Christian Survival Kit: Chapter 1 - part 6
You've got to recognize that
God has given you power over any situation. A lot of people can walk in
faith if they have a cold or a cough, but if it's cancer, that's
different. But there is no difference in the sight of God. If they tell
you that you are going to die of cancer, you can make a choice not to
let your heart be troubled.
I could give testimony after testimony after testimony of people who have done this. Any situation that you find yourself in, I guarantee I can find somebody who has faced the same situation and has come through it with flying colors. And if you don't know somebody, you can go to God's Word and can find someone in a situation that was equal to or worse than yours, and yet they came through.
If you're depressed, if you're discouraged, no matter what's happening to you — and I make that statement without any reservations — it's because you've chosen to submit to those feelings. You've made the wrong choices.
Now some people will think,
"Well, that condemns me." But it shouldn't. It should convict you and
encourage you at the same time because if you're the one who made the
wrong choices, you can change everything by making the right choices.
This doesn't condemn me. It blesses me because if some things are just too big for God, I'm in bad shape. All I can do is learn to roll with the punches, have people show pity for me, and feel sorry for myself. But if God has an answer, and if the only reason I'm experiencing the difficulty is because I made wrong choices, that blesses me — because I can change me. I can't change God,
but I can change me.
When you ask some people how they are, they immediately begin to tell you every bad thing that has happened to them — "I don't feel so good and the kids are sick and my rent's late" and on and on. What they are doing is justifying their feelings. They actually get some kind of glory out of telling you how bad they feel. A person like that is never going to break out until they make a choice that they're going to be different.
Instead of being a weakling,
you can choose to be strong in the Lord. Joel 3:10 says, "Let the weak
say, I am strong." You can choose victory. You can identify with
victory. Isaiah 54:17 says, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall
prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou
shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and
their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD." If that's the truth, then
how can we justify being defeated, or justify the fear we feel? We
cannot justify it.
The answer is to recognize that we've made a wrong choice. The answer is to repent and to begin saying that it's not the problem, it's not these people, it's not that circumstance, which is causing all of my problems. That's the "Adam syndrome," where Adam said it's that woman that God gave him. He pushed the blame off on Eve, then tried to put it on God (Gen. 3:12).
Some people do the same thing. "Well, it's the flu season," they say. "The bug's going around." In other words, it's that bug's fault instead of your fault for making a wrong choice. Or, to put it another way, it's God — "God, why have you allowed this thing?"
God did not allow the problems in your life. The bug is not your problem.
Other people are not your problem. Your mate isn't your problem. The people at work aren't your problem. The economy is not your problem. You are your problem.
I was teaching on this one Sunday in church. When I said "There is no justification for your depression," a woman sitting behind one of the pastors said "Unless you have a chemical imbalance." Some people try to push it off on chemical imbalances in the body. That's not your problem either.
If you have a chemical imbalance, then get healed! There is no justification for being less than what God told us to be. It is my opinion that even those who really do have a chemical imbalance have thrown that balance off through wrong thinking.
Again, there is no condemnation in this. God loves you. You can go to be with the Lord depressed, defeated, and discouraged if you want to. God still loves you. He is not condemning you — and neither am I.
I'm saying that if you want victory, it's available. But it starts with you making a choice. It starts with you recognizing that no weapon formed against you can prosper, unless you choose to let it prosper (Is. 54:17).
God gave you the choice over life and death. If you are experiencing death instead of life, it's because you made a wrong choice. God will not make the choice for you. Satan cannot make the choice for you.
If you aren't healthy, happy, and prospering, it's because you've made wrong choices.
Can God Handle C-C-C-Cancer?
I could give testimony after testimony after testimony of people who have done this. Any situation that you find yourself in, I guarantee I can find somebody who has faced the same situation and has come through it with flying colors. And if you don't know somebody, you can go to God's Word and can find someone in a situation that was equal to or worse than yours, and yet they came through.
If you're depressed, if you're discouraged, no matter what's happening to you — and I make that statement without any reservations — it's because you've chosen to submit to those feelings. You've made the wrong choices.
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No Condemnation
This doesn't condemn me. It blesses me because if some things are just too big for God, I'm in bad shape. All I can do is learn to roll with the punches, have people show pity for me, and feel sorry for myself. But if God has an answer, and if the only reason I'm experiencing the difficulty is because I made wrong choices, that blesses me — because I can change me. I can't change God,
but I can change me.
When you ask some people how they are, they immediately begin to tell you every bad thing that has happened to them — "I don't feel so good and the kids are sick and my rent's late" and on and on. What they are doing is justifying their feelings. They actually get some kind of glory out of telling you how bad they feel. A person like that is never going to break out until they make a choice that they're going to be different.
Let the Weak Say...
The answer is to recognize that we've made a wrong choice. The answer is to repent and to begin saying that it's not the problem, it's not these people, it's not that circumstance, which is causing all of my problems. That's the "Adam syndrome," where Adam said it's that woman that God gave him. He pushed the blame off on Eve, then tried to put it on God (Gen. 3:12).
Some people do the same thing. "Well, it's the flu season," they say. "The bug's going around." In other words, it's that bug's fault instead of your fault for making a wrong choice. Or, to put it another way, it's God — "God, why have you allowed this thing?"
God did not allow the problems in your life. The bug is not your problem.
Other people are not your problem. Your mate isn't your problem. The people at work aren't your problem. The economy is not your problem. You are your problem.
I was teaching on this one Sunday in church. When I said "There is no justification for your depression," a woman sitting behind one of the pastors said "Unless you have a chemical imbalance." Some people try to push it off on chemical imbalances in the body. That's not your problem either.
If you have a chemical imbalance, then get healed! There is no justification for being less than what God told us to be. It is my opinion that even those who really do have a chemical imbalance have thrown that balance off through wrong thinking.
Again, there is no condemnation in this. God loves you. You can go to be with the Lord depressed, defeated, and discouraged if you want to. God still loves you. He is not condemning you — and neither am I.
I'm saying that if you want victory, it's available. But it starts with you making a choice. It starts with you recognizing that no weapon formed against you can prosper, unless you choose to let it prosper (Is. 54:17).
God gave you the choice over life and death. If you are experiencing death instead of life, it's because you made a wrong choice. God will not make the choice for you. Satan cannot make the choice for you.
If you aren't healthy, happy, and prospering, it's because you've made wrong choices.
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