For-instance,



There are so many more examples of this in our lives. Girlfriend....we chose.







Anyone have stories they can share where they experienced consequences for sin and the Lord healed and restored???

So just yesterday I turned 26! But oh what a day it was! Let me tell you about it:

Chase and I woke up at 4:30 a.m. because we were taking our NBT guys to the airport in Phoenix and needed to leave at 5. I had wanted to bring the kids with me, but Chase thought we should leave them at home and Jen agreed and kept them at her house to sleep the night before. So we headed out to Phoenix with Mr. Charles and Mr. David. They slept most of the way so Chase and I got to catch up on some visiting we had been missing all week during NBT and it was nice. We dropped them off at the airport and did some shopping! Chase took me to Target, my all-time fave store and we ran some errands for the church at Sam's Club and then hit another Target and a Ross. :) Then we headed out of the Valley and planned on stopping for some lunch in Payson. We were having a great drive, talking and singing. I was torturing Chase with a love song by Lonestar "I don't know how you do what you do...I'm so in love with you...it just keeps getting better...I want to spend the rest of my life...with you by my side...forever and ever..." when CRASH-I thought we hit something huge that I hadn't seen in the road. I then realized our back left tire had completely blown and we started swerving. We swerved to the left and almost into the wrong lanes and could have gone off the mountain, (Chase said I was now yelling, 'Babe!' 'Babe!!!' BAAAAAABE!!!!' I don't remember this at all!) but we were pulled to the right. My window was now facing the traffic coming as we went off of the road and started to roll. We both had our seat belts on but somehow I was thrown forward a bit and hit my head on the roof (I think) that had caved in a little by the windshield. It was one of those moments where we were rolling and I thought I was going to die...but I had peace about that. Then it occured to me (isn't it amazing how fast the brain goes??? This was all in a matter of a couple of seconds.) that I was alive and there was no way both of us were surviving this so I must be losing my husband-which I had NO peace about! :)

We stopped rolling and my Excursion had ended up on her right side with my window in the dirt. As Chase and I are hanging there, we yelled back and forth at the same time "Are you ok?!?" and were very relieved to discover we were both alive and fine. At first I thought I was bleeding from where I hit my head but was relieved to find out I was covered in Dr. Pepper! We realized the vehicle was now surrounded with people who were checking to make sure we were ok and to help however was needed. Chase started climbing out of the car to talk to them and I looked for my shoes and started throwing all my stuff in my purse which had spilled everywhere. I then started realizing I was also covered in tiny tiny pieces of glass, and had some small scratches but was mostly just being poked everywhere by glass. Chase helped me climb out of the car (which resulted in him getting a cut on his wrist.) and I sat on the car for a second until the crowd helped me and Chase off and onto the ground.

I stood there, a bit shocked and shaky and everyone asked if we were ok and we said yes. People started talking about the crash and who saw it and what they saw and Chase talked to them. A lady who said she was a Registered Nurse asked me to do her a favor and go sit on a blanket, drink some water and let her check me out. I did and she made sure I was responding well to everything. We sat and visited for a minute before I had calmed down enough to realize I had a painful lump on the back of my head. While she was checking that out, the man who's car we had nearly crashed into while sliding across the road approached me and said he was a Pastor and asked if I needed anything. I explained my husband was also a pastor and no, I was fine, but thanks so much. The men continued to talk about the crash and some people continued on their journeys after finding we were fine. My nurse told me she was a little concerned about my bump and said they would probably take me in the ambulance to Payson to check it all out and I should let them. We waited for what seemed like forever waiting for EMS and the police to come. But in the meantime, a off-shift DPS officer drove by and stopped, then two guys came at the same time who had never met but were prepared with their medic kits from when they were Medics in the Army Rangers and Air Force! They also were concerned about my bump and started taking vitals and holding my head in C-Spine...whatever that is! :) They were sweet guys and nurse and they took good care of me. Then they and the nurse decided to move me into a car with a/c and so they carefully carefully transported me to the Pastor's truck where a Medic kept me in C-Spine. Then a couple of off-duty Payson firemen were driving by and stopped to help. I found out later that the guy Chase was talking to was a guy who was finishing his law degree and was helping Chase with all the legal info and what to take pictures of, etc! Anything we could have wanted or needed showed up on-scene within minutes of the crash. Amazing.
Also realize if you have never driven from Phoenix to Payson that the drive is mostly on the side of a mountain or up in the air with nothing on either side. Where we blew a tire was a great place to do so because there was land to land on! :)
When I was in the truck and after the EMS guys had checked me out, they decided I needed to fly to Phx to make sure I was not bleeding or swelling on the inside. I said, "Are you kidding???" Which of course they were not. The Pastor's wife was sitting with me in the car and could tell that I was getting fearful. Immediately, she grabbed my hand and prayed for me. She prayed for my husband and my children, the process of insurance and for my flight. It was so encouraging. She gave me a quick hug and they put me in a C-Spine neck brace and loaded me onto the stretcher.

I was then moved to the ambulance where they hooked me up to 2 IVs, checked my blood sugar and prepared me for flight. They gave me some stuff to help the nausea and some pain meds. I waited a LONG time for the helicopter, which was able to land just a little bit away. So I talked to the EMS guy a bit and then I heard the helicopter and instantly I was afraid again.

At this point in the story, I have to tell you about some of the weird random things I hate and/or am scared of... this is not a complete list. lol.

I have been terrified of being in a vehicle that is rolling over.
I HATE having my neck covered up-it makes me feel like I need to vomit. I won't even wear tight collared t-shirts because it is too constricting!
I HATE having my feet covered up!
I get claustrophobic and definitely need my space.
I hate heights...they freak me out.
I HATE IV's and needles of any kind.
It makes me uncomfortable to be surrounded by men I don't know and not have my husband present.

My fear is something the Lord has been working on me with because "He has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound mind."

I have to tell you all this because at this point, my neck was covered, my whole head actually was in this weird brace thing that was duct taped to the stretcher! I couldn't move it at all!
I was strapped to the stretcher by numerous seatbelts going in all different directions.
They put my feet in this really hot net thing to keep me from kicking around in the event that I go crazy and somehow break out of the restraints like the Hulk.
I couldn't move anything.
My husband was not allowed to go with me.
There was no room in there-a guy's knees were actually on either side of my head and I became pretty acquainted with his nose hair.

Then we took off. And while I knew the flight shouldn't have been more than 20 minutes, it seemed to take an hour. I don't know how long it took, but it seemed like an eternity. I was doing a pretty good job of staying calm-I had been so busy being distracted by the crash and the people around me that I hadn't realized what was happening to me. But as time ticked by in the helicopter, I am realizing I can't move...I have stuff covering my throat, etc. etc. etc. And I am starting to freak out. Fear started to creep up from my restrained feet and was taking over. I started to feel like Job and pictured Satan talking to God and asking permission to completely scare me by doing all the things to me that I hate. And I pictured Christ saying "Ok, but it can't be dark. She needs to be able to see and you can't touch her babies." I realized how much more awful it would be if my babies had been in the accident and I was taken away from them or worse if they were hurt and flown somewhere else! Or how absolutely petrified I would have been if this would have happened at night and I wouldn't have been able to see anything. Darkness is my arch-nemesis. :) It all might sound silly to you, but these are very real fears to me. And God was asking me to face them and call on Him. So I did. Over and over I repeated every verse that came to mind on fear. "What time I am afraid I will trust in Thee." "Hear my cry O Lord, attend unto my prayer, from the ends of the earth will I cry unto Thee. When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that I higher than I."
I asked Him for help and He was there. He gave me peace and kept me calm.

Once I got to the hospital they did some x-rays and some ct scans and were very nice. I had a great nurse and everyone was really great. They put me in my room but I was still not able to look around or sit up. Until the results got back that I was OK, I had to stay flat on my back and keep moving to a minimum. The hospital social worker made some phone calls for me and let me know that DPS was bringing my husband and that Dan and Jen were on their way.
To make an already very long story shorter, I was fine. My tests all came back looking good. I am pretty banged up and bruised, but I am just fine! No internal bleeding or swelling! I was released just as Chase made it to the hospital! Our amazing friend Joe Hicks drove us to meet Dan and Jen. Then we ate some dinner, answered all the calls that came pouring in and went home! We actually stopped at the exact spot where we crashed and thanked Jesus for His protection. We made it to the Jerome's house, picked up my babies and went home to find that some of my girls had broken into the house to clean up, and make us dinner! Thanks you guys!!! You are amazing!!! We love you! :) And so much thanks to the Hicks and the Jeromes!!! We have the best friends in the world and you all mean so very much to us! THANK YOU!!!

And get this, when we got home Chase checked the mail and brought in some birthday cards that had come in. My card from the church said:
"Just think,
You're here not by chance, but by
God's choosing.
His hand formed you
and made you
the person you are.
He compares you to no one else-you are one of a kind.
You lack nothing that
His grace can't give you.
He has allowed you
to be here at this time
in history to fulfill
His special purpose
for this generation. -Roy Lessin"

Kinda timely, huh?

Thank you, Lord for a memorable birthday and for Your perfect plan!

Genesis 2:15-3:19
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.
20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.
21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.
22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
23 Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bonesand flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman,because she was taken out of Man.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,
3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,cursed are you above all livestockand above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go,and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband,and he shall rule over you.”
17 And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you,‘You shall not eat of it,’cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”


Since the beginning of time, women have been easily decieved. Somehow we have a knack for it! I don't know why, but we do.

2 Timothy 3:1-2,5-7
1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
2 For people will be...
5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,
7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

Paul describes "weak women" as women who look like they are Christians, they learn about God's Word and seem to have it all together, but in reality there is no truth in their life and they are burdened with sins and led astray by their passions! It sounds like they don't even know they have a problem!

This is one of Satan's goals. If he can get us to where we are thinking we are in a good place, but really, we wouldn't know truth if it hit us in the face, he is being glorified. Because we are not living a joyous, peaceful, life where Christ reigns!

Every sin you will ever commit comes from believing a lie.
And lies are everywhere! No wonder we all live selfish, unpeaceful, unsatisfying lives!
But there is a process that leads to believing a lie. (The process and a couple of the sub-points, by the way, I pulled out of Lies Young Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Dannah Gresh-I highly recommend it!)
We are going to use Eve as our example!


1. Eve listened to Satan's lie

Gen. 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

And how often do we do the same thing? We listen to music that glorifies a lifestyle we don't agree with, or read books, or watch movies, or have friends that don't believe the way we do. We listen....we get curious. And after all, just watching a graphic scene or whatever won't really affect us...right?


2. Eve dwelled on the lie

3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

After Satan asked the question, she got to thinking about it...she mulled it over a little bit and she decided that God was being unfair! She said, "Well, He gave us a bunch of trees to eat from, but God said we couldn't eat from or even touch that tree or else we would die!!!"

Notice that God never said they couldn't touch it...that was all Eve. She was getting dramatic and thinking, "Can you believe that guy? Who does He think He is?!? It is our garden! How unfair that there is a tree we can't eat from!" Eve had decided to focus on the one forbidden thing instead of enjoying the acres of freedom around her. She decided to look at God as a big meanie Who was trying to keep her from fun and pleasure instead of the God that maybe knew more than her feeble human brain.

How often do we look at the things the world offers us and get mad at God for "holding out on us," instead of looking at Him as our protector and seeing the inumerable blessings He has given us. Many, many, blessings that are beyond what we can imagine, come from doing things God's way, but Satan doesn't tell you that.

Also notice this-it appears in this passage, that Eve wasn't even around when God told Adam that tree was off-limits. She wasn't created until after that! It seems as though she is having to take Adam's word for it. That reminded me of several times where someone (my parents, pastor, or godly friends) told me that I shouldn't do something or go some certain direction. And how many times, I didn't take their advice. I figured they didn't really understand the circumstances, or they didn't get why it was necessary that I do this. And hey, God probably didn't say anything about it, right? What do they really know? Or...as it turned out. They saw a much bigger picture than I did! They knew what God said and were trying to help me out and I completely discounted it. So maybe Eve even wondered if God said it at all. Or maybe Adam didn't hear everything correctly, or... do you see how as women we go through this dwelling, reasoning process in our heads?

Deuteronomy 6:24
And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day.

It is always for our good!

Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

He wants to bless us with all spiritual blessings! He isn't holding out on us! We don't and can't understand the mind of God because we are simply human!

Isaiah 55:8-9
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Wow, that God. What a meanie. :)

We don't deserve the dirt we are made of! We have nothing coming to us. We are not worth anything...Yet, God paid for our sins, drawed us to Himself, and wants to show us the best way to live.



3. Eve believed the lie rather than the truth of God's Word.


4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”


After all, they had never seen anyone die! God said it would happen, but they had never seen it, so it must not be true...right?
Just like I make up stories about young men out there who are living godly, pure, set-apart, sold out lives and want to serve Christ in whatever capacity He directs them. But because Julia (sorry, I am picking on Julia!!! :) has never seen a guy like that, he must not be out there, and she has to settle for what the world considers to be a great guy. And I believed the same lie too, until I met a pure, sold out guy...

Trust the Truth of God's Word! Just because we don't see it or understand it does not make God a liar.


Also, realize that Satan was talking like God was hiding something about the tree. But God told them what the tree was! It was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He told them what it was, and He even told them what the consequences would be if they disobeyed-death. He laid it out for them "The tree over there will give you the knowledge of good and evil. Trust me, you don't want to eat that fruit because you will find out what evil is...and you die. So...don't do that. Trust Me. Let me protect you from evil."
But no. Eve listened to Satan's lies, she dwelled on them and that led her to believing them.

And being like God sounded pretty good! God gave the commands, had powers...she did too.
Whether we admit it or not, we all want to be god. We want to call the shots for our life, answer to no one, do our own thing. How many religions out there will tell you that you can actually be your own god? There are so many! And they are so wrong. Jesus is THE WAY, THE TRUTH and THE LIFE! No one gets to heaven except through Jesus. And He is the only One to be the Lord and Master of your life. After all, He created it! And He loves you very much.



So Eve listened, dwelled, believed the lies and then,
4. Eve acted on them.

Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

She ate the forbidden fruit and suffered major consequences:
1. Her sin separated her from God. He is perfect, holy and awesome and she couldn't even look at Him without shame. She died spiritually in that instant.
2. Her sin separated her from everybody else. We are all prideful, selfish people and that leads to a lot of relationship problems! Eve no longer had the same relationship with her husband. They were separated by sin.
3. There were God's consequences for sin:
-they had to leave the garden
-there is pain in childbirth
-she is to be in submission to her husband
-there is now physical death. Before she sinned, she would have lived forever along with everything else on the planet.
And there were more consequences specific for Adam, who decided to follow his wife's lead and eat of the fruit. (Which by the way is a general man shortcoming-not being the leader and following along in his wife's whims.)


How then do we avoid being deceived? How do we know what the Truth is?

The common answer to the question, "What is truth?" "Anything that isn't a lie."
And then "What is a lie?" "Anything that isn't truth." How is circular reasoning a good standard and definition??? It isn't! But it is the answer I got among some of my teen girls. How can we know what truth is if we don't know where to find it or that absolute truth even exists???
So here we go. How can we know the truth?

Ps. 119:11
I have stored up your word in my heart,that I might not sin against you.


John 8:31,32 and 36
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.


Abide/store-live daily in, memorize God's Word!!!

You have to know the truth! And it is also imperative that you know it for yourself.
Like if I gave Charity a job. I said, "Hey Charity, I need you to go down to the Phoenix airport and pick up my cousin. She is a little taller than I am and she has brown hair." So Charity went to the airport with those instructions and tried to find my cousin. Well, how many people would match the description I gave? And what if one of those hundreds of people came up to her and asked if she was their ride? Well, for one thing that would not be safe at all, and how would she know which one was the right one?

But what if she went to the airport looking for my cousin whom she had met, talked to, seen up close, knew what she looked like and could give a good description of my cousin herself? What if she had a relationship with my cousin and was a good friend? There would be no doubt in Charity's mind who she was picking up.

In the same way, it is a great start that you listen to your Pastors, parents and church leaders about what truth is, but unless you live in it yourself, you are in almost just as much danger as if you had no knowledge of Truth at all, because you still can't recognize it for yourself.


Numbers 23:19
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

God doesn't lie. He is actually incapable of lying! His holiness prevents it. You have to be in His Word to know the truth. GOD'S WORD IS TRUTH!

What is truth? God's Word is truth
What is a lie? Anything that disagrees with God's Word.

Allow God to let your life soak up His truth! It is the only way to fully enjoy life in this evil world. And it is the only way to truly glorify the name of Christ. Go spread some truth-people are starving to know the truth and we have been entrusted with it.

Know God's Word.
Pass it on.

Zeph. 3:17 The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.

This became one of my favorite verses a couple of years ago, because I loved the picture I had of God singing over me. And last week, I did a little bit of searching in the Strong’s concordance to get a clearer picture of what it was saying in the original Hebrew. Here is what I found-it is sooo cool!

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty

Midst- qereb- inner parts; by extension: heart or mind as the seat of thought and emotion; interior, midst.

Mighty- gibbor- Mighty One, Mighty Warrior, Special Guard

So if we put it in our own words with what we have looked up, we could also say,
“The Lord thy God who lives in your heart, is your Special Guard and Mighty Warrior!”

He will save

Save-yasa- to be rescued, delivered, be saved; to save, rescue, deliver; divine salvation has its focus on rescue from earthly enemies, occasionally referring to salvation from guilt, sin and punishment.

In Zephaniah, this verse is referring to the nation of Israel and how God would save them from their enemies when they would turn to Him. But Israel is also a picture of Christians, and Israel’s enemies are a picture of sin and sometimes trials. So we could say “He has rescued us from the punishment for our sins.”

He will rejoice over thee with joy

Rejoice- sus- to rejoice, be pleased, be delighted

Joy-simha-joy, gladness, pleasure, delight

“We bring Him joy!!”


He will rest in His love

Rest- hares- to plow; engrave; plan, plot; to be silent, be quiet; to become deaf


This is the line that I thought was especially amazing. I wasn’t really sure what it was for God to rest in His love. I can see myself resting in my love and it is a very selfish picture. J But that isn’t what this is saying at all.

Part of what this is saying is that He can become deaf. An example of that is when
Psalm 66:18 says “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.”

But it also says that He is planning or plotting. Sometimes, the Lord brings things into our life to direct us back to Him.

Love- 160- friendship, familial love, romantic love or covenant loyalty

Even when we are far from Him, living in sin and enjoying it, He is still there. He keeps His promise (covenant) to us in that we cannot lose our salvation.

So there are times when He just sits back, and waits for you to come around, all the time, missing you, and seeing what He needs to do to bring you back. HE LOVES YOU!!!

He will joy over thee with singing.

Joy-gil- to rejoice, be glad, be joyful. The attitude and action of favorable circumstance, often expressed in shouts or song.

Singing-rinna-shout of joy, song of joy; cry of pleading.

Notice this joy is different than the first joy. That joy is more like an enjoyment. This joy is being ecstatic!!! He is so happy that you are walking with Him that He sings and shouts about it!!!
Isn’t that amazing??? Have you ever pictured a singing and shouting God? We really shouldn’t be surprised-after all, He gave us music and emotions! Isn’t our God an awesome God??

Speaking of an awesome God, (!!!)

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor,


Luke 4: 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Christ came and fulfilled those words from Isaiah 61! He wants to do the same in you! He wants to rejoice over you with singing! Won’t you walk with Him??? He wants to free you from whatever is holding you in bondage!!

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

I looked up the word “yoke” and in Hebrew it is zygos which was a frame and cross bar placed on draft animals to pull various objects. Just like a frame that two oxen would use to plow a field or pull a wagon. It lessens the load and evens it out. All that work for just one would be unbearable, but having two work together, makes the load much lighter.

I found it interesting though, that instead of Jesus picking up our yoke, He asks us to pick up His. Why do you think that is?

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would find his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?


So basically, it boils down to this, please…open your heart and listen:

Do you crave encouragement or wisdom for your life? Who better to talk to than the Wonderful Counselor??
Are you tired of being dragged through the mud by Satan and your past? Who would be better than the Mighty God to pick you up and clean you off?
Do you yearn for a place of safety and rest? Whose arms are better to hold you than the Everlasting Father?
Are you sick and tired of living a life of inner chaos and confusion? Who better to run to than the Prince of Peace?

I will tell you-NO ONE is better. You can keep trying to fix yourself and be “fine” on your own, but His name is Jesus. And it was prophesied hundreds of years before His birth that He would be all those things for us.

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

He longs to be all that for you. He wants to call the shots in your life and desires a friendship with you! The Creator of the universe wants to listen to whatever it is that you have to say!! Isn’t that amazing???

Are you ready to take up the cross and follow Him?
Honestly, it is not easy, but let Him make your life worth living.

Isn't that an awesome passage?