Hey, are you discouraged?
Don't give up!
Hey it's David with Hope the Generations.
We all face the temptation to become discouraged in our journey.
But if you have come to a place that you are continually discouraged I
want to talk to you.
I want to encourage you.
I want to help you defeat discouragement.
To defeat discouragement we must understand what it is
and how we become so discouraged so
that we can reverse it. And I want to help you understand discouragement.
But by first defining what courage is as opposed to being
discouraged.
Courage in the Hebrew language means to be alert to be
firm and strong swift footed strong
and undaunted in mind.
Think about that being undaunted with whatever comes your way.
That's amazing. See because when we are discouraged the things
of life certainly begin to seem daunting.
So to be discouraged would mean that we are experienced in the opposite
of courage. Maybe you're depressed.
Maybe you're weary. Maybe you're downtrodden.
Maybe you're hopeless you're just kind of tired of the things in life.
But I must tell you that when you became a son or daughter
of God that it did not faze Satan and his kingdom.
They're fine with you going to heaven and spending your eternity with the
Father. He's fine with that.
However what Satan's kingdom does not want you to understand
is who you are and how much of a threat you are to that kingdom.
So what they want to do is discourage you so
that you will never take your place and overthrow them.
But I want to encourage you, but to do that we first need to recognize
some of the tactics Satan's Kingdom uses to discourage us.
Now the first thing is we simply may be believing a lie from
the enemy from within.
Like in our thought life maybe we have thoughts like
"you know I'm just not good enough for God".
"I have nothing to offer".
You compare yourself to others and you feel like you never measure up.
Or maybe it's fears on the inside that keep you back
from doing what you know God has called you to do in
your heart. If you don't do that you'll become discouraged.
And if you continue to listen and meditate on these thoughts you're going
to get discouraged and even your body may respond with something
we call devalued serotonin levels.
And when you struggle with these thoughts from within you must begin
to seek the Father for comfort and encouragement
in how He will provide.
2 Corinthians 7:4-7 is a great scripture about
how to do this. Paul said this: Great is my boldness of speech
toward you. Great is my glorying of you.
I'm filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful and all of our
tribulation for when we were come into Macedonia
our flesh had no rest but we were troubled on every side
without were fightings within were fear.
There you go here comes your discouragement.
But nevertheless God that comforts those that are cast down
comforted us by the coming of Titus and not by his
coming only but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted
in you when he told us your earnest desire your mourning
your fervent mind toward me so that I rejoiced the more.
Likewise in Philippians 4:8-9
Paul says this: Finally brethren.
Whatsoever things are true. Whatsoever things are honest.
Whatsoever things are just. Whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things
are lovely whatsoever things are a good report.
If there be any virtue if there be any praise think
on these things and those things which you have both learned and
received and heard and seen in me do and the God of Peace
shall be with you.
You know you just never know how God
will want to encourage you but you have to begin getting
your mind back on him to see his word come to pass in
your life.
You know another tactic the enemy may use to discourage you is
through the words of others that may have wounded you.
Dr Henry Wright got a saying that I love.
He says this "you know you're going to be pierced but
you don't have to be wounded". Listen I know it hurts when others don't
treat you right and they don't speak to you correctly but
you don't have to live under that if you are wounded and you're living
under that. You have made... you've actually made what another human has
said higher than what God has said concerning you and that's
contrary to Scripture.
Romans 3:3-4 What if some did not believe shall their
unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
God forbid. You let God be true but every man a liar as
it is written that thou might be justified in thy sayings and thou
mightest overcome when you are judged.
You see to stay above becoming discouraged.
We must allow truth to be higher than what others
have said and done to us. I don't know.
Maybe someone has told you that your junk tha you'll never amount to
anything. Well the Bible says your God's workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works.
So the question becomes which do you believe.
Which do you meditate on which do you
follow as truth for you.
We can see the power of others words to
discourage us and others in their journey.
This really comes out in the story of Joshua and
Caleb when they sent spies out into the land to go spy
the land out Joshua and Caleb went out and
they were encouraged by what they saw in Canan they said: "This is a great
land this is full of milk and honey let's go take it".
But you know the story the other spy said: "No there's giants in the
land", and the Bible says that it made the people's hearts discouraged to
the point where they complained to God. They complained to Moses and they
actually wanted to turn back and go back to Egypt into bondage rather
than pressing forward because that's what discouragement does.
Being in a state of discouragement will not allow you to walk in God's
plans as Israel did not walk in God's plans for them.
You see you cannot let the doubt in unbelief of others and their
words rule you.
You can not let the abuse of others rule you, because
you'll become discouraged.
Rather you have to begin to forgive them release them
and understand where they're coming from that they're deceived so that you
can recover yourself you can recover your courage and not fall into
discouragment. I mean Nehemiah is another great example of this.
No matter what kind of threatening, no matter what kind of blackmail he
was facing, he was encouraged to build the wall.
He had courage in it and he did it.
Even in the face of death.
Now another tactic the enemy uses to try to get us
discouraged is to make us feel like our current situation will
never change. He does this so that in our heart and with our
mouth we begin to say you know what.
I just give up.
But what we fail to realize and remember is that this journey of being a
believer it takes endurance it takes patience.
Nothing ever changes as fast or or how we thought it would when we first
began but our situations and that seemingly seemingly lack
of change in those situations it should never move us.
However that's exactly what the enemy does.
He uses our past and our present to influence us to think it
will never get better and we forget that we serve a God that
knows everything and can come into our circumstances and move us ahead in
ways we never even thought about.
But if we become discouraged it will hinder God from doing that.
Hinder God you say?
I can hinder God?
Yes you can. How can God be hindered?
Well even if He did do something we wouldn't
notice because we'd be stuck in discouragement.
It's about where our focus is. So how do we begin to work through this,
when we think our circumstances will never change?
Well first I want to say this. Embrace where you're at.
Doesn't have to be content to stay there forever but learn to be content
in any situation.
And know, know that your salvation is nearer then when you first began.
Trust me in a hundred years you will not be in the same
set of circumstances. You say: "Yeah but this!" Y'all in one hundred
years your circumstances will be different.
Y'all there's numerous ways the enemy wants to discourage us.
But I want to encourage you keep your faith.
Keep your hope. Keep your joy and the enemy will not
succeed and keep you discouraged because God is not the author
of discouragement. And I want to pray right now that God
will give you repentance to the acknowledging of this truth that
you can recover yourself from the snare of discouragement.
Y'all, our Father in Heaven is not discouraged.
Jesus Christ is not discouraged and he wasn't even discouraged when he was
going to the cross and the Holy Spirit is not discouraged even
in those times when we grieve him and quench him.
So if they're not discouraged why should we be discouraged.
I want to encourage you sons and daughters pick back up your salvation.
Be patient endure till the end.
Forgive those that have hurt you.
Put away the fear of man and what they think and God will come and He
will save you. He will meet you.
He will comfort you. He will help you.
And I want to assure you He does hear your prayers.
He does love you and He is waiting to just like you.
He is waiting for those that He loves to come to salvation.
And for the time to come that he can redeem all things.
He is waiting. He is waiting to bring his kingdom to this planet
so that righteousness can dwell here and he can dwell with us forever.
So get back up get back involved with others.
Don't just wait for Him but join Him.
And don't be discouraged.
Now let's close by looking at the example of our Lord.
Isaiah 42:1-4, there's a wonderful prophecy about him
and it says this. Behold my servant who my uphold
my elect and whom my soul delights I put my spirit upon
him. This is Jesus.
He shall bring forth judgment to the gentiles.
He shall not cry nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard in the street
a bruised read shall He not break the smoking flax he shall
not quench he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
And here's the part. Listen he shall not fail nor be discouraged
till he have set judgment in the earth and the isles shall wait
for his law.
I hope you're encouraged and if you enjoyed this video please click the
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God bless you.