spiritual bondage

The Crowd and the Crown (Part 2) – Karen Austin

Whirlwind Teaching and Equipping , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Yesterday, I wrote about different types of crowds that keep us from God’s plan and destiny for our lives. Another type of crowd is the crowd of life. Even though we are in a time of being shut-in, we can still be busy. There is a crowd of false belief that pressures us to feel as if we are not valuable if we are not productive. There always seems to be one more thing that must be done. There are pressures to obsessively throw ourselves into our jobs. Now, we should work if able but not to the extent that that is all we do and all we talk about. I know you have met some of these folks. I walk away feeling tired just listening to all they have accomplished and what is yet on their “to do” list. We must have balance in our lives. One of the most productive times you can have is when you sit before the Lord and listen to His instruction and direction for your life. We will avoid many missteps if we will take this time to be still. Listen and then obey.

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Pressure will come to tempt you to perform for another rather than God. Anything that you put before God is an idol. What is it that you bow down to that you know you should not? What gets in the way of you doing what you are called to do? What causes you to compromise walking in the ways of God? This is a type of a crowd coming against you to press you out of the will of your Father.

“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” James 1:17

Hebrews 4:15-16 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” This verse tells us that Jesus, our High Priest, is a feeling person. He feels your pain and your struggles. He was temped like we are and He knows what it is like. The next verse says “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

When you feel the pressures of any of these crowds, I encourage you to go boldly to the Father. Tell Him the things on your heart. Tell Him the pressures that you are facing…your hurts, worries, anxieties, fears, disappointments…the things that you are struggling with. He will give you guidance, peace and strength to overcome and obtain victory.

“No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” Romans 8:37

Overcome is a military term which suggests combat. We are combating against forces of evil and, at times, our own flesh. These have purposed to keep us out of the place of receiving that crown of victory.

You and I must press through every one of these crowds. He has already given the crown of righteousness to those who are His. Press on to receive your crown. Every one of these crowds that you overcome will give you the fortitude, strength and courage to overcome the next crowd that comes against you.

“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be His God and he shall be My son.” Revelation 21:7

~~to be continued

The Crowd and the Crown – Karen Austin

Whirlwind Teaching and Equipping , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Many of us have had to deal with crowds in our lives. I remember being in a mall right before Thanksgiving and it was so crowded that I had to walk sideways to get through. Finally, I had to go outside and get some fresh air because it was just too crowded for me. Today, I want to talk about the crowds in our lives….things that come to crowd you out of your identity, your place of time in the Word, and intimacy with the Father. Everyone of us are pressing through some things, some sort of crowd is pressing against us to keep us from the place of overcoming and receiving the crown of victory.

To Crowd: to press closely together; force into a confined space; cram; to push; shove; to fill to excess; fill by pressing or thronging into; to place under pressure or stress by constant solicitation.

We must understand our enemy is relentless, but John 16:33 assures us “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me, you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” As He is, so are we in this world! [1 John 4:17] So we have been given overcoming power and authority! Tribulation can be oppression, stress, anxiety, crushing, affliction or squash by distress.

For some of us it is the crowd of our past, and/or bondages from our past. Things that you may be trying to overcome from your past are crowding you from your freedom in Christ today. When you hang out with a crowd, it is easy to be influenced to do what they are doing. It is easy to get caught up with the press of the crowd and do what they are doing.

For others, it is the crowd of sickness, either you or a loved one. Your heart is to do so much for the Kingdom of God, but because of recurrent physical sickness or limitations, this crowd of symptoms and fear keep pushing you back. Well-meaning doctors continue to place you in the category of the crowds…”You have a 90% chance of being in a wheel chair in five years.” I’d prefer to be counted among the crowd of faith to continue to press into the promise of “By His stripes I am healed!” It is so very easy to be influenced by the crowd of infirmity and to not give into the crowd of pain and weakness. But as you step forward in faith, He will give you the strength to overcome.

For others, it is the crowd of emotional pain – the crowd of rejection. Somewhere along the way in this journey called life, things happened. Someone, through their words or actions, told you that you were not valuable…you were not good enough and didn’t measure up. They may have implied you weren’t smart enough or popular enough…you weren’t attractive enough, rich enough or you weren’t as successful as your older brother. You can fill in the blank. Whatever it was, the intent of the enemy behind those words or actions was the same…to cause you to see yourself as “less than” you were created to be.

You were made in the image of God. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27. The enemies plan is to get your focus (what you see) off who God says you are, what God said you can do and instead cause you to focus on (to see only) your failing. Whenever we self-inspect, we will always come up short in every area of our lives without Him. We cannot become all that we are meant to be while we look at ourselves through the eyes of judgment and not through the eyes of grace and the love of our Father. No one knows our shortcomings more than we do – except our Heavenly Father and He is crazy about you and knows your true identity. Do you know that He rejoices over you with singing [Zephaniah 3:17]? Do you know that you are the apple of His eye [Zechariah 2:8]? He is extravagant in His love towards you!

“Can a woman forget her nursing child and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands.” Isaiah 49:15-16.

His love towards you is everlasting, His love for you is constant. When all everyone else fails us and our dreams seem to fade away, He is there. He is secure – always. His love and His mercy towards you are forever.

~~to be continued