You talk about hopeless! Mark chapter five tells us about a man who was possessed by thousands of demons. Because of these demons he had become so violent and so insane, that the people of the town were afraid to go near him, and he lived among the tombs.
Yet, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee through a storm to get to this man. As soon as Jesus stepped out of the boat, this man ran toward the Lord, which is a miracle itself, because all of those demons would have never wanted this poor man to approach Jesus.
But sure enough, as soon as the man reached Jesus, the Lord cast those demons right out of him! Jesus put that man in his right mind and set him free!
What amazes me about this story is that God will take whatever is left of you. You may feel like you’ve gone crazy. You may have all kinds of difficulties and need set free from so many things that bind you.
Listen, no matter how bad things have gotten and how hopeless you feel, if there’s just a tiny bit left in you that will run to Jesus, then Jesus will set you free, too!
– Shelli Prindle
“A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane.” – (Mark 5:15)
There exists nothing that is off limits to God. I do not mean just the general stuff of the universe; I mean the very things of our own lives. Everything – absolutely everything – must be yielded to the Lord if we hope to walk in His freedom.
Who knows what God will require of us? The one thing that is certain is that He expects our willingness to give to Him anything. Therefore, at all times we must stand ready to hand over some particular component of our lives.
When exasperated by the plague of darkness over the land of Egypt, Pharaoh angrily told Moses to leave Egypt with all the people, including the Israelite children. However, Pharaoh stipulated that the Israelite flocks and herds be left behind. One can only imagine how tempting it might have been for Moses to take the offer and run, given the horror suffered by the enslaved Hebrew nation to that point. But Moses remembered God’s clear directive to leave the Egyptian land in order to worship the Lord. An exit at this point would be disobedient; a departure under these circumstances would prohibit Moses and the Hebrews from offering whatever sacrifice God would require.
Moses stands wholeheartedly before the God He trusts and proclaims to the powerful Egyptian ruler that he and his people will not leave without every last Israelite animal. Moses explains that God will require some of those animals as sacrifices; and because it is not currently known which ones, all must go with them.
How accurate a portrayal of the stance each Christian must have when it comes to the proper entrance to freedom! We do not yet know what God will require of us, so we will take everything with us to Him in anticipation of our sacrifice!
The final plague – the death of the firstborn – will bring the ultimate deliverance of the Israelite people. Ironically, that plague is brought on by Moses’ refusal to leave Egypt without every last animal. Had Moses given in and left without all of God’s requirements, what would have happened? In God’s scheme of things, the willingness to give it all precipitates the genuine freedom we gain because of the death – and resurrection – of Jesus.
Do not hold back. Know that God requires everything. Do not allow the difficulty of yielding any and all of your life to stop the Lord’s plan of deliverance for you. Let the words of trusting Moses resonate in your mind, “Not a hoof shall be left behind.”
– Shelli Prindle
“Therefore, our livestock too shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we shall take some of them to serve the LORD our God. And until we arrive there, we ourselves do not know with what we shall serve the LORD.” – Exodus 10:26
Although it is very possible for us to misinterpret what God is doing in our lives at any given moment, it is quite impossible for God to ever fail any one of His children.
– Shelli Prindle
“For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” – (Isaiah 41:13)
My friend, behind the deceptive illusions of the devil and the sinful allure of the godless culture, stands an unseen God whose reality is infinitely greater than the fleeting evil of the world and all the destruction of Satan. Jesus is working! He is aware! He is working in love for His people! He will save us in a true and final sense! He will conquer! Hold on!
– Shelli Prindle
“Do not forget this! Keep it in mind! Remember this, you guilty ones. Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.” – (Isaiah 46:8-10, NLT)
God determined to love us an eternity before He created us, and an eternity before we failed. In that infinite long ago, the Father said to the Son, “Will you go and pay for their sin?” The Son said, “I will.” And now, the eternity that lay before me is secure in Christ, for I have believed His love and staked my life on His sacrifice. Therefore, I will serve Him with all my heart!
– Shelli Prindle
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God deiced in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” – (Ephesians 1:3-4, NLT)
The best thing to do with anxiety and stress, is to fall on your knees and give it straight to Jesus. He does not want us to carry that load, and He will Himself take it. His infinite nature means that He can hold the weight of all His children’s needs without flinching, while we are totally unable to stay healthy and holy with a load of care. Give it to Him; He loves you.
– Shelli Prindle
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” – (1 Peter 5:7)
Are you a blessed person? According to God, to be blessed is to not take advice from ungodly sources, to not act as the ungodly act, and to not scoff at the things of God.
Additionally, a blessed person delights in the law of God. The Bible is not the blessed person’s obligation or daily ritual; rather, it is the thrill of his heart to be in the Word of God, to study it, to ponder it, and to live by it.
The promise is that this kind of true Christian, who delights in the law of God, will stay strong in difficult times. The effectiveness of his life will be real and everlasting, not withering when the difficulty arises. When the blessed person dies, she does not simply leave behind a legacy, but rather she heads toward the everlasting treasure of lives brought into the kingdom of God; she reaches Jesus and abides with the Savior forever.
The difference between a blessed life and a failed life is the Word of God. Jesus is the living Word, and the Bible is His written Word. Do you love Him? Do you love the Word? Do you crave to be near Him? Do you long to be in His Word? Most of all, are you living by the Word?
– Shelli Prindle
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.” – (Psalm 1:1-4)
To be saved necessarily means that you believe that God can do miracles, for our redemption depends on the resurrection of Christ from death! So, let us believe God for the miracles that we need in our lives. Jesus is more than able!
– Shelli Prindle
“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” – (Romans 8:11)
Dear Christian, wherever you are, Jesus is with you. Whatever you’re feeling, He understands. Whatever you need, He will supply it. Whatever your sin, He will cleanse it.
– Shelli Prindle
“I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – (Matthew 28:20)
How I pray that you will know the power of the Spirit of God dwelling inside a Christian! Much of the modern “church” today has ceased to declare this vital part of the salvation of God. As the Father sent the Son to earth to pay for our sin, so the Son sent the Spirit to abide in us after He left the earth. God does not leave us to our own devices; He saves us in order to take up residence in our body, to set us on fire for His purposes, to bring us to holiness, and – believe or not – to give us discernment and the ability to both be aware of and understand the meaning of future events.
I fear that too many people are left unaware and unaffected by the reality of the Holy Spirit. In a world of Christianity that emphasizes good works, morality, comfort, and a “god” that fits into our lives instead of us fitting into His life; the true message of the Gospel (Good News) is not being proclaimed. People who “think” that they are believers, may not actually be. They may be well schooled in what a church emphasizes, but they may not actually be saved and have the Spirit of God Himself dwelling in them.
Therefore, we see churchgoers and people who say that they are Christians, going about either in fear of all that is happening in the world around us, or in a state of upheaval with those around them because of interpretations of what is occurring. However, the believer who is 1) redeemed from sin’s penalty by the blood of Jesus, and 2) is filled with the Holy Spirit (the very third Person of the Godhead), and 3) is staying in the Word of God to read and study and pray, THAT believer will be able to interpret the times. That believer will be able to feel at peace, even as end-time events unfold around them. That believer will be able to remain calm and steady and focused on Jesus in the middle of the chaos. That believer will see that everything happening is exactly what God prophesied and, therefore, that He is in full control.
I urge you today to read the text of Scripture below, and to make it a matter of personal prayer to digest what Jesus is saying. The Holy Spirit CAN give you discernment and peace concerning the future, and the Holy Spirit CAN enable you to glorify Jesus above all else in your life – no matter the tumultuous times in which we live.
– Shelli Prindle
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it you. (John 16:12-15, emphasis mine)
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
If you believe that you are right with God and on your way to Heaven, but you never really think about the blood of Jesus, then I urge you to rethink your position. The blood of Jesus Christ, that He shed on the Cross two thousand years ago, is the only thing that can pay the price for our sin and placate the wrath of God. Though churches and ministries may not speak much of the blood of Jesus anymore, it is still our hope for cleansing from sin. The end times bring with it false preaching and a watered-down “gospel.” It is our job to know God’s Word and dig deeply, as for the greatest treasure. Make it your business to know for yourself what God has said. Please, do not be deceived or lulled into a false sense of security, for that is what Satan desires.
– Shelli Prindle
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” – (Ephesians 1:7)
Here’s the thing. Christ is not a slice of life, or an influence on life, or one source of wisdom for life, or even the religious part of life. The true Christ – the real Jesus – IS LIFE. If a person is not aiming to say, “Jesus IS my life,” then a person is not understanding what the Bible says about Christ. He is it. He is the way, the truth, and the life.
– Shelli Prindle
“When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” – (Colossians 3:4)
