I can't help but be overwhelmed at times, but the growing number of suicides happening all over the world. That people are hanging on by a proverbial thread and suddenly feel that letting go is much easier than holding on. They despair and lose all sense of hope. Just what is it that drives people down this volatile road of destruction? What causes people to turn to alcohol and drug addiction, often times, leading to death by overdose, looking for something that can't find? When they can't find the answer, they take the shortcut out of life, and end it all.
You'd think that having money, power and a prestigious position or better yet, all three would make all your problems disappear. If it did, taking a hard look at Hollywood clearly shows us that even that isn't the answer. Well, you might argue, it would work for me! Really?
Philip Seymour Hoffman, a man at the pinnacle of success, winner of the Best Actor Oscar for his role as Truman Capote in the film Capote, and was nominated three other times for Academy Awards. Yet where did he wind up, dead with a heroine syringe still sticking out of his arm in his bathroom. He was found to have had a toxic mix of a variety of drugs in his system, but investigators found over 50 envelopes in his apartment with heroine referred to as Ace of Spades.
Heath Ledger, another actor from Hollywood on his rise to the top of his career, who at 28 died from an accidental overdose like Philip Seymour Hoffman of six different drugs, 2 strong pain killers, 2 anti-anxiety drugs, and two sleeping sleeping aids. He died alone in his bed.
Amy Winehouse, singer at 27, died from alcohol poisoning with five times the legal limit in her system, who refused psychiatric help when she felt it would take away from her creativity as an artist. Some stories in the media claim she died while watching videos of herself. She too, died alone. She joined what some are calling the 27 club, famous people who died at the age of 27, like Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and still more others. You have notable celebrities like Whitney Houston, and Robin Williams who have reached the end of their rope and simply let go of the life they had here, because it was easier than dealing with whatever they were being haunted with.
Anywhere you look around you, suicide is on the rise from the Indian Reservations where teen suicide is at an all time high at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation according to the New York Times.
The common theme in all of these circumstances is they all felt empty, lonely, and hurting. They are signs of a spiritual thirst. What people need is the love and acceptance found only in a personal relationship with Jesus.
Luke 9:25 ~ "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?" (NIV).
Just like the woman at the well in Samaria, Jesus came to her where she was at, because he needed to. We have to be willing to go to where people are. We need to engage. Sometimes Christians isolate themselves from what is going on around them, when we should be infiltrating and permeating our culture as our mission from God. From our angry neighbor, our hostile co-workers, unreceptive kids or even our own parents who don't know God. If you don't reach out to them, who will?
There is no room for bigotry or prejudice in doing so and we must go into it acting superior. We must overcome those obstacles in our own faith. Notice that Jesus broke the tension the Samaritan woman must have been feeling when walking in the heat of the day to the well, only because she was ostracized by those in her town, and came upon a Jewish man, looking at her when she approached. In those days, Jews and Samaritan's steered clear of one another. They didn't go out of their way to interact with one another at all. Before Jesus even spoke with her, she already had three strikes against her.
1. She was a Samaritan. Considered outcasts by the Jewish people of the day.
2. She was a woman. In fact, most Jewish people prayed that they were thankful they were men and not a woman. Women were considered lowly in both cultures over men.
3. She was an immoral woman, and her reputation was well known by everyone in town. No one wanted to associate with her.
Jesus broke the tension she had as she approached, simply by asking for a drink of water.
John 4:7 ~"When a Samaritan woman come to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (NIV).
A great quote I have heard said when asking why a farmer's orchard bared the best fruit and what was his secret to success was "For the fruit to grow, the farmer's shadow has to fall in the field." It means the farmer has to be in the field, engaged and willing to get his hands dirty. That is the secret to successful leadership as well.
Jesus didn't say to the whole world needs to go to church, but He did say, the church needs to go to the whole world. We need to be willing to go to where people are hurting and we also need to care about the people we share the gospel with. We can't see it as a job, it has to be personal for both of us.
John 4:4 ~ "Now he had to go through Samaria." (NIV).
Jesus met people where they were. He didn't call them to come to Him, even though many did. There are those remarkable stories of one on one, face to face encounters, Jesus had with those who needed His message more than anyone. From the demon possessed man, the adulterous woman, the lepers, the blind, and the sick. Jesus met them on their terms.
I can only imagine where we would find Jesus today. It wouldn't be in some stadium or mega church, preaching His message, it would be those personal one on one times, in the streets the homeless, to the sick in hospitals, or the prostitutes on the street corners. Jesus would be there, giving them the living water, than satisfies more than this world ever can.
The things people are searching for, hope, love, acceptance, and self worth, can't be found in a bottle or a pill. There is an enemy at work that will try and convince you that you are unworthy, flawed, broken, worthless, and unlovable. But we serve a living God, one who died just for YOU! To give you a life that will be filled with peace, love, hope and a feeling that YOU were created perfectly just to serve Him. Isn't that what we all want in life?
Only a relationship with Jesus can do that.
Jesus said in John 4:13 ~ "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, (referring to the water in the well) but whoever drinks the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (NIV)
1 Peter 1:3-7 ~ " Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in the praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (NIV)
We have to remember that every single day is a spiritual battle. The devil never sleeps nor do the demons he employs to accomplish his tasks. There is a battle for souls and we are running out of time to share the message of hope with a dark and cold world.
Ephesians 6:12 ~ "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm." (NIV).
Only a believer and follower of Jesus understands this scripture. The world is lost. They have no understanding of what is going on. They are ruled by emotions and feelings when they feel at the end of their rope and the enemy comes at just that moment in an effort to push them over the edge. Let us all make it our mission to be the salt to the earth, the light to the darkness and showcase the beauty and love we have through our personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
If you have found your way here, it wasn't an accident. God guided you here because He is the only answer You need to what is troubling you in your life. He can make your worthy. He can heal the brokenness inside you. He can give you the peace you are seeking. He can give you the unconditional love that you so desperately need.
Psalm 139:13-18 ~ "For You created my innermost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.
Precious reader, if you are looking for that answer to the deep, dark hole in your life? Take a chance on Jesus!!! Give him an opportunity to show you what He can do in your life and in your heart. He will always love you, always protect and care for you, and most importantly, He will never leave you!
Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
John 3:16 ~ " For God so loved the world, that whosoever that believes in Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life."
John 5:24 ~ "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my Word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."
If you want this living water that Jesus spoke about to the Samaritan women, consider this prayer with your whole heart and give your life to Jesus:
Father, I come to You, confessing my sin and asking for Your forgiveness. I thank you, Lord, for You have promised that if I will confess my sins, You will be faithful to forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I want to turn from my sins and live in Your will. I ask that You give me the power through Your Holy Spirit to live the right way.
I thank You that Jesus Christ died on the cross, paying the price for my sins, and then rose from the dead. I accept Him now as my Savior, my Lord, and my Friend. Thank You for giving me new life in Christ. I surrender myself to You; make me what You want me to be. In Jesus' name. Amen!
Friend, if you have prayed that prayer and meant it with your whole heart, Jesus will begin to work in your life in ways you have never dreamed of. I welcome you to the family of God and rejoice over your salvation. There is a celebration going on in heaven just because you gave your life to Him.
Luke 13:7 ~ "I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety nine righteous people who do not need to repent." (NIV).
Now, for the best thing, grab a Bible when you can. Begin reading it, starting with Matthew and work your way through it. Ask God to reveal Himself to You and what His plans are for your life from this point on. His Word is alive, because it changes and transforms people. Begin to enjoy the relationship you have with Jesus and get yourself involved with a church, not because you are required to do so, but because it will encourage you in your faith and help you grow spiritually!
If you have any questions or need prayer, please reach out to me at Stevenkat27@gmail.com. I'd love to help you and pray for you! ~ Love Kat
Posts
