking such questions has proved over and over that answering your questions will not end up helping you. Your questions will end up being literally endless. This is the nature of the tricks your mind is playing on you. You will never feel sure, no matter what experiences you have (angelic visitations or whatever) and no matter how well you know God. It is obvious from your questions that you suffer from excess anxiety – a medical condition – and this anxiety will remain no matter what I say or anyone else says. So, unfortunately, the unavoidable fact is that I would be wasting your time and mine answering your questions. You will feel sure that an answer will give you peace – and it might for a day or so – but the doubts will then start up again. So what you need is not a sign from God or answers to your questions but an understanding of the real source of your anxiety – Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). OCD is called the doubting disease and it goes to absolutely ridiculous lengths. Your OCD takes a religious form but to understand it, consider someone who checks locks over and over because of OCD. He locks the door and is sure it is locked. Then in just a couple of minutes’ time he begins wondering if he really locked it. The doubt grows until, rather than put up with the doubt, he decides to ‘put his mind at rest’ by checking. Phew! It’s locked. He is now at peace and can get on with life. But then in a couple more minutes he begins to wonder if maybe the door had not been correctly locked. He puts up with that nagging thought for a while but the worry grows stronger and stronger until he is again convinced that the only hope he has of finding peace is to check all the locks. It would only take one check and then he would be really sure and will never have to check again that night. He checks and feels so much better. Then a couple of minutes later . . . What feeds this ridiculous addiction to checking is that checking temporarily feels good because it relieves all the anxiety. But like all addictions, the good feeling is short lived and it just inflames the yearning for more. The only way to break this addiction – and any other addiction – is to stop feeding the habit – refusing to ease the anxiety by seeking reassurance that everything is okay. People whose OCD focuses on religion, rather than on locks, will keep seeking reassurance over and over but no matter how often they ask and what convincing proof they receive, doubts will quickly return. To reassure someone with OCD is like buying drugs for an addict when what is needed is for the addict to simply endure the craving for drugs because giving him the drug will give no more than temporary relief and it will then end up increasing the craving. You simply have to accept as a fact of life that you will be repeatedly harassed by doubts, fears, anxiety, guilt feelings, etc, and learn not to believe them, no matter how convincing they feel. The only permanent help is to seek medical help (in itself this will not be a complete cure but it can help) plus break the addiction to seeking assurance. Like the breaking of any addiction, this will be agonizingly tough and there will be severe withdrawal symptoms – anxiety – but every time you give in, it will strengthen the addiction. You simply have to hold out, putting up with anxiety and refusing to relieve it. Eventually – after days or weeks – the anxiety will begin to fade, but do not expect it to disappear. I’m so pleased to be free from my previous yearning for a ‘word from God.’ I refuse to accept that I need it in order to confirm that God has good plans for me and that he is as single-mindedly devoted to me as I am to him. My anxiety disorder continues and it is unpleasant but it now focuses on largely non-spiritual things, not on craving prophetic words from God. Why does God allow Christians to have anxiety disorders? For the same reason God does everything: because it is the wisest, most loving thing he can do. It is in both God’s interest and that of those afflicted by these trials. He allows it for the same reason that top athletic coaches and trainers of elite soldiers put the people they believe in through training so tough and arduous that in the midst of it the champions in the making look and feel pathetically weak. There is nothing more powerful in building genuine faith and spiritual strength into a person’s life. Physically, an easy life never produces champions. It leaves people weak and flabby. The same is true spiritually. A Preemptive Move? What makes us particularly vulnerable to bogus personal prophecies is what seems like self-doubt – yearning for what someone else claims to be a word from God because we doubt our own ability to hear from the Lord. If we pause to analyze it, however, this is not so much doubting ourselves, as doubting God’s ability to communicate, and doubting the magnitude of his love and grace. If God really is omnipotent, then no matter how spiritually dense we might be, he is able to get his message through to us and ensure we end up knowing his will. If he is wise, he knows precisely what we need to know and when we need to know it, and when being kept in the dark will end up strengthening us by stretching our faith in his love and his timing. If we serve a God who disapproves of hypocrisy, then he is no hypocrite. So, he who told each of us to love him with all our heart (Mark 12:28-30), must love each of us with all his heart. For God to love you with all his heart, makes it logically impossible for him to love anyone else more. That means you must be as special and as important to God as any Christian you admire. (For several webpages that expound this glorious truth, see the link How Much does God Love Me? ) Furthermore, if the non-hypocritical Lord tells us to forgive seventy times seven (Matthew 18:22), he keeps on forgiving every sin we regret. All this means that no matter how much the devil delights in tormenting us by whispering malicious lies that we are unloved or spiritually inferior, we have no Bible-based reason for thinking ourselves dependent upon intermediaries for God to reveal his will for us. Yes, it is biblical for God to sometimes use intermediaries, but let’s not let false feelings of inferiority make us targets for spiritual exploitation – nor for financial exploitation from anyone who grieves God by trying to sell grace (God’s free gift, paid for by Christ’s stupendous sacrifice) by demanding money for ‘a word from God.’ For encouragement regarding your ability to hear from God, let me share this quote  I have written elsewhere: For over forty years, I have ached to hear God speaking to me. I’m not a talkative person. I hate monologues. I crave two-way conversations with God. It has never happened. My unmet yearning has left me deeply disappointed, frustrated, and feeling spiritually inadequate. It’s no exaggeration to confess that I find myself reeling in torturous bewilderment over this never-ending dilemma. On the other extreme, what I don’t think has happened once in my entire life, is for my wife a daily occurrence. Every time she shares what God has told her, it is spot on, filled with divine wisdom, always perfectly consistent with Scripture, and often contains new insights she needs. The only thing stopping me from going insanely jealous, or from feeling appallingly inferior, is that my dear wife looks up to me as someone who knows God better, and walks closer to him than she does. Moreover, despite all that God tells her to the contrary, she is tormented by a whole range of feelings that are the opposite of how warmly God feels about her. My only explanation for this bizarre situation is that our neighbor’s grass always seems greener, and that trials – even those that last a lifetime – end up building into our lives strength, character and stability like nothing else could achieve. As only an infinite God could, our wonderful Lord loves everyone on this planet equally. What confuses many of us, however, is that a facet of his astonishing love is shown by him treating each of us as unique individuals. So intense is his love, that he would selflessly endure our wrath, rather than let us miss out on his best. Infinite love blended with infinite knowledge compels him to resist caving into our emotional blackmail by giving us what we have convinced ourselves that we need, at the expense of what superhuman wisdom knows will end up blessing us more. The Bottom Line Since God’s ways are inevitably higher than our own, we are likely to find many of the things he says and does mysterious. There is nothing mysterious, however, about the existence of personal prophecies. What would be peculiar is if they were limited to any particular era. Forever, God is love, and love longs to communicate. Right from Adam and Eve, he has been giving personal messages to people, and although he could do everything himself, one of the manifestations of divine love is that the Almighty delights in honoring us with the privilege of involvement in his great work. If ever that were to change, it would be with the outpouring of the Spirit, which mean that, more than ever, every recipient had direct access to God (Jeremiah 31:33-34). Nevertheless, Acts abundantly proves that personal prophecies kept on being given, even as they did when God’s people were so far from revival that most of the prophecies had to be about them going into exile because of their atrocious sins. Here’s the bottom line: toughen up. The way to spiritual greatness is to stop wanting God to keep you spiritually flabby by babying you with spiritual signs and stroking your ego with prophetic words. Instead of wanting God to assure you all the time, trust his silences to be filled with as much love and wisdom as his words. Rather than seeking ego-boosting words that claim to be prophetic and solely for you, be truly wise and welcome divine correction. We need to respond as favorably to rebukes as King David did to Nathan the prophet when he exposed his sin (2 Samuel 12:7-14). “Test everything. Hold on to the good,” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Depressed Saints Hope when on a downer of oppression, despondency and gloom. The inspiration you need to overcome grief, disappointment and dejection. Help and encouragement when you feel a failure and hopeless loser. William Carey’s relentless succession of achievements in the face of oppression suggests he was no more deterred by tragedies than a locomotive by butterflies. I was stunned to learn that this amazing missionary pioneer sometimes suffered what one biographer called ‘sheer black depression’. C. H. Spurgeon, revered as last century’s greatest Baptist preacher, was so plagued by discouragement, depression, fatigue and illness that he tendered his resignation thirty-two times in thirty-nine years. Interestingly, he gradually discovered that such lows always seemed to precede new times of empowering for ministry. A modern preacher, world-famous for his emphasis on possibility thinking, sat dejected on a building site and pronounced the death-sentence on his pet project. ‘You can’t give up,’ gasped his advisers, ‘the whole world is looking at you!’ ‘If only I could have a good old-fashioned heart attack and fail with dignity,’ was his pathetic reply. Such grim anecdotes charge me with hope. If past heroes and modern champions of positive thinking can have such bouts, I need not let the Accuser belittle me just because I am appallingly negative at times. For twenty-four-year-old David Brainerd, thrilling experiences in God’s presence were regularly interspersed with deep bouts of melancholy in which he despaired of ever achieving anything in God’s service. Three years later, an unprecedented outpouring of the Spirit upon American Indians erupted after his preaching. This move coincided with a time when the clammy clouds of dejection were so thick that he was seriously contemplating ending his missionary endeavors. A. B. Simpson – that highly respected missionary statesman, exceptional preacher, and founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance – was yet another great achiever who ‘was always susceptible to periods of despair.’ Though his highs soared to supernatural visions, they did not prevent his lows. I don’t make excuses. Having the disposition of a professional prune taster is nothing to boast about. Depression usually marks lost faith in the One with whom I have entrusted my future. It dishonors the One who floods my life with endless love and manipulates for good everything that touches me. When I’m low, however, the last thing I need is despondency about my despondency. Though we slide on a downer, that does not make us losers. A horde of spiritual giants have been on the slide before us and lived to excel. Limp faith might be all you need Take heart from the man exalted as Scripture’s prime example of faith (Romans 4; Galatians 3:6-9; Hebrew 11:8-19; James 2:21-23). In an early chapter of Genesis, God tells Abraham on two separate occasions that he will give him the land and descendants (Genesis 12:2,7). Just four verses later we find Abraham humiliating Sarah, denying that she is his wife. In cowardly deceit, he stands dumbly by as Pharaoh marries Sarah and takes her into his harem (Genesis 12:10-16). Next chapter, God yet again details the promise of land and descendants (Genesis 13:14-17). Nevertheless, two chapters on, we find Abraham expecting to die childless. For a fourth time God insists he will give Abraham descendants. At last the old fossil believes. The Lord, thrilled with Abraham’s refound faith, repeats his vow to give him the land. In disbelief, Abraham asks for a sign. (Genesis 15:2-8) With divine patience God dramatically shows the mighty man of faith not only his future descendants, but what will happen to them. In the next chapter we find our faith model throwing away any hope of a miracle from God. He resorts to dubious natural means to forcibly accomplish what God seems unwilling to do. He bypasses his wife and turns to her maid for a baby (Genesis 16:1-3). Years later, the Lord yet again reaffirms his promise to Abraham and declares that Sarah would conceive. Abraham laughs. He is sure his wife has more potential as an Egyptian mummy than as a Hebrew one. ‘She’s too old. Just bless Ishmael,’ is the crux of his reply (Genesis 17:17-18). Yet the Lord persists. One more time our hero gropes for that slippery fish called faith. Before long, he is again passing off Sarah as his sister, showing more faith in his powers of deception than in God’s integrity. This time it is King Abimelech who almost has a go at impregnating Sarah (Genesis 20:2-3). Just weeks later, (assuming Genesis 18:10 to 21:2 are in chronological order) she conceived Abraham’s baby. Faith is not a non-stop flight above reality; it’s a fight. What distinguishes people of faith is not how rarely they hit the dirt, but how often they get up again. To be perpetually positive is impossible. The mere attempt embroils us in prayer battles and Abrahamic effort. The enemy often flees to his corner, only to prepare for the next round. You might even have climbed out of the ring, but the reward for getting back in exceeds anything anyone could offer. More precious than gold ‘Lord, increase our faith,’ pleaded the disciples. ‘If you have faith the size of a mustard seed . . .’ came the reply. (Luke 17:5-6) Perhaps our greatest need is not huge faith, but to fully use our small faith. Perhaps we miss out because we devalue our faith, not using it to the fullest because we wrongly imagine that tiny faith is too insignificant to move the hand of God. If faith is more valuable than gold (1 Peter 1:7), the merest speck is too precious to despise. Do not let feelings of inadequacy strangle your faith. Just keep pressing on. Past greats achieved much with floundering faith. So can you. Like everyone, my faith levels fluctuate. Usually I am aware that a few moments dwelling on faith-building truths or squashing negative thoughts would boost my faith a little, but I foolishly let myself remain at a lower faith level than I know I am capable of. I have failed to take faith as seriously as Scripture does. If it is as valuable as Scripture affirms, then only a fool would pass up an opportunity to slightly increase it. If our Lord valued faith at a dollar, then a one percent increase is not worth bothering about. What can you do with a cent? If common faith is of immense value, however, everything changes. On a million dollars, one percent is $10,000 – well worth a little effort! The thrill of faith Among the lessons to be learned through Abraham becoming a father is not that we should do nothing and leave it all to God. Had this been Abraham’s attitude, the miracle would never have happened. The key lay not in doing nothing, but in doing the right thing – trying yet again to fill a barren womb. We can be so paranoid about conceiving an Ishmael, that we fail to produce an Isaac. To stop trying for a child through Sarah would have been just as devoid of faith as using her maid. Faith is leaving the security of inactivity and deliberately exposing ourselves to the painful possibility of defeat. It is Jonathan and his armor-bearer going out to meet the enemy; not his comrades hiding in holes hoping for a miracle (1 Samuel 14:1-15). It’s Peter saying, ‘If that’s you, Lord, bid me come . . .’ and then stepping out of the boat (Matthew 14:28-29). It’s that same fisherman saying, ‘Lord, we’ve toiled all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, at your word . . .’ (Luke 5:5). It is Paul, once again facing a hostile crowd. It is you, trying one more time. Faith is fundamental to all Christian service (Mark 11:24; John 14:12; Galatians 3:2-3; Hebrews 4:2; 11:6; James 1:6-7; 1 John 5:4). Like a seedling, it should constantly grow (2 Corinthians 10:15; 2 Thessalonians 1:3). It is easier on ourselves if we start exercising faith now, in minor things, than to expect to pluck out of the air mountain-moving faith when it is critically needed in ministry. A delay either quickens your faith to rise to the challenge, or it’s a dead wait. How to boost faith I can easily believe the atom-holding, earth-spinning, galaxy-sustaining, life-giving Source of everything wonderful can do whatever he likes. Even the devil believes it. My difficulty is believing that his special love for me makes him long to use that power on my behalf. Few of us doubt that God can do amazing things. The weak link in our faith is believing that he would do such things for ordinary, inconsequential you and me. We suspect that in the Almighty’s eyes we are not sufficiently special to warrant such attention. Oh yes, ‘God loves everyone,’ but we have a hunch that by the time that love reaches us it has spread pretty thin. I’m just one of millions. Why would God want to focus his omnipotence on me? If we could grasp the enormity of God’s love for us, our faith would sky-rocket. Pray for a revelation. (The necessity of divine revelation is highlighted by Paul’s prayer that the Ephesians ‘comprehend . . and know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge’ [Ephesians 3:18-19].) Awareness of how much we are loved is forever slipping from our consciousness. Partially in sight for a few days, it begins to fade again. The following suggestions might help. When we let God down – even if we really foul things up – picture the proudest father the world has seen. The baby screams, dribbles and soils itself, yet Dad still glows with pride. God is like that. When you feel like a tiny blob in the seething mass of humanity, see the shepherd of a hundred sheep frantically searching for one. If he can be personally concerned for one, the omnipotent Shepherd of our souls can love all humanity and still be devoted to you. In the beautiful words of Isaiah, ‘As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you’ (Isaiah 62:5). When you feel you can do nothing right, picture a child, paintbrush in hand, gleaming with excitement. Enveloping her hand is the gentle hand of the world’s greatest artist. ‘And what shall we put in this corner?’ asks the man, as his skill and the girl’s imagination merge into one. See the artist’s smile and the child’s delight as together they create stunning beauty. Under God’s guiding hand, your possibilities are mind-boggling. No matter how you feel, you are the focus of God’s attention; doted on as though you are the only friend God has. If ever a man wanted to shower his bride with love, or his son with gifts, God longs to lavish you with his extravagance. Expect great things from God. Anything less is an insult to your almighty Savior. With your Lord impossibilities are playthings. Let faith mushroom by seizing the fact that the Omnipotent Lord is powerful enough to use you – over-riding your every inadequacy – and loving enough to want to. And believe that though he may lovingly delay your mission, his timing is perfect. Everything God touches is destined for glory. Even now, you are God’s ‘filthy rags to heavenly riches’ success story. The Kingdom needs prayer warriors, not prayer worriers. No matter how much you cry, beg, and wish, you have not moved from superstition to authentic Christian prayer until you can thank God for the answer, knowing it is yours before you hold it in your hand. Faith is not thinking that God can; it is knowing that he will (Mark 11:24; James 1:5-8). You will see it when you believe it.

Hope When You Feel Like Saying, “I Should Kill Myself, I’d be Better Off Dead!” This webpage is for you if, at the very least, you are wondering whether life is worth living. Suicidal thoughts are probably flooding your mind and perhaps you are even seriously contemplating suicide. You probably clicked a link to this webpage, knowing that it is for people who wish they were dead, or you typed into a search engine something like, “I should kill myself,” “I’d be better off dead,” “No one would miss me if I killed myself,” “No one understands me.” Despite the horrific pressure you are under, you have deliberately hunted down this webpage. Doing so proves that no matter how precariously you teeter on the edge of suicide, you are still clinging to life and looking for answers. No wonder I feel forced to admit that I admire you! My reluctance in confessing this is driven by the worry that my high opinion of you could clash so utterly with what you are convinced is the truth about yourself that you spurn everything I say. Your self-esteem has probably been so bashed as to make it seem to you that my admiration is misguided or even ludicrous. Perhaps by confessing how I feel about you I have lost all credibility in your eyes. I don’t relish that, but what I lose sleep over is that having admitted my real feelings might prompt you to reject all the support you so deeply deserve. One thing I do know, however, is that I’m right to care enough about you to literally lose sleep over this. Here’s the cold truth: the very fact that, rather than kill yourself, you are reading this, is undeniable proof that you are not some crazy who acts unthinkingly. You might have been told a million times that you are weak and/or stupid but, clearly, they were wrong. I shudder to think of all the other cruel lies you have been mercilessly pounded with – lies fired in a horrendous barrage of psychological warfare; relentlessly attacking your will to live and swamping your mind until even attempting to think straight takes superhuman effort. And yet you are still holding on. Is it any wonder that I see in you the potential for greatness? The fact that, despite it all, you are still alive means that no matter how much you have been told otherwise, you clearly have had the strength to overcome the odds and withstand all the opposition you have endured, when others would have caved in. Right now, you can be expected to feel far more like a hopeless loser than a hero but feelings are rarely a reliable indicator, and the appalling oppression you currently suffer would cloud anyone’s ability to see things as they really are. In fact, this is the very thing that makes you so special. Less impressive people might hold on if they realized what winners they are and if they could see a fast approaching breakthrough and were cheered on by adoring fans. You have been cruelly robbed of all of this. Instead, you have been relentlessly hounded and haunted by thoughts like, “Why not do the world a favor and kill myself?” I’d be better off dead,” “No one would miss me if I killed myself,” and so on. And yet still you stagger on. That’s what makes you exceptional. It’s what floods me with admiration, even though to admit it inevitably means that the heart of anyone whose self-image has been battered will scream that I am lying or don’t know what I’m talking about. God is truth. Exaggeration and/or insincerity are enemies of truth. To risk being accused of either is to risk my reputation and yet this is what I am exposing myself to by confessing to anyone with a dismal self-image that I esteem the person far higher than his/her self-image allows. Nevertheless, you are far too important to put my reputation above your well-being. You are worth risking everything for. Whether you believe in God or not, God believes in you. Your life is precious, not because of how you see yourself or how you think other people see you, but because you are mind-bogglingly important to the God who sees things as they really are. The truth is that you are of infinite value. I do not say this lightly. A diamond is just a piece of rock. It can’t love, talk, think. Its worth is based not on what it can do but on what people are willing to pay for it. Diamonds are considered of great value simply because people will pay exorbitant prices to have one. You are far more precious to God than myriads of planet-sized diamonds and he paid a far higher price than all the wealth in the cosmos to have you as his best friend. You have an irreplaceable place in God’s own heart. He loves you dearly and tenderly and devotedly. He paid the highest possible price – the willing sacrificial death of his holy Son – to have you as his best friend. Perhaps this is just religious mumbo-jumbo to you but if you had killed yourself, you would have found out very quickly how real and important God is and whether his views and his gift of life should be spurned. But you are still courageously clinging to the precious gift of life. All of heaven is standing on tiptoe to see what you will do with this immense opportunity and how you will withstand all the lies trying to bring you down. You truly have the potential for greatness. As frustratingly impossible as it seems, what now looks and feels like an utterly useless struggle has the potential to become the very thing that wins you endless acclaim. Mysteriously, what in a very real sense is the lowest point in your life could be the high point – not, of course, that you will not have times that are incomparably more enjoyable but that your current endurance will be your eternal glory. It is like an adventurer or inventor or war hero who is forever honored not for some flash of brilliance or natural ability but simply for staggering on when others would have given up. Such people are honored not because success was likely but because it seemed almost foolishly impossible as they stumbled on alone and largely or completely forgotten. Consider, for example, how Jesus’ torment on the cross was in one sense his lowest point and in another sense his greatest glory. What at the time seemed his total humiliation and defeat is the very thing for which he has ever since been most loved, honored and adored for generations by millions of people. “I’m not Jesus,” you might scream in annoyance of me even mentioning it. That’s true, but through him everything can suddenly turn around and end up being seen forever by you and all of heaven in a vastly different light. Don’t judge the story of your life before waiting for the surprise ending. It is actually life’s rough patches that provide the drama and challenges that turn life into an adventure. Everyone’s life has its low points; times when only you and God understand – and sometimes not even you – that merely staying alive is an act of heroism. It is not whether we have such times but whether we stagger on regardless that makes us winners. Anyone can impress in the limelight; it’s whether we tough it out behind closed doors when life doesn’t seem worth living that sets the limit on how many highs and successes we end up having. The easy times prove nothing; it is in the icy gloom that we prove our worth. There is an enormous difference between an achiever and someone who has everything handed to him. Lasting glory is the exclusive domain of those who slog on when there seems no way. That’s your high calling; the prize you were born for. You might have hundreds of objections to the above. That’s okay. I am so aware that you deserve much more that I have devoted my life to producing literally hundreds of webpages crammed with answers. But they take time to read. Your breakthrough could come before you read them all but regardless of the timing, please hold on – and please keep reading. More Help When is Suicide / Euthanasia Morally Acceptable For Christians? There’s Hope! A Sane Guide to Finding Hope When There is No Hope When One’s Heart Feels Like a Pit of Despair A young man’s triumph in the midst of agony