As I watch the world around me rapidly deteriorating, and the way for the appearance of the antichrist is being paved, I can’t help but see and hear the news reports of the hundreds of millions of people that have desperate needs throughout our civilization along with the accounts of those that are being martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ.
The scenes of despair from across our globe causes me to look at my little world and realize I have ‘All That I Need’. The reason for this is that Jesus is ‘All I Need’. Or to sum it up in one sentence: “I am supplied with all that I need because Jesus is all I need.” Examine the Scripture verse below, first from the King James Version, then from the New Living Translation:
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1 KJV)
“The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.” ( 23:1 NLT)
I can’t help asking myself the question, “If Jesus supplies all our needs and He is all we need, why are so many Christians coming apart at the seams today?”
I truly believe that it is because we no longer hear a balanced and rightly divided Word of God preached in America anymore. Yes, Jesus paid it ALL on the cross. And yes, Jesus will take care of ALL our needs. But, the Bible and the New Testament are filled with action words that require a part to be fulfilled by us. I believe it can be summed up in the following two scriptures:
“Guard your heart (mind and thoughts) above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.” (Proverbs 4:23-27 NLT)
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NKJV)
This brings me into deep thinking about John the Baptist being locked up and shakled in a dirty, stinking, dark, lonely jail cell with little food or water. He had only been fulfilling what he was called to do. He could not understand why Jesus wouldn’t deliver him from his dilemma. He was truly being hard pressed:
Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities. And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.” (Matthew 11:1-14 NKJV)
I can confidently conclude that when John the Baptist got the assuring word back, his spirit soared and allowed him to face execution with a firm resound in his mind.
John the Baptist’s predecessor, the real Elijah, was also hard pressed:
And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord , take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. (1 Kings 19: 1-8 NKJV)
Once Elijah reached Horeb, the Lord revealed Himself in the still small voice and assured Elijah that he was not alone in his battle.
One of the best books written on the subject of guarding your mind when you are hard pressed is:
Please lay any opinions you may have about the author aside and read the book for yourself. You will see that the Lord’s hand was all over the writing of this book.
For those Christians who battle with antidepressants, there is a 360 view on the subject that has already been read quite extensively on this website:
Christians and Antidepressants
We are not promised that we will not be hard pressed in our life. What we are promised is that we can overcome it:
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:8-10 NKJV)
In conclusion, I would like to remind you about the multi-billion dollar industry of advertising. The whole idea behind most of advertising is to make people think that they do not have all that they need. It is to make people lust after their product and not have peace until they buy it. But as soon as people buy it, they come out with newer and better models that will soon make you feel you do not have all you need. Thus, the vicious circle goes round and round. The only true way to bypass it is to make a conscious effort to have Jesus Christ as your all-in-all.
Annointing 