Isaiah 43: 1-3 - Church of God in Jackson, MI · PDF fileIsaiah 43: 1-3 “Fear not: for I...

Isaiah 43: 1-3

“Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God.”

Bro. Bobby Beauchamp

Be Encouraged, You Can Make It!

Copyright © 2010 Bro. Bobby Beauchamp

All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as permitted by the publisher. Printed in the United States of America

Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are from the King James Version Bible. Cover Design and Printing by: Graphix Network P.O. Box 2745 Evans, Georgia 30809 (706) 210-1000

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Dedicated to:

The weary and downcast soul who

feels he can go no further and that

all hope is lost.

I want you to remember: whoever

you are and wherever you are at in

this journey called life; and

whatever obstacles you’re facing

today; Be Encouraged, You Can

Make It!

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Table of Contents Introduction..........................................................................7 Preface................................................................................11 Chapter 1 You’ve Come too Far to Turn Back Now..........................15 Chapter 2 You are Not Alone .............................................................29 Chapter 3 Mountains or Molehills (It’s not as bad as it looks) ......... 45 Chapter 4 Walking by Faith (Not by Feelings) ................................. 57 Chapter 5 Moving Past Yesterday ......................................................79 Chapter 6 Overcoming Discouragement ............................................95 Chapter 7 Words of Encouragement ................................................111

Be Encouraged You Can Make It

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Introduction

This is a well written, highly inspiring and a must have

book for all serious Christians on their journey to the

celestial city (Heaven). Discouragement is one of

the greatest weapons that the enemy has in his

arsenal to hinder the Christian’s forward spiritual

progress. This wonderfully written work offers insight

and keen guidance on how to successfully repel this

satanic weapon of spiritual mass destruction

(discouragement).

When God was speaking with Moses’ successor

(Joshua) He made him several promises and

assurances; however, all of these were predicated on

one special requirement – that he not succumb to the

spirit of discouragement and lose his courage.

Jos 1:5 “There shall not any man be able to stand

before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with

Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee,

nor forsake thee.”

Jos 1:6 “ Be strong and of a good courage: for

unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance

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the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give

them.” –KJV

Just as God told Joshua that it was critical for him not

to lose courage, God is saying the same thing to every

one of his children today. Despite what the devil sends

in his attempts to discourage God’s people, it is

fundamentally important to maintain courage. This

book will help all who read it to do exactly that.

I have read many, many books concerning the

Christian journey but this is the one book that deals

exclusively with the critical topic of encouragement. If

a saint is in the midst of a spiritual conflict in which

their courage is being severely tried or if one simply

needs a fresh boost of inspiration and encouragement,

this is the book for them.

Over the course of approximately the last decade I

have had the pleasure of working closely with the

author of this book in Christian ministering and I can

say this book epitomizes what he has been all about –

encouraging the saints of God. This book is basically a

gathering of portions of messages he has preached,

inspiring stories that he has come across, encouraging


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poems he has read, and uplifting life experiences he

has encountered.

In the course of the authors spiritual journey the

enemy has worked hard to discourage him. However,

not only has he not succumbed, he has countered the

devils attack and now uses encouragement as a

fundamental aspect of his ministry. In addition, he has

also taken the time and put forth the effort to pen this

much needed book to help those who may face similar

attacks. I have no doubt that all who takes the

opportunity to read this book will be tremendously

blessed, refreshed and encouraged.

Yours in Him,

Bro. Lee Hampton


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Preface

Of all of the books in my library at home that I

have amassed over the years of my Christian Journey,

I cannot think of any more valuable book (other than

my Bible) than a book completely on the topic of:

“Encouragement.” The problem is: I have not found

one to add to my library. I have several books with

little bits and pieces of encouragement; maybe a

chapter, a segment of a chapter, or even a small

paragraph or story dedicated to one of the most

necessary topics involved with the Christian Journey.

However, I have yet to find a book completely

dedicated to this topic. Those bits and pieces have

become as cisterns of water gleaned from the pure

crystal rivers flowing through the deep valleys of a

mountain side. I have oft refreshed myself and

renewed my courage by resorting to them.

It is of my personal opinion, although backed by

my experience, that encouragement is most definitely

a vital element to the successful completion of the

Christian’s Journey. Many books have been written on

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doctrine, on standards, on prayer, and various other

topics; all of which have no doubt been of great help

to the honest soul. But, I am of the mindset that a

word of encouragement can go a long ways. As the

Wise King Solomon once said in Proverbs 25:11: “A

word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of

silver.” And Isaiah wisely said: “The Lord God hath

given me the tongue of the learned, that I should

know how to speak a word in season to him that is

weary...” – Isaiah 50:4 “

During my ministry, I have preached on many

different topics and during my experience, I have

heard many ministers preach on these same topics; yet

in my ministry and experience, I have never seen a

message more received and more needed than that of

encouragement. The message that says: regardless of

you what you’ve been through, what you are going

through right now, and what you will go through in the

days that lie ahead; You Can Make It!

Encouragement is the message of HOPE that promises

a better day is coming, that there is a bright side

somewhere, and that: “This too shall pass.”


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It is my firm belief that we need to be

encouraged and inspired as often as we can because

the enemy of our soul is daily trying to cast the spirit of

gloom upon God’s children to cause us to lose courage

and give up the fight. With this in mind, we send forth

this book as a weapon to place in the arsenal of every

sincere Christian to help them combat the enemy of his

soul.

Yours in Christ,



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Chapter One

You’ve Come too Far to Turn Back Now

“The Journey of a Thousand Miles begins with

one step.”—Chinese Proverb Today many people don’t have time for long and

lingering details; they just want you to get to the bottom line.

Here’s the bottom line concerning you and your salvation.

“You’ve already come too far to turn back now!” Whether

you’ve walked a step in the way of salvation or a thousand,

you’ve come too far. Let me explain.

The wise Chinese proverb quoted above speaks

volumes. Salvation in and of itself is a Journey; it is a

lifetime walk with Jesus Christ in a personal relationship. It

is not joining church or something that you do on Sunday. It

is, however, a covenant, a commitment, a 24/7 walk with

Christ. It was not designed to be part of your life, but rather

to be your life. This is what salvation is.

Salvation also is what you’ve always wanted and

longed for. It is what you’ve been searching for your whole

Chapter One - You’ve Come too Far to Turn Back Now

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life. Many have yet to understand this, but as the song says:

“all the while I was searching, I was searching for Him.”

When God made man out of the dust of the ground, He

breathed the breath of life into him and man became a living

soul. (Genesis 2:7) What made man alive was the Breath

(Spirit) of God. Today you are not living unless you have

the Spirit of God in you. You may be existing without it, but

you are definitely not living. So from the beginning God

placed a piece of Himself in you and the only thing that can

fill that void is God Himself. Many have tried to find it and

fill it in a world of sin; some have tried drugs, alcohol,

parties, money, houses, land, possessions, education,

relationships, and much more and never found what they

were looking for. Little did they know all the while they

were seeking, there was someone who was seeking for them.

All the while you were seeking, what you were seeking for

was Jesus and Salvation. And this same Jesus was seeking

for you. All you had to do was make the connection. How

do you make the connection?

First Steps

It all started with a step; for some it was a physical

step down the aisle to an old fashioned altar of prayer, or

maybe just a step down to your knees by your bedside as you


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cried out to Jesus for forgiveness and deliverance. For all it

was a step that we no doubt heavily contemplated and

weighed out in our minds. By far, although it was only one

step, it was the biggest step in our lives and will prove to be

throughout all eternity the biggest step of our Salvation.

Not only was it the biggest step, but for many it was

the hardest step they will ever take. The day you got saved

and gave your heart and life to Jesus Christ, you had to make

some concrete and irreversible decisions. You had to decide

to give up everything that is wrong; sometimes that means

giving up friends and family, relationships, hobbies, illicit

and illegal activities, and much more. And not just giving

these up for a day or a week or even a month; but forever, as

long as we live or until Jesus comes again.

This is why, my friend, is why I say if you’ve been

saved a day, a month, a year, or several years; “You’ve

come too far to turn back now!” How many precious

souls continually put themselves in the valley of decision by

taking backwards steps? The old adage: “One step forward

and two steps back” will never bring about any real success

in life or Salvation. Because the bottom line is you are just

wasting time. Every time saints of God give up the fight and

go back, they are just wasting time and taking a daring


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chance on losing their never-dying soul to a devil’s hell for

all eternity. Many have put themselves through this

unnecessary drama time and again. They will only go only

so far in Salvation and give up and go back; only to find

themselves longing for the peace and joy they once knew

and find themselves repeating this first step over and again.

Solid Steps

Unlike a newborn baby learning to walk whose steps

are shaky at best, we through the power of Jesus Christ can

make our first steps count; not only count, but be solid and

firm enough to hold throughout the duration of time. I have

often counseled souls at the altar to: “Settle It!” When we

take a stand for the truth and the right, we need to make that

stand firm. We cannot afford to waver because the enemy of

souls will come to try us. So whatever it is you gave up for

Christ, whatever habits, music, clothes, or friends, you left at

the altar the day you got saved, make sure that is just where

they stay; on the altar.

Remember the Day

The day you took that first step towards Christ and

grabbed His outstretched hand should be a day you will

never forget. A baby may not remember his first step, but a


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saint of God should remember his. You may not always

remember the date and time because some things may fade

with time; but you should never forget what happened. You

should not forget the joy of sins forgiven, the glory that

filled your soul, and that assurance of a place called Heaven.

I have often told many that the day they got saved, or the

day they took their first step is and will be the best day of

their life; this far exceeds birthdays, graduations, weddings,

the birth of a child, and any other significant day.

It also will be a day that will come to aid you and

rescue in the days that lie ahead. When pressed sorely by the

enemy, when tempted and tried, when accused by the enemy

of souls, many a saint has gotten the victory by pointing him

to the day he got saved and the power of the one who hung

on the cross to save his soul. Many have traveled back in

time in their minds and remembered what took place, what

was involved in that first step, why they took that first step,

and what that first step meant. When accused by the enemy

that they have nothing and that they might as well give up

the fight, many have renewed their courage by calling to

remembrance the day of Salvation. You, too, to my friend

can stand firm in knowing that the God that saved you then

will keep you now.


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The apostle Paul said it best: “But we had the

sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in

ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered

us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust

that he will yet deliver us...” ---2 Corinthians 1: 9-10

The day you got saved a miracle took place! You

didn’t just join a church or shake a preacher’s hand. If you

truly repented, turned away from your sins, and accepted

Jesus into your heart, then a real genuine miracle took place.

Only God can transform a sinner into a saint; only the blood

of Jesus can take a heart that is black and filled with sin and

wash it in the red blood that flows from the cross and make

that same heart white as snow!

And the same God that delivered you from a spiritual

death in sin, will deliver you right now in the midst of your

storm and has promised to deliver you in whatever comes

your way tomorrow. This is why friend: “You’ve come too

far to turn back now!”

Don’t Turn Back

I once read a story about a lady who set out to swim

the English Channel. She started out with good weather and


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pleasant waters; however, as she got a little further in her

journey a deep fog settled in and the waters became cold and

choppy. After a while she couldn’t make out how far it was

to the finish or how far she had come. So she decided that

she would turn back. This young lady swam all the way

back to where she started from only to find out that she was

three-fourths of the way there. She actually swam further

back to shore that she would have had to swim to the finish.

In life and salvation, there will be some foggy days

and the waters are going to be cold and choppy; some days

you might not even see the sun hid behind the clouds, and it

is during these days that Satan will come the hardest and tell

you to turn back. But remember this, my friend: “You’ve

come too far to turn back now!”

Don’t Go Back

From time to time, I have had the opportunity to talk

to a back-slider and ask him: “Was it worth it?” “What you

went back on God for, was it worth it?” I have heard it said

that the thing you leave God for, you will eventually come to

hate. That girlfriend, boyfriend, hobby, occupation, or

whatever it is that will steal your first love away from God,


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that thing that it seemed like you can’t live life without, you

will come to hate it! There is an account in the Bible of a

young man, the son of King David named Amnon. He fell

head over heels in love with his half-sister Tamar. He had to

have her at any cost. He was willing to risk his position as

the King’s son and future inheritance to have her. And have

her he did. But afterwards the Bible tells us: “Then Amnon

hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated

her was greater than the love wherewith he loved her…”—2

Samuel 13:15. You may think that you will be happy if you

could have that which is forbidden, but don’t believe the lie

of the enemy. He writes checks that he can’t cover! Many

have given up the joy and peace and happiness of salvation

for the crumbs of momentarily pleasure in sin.

You must have it settled that there is nothing to go

back to and going back is not an option. I have passed by

brick buildings and sometimes you can see the outline of

where a door used to be that had been bricked up. At one

time that door was an entrance and exit for people to go in

and out. But after it was bricked up, that door no longer

existed. That is how we must feel about back-sliding. There

is no door, there is no fire escape!


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We must have it settled that there is nothing to go

back to. There is an interesting example of this in St. John

chapter 6. Let’s take a look at it.

He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my

blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the

living Father hath sent me, and I live by the

Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall

live by me. This is that bread which came

down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat

manna and are dead: he that eateth of this

bread shall live forever. These things said he

in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.

Many therefore of his disciples, when they

had heard this said. This is an hard saying;

who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself

that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto

them, Doth this offend you? From that time

many of his disciples went back and walked

no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the

twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon

Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we

go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.—St.

John 6:56-61, 66-68.

In brief examination of the above text, we can see

that the followers of Christ had reached a road block in their

experience. They proclaimed: “This is a hard saying.” For


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sure there are going to be some crossroads in our experience;

there are going to be some hard sayings and some hard

times. But, the question is, will we let that which seems so

hard rob of our precious salvation? Remember: many times

that which is hard only seems to be hard. And even if it is a

really hard and difficult test, trial, or temptation, we can take

courage in knowing this: “Ah Lord God! Behold, thou hast

made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and

stretched out arm, and there is nothing to hard for thee.”—

Jeremiah 32:17 (see also: Jer. 32:27 7 Genesis 18:14) There

is nothing we can face in life that God can’t handle!

Nonetheless, these followers of Christ and many

others since then allowed a hard time to cause them to turn

back on God. “Then Jesus asked the twelve, will ye also go

away?” For every saint of God who gave up and went back,

there are many more who decided to tough out and stick in

there and stay with it. “Then Simon Peter answered him,

Lord to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal

life.” Basically, Peter was saying: “Go back to what?” He

had the right attitude. No matter how hard it may get in your

salvation experience; it’s still not as hard as it is in Sin! I

have heard my Pastor often proclaim from the pulpit that in

60 years of salvation: “His worst day in salvation far exceeds

his best day in sin!”


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We would do well to take on the attitude of Peter. If

we look at what we left as being far inferior to what we have

now; if we remember the life of sin just the way we left it; a

miserable, sad, lonely, restless life, filled with heartaches,

headaches, disappointments and let downs, we will never go

back! As a matter of fact, Peter elaborated on this fact later

in his second epistle: For if after they have escaped the

pollutions of the world through the

knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus

Christ, they are again entangled therein,

and overcome, the latter end is worse with

them than the beginning. For it had been

better for them not to have known the way

of righteousness, than, to turn from the holy

commandment delivered unto them. But it

is happened unto them according to the true

proverb, the dog is turned to his own vomit

again; and the sow that was washed to her

wallowing in the mire.—2 Peter 2:20-22

Keeping all of this in mind dear reader let us make up

our minds with a firm resolve that going back is not an

option! And Remember: “You’ve come too far to turn

back now!”


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Don’t Stop

Salvation started with that first step; and it continues

with daily steps walking with the Lord. The key to success

in Salvation is: walking with God; not behind God and not

in front of God; but with God. Salvation is progressive; it is

an onward, upward, and forward movement. Sometimes the

pace is slow, other times it is fast. Either slow or fast, it is

always progressively forward and never backwards.

I read a story about a Brother named S.O. Susag one

time. Brother Susag lived in Norfolk, N.D. I believe it was,

and was on his way home from a mission trip. In Norfolk in

the dead of winter the temperature can get very low; even

several degrees below zero. Brother Susag embarked upon

his journey from the train station to his house. As he

walked, he got extremely cold and tired. After so long he

could barely feel his feet and thought for sure he could not

take another step. But, he knew that if he was to stop, he

would surely freeze to death. When he could walk no

further he got down on all fours and crawled. After a while,

he could crawl no further, so he began to roll. He rolled and

he rolled right up to his mail box where his family met him

and brought him in to warm up. He kept moving; he didn’t

stop.


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Let me tell you my friend that if we are going to

make it in the journey of salvation, we are going to have to

keep moving. If we can’t run for the Lord, then walk; if we

can’t walk, then crawl; if we can’t crawl, then roll; by all

means, we can’t stop! Heaven is our goal! So when reading

your Bible doesn’t seem to work, then pray. When prayer

doesn’t seem to work, then cry; if tears don’t bring the help

you need from God, then call someone on the telephone or

go to church. But whatever you do; Don’t Stop! Because

remember: “You’ve come too far to turn back now!”


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Chapter One Review

Points to Remember

1. I’ve come too far to turn back now.

2. It started with a step.

3. It is a step by step, day by day journey.

4. Don’t Turn back.

5. Don’t Go back.

6. Don’t Stop.

Questions to ask Yourself

1. Have I made the first step?

2. Have I settled it?

3. Am I going forward? (If you are going nowhere,

you are going backwards.)

4. Do I have a back door or fire escape? (Is

Backsliding an option?)


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Chapter Two

You Are Not Alone “…for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor

forsake thee.”—Hebrews 13:5

Loneliness! There is not a person on earth who is yet in

his right mind and has use of all of his mental faculties that

absolutely loves the state of loneliness. In rare occasions,

we have heard of the hermit who lives alone apart from

society in a desert place. They may have chosen this

lifestyle for various reasons; an inability to adapt to society,

maybe a shameful past that they do not wish to face, or

maybe they have been deeply hurt by humanity. No matter

what the reason, they do not represent the norm of mankind.

The truth is that we (the human race) are all co-

dependents. We need each other! When God made the first

man Adam, He said it is not good that man should be alone.

(Genesis 2:18) God realized that Adam needed the human

support of a companion to be successful. From the beginning

God, so designed us that we should be dependent on one

another, yes; but, ultimately dependent on God Himself.

Again, We Need Each Other. The child needs the loving

Chapter Two – You Are Not Alone

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care and nurture of its mom and support of its father. The

brother/sister needs the friendship of his own siblings. The

wife needs the love, protection, and provisions of a caring

husband; and the husband needs the acceptance, affirmation,

and support of his wife. Herein lies the importance of: “True

Families.” God’s church is a Family and we as Brothers and

Sisters in the Lord need each other. Those who have been

newly converted to the faith (New Convert) need those who

have been seasoned in the faith to provide good solid

examples to follow. As Paul said, “Follow as me as I follow

Christ.” The younger need the older to teach them and the

older need the younger to help them. The congregation

needs the Pastor and Ministry to lead them and the Pastor

and the Ministry needs the congregation to pray for them.

We need each other.

No Man is an Island

My Pastor has often used the expression that: “No

man is an Island.” No man, no woman, and no saint of God

should allow themselves to be closed in on all borders

without a connection to any. Satan, the enemy of all souls,

works best through: “Isolation.” It is his whole goal, aim,

and desire to get the saint of God all alone; one on one. He


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knows that we are co-dependents on one another and God.

If he can separate us from each other and God, then he has

become successful in separating us from our lifeline: our

help.

When we allow the enemy to work through

circumstances to make an Island out of us, we are in trouble.

Oh, too often when someone gets hurt, when they have

seemingly been thrown under the proverbial bus of ideas,

opinions, and judgments of others they tend to run and hide.

How many have stopped coming to church because of what

someone said; or maybe the preacher said something in his

message and they thought he was talking about them. Or

worse yet, maybe they have made a mistake and fear to face

the shame associated with it and they decide to stop coming

to church, to stop answering phone calls or the door. Don’t

fall for it! It is the trick of the enemy! Sure you may have

been hurt, you may have messed up; but do not allow the

enemy to make an Island out of you! Your help is in God!

God’s works through his Word and through His Church! The

Bible says that God will send you help from the sanctuary.

So no matter what you are going through; don’t stop coming

to church. And remember: “You are not Alone!”


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A Case against God

Some time ago I remember a young sister who was

very zealous, sincere, and honest. She lived according to

God’s word and gave herself to be used of God in any way

that she could. She believed God’s word and endeavored to

live by it. This single young sister had a natural desire to be

married like many others. As time went by, it seemed that

there were those that were interested but never one that came

into fruition. Before long, this desire for something natural

came to overwhelm her desire for all things spiritual. She

became disappointed with God and actually believed she had

a case against God. She felt that since she had given herself

unreservedly to the Lord, that the least He could do was give

her a companion. This only continued for so long until she

found herself back in a world of sin.

What happened? The enemy was successful in

separating this young sister from the God she loved so dear.

He made her to believe that God doesn’t care and has left her

all alone in this life; naturally and spiritually speaking.

Beware of the enemy’s tactics! Don’t allow him to cause

you to play the Blame Game with God. God is our Help and

our Hope; He cares more for us than we will ever know; and

He knows what is best, when it’s best for us.


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Never Alone

The verse in the beginning of the chapter is one of

the most comforting, assuring, encouraging verses I have

ever read. For many of us when we got saved we had to

forsake mother, father, and brother, sister, best friends, and

all. Initially it would seem that we left them, only to be

alone in this life. But, we are assured through God’s word

time and time again that: “We are Never Alone.”

The amplified Bible quotes this verse like this: “…I

will not in any way fail you, nor give you up, nor leave you

without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any

degree leave you helpless, nor forsake, nor let [you] down,

[relax My hold on you].—Assuredly not!” In this life we

will have times when we will have to stand alone. We are

going to have some tests and trials that no one else can

understand. There are going to be some times when we

cannot connect with our human brothers and sisters. No one

will answer the phone and we are left alone in the Room of

our Mind; just you, God, and Satan. It is during these times

that we will be able to fully comprehend the fullness of this

verse. God will never forsake us or fail us. People may fail,

friends and family may fail, methods may fail, but God will

not! Not only will God not fail us, but He has promised to


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support us, to hold us up, to carry us through those lonely

nights and desert storms.

God Himself and His son Jesus know all too well of

the utter despair of the soul of one who is left all alone and

that is why He has promised to never leave us alone. Only

one person since the dawn of time has truly faced the

heartache and despair of truly being left all alone. There

have been many who have been forsaken by all earthly

friends and foes; but they still had hope in God. But, there is

only one who was left all alone without friend, without

family, and without God as He bore upon his shoulders the

sins of the World. When Jesus Christ hung on the cross he

felt the physical pain of the crucifixion; but what hurt him

the most is when God, His Father, whom he had never been

separated from, turned His back on Him. When Jesus took

on the sins of the World on that cross on a hill called

Calvary, God had to leave Him alone. A Holy and Just God

could not look on sin and He turned His back on Jesus. The

pain and feeling of absolute utter despair gripped Jesus at the

Heart as He cried out: “Eli, Eli, lama sabach-tha-ni? That is

to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”—

Matthew 27:46 Jesus felt the hurt, pain, and despair of being

alone and forsaken that day at Calvary so that you and I will


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never have to be alone, forsaken, and without hope in this

life! So remember, “You are not Alone!”

Never Alone 1. I’ve seen the lightning flashing, And heard the Thunder roll,

I’ve felt sins breakers dashing trying to conquer my soul; I’ve

heard the voice of my Saviour, Telling me still to fight on, He

promised never to leave me, never to leave alone.

2. The world’s fierce winds are blowing, Temptations sharp and

keen; I feel a peace in knowing My Saviour stands between; He

stands to shield me from danger, When earthly friends are

gone, He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone.

3. When in affliction’s valley, I’m treading the road of care, My

Saviour helps me to carry, My cross when heavy to bear, My

feet when tangled with briars, Ready to cast me down; My

Saviour whispers His promise, “I never will leave thee alone.”

4. He died for me on the mountain, For me they pierced his side,

For me he opened the fountain, The crimson, cleansing tide; For

me He’s waiting in Glory, Seated upon His throne; He promised

never to leave me, Never to leave me alone.

Chorus

No never alone, no never alone, He promised never to leave me,

Never to leave me alone. No never alone, no never alone, He

promised never to leave me, Never to leave me alone!


34

He’s There All the Time

There is a term that we use for God’s ability to be

everywhere and anywhere at one time. That term is: Omni-

Presence. God is the only being in the entire universe that

possesses the power and the ability to be everywhere at once.

God may be sitting on His throne in Heaven; yet, His

presence also fills the earth. Many have tried to say that

Satan also has this same Omni-Presence; however, we do not

find anywhere in Scripture that affirms this. At best he is

walking up and down and to and fro in the earth; from one

place to another; but he is not in all places at once as God is.

Listen to what God said through the prophet Jeremiah: “Can

any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him?

Saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth?—Jer. 23:24

What does this mean? It means that: “God is our

refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”—

Psalms 46:1 God will be there when no one else is there. In

the middle of the day or in the midnight hour, He’s there.

When healthy and strong or when our body is racked with

pain, He’s there. In the good times, in the bad times, He’s

there. Whether we have friends or not, whether we have

money or not, He is still there. God has given this promise:

“…lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the

world.”—Matthew 28:20 You cannot think up or dream of a


35

situation, a test or trial in life that you may go through that

God won’t be there for you. When you go through the fiery

trials of life you can rest assured that you are not alone.

When the three Hebrew boys took on the fiery furnace the

Bible, tells us there was a fourth man in the fire who looked

like the son of God. It was the Son of God, Jesus Christ! He

was there for them, He was there for Daniel; He was there

for Moses and Joshua, Paul and Silas, Peter, and countless

others. And He’ll be there for you! Remember, “You are

not Alone!”

The Support of His Presence

When Moses was having great difficulty leading

God’s people, the children of Israel, he pleaded with God for

some help and support. In reply God told him this: “My

presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.”—

Exodus 33:14. In our Christian journey, we are going to go

through many transitions in life. We will not literally pass

from Egypt into the Wilderness, then into Canaan as the

children of Israel did. But we will pass through the normal

and sometimes abnormal circumstances of life. And it is

God’s Presence that will make all of the difference. Some

will get saved young and pass from grade school, to middle


36

school, to high school, to college and they can make it and

they can stay gloriously saved if they keep God’s presence

with them. Others will pass from school into the workforce

or from being single to being married. To be successful in

each transition of life, we must have God’s presence. We

must feel just like Moses did when he told God: “If thy

presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.”—Ex.

33:15. In other words, there is nothing I want to do, no place

I want to go, no job I want to have, no person I want to

marry if God will not go with me. If God goes with me, then

I can count on the support of His Presence.

I once read of a story about a little shepherd boy who

was to take the sheep way out to pasture. This being his first

time taking the sheep so far from home and he being so

young he was naturally scared and fearful. His father gave

him a little horn to wear around his neck and a promise. He

promised his son that if he encountered trouble of any sort

that all he would have to do is blow the horn and he would

be there to aid and rescue his son. The son took courage

with the promise of his father and set out to pasture with the

sheep. After he had gone some ways away from home; a

pack of wolves came upon him and the sheep. He was very

frightened, but then he remembered the horn around his

neck. But, before he cold blow it; something came to him


37

that told him not to blow it; that he was to far from home and

his father could do nothing to help him now. As he

pondered this thought briefly, he decided to blow the horn

anyways. So he blew the horn as loud as he could. In what

seemed like just a second of time, his father was there to run

the pack of wolves away. Later the little boy asked his

father how he could get there so soon. The father told him

that I never left you, I was there following close behind you

all the time.

Friends, let us take courage from this story. There

will be times in our Christian Journey when it will seem that

all hope is lost, that nothing can be done to help us. But,

remember the Horn of Prayer. The little boy’s horn

represents Prayer. Even if it seems like it’s too late to pray,

Pray Anyways! Remember we serve an Omni-Present God

who is just standing by waiting to hear our prayer, our cry

for help. When He hears it, He will dispatch angels to our

rescue. So remember: “You are not Alone!”

What to do when God Hides Himself

I once read a story one time in one of my favorite

books called: Heart Talks by C.W. Naylor. In this story

Brother Naylor was relating an incident that happened to a

toddler boy. While he was playing with his toys in the room


38

and his mother was sitting near by he felt safe and had no

cause for any alarm. His mother asked him to come to her;

but he continued to play with his toys. He knew that she was

near by and did not make the effort to go to her when she

called. As the story goes, the mother soon quietly slipped

out of the room. After sometime the boy came to notice that

his mother was no longer present. This caused him to go

into a great panic and he searched frantically for his mother

until he found her.

What happened to this little boy sometimes happens

to us in our Christian Journey. He got carried away with his

toys and took the presence of his mother for granted. We

too, can get carried away with life and all of its cares,

responsibilities, recreational activities, hobbies, work,

school, etc… When we do, we rarely can hear God calling

us away for a time of prayer, devotion, and communion with

Him. So in turn what does God do? He hides himself. Just

like we used to play hide and go seek as children; God will

withdraw himself and we are to Go Seek Him! However, to

God this is not a game. He withdraws Himself many times

to pull us back closer to Him when maybe we’ve been

drifting or sometimes He pulls back when maybe we have

not pleased Him as we ought. This is what is sometimes


39

referred to as God’s Chastisement. In any case, when God

Hides, we are to Go Seek Him until we find Him.

Job expressed it best when he was searching for the

Help of God’s Presence: Behold, I go forward, but he is not

there; and backward, but I cannot

perceive him: On the left hand,

where he doth work, but I cannot

behold him: he hideth himself on the

right hand, that I cannot see him.

But, he knoweth the way that I take:

when he hath tried me, I shall come

forth as gold. My foot hath held his

steps, his way have I kept, and not

declined. Neither have I gone back

from the commandment of his lips; I

have esteemed the words of his

mouth more than my necessary food.

– Job 23: 8-12

Job knew what to do when he couldn’t find Him. He

kept right on doing the right thing. When he didn’t know

what to do; he did nothing but wait on God and keep God’s

commandments. Many times when we are going through

times of trial by God or times of discipline the enemy will

tell us to give up. He tells us to get discouraged; it’s not

worth the effort. If God really cared, where is he right now


40

when you need him most? The enemy of our soul will do

everything he can to fill our minds with these type of doubts

and questions. Remember, he wants you to have a legitimate

case against God. When you feel like you do, that is when

you have cut the rope of help above your reach. If anyone

had good enough reason to have a case against God, it was

Job. Yet, he maintained his integrity, continued to walk in

truth and put his trust in God. He went so far as to say:

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him…”—Job 13:15

So, if God seems to be hiding from you today, don’t get

discouraged; but go after Him, seek Him out in prayer, turn

over your plate and fast and pray, search your heart, clean

house, find out if there is anything God has put his finger on.

And most of all, don’t stop until you find Him and He floods

your soul with the joy of His Presence.

And remember this friend: You Are Not Alone! If for

whatever reason you think you are alone then memorize the

scriptures below to fight the enemy with.

1. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a

good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou

dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee

whithersoever thou goest.—Joshua 1:9

2. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in

trouble.—Psalms 46:1


41

3. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed;

for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will

help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand

of my righteousness.—Isaiah 41:10

4. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with

thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow

thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt

not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon

thee.—Isaiah 43:2

5. Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God

afar off?—Jeremiah 23:23

6. …and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of

the world.—Mathew 28:20

7. …for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor

forsake thee.—Hebrews 13:5


42

Chapter Two Review

Points to Remember

1. You Are Not Alone

2. No Man is an Island

3. Don’t get a case against God

4. He’s there all the time.

5. When God hides; You Seek.


1. Do I really believe in the Omni-presence

of God? That He is there all the time?

2. Do I let the enemy fill my minds with

feelings of doubts and loneliness?

3. When God hides, what do I do? Do I seek

after Him?


43

Chapter Three

Mountains or Molehills? “You Climb Mountains and Step over

Molehills.”

In life we are going to have trials; sometimes they are

relatively small trials and other times they are great big

trials. Nonetheless, whether we are saved or not, trials are a

reality of life. The way we look at these trials makes all of

the difference. In essence, the old adage is true in regards to

the trials of life. “Attitude is Everything.” I like Chuck

Swindoll’s definition of Attitude. He puts it something like

this. “The longer I live, the more I have come to realize that

life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.

This is Attitude.” In this chapter we will take a look at our

Attitude or our view of our trials and how, that if we have

the wrong perspective, it could be potentially dangerous to

our Christian journey.

Mountain or Molehill?

Mountains and Molehills what’s the difference?

Aside from a few thousand feet, not much. Both are

Chapter Three – Mountains or Molehills?

44

obstacles in our pathway that must be overcome. We would

do good to remember that mountains are made for climbing

and molehills are made for stepping over. One thing is for

certain; we can never let the enemy get us to confuse the

two. Here’s what I mean. Satan is the: “Master

Exaggerator”. He loves to take a molehill and stretch it out

to become this great insurmountable mountain. He can take

the smallest minute test or trial and make it seem like it is

the worse thing you have ever been through. And when the

trial is over he will make that same mountain of a trial back

into a molehill to minimize what God has done and how he

brought you out.

When the enemy comes to flood our minds with

doubts and feelings of despair telling us that this is the one,

the trial that will take us out we must remember 3 things.

1. Satan is a Liar and the Father of it.—St. John 8:44

2. A Molehill is a molehill and a mountain is a

mountain; just that. When we come to either, God

will enable us to go through, over, and beyond both

of them.

3. You’ve Been Through Worse. If you’ve been saved

any amount of time, you probably have been through

something similar, if not worse. And the same God


45

who brought you through before will bring you out

again.

Lord Don’t Move that Mountain

When we do come to actual mountains in our

Christian journey, our ability to conquer them will be based

on two things: 1.) Our Attitude 2.) Our Faith. I placed

Attitude in front of Faith for this reason. Attitude is all

important. Is it as important as Faith? Not necessarily.

However, it does impact our Faith. If we approach a

mountain of a trial with the attitude that we will never make

it to the top. All this really is is the spirit of Unbelief in

disguise. The spirit of unbelief is an antagonist to Faith.

That is why attitude is all important. When we approach

severe tests and trials or trials of any sort, we must not look

at them with the attitude of defeat in mind, we must not look

at them in our own strength but we must look at them as no

match for God and the Grace of God.

To better illustrate the importance of attitude read the

account of the 12 spies who went out to search the land of

Canaan before Israel was to take it over. You can find this in

Numbers Chapter 13, the whole chapter.

As the story goes, they went over into Canaan and confirmed

that is a land flowing with milk and honey. Yet, there is one


46

potential danger; the people are strong, the cities are

fortified, and they saw the sons of Anak (giants) there. So

they brought back an evil report saying: “We be not able to

go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.”—

vs. #31. Basically, they were spelling these giants with a

capital “G” and their god with a small “g”. Only Caleb and

Joshua possessed the attitude of victory. Because of their

strong faith in God, Caleb could boldly proclaim: “Let us go

up at once, and possess it, for we are well able to overcome

it.”—vs. #30

How about us? What kind of attitude do we possess?

How do we view the mountains or giants that stand as

obstacles in our Christian journey? Do we meet them head

on in the strength of our Redeemer or do we accept defeat

before the battle has even begun? Remember Attitude is

Everything.

The words to this song give us a great perspective of

how we should view the mountains of life. The song poet

wrote: Lord don’t move that mountain; just

give me strength to climb;

For if you should move that

mountain, I might grow weaker

every time.


47

Just as your son Jesus took the Cross

on Calvary’s Hill

Lord I’m praying for the strength

that I might better do thy will.

May the Lord Help us to not run away from life’s

trials but use them as an opportunity to grow closer to Him

and become more like Him. Through our Life’s most

difficult trials, may we learn to not pray as we want; but to

pray as we ought. As someone has said: “We need to stop

praying comfort me (make me feel good) prayers and start

praying conform me (make me like Christ) prayers.

Lastly, along the line of mountains, let me tell you of

the story my Pastor often tells to our congregation. There

was a lady who had to walk to work every day. Just outside

of her house was a great mountain that she had to climb over

every day on her way to work and again to get home from

work. One day she decided to put God’s word to the test and

pray/command that the mountain be moved. So she put her

petition before God and went to bed. In the morning she

arose and looked out of her bedroom window and said: “Just

as I thought, it’s still there.” She prayed but she did not

believe. Prayer without expectancy is unbelief in disguise.

If there is a mountain standing between us and our Blessings,

between us and God’s Glory, between us and our Healing,

let us not just say feeble prayers; but let us pray and believe


48

God. We can’t move the mountain but God can. He can

move it and He can give us grace to climb over it.

As a Roaring Lion

We read in the Bible a verse that accurately describes

the enemy of our souls. In 1 Peter 5:7 “Be sober, be

vigilant, for your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion

walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” How well

does the apostle Peter remind us that the devil is: as a

roaring lion. He is not actually a lion. There is only one

Lion in the entire Bible of any significance. That is: The

Lion of the Tribe of Judah—Jesus Christ!

Early in this chapter we explained the enemies desire

to blow stuff out of proportion; to exaggerate, and lie to us,

to give us the feelings of doubt and discouragement. Here

we can see that his roar is all he really has! Sometimes they

say that his bark is worse than his bite. This is true in

regards to the enemy. Don’t let his roar scare you! He can’t

bite you, he can’t harm you, and he can’t do anything to you

without God’s permission. When the enemy wanted to try

Brother Job, (Job Chapters 1 & 2) we read that he first had to

ask permission of God. So it is with us. He may be allowed

to roar at us all day, plague us with accusations, temptations,


49

doubts and unbelief. Yet, he cannot hurt us or harm us

without first going through God. So remember: when the

enemy comes running and roaring at you, making things

seem worse than they really are, just remember: This is not a

mountain; it is just a molehill.

The Spirit of Infirmity

Not only does the enemy like to take the everyday

situations of life that we face at home, at school, at work,

and abroad and make them seem insurmountable. But, he

also likes to take bodily afflictions and make them seem

worse than they really are. Because of Adam and Eve’s

disobedience in the garden, we as their descendants have

suffered much. One of the things that all of humanity must

face at different points of life is: sickness. Sometimes we

are plagued with the common everyday ails of life such as: a

cold, a headache, allergies, sore joints and muscles, ect…

Other times the afflictions of the body are far worse; such as:

cancer, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and

much more.

Sickness can come from several sources. Sometimes

our age and heritage make us more susceptible to certain

illnesses. Sometimes our work environment may expose us

to certain blood borne or airborne pathogens (viruses). But,

it would seem that most of our sickness and disease come


50

from one of two sources. Common Neglect on our part and

Satan himself.

1. Neglect: We read in Job “His bones are full of the

sins of his youth.” The law of cause and effect works in

all cases. If we neglect our bodies and run them into the

ground, we can’t expect to be healthy. Bad habits such

as drinking, smoking, unhealthy eating, lack of exercise

all equal health problems. Just like a car will break

down without an oil change and proper maintenance so

will our bodies. This is the cause of most sicknesses in

Christians and Non-Christians alike.

2. Satan: We should never underestimate the tactics of the

enemy. Anything he can do to hinder a child of God, he

will do. He does not follow rules; he hits beneath the

belt. Take this account into consideration in St. Luke 13:

11-12. “And, behold there was a woman which had a

spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and could in no wise lift

up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to

him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from

thine infirmity.” Also read verse #16: “And ought not

this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan

hath bound, lo, these eighteen years be loosed from this

bond on the Sabbath day.” Satan came to bind her with

this affliction and she accepted it. Then it lasted eighteen


51

years until Jesus came to her rescue. And by the way:

she was a daughter of Abraham, one of God’s own

children. Today many Christians are bound by the Spirit

of Infirmity. Maybe they felt something working in their

body and Satan told them it was cancer and they

accepted it. On different occasions I have had terrible

shooting pains from the front of my forehead to the base

of my neck and Satan has told me that I was about to

have an aneurysm. I resist him in Jesus name and refuse

to accept it. When the enemy comes to blow sickness

out of proportion, don’t accept it. Take it to the Lord in

prayer and leave it there. God is Faithful.

Remember

In conclusion of this chapter, I want to leave you

with one more weapon in your arsenal to combat the enemy.

When he comes and tells you that God has failed you, and

asks you, “Why are you going through this?” This is the

worse thing that could ever happen to you at the worse time.

I want you then to remember the words of this song:

“Things are not what you think they ought to be; but it

could be worse.” Oh yes, my friend, things can always get

worse. Just read the book of Job; his life got continually

worse for close to 40+ years before it got better. It might be


52

raining right now, but it could be a hurricane! You might

not have any money; but you could be homeless!

Think of the story of the man who complained about the

shoes he had to wear until he saw the man who couldn’t

walk because he had no feet. Now, all of sudden those shoes

aren’t that bad after all. Or the story of the beggar man who

used to watch the rich man drive by every day looking out

the window of his limousine. Oh, how he wished he could

trade places unto one day he found out that all the rich man

could move was his neck to look out of the window; he

could never get out of the car because he was a quadriplegic.

Now being a beggar who could walk, talk, and run doesn’t

seem so bad.

So please, my friend, no matter how bad Satan makes

things out to be or how bad they actually are, remember:

Things are not what you think they ought to be; but it

could be worse!


53

Chapter Three Review

Points to Remember

1. Mountains are for climbing, Molehills are for

stepping over.

2. Satan is a Liar

3. Attitude is Everything

4. Don’t accept sickness from the enemy.

5. Things can always get worse.


1. Do I readily accept the lies of the enemy as

factual?

2. Do I try to run away from my trials?

3. Do I pray without expectancy?

4. Do I accept Sickness from Satan?

5. Am I convinced of the fact that it can always

be worse and let this fact encourage me?


54


55

Chapter Four

Walking By Faith; Not By Feelings “For we walk by faith, not by sight’—2

Corinthians 5:7 I have titled this chapter: “Walking By Faith; Not By

Feelings” for a good reason. We, as human beings, are

the most wonderfully complex beings in all of creation.

God blessed us to be able to experience various emotions

in life. No other creature in all of creation can

experience the feelings that we as humans can. Sure the

birds sing from a joyful and care-free heart; and the dog

wags its tail in glee when his master comes home. By

this, we concede the fact that God made even the animals

to enjoy some of the benefits of emotions. However,

nothing on earth can experience life through the

emotional level a human being does.

I clearly remember the aching muscles in my face

from smiling all day on my wedding day. What a joyous

occasion! I also remember the tears of joy that I cried

when I held my first born child for the first time. These

were great feelings to experience. However, along with

the good feelings of life, we also must experience some

Chapter Four – Walking By Faith; Not By Feelings

56

of the undesirable feelings. The loss of a loved one

always leaves a deep and empty void. The grief of plans

gone wrong, the sadness of friends turned aside, and

loved ones gone astray, are also emotions that God gave

us to feel. And above all the emotions one can

experience in life, there is nothing heavier that one can

feel than the guilt and sorrow for a life spent in Sin. And

on the contrariwise, there is no happiness greater than the

joy of those sins forgiven!

Before I move on to the next phase of this chapter, let

me take a moment, dear reader, to explain this. God is

faithful; He has designed many ways to reach the heart

and soul of every sinner. He has chosen the preached

Word of God to bring many to salvation. Yet, He applies

various other methods as well. He will sometimes use

the circumstances of life to reach the wayward. When

your world is turned upside down and inside and out and

it seems as if no one cares, God does;

He’s not working against you; He’s working for you.

That relationship gone bad, that child gone astray, that

good job lost, and foreclosure on your house are all:

“Acts of God’s Mercy” What does this mean? It means

that God will try to bring you to a decision for Christ one

way or another. If the goodness of the Lord leadeth you


57

not to repentance, then God will try an Act of mercy.

This is a Wake-Up Call! You can’t make it successfully

through life or in the life hereafter without God, without

Jesus, and without Salvation. God also appeals to our

intellect and will sit down at the ‘Table of Negotiations’

and reason with us. (Isaiah 1:18) God also uses our God

– given emotions to take hold of our heart and lead us to

Him.

For many, the road to salvation encompasses all of

these measures; some of them more drastic than others.

The culmination is this: when God allows us to see

ourselves in our sinful state (pitiful, lost, and lowly)

when we reach the place where we see ourselves as God

sees us, then the guilt and despair of sin becomes a load

to heavy to bear! A type of Godly sorrow sets in that

cannot be chased away! Not with money, not with drugs

or alcohol, not with material possessions or friends.

Money may be the answer to a lot of things in life; but it

cannot take away the awful emotion of despair and guilt

that comes from a life lived in sin; confronted by those

sins in front of the God of love. It is through the road of

Godly sorrow leading the way to the cross of Christ

down the road of repentance that we find the joy of sins

forgiven! It is joy that no tongue can tell! A high that no


58

narcotic or alcoholic, nor monetary substance could ever

achieve. What a grand and glorious Feeling! What a

blessed thought! My Sins are Gone! The God of the

Universe loved me enough to forgive my Sins through

the shed blood of His own dear son Jesus! And to

prepare a place for me in Heaven! No longer to be

plagued by the Fear of Death! Truly this is the greatest

emotion one can ever experience this side of eternity!

And one day if we stay true, when we receive our new

body, we will experience the greatest emotion and Joy

that can only be experienced on the other side of

Eternity: Seeing Jesus face to face, embraced in His love

for all Eternity!

Feelings? I have already said much on feelings. As I stated,

they are God-given emotions to help us better comprehend

the experiences of life. God uses feelings to help us; and we

too, can use our feelings to help us. Yet, we must be careful,

because just as feelings are at God and our disposal, Satan

the enemy of our soul can use them too. We will talk more

about that later on in this chapter.

Faith If God uses feelings, then why do we need faith? As

we stated above and will get into later on: Satan uses


59

feelings too. This is why faith is all important. The enemy

of our souls may be able to manipulate our emotions and

feelings and use them against us and contrary to the plan of

God. But, one thing the enemy can’t do is touch out faith!

Our Faith is our greatest weapon against our adversary. It is

an offensive and a defensive weapon.

• Offensive: In Hebrews chapter 11 (Chapter of Faith)

we read of the many exploits done by the Bible’s

Heroes of the Faith. By Faith: they crossed the Red

Sea as on dry land. (defying nature) The walls of

Jericho came crumbling down (2 walls— each 12

feet thick) Gideon’s feeble army of 300 men put

thousands to flight (odds stacked against them)

Daniel stayed in a den of lions all night untouched,

Fire had no effect on the 3 Hebrew boys, The Sun

stood still for Joshua. Need we say anymore? These

all used Faith as an offensive weapon through prayer

to overcome the enemy standing before them. Faith

works just the same today. It doesn’t take a lot of

Faith to move God. So whatever the situation,

whatever the circumstance, if the odds are against

you; don’t despair. Use your Faith in God!

• Defensive: In Ephesians Chapter 6 verse 16 we read:

“Above all taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye


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shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the

wicked.” Faith is a defensive weapon. As Christians

we can expect to be attacked daily. The enemy

comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He will hurdle his

darts of temptation at our minds, seeking access into

our hearts. This is when we lift the Shield of Faith,

bearing the cross and crown of our Savior in our

defense. Every fiery dart the enemy shoots our way

will fall flat to the ground and he will retreat to

another day.

What is Faith?

With all of this talk about faith, I guess we better

define it so we can use it when we need it. The bible teaches

in Hebrews Chapter 11 verse 1: “Now faith is the substance

of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” In

other words, faith is believing. Some say seeing is believing.

But Faith is just the opposite: I believe it, even when I can’t

or don’t see it. This is what makes Faith so much more

powerful than Feelings. Feelings are restricted to operate

only within the confines of its circumstances. Faith knows

no limitations, confines, or boundaries. Faith tells you you

can when you can’t. Faith tells you it’s there, when it’s not.

Sound confusing? Really it’s not. To keep it simple,


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remember this: Faith is believing. Believe means to accept

as true or real; to expect. This is what is so awesome about

faith. When we have absolutely no reason to believe,

nothing to expect, faith changes everything and brings us

what we did not have.

Why Faith?

The next question is: Why faith? Let’s go back to

Hebrews Chapter 11 again. Let’s pick up our reading at

verse #27: “By faith he (Moses) forsook Egypt, not fearing

the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is

invisible.” The Bible teaches us that God is a Spirit. ( St.

John 4:24 ) That means that we cannot perceive God through

any of our 5 senses. We definitely cannot smell, taste, or

touch Him. Only Moses ever saw God (his hinder parts

Exodus 33:21-23) only very few people audibly hear God.

So therefore there is a necessitation of a 6th sense. We call it

faith. Through the eyes of faith we can experience God as a

present Reality.

Not only is faith required to perceive and experience

God; it is also a must to please and receive anything from

God. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for

he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he


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is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” ---Heb.

11:6

Without faith we couldn’t truly know that God exists.

Without Faith we could never receive of God the great gift

of God’s Salvation. Faith is an essential element to life.

Because it is, God made sure that every man has a measure

of faith. (Romans 12:3)

Faith and Works

If God has given everyone of us a measure of faith,

what does it do? As I stated above, faith enables us to know

God. It is our 6th sense. But, what else does faith do? Faith

Works! At least that is what the Apostle James said:

“Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works:

shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my

faith by my works. ---- But wilt thou know, O vain man, that

faith without works is dead?” ---James 2:18,20.

If we really have faith, it is working in us and it is

causing us to act upon it. Here’s what I mean; A man is

struggling with an addiction, maybe cigarettes or alcohol.

His faith in God tells him that there is deliverance through

the blood of Jesus and that he can be free from the bondage

of addiction. So he takes his deliverance by faith. But, what

does this mean? The same faith that is telling him that God


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can deliver him is also moving in him to give up, throw

away, and get rid of the cigarettes and alcohol. Then he will

never pick them back up again. In a nutshell faith and works

go hand in hand. Faith tells us to do our part and faith tells

us that God will do His.

A Deadly Combination

In the past I have had the opportunity to see boxing

matches. The boxers square off and exchange blow for

blow. Either of the boxers is just awaiting the opportunity to

land the knock out blow. Often times, that knock out blow

comes at the end of a deadly combination of punches thrown

in a flurry. A left jab, a right hook, followed by an uppercut

leaves the opponent sprawled on the mat waiting for the

referee’s 10 count to end the match. Little do people know

that the enemy of our souls, the devil, has his own 1-2-3

Combination Punch designed to knock you and me and

every Christian out of the battle for Heaven! This is where

the enemy can use our emotions and feelings against us to

knock us out.

The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 2:11: “Lest

Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not

ignorant of his devices.” Paul was saying if you know how

the enemy works, expose him! In doing so, you will save


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yourself and others! So let’s take a look at Satan’s

combination punch. One of his most familiar combinations

looks like this:

1. Accusations:

2. Bad Feelings (False Guilt)

3. Doubt and Despair.

The enemy has had great success playing off of the

natural human emotions and feelings for years. He subtlety

sets up situations to pull us off our square and get us to go

off on a tangent of feelings and emotions until those same

feelings and emotions lead us into an open act of sin against

our brother, our sister, co-worker, family member, or

whomever. To be more specific, let us refer to the following

hypothetical (yet common) scenario. You attend worship

service ready to sing and praise God. Before the service,

you make a stop in the ladie’s room. While in there Sister

So-n-So approaches and tells you about some story that

Sister Whomever is spreading about you. You know that it’s

a lie and there is no merit to it. Immediately the enemy

begins to throw punches that look a little like this:

1. Bad Feelings

2. Unforgiveness

3. Bitterness


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4. Hatred

I hope, dear friend, that you, I, we, can see the danger

of walking by our feelings. If feelings are our Master and

not Faith, we are sure to fail of God’s Grace. Our whole

Christian experience will be one up and down roller coaster

ride. I heard a long time ago, I believe it came from my

Pastor, that there should be nothing that you can’t get over in

24 hours. It sounded kind of strong at first; but as I

examined this saying, I could see the logic in it. The longer

we allow feelings, especially bad feelings, to fester in our

hearts and minds, the longer the enemy has a window of

opportunity to gain access to our hearts. The sooner we

submit our hurt and feelings to God, the better off we will

be. Don’t get me wrong now. We are human and the

feelings we have are real. When someone lies on us, it hurts.

When someone spreads rumors on us, it hurts. But it’s all

about how we handle that hurt that makes all the difference.

So the next time those feelings of hurt begin and the

temptation to create a harbor for them in our hearts arises,

get those feelings to God immediately. He knows about the

hurt; He has felt the pain. That is why He is called: “The

God of all Comfort.”


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Confirmation of the Blessing

Earlier in the chapter, we spoke about how God uses

our feelings and emotions as a way to bring us back to Him

and into true repentance to receive the gift of salvation.

Now we will take a brief look at how God will use our

feelings as a means of confirmation of the Blessing He has

bestowed upon us.

1. Joy of Sins Forgiven: When sinners come to the

Lord, they are laden down with the heavy burden of

sin. (Matt. 11:28-31) They have no peace and no rest.

(Is. 57:20-21) When they apply to the Lord for

salvation and forgiveness of Sins through repentance

and the shed Blood of Jesus; God often times gives

them a confirmation of the blessing received. We

call it the joy of sins forgiven. A Blessed Assurance

that Jesus is Mine! This is a joy that transcends

time and eternity! Upon the true conversion of a

sinner, God bestows Heavenly Joy not just on the

repentant sinner, but that same Joy spreads

throughout the Heavens. Every angel in Heaven also

experiences the Joy of the blessed reunion of a lost

soul bound for Hell with their Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ. “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the

presence of the angels of God over one sinner that


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repenteth.”---Luke 15:9 As a side note let me

mention this: God does bless through our feelings

and emotions and there is nothing like the feeling of

the heavy load of sin being lifted. However, God

also respects everyone’s individual temperament. I

have personally seen many cry tears of joy and shout

high praises when they got saved; and I have also

seen some quietly smile and thank God for the

Blessing. So God respects everyone’s individual

temperament; and occasionally I have seen those that

may be naturally quiet and reserved, explode in a

great show of emotion, praising God for some

particular blessing. Lastly, along these lines, let me

say that there is nothing like the initial joy of

salvation. Many have taken it for granted and lost it

and backslid. When they came back to God, they did

not feel the same joy or emotions they felt at the first.

Then they wonder if God saved them? I often tell

them if they did their part, truly repented and

confessed their sins and believed God, then God who

is faithful will do His part. Normally, after a short

time of proving, they, too, experience a greater joy

from God.


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2. Heaviness through manifold temptations: God

does not only use good feelings and emotions of joy

and happiness; but, He also uses feelings of hurt,

pain, and sorrow to accomplish His purpose in our

life. Let’s take a look at 1 Peter 1:6-7 “Wherein ye

greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be,

ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

That the trial of your faith, being that much more

precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be

tried by fire, might be found unto praise and

honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”

Why does God allow Satan to tempt us so? Why do

we daily face the gauntlet of tests and trials? If God

loves us so much, why does He allow bad things to

happen unto us? Shouldn’t bad things only happen to

those who do badly? These are age old logical

questions that many a Christian has struggled with

over the years of time. Let’s take a moment and

break this verse down; and maybe some of those

questions will be answered.

• “Wherein ye greatly rejoice...” In James 1:1 he

tells us to count it all joy. It seems absurd to think

that one could actually be happy when he should

be so sad. That they can come to church and


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praise God when it seems as if God has cursed

them. This is one of the greatest mysteries of the

Christian Experience. The joy of salvation is not

based upon the good times, the prosperous times,

or the healthy times. Negative external influence

does not take away or diminish true joy; but rather

they enhance it making it stronger. The greatest

example of this in the Bible and in the history of

man is found in the book of Job. Read chapters 1

and 2 and you will find that this man had learned

how to count.

• “If need be…” Peter said that we are enduring

these times of trial because we need to, because

we need the tough times and the trials to make us

strong, to increase our joy, and to perfect our faith.

Who says? Who determines if we need be? God

does. He is the author and the finisher of our faith.

He knows if we have learned to count it all joy.

He knows our weaknesses; He knows our Faith

needs to be strengthened. This is why he allows

us to be in heaviness through manifold

temptations. As one song says: “My trials come to

only make me strong.” Another song says: “If I

never had a problem, I wouldn’t know that God


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can solve them.” And yet another song says:

“And it’s the trials that bring us close to heaven,

and it’s the trials that bring blessings untold; and

it’s the trials that make pure gold!”

3. Joy Unspeakable and Full of Glory: God uses our

feelings and emotions to witness to us when we have

gone through the heaviness of manifold temptations

in a way that is pleasing to Him. As we stated, there

is a joy or shall we say a peace in the midst of the

storm that God gives. But, afterwards, when we have

gone through our trials right, God gives the sweet

taste of victory. There is always joy and happiness in

winning! When we go through right, God smiles

down His approval on us in the form of Joy

Unspeakable and Full of Glory!

Deception and Danger of walking by Feelings alone

The title of this chapter is walking by faith, not by

feelings. I have done my best to convey the importance of

walking by faith. Why is it so important? Because as God

uses feelings, so does Satan. How can we tell the

difference? Everything God does is to encourage and help

you along. Everything Satan does is to discourage and deter

you from the narrow way.


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It takes faith to perceive God. It takes faith to know

if God is happy with our lives. It takes faith to know that

God is going to be there for us when we need Him. If we

rely solely upon feelings alone, we are setting ourselves up

for defeat.

You see feelings can be totally deceptive. Satan can

use them to convince us that we are o.k. when really we’re

not. He can use them to convince us that we are not o.k.

when really we are. Case in point: I personally know of a

lady who seems to live an impeccable Christian life. She is

very careful, making sure she walks right, talks right, eats

right, dresses right, ect… She is at church when the doors

open. Yet, she believes that she is not saved because she has

not “felt it”. She has done what God requires, yet through

the constant accusations of the enemy, followed by bad

feelings, he has caused her to doubt and has bound her with

the spirit of unbelief. This is the knock out blow I referred

to. Recently, God has blessed this sister and she is actively

engaging in the battle and resisting the desire to base her

walk upon feelings. I have encouraged her to take it by

faith. I told her every time Satan tells her she is not saved,

to reply that I am saved by the blood of Jesus!

While we try to encourage people to not allow the

enemy to accuse them, yet, we also all must be careful not to


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harden our hearts when under the discipline of God. If we

are not careful, the enemy will cause us to gloss over things

in life that God is obviously not pleased with. For those who

don’t know how it works, it goes a little like this. When we

allow ourselves to be bated into sin, have a failure, make a

mistake, or do anything that God doesn’t approve of, He

smites our heart with something we call condemnation.

God’s intent in doing this is to make sure we are aware of

our fault or failure and to

help us to correct it. What the enemy then does is try to

persuade us to dismiss the condemnation and conviction as

nothing or he will try to lead us to justify the infraction. In

either case, if we yield, we lose.

The last danger of walking by feelings is the Danger

of the Spirit of Emotionalism. Emotionalism comes from

the word emotion. It means an inclination to rely on or place

too much value in emotions; an undue display of emotions.

We find this today very prevalent in false religion, especially

in charismatic churches who advocate speaking in tongues as

evidence of the Holy Ghost. Many people in these churches

will go out of their way to prove that God is with them, that

they know the man. Through pure emotionalism, they can

out-sing, out-preach, out-pray, any honest believer. But we

know the truth. It’s not exactly what you do in the house of


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God that makes you right with God; it’s how you live

outside, from day to day that makes one right with God. I

remember a lady I used to work with that basically unsaved

me because I would not speak in tongues. When I brought to

her attention that the evidence of the Holy Ghost is a Holy

Life, she balked at the idea. I explained to her that she could

speak in all the tongues she wanted too, known and

unknown; but, if she kept coming to work, gossiping and

spreading untrue rumors (she was known as the gossip

queen, or at least one of them on the job) that there is no God

in her experience, regardless of how she felt and how she

spoke.

To give one more example of the deception of

Emotionalism, let me tell the story of a young man who

came up for prayer at a service we were holding at the

homeless shelter. He was heavily bound to drugs and they

had a definite long term affect on his mind. When I began to

tell him that all the help he needed was in Jesus, he told me

he was already saved. Even though he had just smoked

marijuana the night before, he was convinced that he was

saved. When I enquired why he felt so, he told me because

he went down to Bishop C’s church and was baptized and

came up out of the water speaking in tongues and he felt it

all through his body. He knew because of how he felt that


74

he was definitely saved. The enemy’s trick worked again. If

he was truly saved at that moment, then a saved life would

have been the evidence, which was not the case.

In closing, let me give the revelation that God gave

me one day in service of the difference between

Emotionalism and Emotion (True Joy)

Emotionalism: Is a cover up for what you don’t have.

Speaking in tongues, rolling on the floor, ect... is a

counterfeit emotion. It’s fake.

Emotion (True Joy): Is a bi-product of what you really

have. It is expressed through genuine praise for God in the

Holy Spirit.

Dear friend, it is vitally important that we not allow

Satan to be the master of our feelings and emotions. As a

matter of fact, we ourselves cannot even master them. We

must submit them to God, and walk in faith, knowing that

we can Trust God. He will use them only to help us and to

bless us.


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Chapter 4 Review

Points to Remember 1. It takes Faith to perceive and receive from God.

2. God gave us Feelings/Emotions.

3. It’s Natural to feel: Hurt & Pain, Love & Joy.

4. God uses Feelings to accomplish His Purpose.

5. Satan uses Feelings to Discourage and Deter us.

6. You can’t depend on your feelings.

7. Emotionalism is not True Joy.

Questions to Ask Yourself. 1. Am I an emotional person?

2. Do I tend to let my feelings get the best of me?

3. Have I learned to Count it all Joy.

4. Am I letting Satan use my emotions against me?

5. Do I have Emotionalism or True Joy?


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Chapter Five

Moving Past Yesterday “Don’t let a dark past cloud a bright

future.”---Unknown

A long time ago I read the phrase quoted above in an

Our Daily Bread Devotional and it has stuck with me ever

since. You would be amazed to know of all of the lost

potential, destroyed dreams, and given up eternal hopes that

have been lost because many a precious soul couldn’t get

past the past. So many have allowed the dark mistakes,

failures, and sins of yesterday’s past cloud their life today

with doubts and completely destroy any hopes of ever

becoming anything in the future! What they have failed to

realize is that Jesus Christ is the Light. When this Present

Light encounters the darkness of sin, He dispels it all away!

To make it plain: When our past failures, mistakes, and sins

meet the blood of Jesus they are forever washed away.

Why? Because God is a God who not only forgives; but

He also forgets. You will never have to worry about God

washing your face with some mistake you made days,

months, or years ago. God knows that to live in the past is to

Chapter Five – Moving Past Yesterdays

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destroy the future; and He wants all of us to have a glorious

future with Him in Heaven. So when He saves us, He

delivers us from the guilt of those sins, so we don’t have to

drag them around for the rest of our life.

People tend to live in the past. I don’t know why but

for whatever reason, the past almost always seems to be

more pleasant than the present or the future. Maybe it is

because we are unsure about today and even more uncertain

about tomorrow; but the past is something we know. What

has happened has happened and there’s no changing it so

maybe it provides a means of safety for us. Whatever the

reason is that people like to live in the past it is no good

reason. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong

with reminiscing about fond memories; such as the birth of a

child, a wedding day or something like that. The problem

comes with those who can’t Move Past Yesterday. They

are stuck living in the past and they are making no present

forward progress. Whether they are reveling in what they

did or lamenting what they didn’t do, they are still

doing the same thing. They are stuck, they are not moving

forward; so therefore they are losing.

In this chapter I would like to help those who have

gotten stuck in the quicksand of the past by telling them it is

time to move on. It is time to go forward. You have


79

traveled around this mountain too long. By the help and

grace of God, you too, can overcome a dark past and move

forward into a bright future in Christ Jesus. Regardless of

what you have done, God has promised hope to you. Your

life up until now may have been one failure after another;

you may have tried to be saved many times over. You may

have failed at relationships; you may have lost every job you

have ever had. Yet, the hope of God is telling you today to

try it one more time, give God a chance!

So friend, if you have a hard time putting away those

unpleasant memories of the past, then dig deep into this

chapter and learn how to bury them at the cross of Christ and

move forward in victory.

Sin in the Past Tense

From a doctrinal standpoint let me first make the

observation that according to God’s Word; sin should always

be mentioned in the past tense in how it relates to the life of

a Christian. What does this mean? It means that before

Christ came into our lives we were Sinners; but after Christ

came into our lives, we are saints. It means that once you get

saved you don’t continue to sin anymore. Many people

don’t understand the miraculous wonder-working power of

the Blood of Jesus. I always tell people that on the glorious


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Friday night when I got saved, I knelt down as Bobby, the

defeated sinner and rose up Bobby, the victorious saint!

The whole purpose of Christ was to save us from sin.

Read Matthew 1:21 “And she shall bring forth a Son and

thou shalt call His name Jesus and He shall deliver His

people from their sins.” That means Jesus didn’t come to

save us in our sins; but to deliver us from them. Throughout

the New Testament, you will find sin mentioned in the past

tense. Consider the following scriptures and the tense in

which they were spoken. 1. “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and

sins; Where in times past ye walked according to the course of

this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the

spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among

whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts

of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind;

and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”---

Ephesians 2:1-3

2. “For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought

the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness,

lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable

idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with

them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:”---1

Peter 4:3-4


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How terribly difficult it would be to move past the

failures of yesterday if were condemned to repeat them again

day after day! The bottom line is that Sin is not to be a part

of a Christian’s daily life. We concede the fact that once you

get saved there is still the possibility that you can choose to

sin again because you remain a free moral agent. But, we

stress the point that God never intended for man to live

anything less than a Holy Sin Free Life. This is what He

intended for Adam from the beginning and this is what He

intends for you and I today under the power and grace of our

Lord Jesus. We understand that some reading this right now

may have fallen into sin after their initial experience of

Salvation and as a result feel that they have messed up

beyond compare. A little later on in this chapter we will get

into this a little more in depth.

The Past is Water under the Bridge

After we have applied to God for the blood of Jesus

to wash away our sins and He gives us power to stop

sinning, the next step in moving past yesterday is

determining what do we do with those painful memories and

regrets for the acts of transgression we committed while

under the bondage of sin. My simple advice to the reader is

to treat `it as water under the bridge. Water only passes


82

under a bridge one time. Once it has flowed underneath, it

will never pass that way again. You can’t get it back!

We have all made some mistakes and have

committed some acts that we wish we could go back in time

and change. My children, for instance, listen to a radio

program called Adventures in Odyssey. In this program the

main character, Mr. Whitaker, has invented the: Imagination

Station. This is a type of booth that you can enter into and

through the power of imagination and special effects, you

can be transported back in time.

If this imagination station literally existed, they

would not be able to make enough of them. Everyone would

be going back to change something about his past. Sadly,

the truth of the matter is that what has been done has been

done. What has been said has been said. No matter what

you do, you will never be able to change the past. I have

never read in the Bible where someone was able to change

his past; but, I have read of a man who took on the right

perspective in regards to his past. Read Philippians 3:13:

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but

this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are

behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are

before.”


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The apostle Paul had a lot to be proud of and also a lot to

regret about his past. He was a highly educated, zealous,

religious young man who also hunted down and imprisoned

honest Christians for their faith. He was even an accomplice

to the murder of the first Christian martyr, Stephen. I’m sure

these things plagued Paul a lot. But he purposed in his heart

that he was going to go forward and not backwards. He was

determined to not allow a dark past cloud a bright future and

useful life to live for Christ.

So when tempted to dwell on the past, to go over it

again and again in your mind, Just Forget It! Some have

said I can’t forget. Well, the word forget has more than one

definition to it. Here are a few definitions from Webster to

help us with the Forgetting Process.

• To be unable to remember.

• To treat with thoughtless inattention, neglect.

• To banish from one’s thoughts.

More than likely, the last definition is the one that will be

the most effective. More than anything, the devil would love

to turn your mind into his playground amd to haunt you with

memories of past failures and defeats. As a matter of fact,

he can bring those memories back so vividly to your mind it

would seem as if you were reliving the actual experience.

When he’s finished, he attacks with the spirit of accusations


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and bad feelings. This is another one of his combination

punches to knock you out. The best defense against this type

of an attack is a good offense! You must set the battle in

array in your mind. When those memories arise in your

mind at the prompting of Satan, you must banish them from

your thoughts. How do you do this? Start with quoting

scripture and finish by singing a hymn. God has said in

Isaiah 26:3: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose

mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

Let me also add here briefly that the best way to

eradicate unpleasant memories is by making new and good

memories. I could dwell on those negative things of the

past, but instead I choose to remember those good things that

the Lord has done for me. I count my blessings over and

over, sometimes naming them one by one. These are the

memories I don’t want and can’t afford to forget! Also, one

other thing I do is take authority over my memories. I refuse

to allow Satan to use them to haunt me. When they come

haunting, I just use them to encourage me. When reminded

of the years I spent in sin, I just praise God for saving me

when He did. When reminded of all of my past failures and

mistakes, I just praise God for His great mercy and patience!

When reminded of some severe test or trial, I just stand back

in awe of God’s ability to deliver again and again. You can


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do it too. You can take the authority over your memories

and turn something meant to haunt you into something that

will encourage you.

Remember, as C.S. Lewis put it best in his book

Screwtape Letters. Satan’s strategy is this: If he can get

Christians to become preoccupied with their failures, from

then on, the battle is won.

God Forgives and Forgets

“And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor,

and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they

shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest

of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and

I will remember their sin no more.” ---Jeremiah 31:34

I really didn’t want to have to revisit this point;

however I feel it is needed. To forget something we have

done that we regret is hard to do. Yet, it is something we

must do if we plan to succeed in our salvation. As stated

earlier: What’s done is done. There is no time machine,

there is no way of changing the past. You may be able to

correct it, but you definitely can’t change it. If you can

correct it, then do so and this will help you bring closure to

it.


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I quoted the scripture above to add special emphasis

on the fact that we must forget. The point here is that if God

is willing to forgive and forget, then we should be willing to

forgive and forget. Did I say forgive? Yes, we must forgive

ourselves. If we know that we are truly sorry for whatever

act of transgression we have committed and we have

purposed in our heart not to do it again, then we have met

God’s requirements for forgiveness. So if God can forgive

us, then we should be willing to forgive ourselves. So

many are beating themselves up for something they did

and they are holding themselves up from ever moving on

and being anything for God.

So, the first thing is we must forgive ourselves and

the next thing is we must forget! This is especially

important to backsliders who are or have returned to the

Lord. The enemy will haunt you with memories of the past

and how you failed God before and how you are going to fail

God again. He will tell you just spare everyone the drama

and just give up! That’s why we have to learn to forget the

way God forgets. When God forgets, it is as if it never

happened!

“He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he

will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins

into the depths of the sea.” --- Micah 7:19


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One song we sing says: “In the depths of the sea of

God’s forgetfulness, removed as the east is from west!”

They tell me the sea or ocean is several miles deep; as a

matter of fact they may have put a man on the moon; but

they have yet to put a man on the very bottom of the ocean

floor. And that is the place where God has placed your sins

and mine! Another song we sing puts it like this: “Tell me

what sins are you talking about? I don’t remember them

anymore! From the book of life they’ve all been torn out, I

don’t remember them anymore!” If this is God’s attitude

towards our sins and failures, then it should be ours, too.

Not only should we be willing to forgive ourselves

and forget our sins as God has done towards us, we should

also be willing to forgive the sins of trespasses of those who

have offended us and forget the offense as well; forget as in

not holding them for the offense and not bringing back up

again and again to wash their face with it. Also, as saints in

God’s true church, we must have this same love and

forgiveness for the backslider’s returning and be willing to

forgive his and forget his failures.

As I close out this part of the chapter, I want to share

a story that has oft encouraged me when I have messed up or

made one of my many mistakes in life. It comes from The

Tale of the Tardy Oxcart by Chuck Swindoll. It is a poem


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titled: The New Leaf by: Kathleen Wheeler. I truly believe

this reflects the attitude of God towards every repentant

(sorrowful) soul who has ever made a mess of things.

The New Leaf

He came to my desk with quivering lip;

The lesson was done….

“Have you a new leaf for me Teacher?

I have spoiled this one!”

I took his leaf all soiled and blotted,

And gave him a new one, all unspotted;

Then into his tired heart I smiled:

“Do better now my child!”

I went to the throne with trembling heart;

The day was done….

“Have you a new day for me, dear Master?

I have spoiled this one!”

He took my day, all soiled and blotted,

And gave me a new one, all unspotted;

Then into my tired heart He smiled:

“Do better now, my child!”


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Moving Past Yesterday

The final reason we need to move past yesterday and

into day is because God is not a God of the past, nor a God

of the future, He is God today! He is a very present help in

time of trouble.

“And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the

children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of

your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say unto

me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them? And

God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said,

Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM, hath

sent me unto you.” ---Exodus 3:13-14

Another story in Swindoll’s book is a story about

God called: I AM written by Helen Mallicoat. If we will

remember it, we will have no problem moving past

yesterday.


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I AM

I was regretting the past

And fearing the future…

Suddenly my Lord speaking:

“MY NAME IS I AM.” He paused.

I waited. He continued,

“WHEN YOU LIVE IN THE PAST,

WITH ITS MISTAKES AND REGRETS,

IT IS HARD, I AM NOT THERE.

MY NAME IS NOT I WAS.

“WHEN YOU LIVE IN THE FUTURE,

WITH ITS PROBLEMS AND FEARS,

IT IS HARD, I AM NOT THERE.

MY NAME IS NOT I WILL BE.

“WHEN YOU LIVE IN THE MOMENT,

IT’S NOT HARD.

I AM HERE.

MY NAME IS I AM.”


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CHAPTER FIVE REVIEW

Points to Remember 1. Don’t let a dark past cloud a bright future.

2. God forgives and forgets.

3. You can’t change the past.

4. Sin is a thing of the past for every born-again

Christian.

5. We must Forgive ourselves, and Forget our Sins.

Questions to Ask Yourself 1. Am I stuck in the past?

2. Do I let the enemy haunt me with painful memories?

3. Do I believe that God has forgiven me and forgotten

my sins?

4. Have I forgiven myself?

5. Have I buried my past failures and mistakes at the

foot of the Cross?


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Chapter 6

Overcoming Discouragement “…but David encouraged himself in the Lord his

God.”—1 Samuel 30:6

There was once a young man who was saved and

loved God. He had gotten saved in his mid-teens and

purposed in his heart to live for God all the days of his life.

Little did he understand the “depths of Satan.” His life was a

good one and God blessed him in many ways; yet, he had his

share of struggles. He made mistakes and even failed. For

this Satan buffeted him greatly. This young man came under

the heavy weight of Satan’s oppression and depression.

Satan told him one lie after another: “You’ll never get the

victory.” “Why don’t you just give up?” “Look at your

friends; they aren’t miserable and they don’t have God.”

Constant accusations, bad feelings, oppression, depression,

and discouragement from the enemy left this young man

feeling quite sick spiritually. Yet, it didn’t stop there; along

with his weak spiritual condition, this young man became

afflicted in his body. He didn’t go to work, he didn’t go to

Chapter Six – Overcoming Discouragement

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church. He sat alone in his room, pressed out of measure by

the enemy of his soul.

Based off what you just read above what do you

think was the outcome of the situation? What do you think

happened to this young man? Well, let me tell you this: If

we didn’t serve a God of great love and compassion this

young man would’ve been dead meat. The good news is that

God loved this young man more than he could ever know

and was not going to let go of him without a fight. God in

His divine love, mercy, and grace, had gone too far to see

this young man saved and He was not about to let Satan just

snatch him out of Hand.

When it seemed like all hope was lost for this young

man, the saints began to pray; his friends came by to check

up on him. He himself found a little strength to get out of

the house and visit a friend to talk to and get some

encouragement. Before long he was better than ever! That

was almost 10 years ago and he is still saved and happy in

the Lord! Who is this young man? None other than myself!

What happened? How did I get in such a dangerous

place? To be honest, I was only putting forth the minimal

effort. I wasn’t giving God my best and the end result was

an up and down life; not in and out, but, definitely up and

down. The two can be equally detrimental to the soul. To


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be in and out, saved one day and not the next day, can cause

irreparable damage to one’s faith. So likewise to live up and

down, inconsistently on a daily basis can open a door for the

enemy to ravish your soul.

When we live up and down, we are asking for the

Giant Discourager to take over our soul and make us a slave.

That is exactly what happened to me. I had lived up and

down long enough to believe that I would never get the real

victory. I soon became discouraged and was headed fast for

the dungeon of despair. You see, dear friend, this is how the

enemy works. He uses discouragement to destroy the soul.

It is the destroyer of hope, faith, confidence, joy, service, and

victory. It is the effect of the devil’s work. It is his most

reliable weapon/tool to use against all Christians, especially

when other temptations to sin have failed. He has oft

resorted to the well-worn tool of discouragement and it has

brought him overwhelming success. This is best illustrated

in the story below titled: Satan’s Yard Sale by: John

Lawrence in Down to Earth.

Satan’s Yard Sale

It was advertised that the devil was going to

put his tools up for sale. On the date of the

sale, the tools were placed for public

inspection, each being marked with its sale


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price. There were a treacherous lot of

implements. hatred, envy, jealousy, doubt,

lying, pride, and so on. Laid apart from the

rest of the pile was a harmless-looking tool,

well-worn and priced very high. “The name

of the tool?” asked one of the purchasers.

“Oh”, said the adversary, “that’s

discouragement”. “Why have you priced it so

high?” “Because it is more useful to me than

the others. I can pry open and get inside a

person’s heart with that one, when I cannot

get near him with the other tools. Now once I

get inside, I can make him do what I choose.

It’s a badly worn tool, because I’ve use it on

almost everyone since few people know it

belongs to me.”

The Devil’s price for discouragement was so

high, he never sold it. It’s still his major tool,

and he still uses it on God’s people today. ---

John Lawrence, Down to Earth.

The spirit of Discouragement must be defeated at any

cost! If you allow the Spirit of Discouragement to abide

with you, then you might as well sign your spiritual death


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certificate. Because Discouragement is a Killer! It will

take your life and doom your soul.

Alright, we all hopefully can now see the danger of

being discouraged. The question is what do we do if we are

discouraged? And how do we overcome Discouragement

when it comes our way? I’m glad you asked; because the

title of this chapter is: Overcoming Temptation. Let’s take

a closer look at how discouragement works and how we can

overcome it

Let’s start with Webster’s Definitions of the words: Courage,

Discourage, and Encourage.

1. Courage: That quality of mind which enables men to

encounter danger and difficulties with firmness, or

without fear; bravery; intrepidity; valor; boldness;

resolution.

The Christian life is a battle. It is a battle between

the forces of good and evil. What’s at stake in this

battle? What is to be won or lost? the eternal fate of

our never-dying souls. In order to successfully fight

this battle, there is a virtue that every one of us must

possess: COURAGE. God will provide the means

for victory in every battle we fight; it is our part to

possess the courage and faith to take God at His


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word. When God was preparing Joshua to lead the

people of Israel into the promised land, He

commanded him several times over to: “Be Strong

and of Good Courage.”

“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a

good courage; be not dismayed: for the Lord thy God

is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”—Joshua 1:9

2. Discourage: To check the courage of; to dishearten;

to deprive of self confidence; to attempt to repress or

prevent by pointing out difficulties.

From the very moment you proclaim your faith in

Jesus Christ until the day you take your final breath

here on earth, you will face an adversary who is ever

persistent in his attempts to stop you from making

Heaven. He will point out every difficulty and

exaggerate it so as to make you feel that you can’t

make it. But, Be Encouraged, You Can Make It!

To discourage basically means to be successful in

stealing one’s courage to fight by making one aware

that the odds are stacked against him; causing him to

believe that obtaining the victory is impossible. The

end result of discouragement is defeat.


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3. Encourage: To give courage to; to inspire with

courage; to embolden; to animate or inspirit; to help

forward; to support.

To encourage means to actively combat

discouragement. At some point or another, every

Christian will face the spirit of discouragement. It is

at this time that we must find a: “Stream in the

Desert” and “Inspiration from the Almighty”.

Encouragement is absolutely vital to our existence; as

air is to the body, so is encouragement and

inspiration to the soul. You can’t live without it.

“And David was greatly distressed…: but David

encouraged himself in the Lord his God.”—1

Samuel 30:6 Whenever we enter into distressful situations, hard tests and

trials, we have entered into fertile ground for the spirit of

discouragement to work. In the instance above, David had

went to battle and came home to find his city ransacked and

burned as well as finding out that the Amalekites also carried

away all the women and children. And if that were not

enough, the men, David’s faithful followers, turned their

back on him and spake of stoning him. Talk about fertile


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ground for discouragement. David, however, being the wise

warrior that he was, purposed in his heart to not become

discouraged. What did he do? “..he encouraged himself in

the Lord his God.” You too, my friend, will have days like

the one David had; the enemy may not burn your city or take

your family; but you will face difficult tests and trials in this

Christian Journey. You may lose your job, your home, your

loved ones, and your health; yet you mustn’t yield to the

spirit of discouragement. You must fight! If it (salvation) is

worth having, it is worth fighting for! Fight? Fight how?

Fight by encouraging yourself in the Lord your God!

What? You don’t know how to encourage yourself? Well

then, let’s take a look at 3 surefire ways to encourage

yourself and defeat the spirit of discouragement.

1. Sing: It was said of that great Scottish preacher

Robert Murray McCheyne that when he would feel

down, dry, and discouraged, he would grab his

hymnal and begin to lift his voice in songs of Praise

to God his Father. His family always knew when he

arose because they would hear those wonderful,

melodious hymns coming forth from his study.

Singing hymns to God and about God is Music for

the Soul. Consider the verse of song below:


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“Sing my soul and all within me, Sing ‘til

all the clouds remove, Sing and Praise and

shout forever, for the Lord our God is

LOVE!”—God is Love

The song says to not only sing, but to sing until all

the clouds of doubt, fear, worry, and discouragement

are gone! We may not be able to sing away the

actual problems that we have; however, we can sing

away those negative feelings of discouragement and

despair that accompany them. I believe that all it

takes is one sincere saint of God to break out a

melody in their heart when in the midst of trouble

and all of Heaven’s Choir will begin to sing along

with them. So sing my friend; sing of God’s love

and mercy; sing praises to our God for He is worthy!

And, be Encouraged, you can make it!

2. Praise: Speaking of singing, we sing a song in

church that says: “It’s amazing what praising will

do!” It is truly amazing what a difference praising

God makes! It goes against everything that makes

sense when you, are laden down with a load of care

and sorrow. When the clouds have gathered over

your head and it seems as if the storm will never end,

break out in a shout of praise to our God. If you look

at the situation you are currently in, then you have


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nothing to give God praise for. However, you do it

anyway. In this midst of your storm you begin to

praise God because you know the sun is shining

somewhere and it will shine on you again! Herein

lies the difference between true joy and happiness.

Happiness can be found in anyone; True joy can only

be found in the heart of a true saint of God.

Happiness is predicated on your circumstances; as

long as everything is going well, I have my health,

my money, my family and my friends; then I am

happy. When those things are gone however, I find

myself unhappy, sad, and discouraged. Don’t strive

for happiness in life, my friend; but strive for true joy

that can only come from God. True joy is not just an

emotion like happiness is; it is an experience that is

not predicated upon what you have or don’t have or

how well things are going. True joy has its

foundation in hope. Although everything around you

is going wrong you maintain a steadfast hope in God

that everything will be alright, the storm will pass,

and the sun will shine again. From this hope you pick

you head up with courage and face the day with a

song in your heart and praise in your lips for the

wonderful God that you serve. The praises begin to


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flow from a heart that is full of His Love and the

problems you’re facing may not go away

immediately; but they have lost their affect on how

you feel and you know that you: Can be

Encouraged, because You Can Make It!

3. Remember: Again we start with a verse of song,

have you ever heard: “Count your blessings one by

one, count your blessings and see what God has

done.” One of the enemy’s chief ways of leading us

into discouragement is getting us to forget. Forget

what God has done for us; forget where we used to

be and where we are today; forget what we used to be

and what we are today. If we ever have spiritual

amnesia we are in big trouble! To combat the spirit

of discouragement, we must Remember! Remember

what? Remember how bad sin was and is! When the

children of Israel got into the thick of the wilderness,

they began to have fond memories of Egypt; they did

not remember the hard bondage; but rather they

remembered the leeks and the garlic. (Numbers 11:5)

This will prove true to you and me if the devil has his

way. When we get into the thick of some of life’s

tests and trials, the enemy will come in to remind us

of how good Egypt (Sin) was. How good! Sin was


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definitely not good to us! God has been and is good

to us! Don’t let it happen; don’t get spiritual amnesia

and forget how bad sin is and how good God is! If

you are having a hard time remembering, then give

this a try: Sit down with a pencil and paper and

begin to list all of the blessings God has bestowed

upon you from your childhood until now. Don’t skip

anything. Write down special or miraculous events

in bold letters. You may fill up one or two pages;

maybe even a whole notebook if you don’t get tired

of writing first. I guarantee you, my friend, before

you reach the end of counting your blessings, you

will be praising God and will have temporarily or

maybe even permanently forgot that which you were

supposed to be discouraged about! It works! And

lastly, remember this: He’ll do it again! If God has

ever delivered you, He will deliver you again! If

God has ever healed you, He will heal you again! If

God has ever answered your prayers, He will answer

them again! So be Encouraged and Remember!

No Man is an Island

Discouragement and depression are the Devil’s

Dungeon of Despair. The thing about this prison is that it is


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a lonely one. If you’ve ever been in the Devil’s Dungeon,

you were there alone, or so you thought. The enemy is the

master of isolation. It is his way. He will single you out and

cut you off from all of your help. How many have fallen

victim to this tactic. When things are going wrong and when

all hope seems to be gone, the enemy tells you: “Don’t go to

church; everyone there is happy, and you’re not. Surely,

they will know something is wrong with you. So just stay at

home. You can read your Bible at home; you don’t need the

church.” If you listened to him, you probably started to miss

church. Then after a while you probably stopped answering

phone calls and eventually lost all contact with the outside

world. Then if the devil had his way, he will left you there

to die (spiritually) in his Dungeon of Despair.

A long time ago I remember hearing my Pastor say:

“No man is an island,” meaning, that we need each other!

God has placed us in His Family, the church, for a reason.

No matter what we are going through in life, we can depend

on the saints; our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, to

pray us through. Remember you are not in this alone! So,

the next time the enemy of your soul tries to isolate you and

throw you in his Dungeon of Despair, go to church. If there

is no church service, then call a saint over for prayer. By


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doing this, you can overcome the spirit of discouragement

and you can make it!

Winning the Victory Over Discouragement

My friend, I have shared with you not only in this

chapter; but throughout this whole book, different tactics to

use in the battle against discouragement. Now, it is up to

you to fight. Discouragement is a giant standing in the

pathway of our Christian Journey. There is no way around

him; he must be conquered. You have one of two options.

You can take what you’ve learned in this book and you can

rout the enemy. Or you can tuck your tail and run. But

remember, if you run he will catch you and he will slay you!

So really you have only one option; you must fight!

The good new is: The battle has been fought and won

for you! When Jesus said: “It is Finished!” It is finished!

He defeated the devil and all his demons and imps on the

cross of Calvary. All you have to do is take your stand for

Him and fight the good fight of faith and He will do the rest.

By God’s Grace and Power if you will stand up today

to the spirit of discouragement, Jesus will drive it away from

you and the Victory will be won! Discouragement may

come again, but if you stand up today and win a decisive

victory over it. The next time it pops up on the pathway of

your Christian journey, it will not stand a chance and may


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even find itself running from you! So be encouraged, you

can make it!


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Chapter Six Review

Points to Remember 1) Discouragement is the Devil’s #1 Weapon.

2) Sing

3) Praise

4) Remember

5) No man is an Island

Questions to ask yourself 1) Am I having a hard time overcoming

Discouragement?

2) Have I forgotten what God has done for me?

3) Do I allow the enemy to isolate me and put me in his

Dungeon of Despair when things go wrong in my

life?

4) Do I miss church or stop going around the saints

when I’m discouraged?

5) Am I ready to fight and overcome the Spirit of

Discouragement and move on with my life for

Christ?


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Chapter 7

Words of Encouragement “Be Encouraged You Are Going to Make It!”

As I begin this final chapter, I just want to say: If you

have read this book cover to cover and you have not found it

in the least bit encouraging, then I have failed. I realize

there are many who are under the Spirit of despondency and

refuse to be encouraged. Yet, I feel that this book was

written under the inspiration of God with a specific burden

to encourage that even those despondent ones should find

something to smile about and a renewed hope in knowing

that they: Can Make It!

I personally attribute my staying saved almost 15

years now to a number of things; but, most specifically to

God and His great mercy, longsuffering and patience with

me, Jesus and His constant intercessions for me, my Pastor

who has never ceased to preach the truth to me, and lastly,

the ability to find a source of Encouragement when I needed

it.

Chapter Seven – Words of Encouragement

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Sources of Encouragement

When seeking Encouragement in time of need, I

often like to refer to God’s Word and some of the many

highlighted passages of scripture first. Early on in my

experience, I adopted the philosophy: that if what I reads

jumps out at me or speaks to me, then I should highlight the

scripture and sometimes even write my thoughts in the

margins of my Bible. So when reading God’s Word, try to

keep a pen and highlighter near by.

You can also receive encouragement in the Services

of God. Most churches meet together at least a couple of

times a week. At the church where I worship, we have a

total of up to 10 services a week, combining prayer,

outreach, and worship services. One verse of scripture says:

“God send thee help from the Sanctuary” and another tells

us: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.”

Why? Because we draw strength and encouragement from

one another. When we come to the house of God, we should

come ready to receive from God, with our cups turned up!

You never know where your might blessing may come from.

It could be in the opening song (so try to be there on time) it

could be in someone’s testimony or prayer, or maybe in a

song the choir may sing, and almost always through the

preached word of God. My wife has even told me that she


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has been blessed by the sisters in the nursery. So be ready to

receive.

My last source of Encouragement is one that I have

often resorted to. There are many books (like this one) that

have quotes, anecdotes, stories, testimonies, songs, and

messages of encouragement. I strongly advise everyone

reading this book to find and add other books to their

personal library. My favorite book is well-worn out by now,

the pages are falling out. The name of the book is: “The

Tale of the Tardy Oxcart” by Chuck Swindoll. I initially

bought the book because I saw another minister have one

and I thought it would give me some good stories to use

while preaching. Well, I must say that this book has

preached to me more than I have preached to others using it.

I don’t know if this book is still in print; if not, there are

many other Christian books of Illustrations, quotes, and

anecdotes that you can find.

Remember, when seeking encouragement, leave no

stone unturned and don’t stop until you find it. And once

you’ve found it, share it with someone else and it will be a

two-fold blessing to yourself.

I have decided to make the rest of this chapter:

Words of Encouragement. Below you will find some of my

most treasured scriptures, verses of song, quotes, anecdotes,


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illustrations and stories. On some of them I have added my

personal comments and what they have done or what they

mean to me. I hope they will be as much of a blessing to

you as they have been to me. I like to give credit where

credit is due, so I have also included who I heard it from or

where I found it and who wrote it. I have also tried to

classify them into categories for easier reference.

Prayer

• “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that

men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”—Jesus

Luke 18:1

• “When the going gets tough, the tough start

praying.”

• “Knees down, Chin up.”—Bro. Bruce Kelly Sr.

• “Learn to stand on your knees (in prayer) and you

will never fall.”—Sis. Lorna Hall

• “Pray until you’ve prayed.”—Sis. Butler

• “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in

the spirit.”—Paul Ephesians 6:18 If you are always

praying or in the spirit of prayer then the enemy can’t

harm you.


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• “Don’t Stop Praying; ‘til the answer comes. Pray

when it seems like it’s dark as midnight, pray when

you cannot see your way through, ask it shall be

given, seek and ye shall find it, just don’t stop

praying ‘til the answer comes.”—Church Choir

• “No Prayer, No Power; Little Prayer, Little Power;

Much Prayer, Much Power.”—Pastor Prince Moon

• “Pray on for you are who the Lord is looking for,

pray on for this will tear those mighty strongholds

down, stay on your knees unto the battle is won, very

soon you’ll win the victory, Pray On.”—Pray On,

Song by: Babbie Mason

• “You Can Always Pray.”—Message by Bro. Bobby

at church about Jonah.

• “When you get down to pray, Remember the

wonderful hymn: “What a Friend we have in

Jesus”…..What a friend we have in Jesus, all our

sins and grief’s to bear, what a privilege to carry,

everything to God in prayer! ---When you pray to

God you don’t have to use flowery words or be able

to speak Greek or Hebrew. All you have to do is talk

to Him from your heart, as you would any friend.

You don’t have to worry about hiding anything from


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Him, because He already knows and He cares. He’s

your Friend!

• “The saint, who advances on his knees, never

retreats.”—Jim Elliot

• “Pray for your needs, pray for your wants; but

remember: God is not your bellhop boy.”—Pastor

Frank Hampton Jr.

• “If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next

room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet,

distance makes no difference. He is praying for

me.”—Robert Murray McCheyne

• If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear

me.”—David Psalms 66:18 If we live right we can

pray and expect an answer from God.

• “When we live a life that is pleasing to God we will

have a high-speed or DSL connection for our

prayers. No dial-up, no call-waiting, no busy

signal!” We will be always connected!—Bro. Bobby

• “Pray without ceasing.”—Paul 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Perseverance

• “Then sayeth he unto them, My soul is

exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry

ye here, and watch with me. And he went a


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little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed,

saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this

cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will,

but as thou wilt.” ---Jesus (Matthew 26: 38-

39)

• “Defeat is one word I do not use…”--- Words sung

by Sis. Maggie Willis

• “Don’t Give Up, Try Again!” --- Message Preached

by: Pastor Maurice Burton

• “Success is Failure turned inside out” ---

Anonymous

• “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:

but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which

are behind, and reaching forth unto those things

which are before. I press toward the mark for the

prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” ---

The Apostle Paul (Philippians 3: 13-14)

Two frogs fell into a deep cream bowl,

One was an optimistic soul;

But the other took the gloomy view,

“We shall drown”, he cried, without more ado.

So with a last despairing cry,


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He flung up his legs and said, “Good-bye.”

Quoth the other frog with a merry grim,

“I can’t get out, but I won’t give in!

I’ll just swim round till my strength is spent,

Then I will die the more content.”

Bravely he swam it would seem,

His struggles began to churn the cream.

On the top of the butter at last he stopped,

And out of the bowl he gaily hopped.

What of the Moral? ‘Tis easily found:

If you can’t hop out, keep swimming around.”

Walter Knight, Knight’s Master Book of New

Illustrations.

• Press on, and let thy failings, A Blessing to

thee prove;

No wave of care or sorrow, Thy trusting soul

shall move.

Press on through strong temptation, Tell Satan he

must flee;

In Jesus name resist him, And victory thine shall

be.

Press on to what’s before us, Forgetting all the

past;


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The light of Heaven is glorious, And ever more

will last.

Press on, Press on, Says Christ, our loving Friend

Press on; Press on, “I’m with thee to the end.”

Hymn titled: Press On by: Barney E. Warren

1897

• There was once an old donkey who seemed no

good to his master, so they dug a deep hole and

threw him in and proceeded to throw dirt on him

to bury him alive. As the dirt hit his back, he

would: “Shake it Off!” The more dirt they threw,

the more he would shake until eventually he was

standing on top of the dirt pile.

The Moral: When Satan begins to pile it on thick

and heavy; just: “Shake it Off!” ---Bro. Robert

Cain

• “Don’t Quit on God, because He won’t Quit on

you!” --- Pastor Frank Brewster

• “Quitting Solves Nothing!” --- Anonymous

• “And from the days of John the Baptist until now

the kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the

violent take it by force.”--- Jesus (Matthew

11:12)


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• “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of

many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure

unto the end, the same shall be saved.” --- Jesus

(Matthew 24:12-13)

Keeping On

I’ve dreamed many dreams that never came true,

I’ve seen them vanish at dawn;

But I’ve realized enough of my dreams, thank God,

To make me want to dream on.

I’ve prayed many prayers when no answer came,

I’ve waited patient and long;

But answers have come to enough of my prayers

To make me keep praying on.

I’ve trusted many a friend who failed

And left me to weep alone;

But I’ve found enough of my friends true-blue

To make me keep trusting on.

I’ve sown many seeds that fell by the way

For the birds to feed upon;

But I’ve held enough golden sheaves in my hand,

To make me keep sowing on.

I’ve drained the cup of disappointment and pain,

I’ve gone many days without a song,


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But I’ve sipped enough nectar from the rose of life

To make me want to live on.

Charles Allen, The Secret of Abundant Living

Encouragement

• “Be Encouraged, You Can Make It!”

• “God said you’re gonna make it, God said you’re

gonna make, gonna make it through the raging

storm. Don’t worry for the thunder, you’re not

going under, God said you’re gonna make it,

make it cause the Master’s on board.” --- Sis.

Shirley Pitts and the Jackson Choir.

• “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” --- Genesis

18:14

• One of the highest of human duties is the duty of

encouragement….It is easy to laugh at men’s

ideals; it is easy to pour cold water on their

enthusiasm; it is easy to discourage others. The

world is full of discouragers. We have a

Christian duty to encourage one another. Many a

time a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or

cheer has kept a man on his feet. Blessed is the


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man who speaks such a word. --- William

Barclay, The Letter to the Hebrews.

• “ENCOURAGEMENT! A New watchword for

our times. Shout it out. Pass it around!” ---

Chuck Swindoll, The Tardy Oxcart

• “They helped everyone his neighbor; and

everyone said to his brother, Be of Good

Courage. So the Carpenter encouraged the

goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the

hammer him that smote the anvil…” --- Isaiah

41:6-7

• “An Encouraging Thought: God wants you to

make Heaven more than you want to make

Heaven.”

• “Another Encouraging Thought: When you think

of how far God had to go to save you, remember

that He will go twice as far to keep you.”

• “I don’t believe He brought me this far to leave

me.” --- Mighty Clouds of Joy


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Discouragement

• The right attitude: “I Refuse to be Discouraged!”

• Discouragement leads to Despair which leads to

Death.

• “Don’t Get Discouraged Now!” --- Message by Bro.

Bobby

Larry Olsen describes a man lost in

the desert: “He has been out of food

and water for days. His lips are

swollen, his tongue is swollen, he’s all

beat up and bloody. Some of his

bones are almost peeking through. He

has been scraped and beat up by

cactus and sand and sun. He’s

blistered. As he’s crawling over this

little hill, he comes across this little

plant and props himself up one bloody

elbow, looks down at the plant and

says, “You know, if things keep going

like this I might get discouraged!”

Larry Olsen, Outdoor Survival Skills.


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• Discouragement means to lose courage. Without

courage you can’t fight the enemy. If you can’t fight

the enemy, you become his slave; or worse yet he

kills you. God said: “Be of Good Courage!”

Future

• “Go to now, ye that say, Today or to morrow we will

go into such a city, and continue there a year, and

buy and sell, and get gain: Where as ye know not

what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It

is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and

then vanisheth away. For ye ought to say, If the Lord

will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” ---James

4:13-15

• When speaking of future plans we should always

preface our statement with the phrase: Lord’s

Willing….

• When making plans for our future, we should write

them down in pencil and let God have the eraser.”

Temptations

• “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation:

for when he is tried, he shall receive the


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crown of life, which the Lord hath promised

to them that love him.”---James 1:12

• “Every temptation is an opportunity to prove our

love to God.”---Unknown

• “What is submitted to in life grows stronger; while

what is resisted grows weaker. Submitting to God

gives us the ability to resist the Devil.” (James 4:5-

6) --- Edwin Louis Cole

Yield Not to Temptation

Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin;

Each victory will help you some other to win;

Fight manfully onward, Dark passions

subdue, Look ever to Jesus, he will carry you

through.

Shun evil companions, Bad language disdain,

God’s name hold in reverence, Nor take it in

vain; Be thoughtful and earnest, Kind hearted

and true, Look ever to Jesus, He will carry

you through.

To him that overcometh, God giveth a crown,

Through Faith we shall conquer, Though

often cast down; He who is our Saviour, Our


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strength will renew, Look ever to Jesus, He

will carry you through.

Ask the Saviour to help you, Comfort,

strengthen, and keep you, He is willing to aid

you, He will carry you through.

Hymn written by: Horatio R. Palmer 1834-1907

• “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God:

for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he

any man…”---James 1:13

• “Remember this: Satan tempts you to do wrong…God

tries you to see if you will do right.”

• “Temptation is like a juicy berry, it beckons you to sample

the juice…but remember: you can’t sample the juice

without biting the berry.”

• “Temptation awaits us at every turn, around every corner.

I have discovered that the answer to temptation is to keep

on looking straight ahead. I looked neither to the right nor

to the left. Because it usually isn’t the first glance; it’s the

second stare that leads to sin.”---Chuck Swindoll Tale of

the Tardy Oxcart

• “There is far more satisfaction in a daily empowerment

over temptation (victory); than there is in a moment of

gratification from the ecstasy of lust.”--- Edwin Louis

Cole


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Tests & Trials

• “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and

exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that

we must through much tribulation enter into

the kingdom of heaven.” ---Acts 14:22

• And it’s the trials that bring us close to heaven; it’s the

trials that bring blessings untold, it’s the trials that make

us more like Jesus; and it’s the trials that make pure

gold.” –Song sung in church by Sis. Maggie Willis

• There was once a man walking down the streets of

London who happened upon a blacksmith hard at work.

He decided to stop and watch the work of the blacksmith.

He would take a piece of steel and beat it and heat it in

the fire. Beat it and heat it; beat it and heat it. Then he

would hold it up and carefully inspect it. Then he would

throw it onto a large pile of steel with others like it. He

continued this process: Beat it and Heat it; Heat it and

Beat it. Every so often he would take a piece and gently

place it in a special pile with a few others. The man

asked the blacksmith: “What is this that you are doing?

What are these pieces of steel for?” The Blacksmith

pointed to the perfect rods of steel that he had Heated


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and Beated and placed gently into a pile. He said: “I am

making spokes for the King’s Chariot.”

The Moral: Our Tests and Trials may be difficult.

Sometimes God does a lot of heating and beating; but He

has a purpose in mind. To shape and mold us so we can

be used in His great plan for our lives.—Bro. Benjamin

Murray

• “And it came to pass….”

• “This too shall pass…”

Both of the scriptures above remind me that trials come

to pass. The storm is passing over; it is not here to stay.

When we are in the midst of life’s toughest storms and

all around us seems black and hopeless, let us not lose

hope, but remember there is light at the end of the tunnel,

whether we can see it or not. There is A Bright Side

Somewhere! We mustn’t stop until we find it!

• The Value of a Trial: A bar of steel worth $5, when made

into ordinary horseshoes, is then worth $10. If this same

$5 bar is manufactured into needles, the value rises to

$350. And yet if it’s made into delicate springs for

expensive watches, it is worth more than $250,000. The

same bar of steel is made more valuable by being cut to

its proper size, passed through one blast of the furnace

after another, again and again, hammered and


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manipulated, beaten and pounded, finished and polished

until it’s ready for those delicate tasks. --- M.R. DeHaan,

Broken Things

• “That the trial of your faith, being that much more

precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried

with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and

glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”—1 Peter 1:7

• Many have heard the story of the camel in the storm. As

he traveled the desert a great sand storm came up; the

sand blew in his eyes, making it impossible for him to go

any further. This wise camel knelt down as low to the

ground as he could get and pointed his head in the

direction of home. When the storm passed, he arose and

continued his trek home.

The Moral: When the storms of life blow around you,

just get low on your knees in prayer, set your face

heavenward and wait for the storm to pass.

• “My trials come to only make me strong…” Song:

Through it All.

• “If God sends a trial your way it is because He knows

that you can take it. So when those trials come, take time

to remind yourself: “I Can Take It.” How? Because if

God leads me into it, he will surely bring me out of it.

See 1 Corinthians 10:13. –Bro. Ben Murray


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• Many may not remember the story of Hagar, Abraham’s

concubine, who bore him his first son Ishmael. She was

cast away from the presence of Abraham and Sarah, left

to wander the wilderness alone. When she had reached a

point of despair and felt utterly hopeless, and it seemed if

no one cared, she found a fountain of water in the

wilderness. That fountain was the angel of the Lord

coming down to reassure her that: God Sees and He

Knows and He Cares. She was so encouraged by this

visit that she called the name of the Lord: “Thou Seest

me.” Let us always remember that God Seest us too. No

test, no trial, no situation can hide us from the loving

eyes of God. Reference: Genesis 16:1-13.

• Speaking of Hagar, let me mention another account that

is a good example of just how human we are and how

that it doesn’t take much to forget the extraordinary visits

from God in our past when we are faced with present

situations. Hagar, as we mentioned above, was cast out

of the presence of Abraham and Sarah and left to wander

the wilderness alone. After some time the water in her

bottle was spent and she gave up all and resigned herself

and her son to die. (this she did despite the promise of

God to bless, help, and keep her and her son) The water

in the bottle was spent; but right before her eyes was a


129

well of water. Why couldn’t she see it? Why can’t we

see a way through our trials? Hagar, much like

ourselves, focused on the empty bottle and couldn’t see

the great well of water. We have the tendency to focus

on some small test or trial and then we can’t see God. It

took God to open her eyes and she regained hope. Let us

pray for God to open our eyes so that we can see Jesus

our well of water to refresh us in the midst of our trials.


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Supplements To wrap up this part of the book I have included my

favorites. Or in other words I saved the best for last.

"Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob,

and all the remnant of the house of Israel,

which are borne by me from the belly,

which are carried by me from the womb;

And even to your old age I am he,

eand even to hoar hairs will I carry you:

I have made, and I will bear;

even I will carry, and will deliver you."

--Isaiah 46:3-4


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Footprints

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed He was walking along the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from His life. For each scene He noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to Him and the other to the LORD. When the last scene of His life flashed before Him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of His life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of His life. This really bothered Him and He questioned the LORD about it. LORD you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most, you would leave me. The LORD replied, “My precious, precious child, I Love you and I would never leave you! During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”

Carolyn Carty, 1963


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Satan’s Yard Sale

It was advertised that the devil was going to

put his tools up for sale. On the date of the

sale the tools were placed for public

inspection, each being marked with its sale

price. There were a treacherous lot of

implements: hatred, Envy, Jealousy, Doubt,

Lying, Pride, and so on. Laid apart from the

rest of the pile was a harmless-looking

tool, well-worn and priced very high. “The

name of the tool?” asked one of the

purchasers. “Oh”, said the adversary,

“that’s discouragement”. “Why have you


133

priced it so high?” “Because it is more useful

to me than the others. I can pry open and get

inside a person’s heart with that one, when I

cannot get near him with the other tools.

Now once I get inside, I can make him do what

I choose. It’s a badly worn tool, because I

use it on almost everyone since few people

know it belongs to me.”

The Devil’s price for discouragement was so

high, he never sold it. It’s still his major

tool, and he still uses it on God’s people

today.

--- John Lawrence, Down to Earth.


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Don’t Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you’re traveling seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high

And you want to smile but you have to sigh

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest if you must, but don’t you quit!

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about,


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When he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,

You may succeed with another blow.

Success if failure turned inside out,

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far;

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit

It’s when things seem worse that you must not quit.


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Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to

fear, And grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that grace appear,

The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils, and

snares, I have already come;

Tis’ grace that brought me safe thus

far, And grace will lead me home.

When we’ve been there ten thousand

years, Bright shining as the sun,

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise

Than when we first begun.

–Amen

Written by John Newton 1725-1807


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Works Cited I have tried my absolute best to cite, quote,

and give credit to whomever it is due for

every quip, quote, illustration, analogy, and

story that I have borrowed to write this book.

I have not in anyway attempted to plagiarize

the work or sayings of any other. Below I

have taken the time to once again make

reference to all of those of whom I am

grateful for their input.

Chapter 1

1. All scripture references are from the

King James Version of the Bible.

2. Don’t Turn Back, Story of the girl

who swam the English Channel. ---

3. Keep Moving --- S.O. Susag, Life

Experiences

Chapter 2

1. “No Man is an island” --- Quote by:

Pastor Frank Hampton Jr.

2. “Never Alone” --- Song By:

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3. Story of the Shepherd Boy --- By:

4. When God Hides Himself --- By:

C.W. Naylor, Heart Talks

Chapter 3

1. “Attitude” --- By: Chuck Swindoll,

2. “Things are not what you think they

ought to be” --- Song By: Sis.

Maggie Willis

3. Story of the Beggar with no shoes. -

-- Story by: Bro. Ben Murray

4. Story of the Mountain that wouldn’t

move. --- Story by: Pastor Frank

Hampton Jr.

Chapter 4

1. Don’t let a dark past cloud a bright

future. --- Our Daily Bread,


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2. The Imagination Station --- From:

Adventures in Odyssey, Focus on

the Family.

Chapter 5

1. Quote from C.S. Lewis, Screwtape

Letters

2. “In the Depths of the Sea” --- Song

by: Jackson Youth Choir

3. “What Sins are you talking about” -

-- Song by: Jackson Adult Choir

4. The New Leaf --- Poem by:

Kathleen Wheeler

5. I AM --- Poem by: Helen Mallicoat

Chapter 6

1. Satan’s Yard Sale --- John

Lawrence, Down to Earth

Chapter 7

All quotes and stories listed in chapter

7 have been cited within the chapter. If

140

there is no citation then the story is

from an unknown author, or I could not

find the original source.


141

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

My wife: Kesha Beauchamp

Sis. Shirley Pitts

Pastor Prince Moon

John Hill – Graphix Network

Contact Information:


Email: [email protected]

Or visit our Website at:

www.beencouragedyoucanmakeit.webs.com.

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About the Author

Bro. Bobby Beauchamp gave his heart and life to

Jesus Christ on July the 14th, 1995. He has

consecrated his life to walk in truth and holiness all

the days of his life. On March 31st, 2001 he was

united in holy matrimony and love to his beautiful

wife Kesha. Together they have 5 children: Audra,

Andrea, Robert, Ryan, and Kelsie. And currently

reside in Jackson, MI.

Bro. Bobby felt God’s hand on him for the Ministry

in his early teens; he later entered into the Ministry

in 2003.

Bro. Bobby has always enjoyed writing and has

written articles for several Church news papers as

well as being the editor of the Website for the

Church of God in Jackson for the last 4 years.

This is his first published book and was written

from the heart about the topic he feels strongest

about. It is his prayer that all would be blessed and

encouraged to know that: You Can Make It!

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