Showing posts with label lost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lost. Show all posts

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Do you hear the Sound of Crying? by James May

Do You Hear the Sound of Crying?

Everywhere we turn there are voices shouting in our ears and each one has its own message to deliver. Satan loves to Shout in your ear! He is the accuser of the brethren, constantly standing before God to point a finger at the wrongs that we do. Every time we make even the slightest mistake, there he is, sitting on our shoulder, shouting in our ear with the same voice of the serpent that deceived Adam and Eve in the garden. His cry makes the heart tremble unless we are close to God enough for faith to answer Satan’s taunts. You are nothing but a hypocrite and a sinner! You’ll never measure up or be good enough. You are lost and serving God is impossible. Satan’s greatest weapons are deception and fear. By deceiving us into thinking that he is right, he creates the fear that paralyzes us so that we are unable to obey God.

We also Hear the Cries of the World!

There is so much pain and suffering in this world where we live. There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t hear of some great tragedy or suffering somewhere. The world cries out because of its pain and suffering, its heartache, the absence of real love, loneliness, hopelessness, and poverty. Men’s hearts are failing them for fear of an uncertain future. They cry out for help, for someone to show them the right answer, and for someone to care, but, no one seems to answer the grand call of humanity as they speed toward the precipice of hell.

We hear the Cry of the Lost Souls!

Where can I find the answer for my sin? Who can deliver mankind from destroying himself? Who will help us to find the right path to walk? I am convinced that even if 20% of the world were really Christians that would leave about 5 billion people on earth right now who will spend eternity in hell. If we look around our own community of approximately 67,500 people I don’t think that 2 of every 10 people you meet are saved. You would be hard pressed to find more than 2 or 3 out of 100 people who are truly born again.

We hear the Cry of the Heart of Man!

The heart of people is breaking or already broken. Men cry in the streets for more comfort and less pain. The cry around the world is for peace, but there is no peace to be found without Christ. People cry out for recognition as if to say, look at me, I count for something while the world ignores them and time marches on into eternity. The heart of man is crying out for someone to stop, to care and to help them.

We hear the Cry of the Family!

Our families are in grave danger of annihilation. Same-sex marriages and gay and lesbian families are still in the minority, but they are gaining ground every day. God help the children that are raised in such degenerate surroundings. How can the children ever have a normal life when they are raised in filth and immorality to think that this is normal.

Our families are crying out for time for one another. We live in a world that requires so much of Mom and Dad that they seldom really have time for the kids who have to fend for themselves, live on the streets and face life alone while the devil is doing his best to destroy them even as children.

The normal setting of a home where there is one mother, one father and two sets of grandparents are almost nonexistent in our society. Divorce, remarriage and unfaithfulness are the hallmarks of marriage in our day.

We hear the Cry of our Children!

First of all, there are those children who cry from their mother’s womb because they are never given the chance to experience life. The safest place in the world for a baby used to be inside of its mother but no more.

Why Are Children Aborted?

The Alan Guttmacher Institute (the research arm of Planned Parenthood) states: * 1% are victims of incest or rape * 1% had fetal abnormalities * 4% had a doctor who said their health would worsen if they continued the pregnancy * 50% said they didn’t want to be a single parent or they had problems in current relationships * 66% stated they could not afford a child *75% said the child would interfere with their lives.

While I am diametrically opposed to the murder of unborn children through abortion, I sometimes think that these babies are really the lucky ones.

Too many of our kids are what used to be called, “Latchkey Kids”. Their parents both work or are never home with them and these kids are left to their own devices for survival. They are left to roam the “hood” and fight for survival of the fittest like some wild animal.

These kids are crying out for someone to notice their condition and to really care about them. Our so called, Child Protection Agency often does more damage to destroy a child than to help. I am glad for the few they help but so much more is needed. Man’s pitiful efforts in solving the problems of sin in the family are futile at best.

Our kids are crying for safe places to play, to go to a safe school, and a safe place to grow up without fear of being hurt, kidnaped or killed.

There Are Even Cries Within The Church!

With so much deception and false teaching, the cry of the church is for Truth and not fantasy. The church should be crying more than we are, for we have the only answer but we aren’t concerned enough most of the time, to cry out to God on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Our cry is for the real fire of the Holy Ghost and not just voices that come from the lips of burning embers who have very little anointing and power left in them.

Christians cry out for Truth in relationships with other Christians and not for just some superficial, uncaring program that purports to reach out to them. The church should be crying out for workers who will enter into the harvest fields to reach souls in these last days but we are crying out for personal wealth, personal gain, and have little concern for the lost souls. Yes, there are many cries that can be heard in the earth, but what cries should we be listening for? We must cry out to God for all of our problems and not to other people who cannot even help themselves.

Psalms 18:3-6, "I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears."

The church should be calling out to God for boldness and for a new vision of lost souls that we can deliver the message of the gospel of salvation to a lost and dying world. Man needs to hear the message from Romans 10:13-15, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

But this same passage also says, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?"

God is like the Marines, He is looking for a few good people who stand up and be counted and answer the cry of the world by shouting forth the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What can we say to a lost and dying world that is hurting and suffering that will bring the answer to all their troubles?

2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

In the days when Satan in screaming into the ear of even the most faithful of the people of God that they will never make it, this is what David wrote in when he faced the same finger of the devil as it pointed into his face:

Psalms 61:1-3, Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy."

The cries of the world, of families, of children, of the lost and of the church are very real. God hears those cries but unless all of us decide to obey His Word, there is little that God can do to deliver.

But, if we will only cry out to God in repentance; if we will only obey His Word; if we will only run to Him as our High Tower and our refuge, then God can answer our cry and give us the life more abundantly that His Word speaks about.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Lost And Searching For Answers: Love and Faith is the key!

I want to talk to you today about a subject that touches every one of us, young, old, male or female...LOSS.

Sometimes we are faced with things we think we just cant handle; the death of a beloved father, mother, sister, brother, child, spouse etc... but what happens when the loss we feel is the loss of self? What happens when we lose who we are? Whether it is beaten out of us, snatched from us, or we give it away. How do we recover from this loss?

We may strive to find the reasons behind it, but when those reasons don't make sense or add up, we question God. We look up to the heavens and say, "God, how could You do this to me? How did You allow this to happen? Why do I have to suffer with so much pain in my life? How can You put so much on my plate? Why do I have to suffer at all? Why Me? What did I ever do to You to deserve this?" We might even go as far as becoming angry with God and blaming Him for the evil that has befallen us.

The real point is this... we don't operate on God's timetable nor do we have a true understanding of His ways and thoughts. We allow the fear of the unknown to cloud our judgment and even the most logical theories fly out of the window. We would rather think a loving God is punishing us, and that a God that gave up His own life so that we might live, somehow hates us. Even though His word is true and He speaks only of how much He loves us. 

In the world we live in, how could we even begin to understand His plans and purposes for our existence? So we look to other things to add value to us. Thus, we lose ourselves even more. OH, we say, we are trying to find our purpose because somewhere we have lost our worth. That tragedy, we survived, has stripped away our happiness, left us with no joy, scattered our peace. We are lost, broken and devalued.

My friend, let me tell you, this is where FAITH comes in and begins to play a huge role in our healing and restoration. Faith helps us to see His message in the darkness of our caves of despair. Faith beckons us to believe again, to hope again, to search for the truth of God's love for and toward us. Faith requires us to love through the pain of loss. Faith tells us that God's message has never changed. This loss is there to teach us not to take the ones we love for granted while they are with us. To love hard and deep. It is there to teach us that we should love ourselves enough to want better for our lives. We should love ourselves enough to search for the treasures God placed in us the moment we were conceived and not to let anyone speak over us what He has not already spoken.

Faith says even the mundane has purpose. Even the fleeting moments are to be cherished. The solitude that comes in those glimpses of hope, should be embraced. As I reflect on the pain we feel when we lose who we are in a hurricane of issues and strife, I am reminded what Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-39.
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
Faith breeds love. First, love God with your very being, Secondly, love yourself unconditionally, and then it spills over to mankind. It also reminds me that God is love; therefore there is no ill will in Him concerning you. He desires to see you prosper and walk in your expected end even if you never had a relationship with Christ. You cant be angry with a God that only wants the best for you. All He has is love to give.

He only requires us to love as fiercely, as bravely and as compassionately as we can and in that love, that human love, to allow faith to grow. Faith that allows us to forgive, and to continue to love unconditionally. As we find the peace of who we are once again, the pain of loss lessens and the joy of live emerges.

Today I challenge you to take a chance on FAITH and LOVE. Let your life begin again.


You are Bound No More. 

Pastor Linda Hillman 
(c) 2015 Living Above Hurt Ministries  
Pastorlindahillman@hotmail.com


Through the scripture and the story of the woman with an issue of blood, Linda Hillman moves past the obvious, more common meaning of the text to a revelatory truth: GOD would not have us live unbalanced and incomplete lives. In her book WILL YOU BE MADE WHOLE, Linda reveals just how crucial balance is in every area of your life. Through scripture, practical principles and faith, Linda shows the reader how to get back on track when life derails. In Linda’s own words—“The one thing I have discovered in my life is that the pains I have had to endure were not to take me out of the game but to polish me for the end result.” Get your copy today and be made whole! 


In today’s microwave society, we want everything in an instant. And we want it now. Between instant gratification and a sense of entitlement, we often forget that GOD is GOD and HIS will be done. We can’t lag behind HIM and we surely can’t jump ahead of HIM. Linda Hillman’s new book, IN THE MEANTIME, addresses this very subject—waiting upon GOD. 

Through vignettes of the Prophet Elijah’s life, Linda reveals GOD’s plan for waiting upon HIM. This concise but rich study provides insight into the character of GOD and how HE takes us through steps of preparation, motivation and confirmation in getting us through our seasons of waiting. The beauty and truth of Linda’s message is that you can have the same glorious breakthrough as Elijah had.