No matter what is going on in the world, or in our lives, God alone can comfort us at the deepest level of our being.
Learn how to access God's comfort:
Video Audio download ("Only God Comforts")
We read in Galatians 2:16,
"yet we know that a man is not justified [and placed in right standing with God] by works of the Law, but [only] through faith in [God’s beloved Son,] Christ Jesus. And even we [as Jews] have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law. By observing the Law no one will ever be justified [declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty]." (Gal. 2:16, AMP)
"By observing the Law no one will ever be justified." This is quite a statement, especially coming from Paul (formerly Saul) of Tarsus- the Christian-hater, the Jewish zealot. He was zealous for Israel as a nation, and as the only religion he believed was ordained by God. He was willing to put people to death for his ideals. (Acts 7:54-8:2)
But, Paul had had an experience of Jesus that completely changed him. He went from mind to heart in an instant, from religion to relationship with a Person- Jesus the Messiah. He knew he was loved and cherished and had a mission...
This is the kerygma, the basic Gospel message! (1) Man sinned, and forfeited his right to relationship with God. All man tried to do to please God didn't work; man could never live righteously on his own strength. (2) But God had mercy, and sent His only Son to die for us. He bore the punishment that we deserved (suffering and death on the Cross), all the humiliation and shame, which He did nothing to deserve.... (3) Christ Jesus won the victory for us: "Yet some people accepted him and put their faith in him. So he gave them the right
to be the children of God." (John 1:12) This right is available to you today!
The Gospel is: human works/efforts/activities do not save; only Jesus' death on the Cross makes a person righteous before God- and if we want this, we have to receive it in a personal way through prayer.
But, it is also true that our efforts can never truly comfort or free us. Jesus said, "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever." (John 14:6)
Why did Jesus give us the Holy Spirit? In part, because He knew we would be disappointed, hurt and persecuted! (John 15:8, etc.)
Thank God for the Holy Spirit, who comforts, guides and empowers God's children! Yet, most people, when they are hurt or discouraged, do not turn to the Holy Spirit for comfort (mostly, the reason is they don't know how!). Rather, they turn to the things of earth.
Created things seem more immediate to us humans, who are used to living in the body, the flesh. People want something that makes them feel better. This, in fact, is the cycle of addiction in a nutshell:
TRAUMA/ PAIN/ --->(need to feel better, CREATED THINGS ---> temporary SUFFERING/ turn to) --> satisfaction MISUNDERSTANDING, etc.
PAIN RETURNS ---> (start the process over)
Life is going to hurt us. Jesus knew it all too well- He was killed by His own people! He said, "In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
People in the world succumb to the cycle of addiction all the time. People can be addicted to anything, turn to anything or anyone for comfort- when they realize it makes them feel better, they continue doing it, even though they realize it doesn't solve the problem, only makes them feel better temporarily.
The reason rehab doesn't usually work, is that it gets people off of what they were addicted to, but doesn't offer an eternal solution- a solution that will never fail, that always makes people feel and become, better, every time.
The Answer Jesus gives is the Holy Spirit! People can read/hear this and scoff, laugh out loud and mock...but deep down, you realize that no matter what you have tried, nothing eliminates the pain completely. Nothing removes the pain or trauma- there's only the devil's medication out there in drugs, sex, porn, alcohol, people, money, places, things. Nothing ever satisfies, except for God.
This is why we were made- to commune with God! Created things only meet us in our physical being- what about the spiritual side? We are body-soul unity, we have an eternal spirit! Drugs and sex do not heal us spiritually- they damage us and make us slaves to them: "everyone who sins is a slave to sin." (John 8:34)
Perhaps you're not addicted to anything....but you're in the beginning stages if you turn to something/someone other than God when you're hurting.
Even husbands and wives and children can become idols! Husbands and wives, truly are called to comfort one another- but what about those times when you feel no one truly understands you but God? In fact,
at the deepest level, that is the truth! (This is one of the reasons so many marriages fail, because people are expecting their spouses to fill the hole only God can.)
Only God can truly comfort. This is one of the main roles of the Holy Spirit.
See, one of the reasons people don't turn to God is because they mistakenly blame Him, or religion, or Christianity for their problems. "Were was God when ____? Why didn't He prevent it? If He's a good God, why does He allow suffering?" etc., etc. It is the age-old argument with God.
The truth about Job in the Bible, is that he understood that God couldn't actually have been the one that was making him suffer. Why do bad things happen to good people? Because the devil, and people, hurt people. "Hurting people hurt people." The devil hates people, because they look like Jesus! We are made in God's image, but we don't usually treat each other that way...
People blame God for evil things, which He can't do. He is totally, 100% good. He is love and goodness itself. (1 Jn. 4:8)
Hurt is usually demonic- something spiritual, out to destroy us. The devil is the thief. "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]." (John 10:10)
So, God doesn't promise we won't get hurt- He promised to make it better.
Since we are spiritual, the devil hurts us spiritually through rejection, disappointment, abandonment, lies, etc. Physical hurt is bad, but emotional/spiritual trauma is worse. It can make a person go mad, contemplate suicide...if they don't hope in God. Most people don't know there is a good, loving God they can hope in, and actually experience.
CALL ON THE HOLY SPIRIT! Jeremiah looked for "a balm in Gilead." (Jer. 8:22) The old Gospel song says,
"there is a balm in Gilead/ to make the wounded whole/ there is a balm in Gilead/ to save the sin-sick soul.
Sometimes I feel discouraged / And deep I feel the pain/ In prayers the Holy Spirit/
Revives my soul again."
Hallelujah! The Holy Spirit is the "balm of Gilead." He is the healing remedy for the world today and always. He heals the pain at the deepest level- actually, He can remove it completely.
When the world, the flesh, the devil disappoint, the Holy Spirit comes in and appoints. He is the Wind of Change that transforms every situation, if we invite Him in to do so.
There is a reason the Bible talks of the Holy Spirit as oil, or anointing. Oil is something you can feel- something that's hard to wash off once it gets it on you. It's something soothing to sore muscles, something still proven to strengthen the immune system today.
When I gave my life to Jesus, I experienced what can only be described as
a warm shower of liquid love. It was the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit. It's what the Father pours out as His Promise (Luke 24:49) for anyone who will ask. (Luke 11:13) It hits your spirit, and spills into your soul (mind, will and emotions) and manifests in your body. You can feel His warm love all over you...if you let Him in. "Those who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Joel 2:32)
When we're hurting, the devil brings temptation to seek comfort in anything else but God. This is because he knows God alone, by the Holy Spirit, can comfort us.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons Jesus says the only unforgiveable sin is the one against the Holy Spirit...He is the promised Comfort that we need when we are down, discouraged, hurting. Certainly, addiction is the number one way people fall away from God- "their first love," (Rev. 2:4) their True Comforter.
It takes discipline (from the word, "to teach") to train ourselves to turn to Someone we can't see, and haven't learned to touch. Yet, John reminds us that Jesus is the Word that we can see and touch- "which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life." (1 Jn. 1:1)
We need to stop distracting ourselves from the pain with TV, or medicating our symptoms with evil things, or even things that are good in themselves but do not truly satisfy. "All is vanity..." (Eccl. 1:2) except for God- He alone is eternal and can heal us completely.
FOR COMFORT: go to God in prayer: the Word of God (daily Scripture)
worship (which brings the anointing of the Holy Spirit)
This is what Jesus called "spirit and truth" in John 4- spirit, the Holy Spirit's anointing, and truth, the Word of God.
If we can access these two gifts from God- actually, God Himself in the Word and the Spirit, we can always unlock His comfort for us. We will never be disappointed, because He will constantly be appointing us. Let us turn to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit in prayer, and be comforted today!
In Christ Jesus,
Dan Devine, M. Div
Identity Crisis Management (Outreach for Men)
Download the free audios: "ICM Step 1," and "Faith," the first steps towards freedom.
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