Copyright 2013 Theresa Harvard Johnson
1 John 4:9-12 CJB: “Here is how God showed his love among us: God sent his only Son into the world, so that through him we might have life. Here is what love is: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the kapparah for our sins. Beloved friends, if this is how God loved us, we likewise ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains united with us, and our love for him has been brought to its goal in us.”
What gives the soul rest from this earthbound journey? It’s the spiritual assurance and innate power of God’s love for us. The kind that only intimacy with Him can release. Our rest from the cares of this world comes in living in Him — knowing that our lives are not useless, futile, worthless or meaningless. So, if no one has told you today that they love you, please know that God does. If noone has told you that they care, please know that there are people whom you do not know who wake up in the night season and/or dedicate their days to praying for whomever God places in their hearts. He wants to show you, right here in this moment, that He loves you and that you are not alone.
There are so many brothers and sisters in Christ who have been where you are; and have broken free.
For years, the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons were extremely difficult for me. They represented great loss and unpleasant memories. While depression had its hold on me most of my life, this time of year amplified it and I could literally feel myself being sucked into a dark, dark hole – like a vacuum. In my late 20s I came to know Jesus. I had a wonderful husband, a beautiful family and yet, the overwhelming heaviness and darkness would not release me – no matter how much I prayed, cried out, received counsel or screamed for freedom for my soul. I needed healing and deliverance – far deeper than anything I could understand at that time.
I remember laying on one of my tear drenched journals, clutching my depression meds in my hands and saying God, “How long will I have to suffer through this – depending on medications to get me through the day and night?” I still have those journals (and that specific one); and often read my laments from that time in my life…. thanking God. In one of them, I described how the spirit of the Lord washed over me in that moment and gave me rest, the hope to continue my journey to freedom.
SIDE BAR: It was also during this time that I learned about the kind of darkness that overtakes people between October – December of each year. For me, the depression, oppression and suppression was worse than ever during this time frame. Statistics show that suicide, murder-suicide, violence, murder, domestic violence, etc. increases during these months. Spiritually, this demonic season produces great chaos in the spirit realm that many believers are unaware of that extend beyond halloween. (It would shock many people to know that December 22 and December 24 are demonic, ritualistic holy times; but this is another story.) I share this for one reason: The enemy of our soul specializes in amplifying every sorrow that we entertain. So DON’T ALLOW the “hidden spirit of this season” — the spirit of death, murder and torment — to overwhelm and overtake you! Cry out and spare not …. seek until He answers!
People of God, you WILL press through and pass this!
2 Corinthians 12:5-15 CJB: “Three times I begged the Lord to take this thing away from me; but he told me, My grace is enough for you, for my power is brought to perfection in weakness. Therefore, I am very happy to boast about my weaknesses, in order that the Messiah’s power will rest upon me. Yes, I am well pleased with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties endured on behalf of the Messiah; for it is when I am weak that I am strong.”
My struggle in this area lasted for years – most of my adult life in fact. Please know that God can deliver you in the blink of an eye; but IF HE DOES NOT DO IT RIGHT AWAY, as we can see from the passage above, all is not lost because He is yet lifting you up. Your posture is to believe and trust Him.
Deuteronomy 31:6 CJB: “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”
I know what I’m about to share is cliché, but it is truth: “God is with you even when you are facing what looks like death!” I know this personally – as a woman who nearly lost her natural life due to sickness and as a woman has battled to keep her mind. Many people don’t know this about me, but I came to know the Lord in the midst of a suicide attempt – in one of those desperate moments of depression that counseling and medication couldn’t fix.
The adversary almost had me. He almost had you.
Prophetically, I declare LIFE over you right now in Jesus Name! You shall live and not die! The Lord is severing and uprooting the spirit of death in every area of your life, denounce it and stand in agreement with Him! Death cannot have your mind, your soul, your heart, your will, your emotions! Declare that nothing can separate you from the love of God! Take 20 minutes right now – in this very moment – and read these rest, love and life giving passages: Ezekiel 16:1-14 and Psalm 91 in the New King James Version of the Bible.
Listen, my personal struggle in this area continued after salvation, but the fact that He brought me through that specific night of my planned suicide revealed that I at least had a mustard seed of faith – a small glimmer of hope in Christ. That mustard seed faith took me from the door of death to the place of promise that my heart rests in right now. I was able, over the course of time, encounter great healing and major deliverance in my life at the hands of God and with the help of those assigned to walk with me through it. What I needed didn’t always come when I felt like I needed it; but it came on God’s time table as I kept the faith and continued to trust. For me, it was not EASY. I had many more nights of literally laying on the floor in tears… and when necessary, I have no SHAME in doing that today before God.
Pride has no place on the battlefield! Super-spirituality won’t shield you from truth!
You can have rest for your weary soul – no matter what has happened in your life. There is grace and mercy before a Holy God for you. There are three undeniable promises that I am leaving with you today: (1) God’s promise to love you and have you experience His love is real; (2) God stands with us in the midst of our weakness and despair; and will raise us up from it if we allow him; and (3) God promises to heal and free us when we learn to trust the God in others. Don’t be afraid of James 5:13-16. Don’t be afraid of the God-kind of healing and deliverance. As you trust Him, He will walk you directly into the path of your healing — just stay the course.
After years of walking through this, God brough TRUE freedom into my life. He WILL do this for you! You can have that abundant life – that soul prosperity and rest in Him! I beg you my brethren, don’t die here. Absolutely nothing is too hard for God. If I or the ministers of Voices of Christ can stand specifically in agreement with you today, please let us know here. You are not alone, and we pray for REAL!
GOD IS A DELIVERER! Don’t fall for the lies of the enemy. Believe GOD!
Today, I thank God for your life, your purpose, your destiny. I thank Him for sending your soul from Heaven to earth for such a time as this. I am thankful that HE ALONE chose you and that His promise will be filled in your life. I thank God that you will encounter and receive His love. I thank Him that you will know His love in a way that you have never experienced before in the earth, and that it will cause you to burn for Him, in Jesus’ name.
