All posts by Luella Campbell

THE STORY OF POLYCARP

Testimonies, ,

I offer you the story of POLYCARP, the bishop of Smyrna who, in his old age, was betrayed and condemned to death. He refused to deny his faith in Jesus, choosing the flames of a Roman fire rather than the flames of hell. Jesus had given all for Polycarp…now Polycarp surrendered all for Jesus.

We may not be called to give our lives to the executioner as many in the world are doing now, but Jesus calls us to take up our cross daily and follow Him. Our cross, our will for His, so that He might live His life through us to His glory, is the daily choice we must make. Polycarp chose physical death for eternal life. We are called to choose death to the old life that we might live new lives of trust and obedience to the one who loved us and gave Himself for us.

THE BISHOP OF SMYRNA

“Polycarp was killed between 155 and 168 CE. According to The Martyrdom of Polycarp, he was betrayed by members of his own household, captured, and taken to the Colosseum, where the local proconsul attempted to coax him into offering sacrifices to Caesar.

So the proconsul said to Polycarp, ‘Take the oath. I will let you go. Just revile Christ.’ Polycarp answered, ‘For eighty and six years I have been his servant, and he has done me no wrong. And how can I now blaspheme my king who saved me?’”

The proconsul proceeded to threaten the elderly man with lions and fire. In response to these torments, Polycarp replied.

“You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour at most; you must not know about the fire of the coming judgment and of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. Why are you wasting time? Kill me in whatever way you see fit.”

Realizing he could not be persuaded, the proconsul sentenced Polycarp to death by fire. The soldiers tied him to a stake and covered him in oil. But, just before the executioner ignited his funeral pyre, Polycarp uttered his last words as a prayer, praising God.

POLYCARP’S LAST WORDS

“O Lord God Almighty, the Father of Your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the knowledge of You, the God of angels and powers, and of every creature, and of the whole race of the righteous who live before you, I give thanks that You have counted me worthy of this day and this hour, that I should have a part in the number of Thy martyrs, in the cup of thy Christ, to the resurrection of eternal life, both of soul and body, through the incorruption imparted by the Holy Ghost. Among whom may I be accepted this day before You as a fat and acceptable sacrifice, just as You, the ever-truthful God, hast fore-ordained, by revealing it beforehand to me, and now fulfilling. Because of this I also praise You for all things, I bless You, I glorify Thee, along with the everlasting and heavenly Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, with whom, to You, and the Holy Ghost, be glory both now and to all coming ages. Amen.”

THE DEATH OF POLYCARP

As soon as these words escaped his lips, the executioner lit the fuel beneath his feet. However, according to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, the flames did not consume him. Instead, they surrounded his body and carefully protected him like the walls of a city. However, the guards were determined to kill him; and so one was commanded to stab him with a knife, bringing an end to his long life.

Polycarp’s final words are a great example of what it means to live your life in view of eternity and under the sovereignty of God. You see, his martyrdom was not accidental or unexpected; days before he was captured, God sent him a dream foretelling the time and manner of the death he would face.

I don’t know about you, but if God told me my time was almost up, my reaction would be more like Hezekiah, who became depressed and prayed for more time.

“In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”

“Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.”
Isaiah 38:1-3

Yet, with his final words, Polycarp praised the God who did not save him from the executioner’s blade. This kind of response is only possible when you have embraced the reality that we are only strangers in this world and the truth that our lives are the property of our God.”

Sources
Biography of Polycarp
The Martyrdom of Polycarp: earlychristianwritings.com
“Proconsul”: Definition by Britannica
Post published:October 5, 2022
Post category:Christianity / Education / M / P

Some of Polycarp’s last words include:
“Eighty and six years I have served Him, and He has done me no wrong”
“How then can I blaspheme my King and Savior?”
“I bless you, Father, for judging me worthy of this hour, so that in the company of the martyrs I may share the cup of Christ”
“Away with the atheists!”
“Leave me the way I am”
“I stood inside the fire like bread that is being baked, or as gold and silver being refined in a furnace”

NEEDS DRIVE US TO OUR KNEES – 2

Prayer,

To recap, in our study of Old Covenant prayer, we learned that “palal” means “to fall down before the one who has authority, to entreat Him to make a judgment so that He will take action to bring about a wonder or a miracle that will restore the person or situation for which he/she pleads to a life that is pleasant and righteous. This wonder will lead to “tefillah”, the purpose of prayer, i.e., the focus on God Himself.”

Why do we “fall down”? Falling down is more than bowing down. It is an act of desperation and recognition, acknowledging both  that God is the only one who can make a judgment and act on it in response to our plea, and humility, acknowledging who we are before Him.

Who is the “authority” before whom we fall?

Jesus revealed that, in the New Covenant, God is our Father. We no longer approach Him as slaves to a Master who requires strict obedience to His rules. We approach God as children to a Father whom we trust because He loves us and has done everything to reconcile us to Himself. He has opened the way into His presence by offering His Son as a sacrifice for our sin.

What is the “judgment” for which we entreat Him?

Since Jesus insisted that the Father knows our needs before we ask Him, and that He meets our needs as we seek His kingdom and His righteousness first, we must determine what His judgments are in relation to “His kingdom and His righteousness”.

The judgments for which we plead, then, relate to His kingdom, i.e., the issues that arise as we follow Jesus and live under His authority, and His righteousness, (generosity), the ways in which we show our love to Him by loving His children. Since these are the only two commandments in the New Covenant…

1 John 3:23 NLT
[23] “And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.”

…our real needs arise from these two requirements. Needs drive us to seek His judgments and are, therefore, His way of keeping us connected to Him. Our mandate to manage the earth can only happen through continually seeking Him “for a judgment”.

God’s promises are His judgments which take care of every issue that arises in our quest to live “pleasant and righteous lives” as His children in His kingdom.

2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT
[3] “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. [4] And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”

Encapsulated in the work of Jesus is the guarantee that He stands surety for every promise God has ever made.

2 Corinthians 1:20 NLT
[20]”For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.”

Therefore, God will always provide the wisdom we need to understand and the grace to follow His ways as we continually entreat Him for judgments that enable us to do His will.

What does He restore?

God’s judgments are not about who is innocent and who is guilty. His “judgments” are His decisions about our plea for justice in our cause. He will act to restore the person or situation to a conducive life in His kingdom. Jesus also said that God will restore “speedily” but not according to our timetable. He is always following His own agenda and working on a much bigger canvas than our personal demands. Our faith in Him requires patience and trust.

This explains Jesus’ mystifying question at the end of His story.

Luke 18:8 NIV
[8] “I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Faith and patience are the key ingredients of our relationship with the Father. These attitudes reveal the level of our submission to God.

Hebrews 6:12 NIV
[12] “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”

What is “tefillah”?

We come to the climax of our  consideration of the elements of true prayer…”tefillah”. To understand tefillah, we must view the concept from the perspective of the ancient rabbis.

“Tefillah” is a difficult concept to understand, let alone to explain. This word contains all the elements of prayer but goes beyond these to the heart of God’s intention. An unidentified Rabbi said this about “tefillah”.

“A key element of your relationship with your Creator is to “serve Him with all your heart”. The word serve in Hebrew is “avodah”, which carries the sense of laborious work. But what kind of labour can the heart do to serve G-d? The classic Jewish answer is that this is “tefillah”: a labour of awakening the hidden love within the heart until a state of intimate union with the divine is achieved.

“That’s why the common translation – prayer – is horribly inaccurate. Prayer implies two distinct entities, an inferior one making a request of a superior. There is another Hebrew word for this,” bakashah”. Similarly, worship has a word, “shevach”. “Tefillah” includes both these elements but, in itself neither of them. Instead, communion may be a better word – defined as a joining together of mind and spirit.”

Then he makes this observation:

…” You can’t commune with someone you don’t know, so knowing G-d is an integral part of “tefillah”.”

To conclude, the same rabbi said this:

“1. Speaking the words out loud helps focus your attention.
2. A human being is principally a speaking being. Tefillah brings the speakingness of that being closer to G-d. If you lift your heart and mind but leave behind your words, you’ve effectively left behind the human being… “

He comes to the conclusion:

“… The core of “tefillah”, on the other hand, is our mode of reaching deeper and yet deeper into our inner thoughts, and finding within them G-d Himself.”

(From the article, http://wwwchabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1452805/jewish/Tefillah.htm-retrieved March 2016)

Let me summarise.

” Tefillah” happens when we fall down to entreat the Judge for a judgment and He responds with a judgment and a miracle that causes us to wonder.

Needs, then, are the trigger that makes this process of true prayer happen.

Can you see, then, that unless “tefillah” happens, the purpose of prayer is unfilled and the circle of prayer is incomplete? “Tefillah” encompasses all the elements of prayer but comes to completion in the joining of heart, mind, and spirit with God in the intimacy of loving communion.

As urgent or important as we may consider the matters are for which we pray, they cannot override or supersede the most important purpose for prayer – that of deep heart adoration and worship.

(The material for this and the previous article are taken from “Designer Prayer”, Copyright © 2017, by Luella Campbell).

And so, once again, the hymn writer expresses in beautiful poetry, our desire to rise to the passion of the the Father’s heart for communion with His sons and daughters.

1. Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of Heav’n to Earth come down,
Fix in us thy humble dwelling,
All thy faithful mercies crown;
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
Pure, unbounded love thou art;
Visit us with thy salvation,
Enter ev’ry trembling heart.

2. Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit
Into ev’ry troubled breast;
Let us all in thee inherit,
Let us find thy promised rest;
Take away our love of sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith as its beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.

3. Come, Almighty to deliver;
Let us all thy grace receive;
Suddenly return, and never,
Never more thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve thee as thy host above,
Pray, and praise thee without ceasing,
Glory in thy perfect love.

4. Finish, then, thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in thee;
Changed from glory into glory
Till in Heav’n we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise!

Source: Hymns and Devotions for Daily Worship #366a

Author: Charles Wesley (b. 1707,

NEEDS DRIVE US TO OUR KNEES – 1

Prayer, ,

The Old Testament language, originally paleo Hebrew, fascinates me. Paleo Hebrew is a picture language possibly developed from the ancient Phoenician script. The alphabet of paleo Hebrew has 22 picture letters, each letter a picture  conveying an idea the meaning of which is derived from the context. Paleo Hebrew words were usually made up of two pictures, called the parent root, to which more pictures were added to expand its meaning.

The ancient Hebrews were essentially tactile people. They thought, spoke and wrote in  concrete terms, not in abstract ideas. To understand their language and usage, we must distance ourselves from Western abstract expression and view life from their experience of the physical world. In other words, they thought function, not form, that is, what did an object do rather than what did an object look like.

The word, God, for example, was two letters, e and l, “El”. Read from right to left, these two letters, aleph…an ox head, and lamed… a shepherd’s staff, imply strength and authority, hence God was the one who had strength and authority.

I will use this concept to help us understand the meaning of prayer in the Old Covenant.

To cut a very long story short, one of the words for prayer, p, meaning ” mouth”, and l, meaning “a shepherd’s staff”, is “palal”, which implies speaking to the one who has authority.

“This word “palal” also means judgment. In Old Testament times the major judicial decisions were made at the gates and entrance to the city, one reason being it was a broad area and easy for people to gather there. If anyone had a grievance, they would go and “speak to authority” to obtain the justice they were looking for. The ancient Hebrew concept of a “judge” is one who restores life. The goal of one that judges or rules is to bring a pleasant and righteous life to the people….”
https://www.ancient-hebrew.org
article: Ancient Hebrew Words for Prayer

Implied in this word, “palal”, is the idea of “falling down in desperation to address the one who has authority.”

“Another word from the PL root is “pala”. Added to this root is the letter “aleph” which in its original picture form is an ox head meaning “strength”. This word  means “perform” i.e. a great work (performed) as an act of intercession (out of a judgement). It is translated “wonder”, “marvellous”, and “extraordinary” . “Pala” is used primarily with God as its subject, expressing actions that “.. and in our eyes it is amazing! ” Psalm 118:23…

“This certainly lifts our faith to new heights of trust in God for awesome things when we pray.”
https://www.ancient-hebrew.org
article: Ancient Hebrew Words for Prayer

When we put “palal” and “pala” into the context of a sentence, prayer means “to fall down in desperation before the one who has the authority, to entreat the judge for a judgment. He will take action through a “wonderwork” to restore the pray-er to a life that is pleasant and righteous. This will result in wonder and admiration, “and in our eyes it is amazing! ” Psalm 118:23…

The judge’s verdict had to go on to an action which carried out the judgment determined by the pleading. This would result in justice for the one who brought the plea. The judge had the power to do a miracle or wonderwork, something extraordinary that would restore the person to a pleasant and righteous life. This will cause the one who prayed to marvel at the judge.

Now let’s look at the way Jesus used this concept of prayer in a story.

Luke 18:1-5 NLT
[1] “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. [2] “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. [3] A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ [4] The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, [5] but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

The disciples would have understood the parable because the principles of Old Covenant prayer are clear in this story. Jesus drew a contrast between the reluctance of the judge to give the widow a judgment and to act on it and God’s attitude towards His children. He will always respond with a judgment and an action.

Luke 18:6-7 NLT
[6] “Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. [7] Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?”

The third word for prayer, “tefillah”, the most commonly-used word for prayer, adds another dimension to the original parent root. Tefillah is derived from the letters in the parent root, p and l as in  “palal” and “pala”.

To put these words together, prayer (palal) is the act of falling down to plead with the one who had the authority to make a judgment, and who will take action (pala) to ensure that the judgment is carried out to restore the pleasant and righteous life of the pray-er so that he/she moves him towards “tefillah” which is the ultimate purpose for “palal” and “pala”, admiration (worship) of the Judge.

Concealed in the parent root, “pal”, and its child roots “palal” and “pala”, and encapsulated in the noun, “tefillah”, we have a rich and amazing picture of prayer which is a far cry from our impoverished Western philosophical understanding of what prayer is about. Prayer, in its essence, is much more than talking to God. It’s about moving towards God in deep heart communion.

In our next study, we shall put  these concepts of prayer in the Old Covenant into our understanding of New Covenant prayer, enriched with the additions of grace, mercy, and salvation. We must push on until we reach an understanding of how profound prayer in the New Covenant really is.

To be continued…

HE GAVE IT ALL AWAY

Bible Study, ,

Reading the life story of Jesus in the gospels must eventually lead us to one conclusion…He gave away everything He was and everything He had for us.

Now that’s a startling statement!

Let’s examine the “everything” that Jesus gave away.

  1. H e gave away His right to act as God.

Paul wrote,

Philippians 2:6 NIV
[6] “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;…”

Many times, Jesus’ opponents challenged Him to show them evidence of His claim, if He was the Son of God. They ignored the real evidence, first of His revelation of God’s nature by His love for all people, and second, by the source of His miraculous works which they continually questioned.

Matthew 12:22-24, 27-28 NIV
[22] “Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. [23] All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” [24] But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”…
[27] And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges,
[28] But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

Jesus didn’t claim to be the souce of His miracles. He claimed obedience to the Father who worked miracles through Him by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus’ entire life on earth, from conception to resurrection, was through the presence and under the control of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 10:37-38 NIV
[37] “You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— [38] how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”

  1. As a man, Jesus gave away His right to make His own choices.

David prophesied that the Messiah would live entirely by His obedience to God by His own choice.

Psalms 40:6-8 NLT
[6] You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings. Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand— you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings. [7] Then I said, “Look, I have come. As is written about me in the Scriptures: [8] I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.”

John 5:30 NLT
[30] “I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.”

John 8:29 NLT
[29] And the one who sent me is with me—he has not deserted me. For I always do what pleases him.”

Even in the darkest moment of His life, Jesus chose to do the Father’s will.

Luke 22:42 NLT
[42] “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

  1. Jesus gave away His time to the sick and needy.

Mark 6:31, 34 NLT
[31] “Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat….
[34] Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.”

Interruptions never fazed Jesus. He always dropped His own agenda to minister to the people.

  1. Jesus gave away His earthly family connections.

In His youth, Jesus was an obedient son,

Luke 2:51 NLT
[51]” Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart.”

… but He cut all ties with His family for the wider family of God’s children when He left home to fulfil His calling as Messiah and Saviour

Mark 3:32-35 NLT
[32] “There was a crowd sitting around Jesus, and someone said, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.” [33] Jesus replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” [34] Then he looked at those around him and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. [35] Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

He even gave His mother away as a final act of love before He died.

John 19:26-27 NLT
[26] “When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” [27] And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.”

  1. Jesus gave His love, His joy, and His peace to His disciples.

John 15:9 NLT
[9] “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.”

John 15:11 NLT
[11] “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!”

John 14:27 NLT
[27] “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”

  1. Jesus gave His body to the Jews for crucifixion and to the Romans for abuse.

Matthew 27:26 NLT
[26]”So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.”

Isaiah 50:6-7 NLT
[6]”I offered my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mockery and spitting. [7] Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do his will. And I know that I will not be put to shame.”

  1. Jesus gave away His reputation, His dignity and His clothing.

Philippians 2:8 NLT
[8]”… he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”

John 19:23 NLT
[23]” When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.”

  1. Jesus gave His life blood for the sin of the world.

Matthew 26:27-28 NLT
[27] “And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, [28] for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.”

John 19:34 NLT
[34] “One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.”

  1. Jesus gave away His heart and soul to His people. On the cross He gave His body back to the earth from which it was made and His spirit back to the Father.

Isaiah 53:9 NLT
[9]” He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.”

Luke 23:46 NLT
[46]”Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.”

  1. Jesus had one more thing to give, His righteousness.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV
[21] “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Conclusion

2 Corinthians 8:9 NLT
[9] “You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.”

Jesus gave away everything He had to give. He kept nothing for Himself. We are His beneficiaries if we believe and give ourselves to Him. We have neither the experience nor the imagination to reveal the extent of His generosity except the promise of His Word.

1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT
[9]… “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

“POOR ME”, THE DEATH OF RESPONSIBILITY

Christian Life, ,

Genesis 3:12 NLT
[12] “The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

It all began in the garden of Eden, this refusal to take responsibility for doing wrong! It’s also a disease so universal that EVERYONE tries to wriggle out of taking responsibility by blaming someone or something else. This attitude is embedded in the nature we inherited from Adam.

This “blame game” is also responsible for an entire industry in the medical field. This “industry” falls under the category of “disorders”, medical diagnoses treatable by therapy and medication! Now, not every disorder is incorrectly diagnosed. Some disorders are triggered by crises or unfortunate circumstances, for example, flashbacks that happen after some traumatic experience.

However, there are many disorders that are self-inflicted. Many mental health issues happen when people refuse to take responsibility for their bad behaviour. Instead of owning up and putting right, they hide behind what mother/father/sibling/teacher/friend…did to them twenty, thirty, forty years ago.

The real diagnosis is a “victim mentality”, for which doctors and medication have no cure. Strangely enough, the Bible calls mental illness “sin”. Why is it sin? Sin is the fruit of unbelief. Unbelief in what?

God created humans to live in union with Him. We are His offspring, created in His image. He is in charge of every detail of our lives and takes responsibility for us if we trust Him.

Acts of the Apostles 17:25-26, 28 NLT
[25]”…He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. [26] From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries…
[28] For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ “

He is our life-source. Living in harmony with God and His ways provides peace, protection, and provision, and dispels worry and anxiety. Through our ongoing trust in Jesus who gives us access to the Father by His death, we can experience every situation in life, good or bad, in the confidence that God allows or does nothing in our lives outside of His perfect love. Nothing can separate us from His love.

Such confidence, called faith in Jesus, allows us to live “care-free lives in the care of God”. When issues arise, we can turn to Him for help and solutions instead of blaming someone else for our troubles.

Trouble is that most people in the world throughout the ages have decided to leave God out of their lives. They treat Him as an enemy, run from Him, and try to manage their lives without Him. The result is a mess. To use an age-old expression, “they fly by the seat of their pants.”

(Some people go so far as to dabble in the forbidden realm of evil spirits. Unfortunately, Satan messes with their brains when they are hooked. No this is a real problem when it comes to mental health. They can be and some are given over to the complete control of evil spirits leading to bizarre and seriously criminal behaviour).

Playing the “blame game” robs people of real-life solutions. If therapy and medication do not fix the “disorders” sin produces…and by sin I mean the things people think, say, and do to suit themselves that produce fear, guilt, and shame, is there any real solution?

Humans complicate what God has made simple. His medical textbook, the Bible, has the only real, effective solutions because He made us and He wrote the book.

What must we do with the sin that produces guilt, shame, and fear?

1 John 1:8-9 NLT
[8] “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. [9] But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

Blaming someone else for what we have said or done won’t cut it. Coming clean with God is the only effective solution. This means taking responsibility! “Yes, God you are right. I said it, I did it, I am guilty as charged.” That’s simple enough, isn’t it? The only cost to us is the humility to admit our guilt and the honesty to take responsibility for what we did.

God’s response to our confession is astonishing. Three things happen when we take responsibility.

  1. We acknowledge God. We acknowledge that we are accountable to Him for our behaviour. “If we confess our sins to Him…”
  2. We call our behaviour what it is…sin! Not mistakes, not blunders, not anything else but…sin, and sin is always against God first, whoever we might harm by our actions.

Psalms 51:4 NLT
[4] “Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.”

  1. God responds to our honest confession by wiping the slate clean. He forgives, cleanses, and chooses to forget what we have done.

Isaiah 43:25 NLT
[25] “I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.”

Think of that! When God has finished with your sin, you can start again, no past to haunt you!

What must we do with the emotions sin produces?

Paul has another simple solution.

Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
[6]”Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and THANK HIM for all he has done. [7] Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Worry and anxiety are also part of the sin we must confess. Worry and anxiety block our way to the Father. We must get rid of them through honest confession. Again, “come clean with God.” These emotions are also the fruit of unbelief.

Thanksgiving is a powerful way to melt worry and anxiety. We neutralise our worries when we focus on God’s goodness and faithfulness. God will always do the best for us. God will always keep His promises. Thanksgiving re-establishes our trust in God which produces a new emotion…PEACE.

Worry and anxiety cannot coexist with God’s peace. When we offload our worry and anxiety on Him, He replaces them with His peace, a powerful safeguard against the effects of trouble and adversity.

The differences between human efforts and God’s way to treat these “disorders” are twofold.

  1. Human solutions are complicated and ineffective. All the therapy and medication in the world can never deal with sin.

God’s solution is simple and fool-proof. Confess your sin and God will forgive you, cleanse you, and forget everything you ever did.

  1. Human solutions are long-term and expensive, requiring possible hospitalisation in a psychiatric facility or many sessions with a therapist plus months of expensive medication…all to no avail.

God’s way costs no money. Confession and repentance only need honesty and humility; thanksgiving transforms the mind and attitude, and the results are instantaneous, outstanding, and permanent.

So…

John 8:31-32, 34-36 NLT
[31]”Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. [32] And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”…
[34] Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. [35] A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. [36] So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”

So, what’s the problem? Why not believe what Jesus said, do what He says, and enjoy a life of peace and the inner freedom that comes from not having to carry the burden of guilt, shame, and fear that sin lays on us!