Remember My Bonds

There is an old song called "God on the Mountain." The very first line is "Life is easy when you're up on the mountain..."

That is so true, isn't it?

It is easy to give God the praise He deserves when everything is going your way.

But then you find yourself in the valley and the song changes, things aren't as simple anymore and it is MUCH harder to keep that positive attitude in times of trouble and heartache.

I bet all of us know someone that is always living in the valley, someone who you are afraid to ask, "So, how are you?" because you REALLY don't want to know.

Doom and gloom, trouble on every side, always in a crisis....

It is hard trying to see the positive side ALL of the time, I will admit it. There are times when I get my eyes off of Him and get them on my circumstances and when I do, I feel overwhelmed, even hopeless at times.

I have had to tell myself "NO, you are not doing this!"

I have had to rebuke negative thoughts and the one that brings the doubt and the fear into my life.

And I try to monitor what I say to people. I live for the Almighty, Omnipotent, All Powerful King of Glory, and that should be apparent by my actions, my speech, my life.

What am I telling the person that is looking for answers to the emptiness of their lives if all they hear from me are my problems? Do you think that will encourage them to seek Him for their own answers?

Please understand, I believe in prayer, I believe prayer changes things. NO, I don't just believe it, I know it without a shadow of doubt in my mind. He still moves stones, He still delivers, He still heals and He still hears. There is nothing too small and nothing too large for Him.

I do believe that when I am faced with problems I need to call on His Name and I need to seek other Saints to pray with me.

But I don't need to let my situations consume me. That "whoa is me" attitude has no place in my life. And I also don't believe that I need to use my problems to draw others attention to me, the kind of "Look at me, look what I am going through" mentality has no place in my life.

I have suffered, I have hurt, and I have longed for change in my life, but if at any time I have allowed my own problems to cause someone else to say "Man, I wish she would hush already," then I am truly sorry for that. I pray that is never the case, and if it is or has been, I pray that Jesus will change me, remove that attitude from my life.

Because, believe it or not, there are many things that go on in my life that only He knows about. And although you may never specifically know what they are, you know that I am a living, breathing person, therefore I have problems.

So, here is what you do: Know that life is not always easy for me, just as I know that about you, and PRAY for me. Remember me when you seek His face, call out my name before the throne. Remember my bonds.

I was struck by the words of Paul today in Colossians 4:18 The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.

This is the very LAST verse in the Book of Colossians.

There are 94 other verses in that book alone. And in those verses Paul talks about thanksgiving, grace, joy and love.

But in only one verse, that very last verse does he mention it, the fact that he has a need.

A desperate need.

On four or more years during his ministry Paul was in prison, literally.

And while he was he wrote Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians, and Philippians.

While he was in bonds, he continued to work, he continued to exalt the church, continued to correct, to lead, to teach and to love.

It was during an imprisonment he wrote: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

While in bondage he continued steadfast in the work of the Lord. And instead of Epistles that paint a picture of how unfair and unjust life had been to Paul, we are painted a beautiful masterpiece of faith in the face of impossible circumstances.

That is the testimony I want to leave behind.

Not how bad my problems were, but how good my God was to me.

Are my problems gone? No.

Remember my bonds when you pray, as I will yours.

BUT....my bonds are NOT what I want you to remember about me....not what I want to fill up the pages of my life story.

Yes, they are there, but I want my life to tell the story of what I did in spite of the circumstances I may have found myself in. I don't want the problems of my life to be the plot...I want them to be a side note.

Let that be the closing line, not the opening one....

Oh, by the way....remember my bonds.

Amen.

Breaking Generational Curses

Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Many years ago when my children were small we bought a home. It was a little place but I loved it because it represented permanence and stability. My husband and I had both grown up as “newspaper brats” and as such we moved frequently. We decided that was not the life we wanted for our family. We wanted a home base. 

My kids went to public school and were constantly having fund raisers. It was one of these fund raisers that I found a door knocker for our new home. 

Neither my husband or I were truly raised in church. We went sporadically while I was growing up and I am pretty sure he only went while staying with his grandparents. We went through some rough patches early on and it was during one of those rough patches we decided to change our direction and turn to God. 

We had no idea we had been worshipping the “gods of the Amorites.” We were caught up in worldly things, fleshly things. 

I think it’s interesting to note that Joshua, coming to the end of his life, noted that their fathers worshipped other gods “on the other side of the flood.” But once they came through that “Red Sea” experience and walked into the salvation from the their Egyptian captors, they left those “other gods” behind. 

While we were very young with a baby girl, we drove over an hour to attend the church my brother was attending in Westlake, Louisiana. It was there we received the revelation of Who God is and once we reached the other side of the flood through Baptism in Jesus’ Name and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost we committed to serving Him and raising our family to know Him. 

We strayed away for a time but once again we found ourselves at an altar making a commitment to Jesus and to our family. 

It was after this time I bought that door knocker. At that time I was very unhandy and I asked my husband to please hang it on the door. I wanted everyone who crossed that threshold to know, without a doubt, what and Who we stood for. 

He never hung it. I asked but there was always an excuse and he never found the time to do it. I repeated the request over and over until one day, years later in the midst of our broken family, I threw it away. 

Because, you see, it was not his declaration. 

As for him, he really didn’t want to serve the Lord. And he did not want that statement on the threshold speaking for him. 

Simply because he did not want to let go of the gods of his fathers. 

Even when it cost him everything, his family, relationship with his son, his health, he made a choice. 

Like those Israelites leaving Egypt, he was clinging to those things on the other side of that flood of grace that destroyed the enemies of his heart. 

When I talk to him he never fails to mention his father who has somehow become god-like in his life. That has become the standard he has set his goal of reaching. 

And he will reach it. 

It breaks my heart. 

Today is the day I realized just why he never wanted that door knocker on our home. He didn’t want that declaration to identify his family as serving God. And as he brought things in and came home surrounded in things he should have stayed clear of, he didn’t have to walk past that statement and be reminded of the lie his life was making it. 

Because of that choice, his own silent statement that I never heard with my heart, he has grandbabies he will never see. And, that is his choice, not his son’s. As for him, he wrapped the curses that had been applied to his family, a family that lost all but one member related to the iniquities of the flesh, around his shoulders like a banner, declaring to the world that he is supposedly his own man. 

But, through this he raised a son who has determined in his heart to leave behind the gods of his father. His babies go to sleep every night hearing their Daddy pray over them. 

He will be there as the Lord allows to see his own grandchildren live for God. 

And, although there is no door knocker on their door, there is a peace that only comes from the Presence of God, that fills their space. His beautiful wife serves with him and has confidence in who he is. 

I am thankful that my son and his house serve the Lord. I am thankful that curses that have plagued the men of a family for generations are gone. And, they are broken from the determination that the Lord WILL BE SERVED in that home. That is what it takes. 

The determination to live a life pleasing to God. Not your flesh.  Not this world or the gods of this world. Not caring one bit what anyone else thinks. And not wanting your children to be like their flawed parents or family members, but wanting them to grow in God. 

Write it on the doorposts of your heart so that whatever tries to come in, whatever your flesh tries to invite in, it will know where you stand. 

As for ME………