Deliverance Through Jesus

When God delivered Moses and the Israelites, Moses felt relief. He was stressed. Of course, he never fully felt relief from stress until he went to be with God. But that is not the point. The point is that through God, we came have the same relief, the same deliverance - from Stress. Is stress the most important thing on our mind? It shouldn't be. But is it a major issue we face in life? Of course it is. (Picture credit to Visual Bible, Gospel of John starring Henry Ian Cusick)

God tells us in Matthew 11:28, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." While as Christians, we face Trials and Tribulations, God tells us that if we call upon his name, we hill give us rest.

Does that mean that life is easy? No. Does that mean that when you have jogged for 10 Miles and pray to God for rest, that you will be restored? No. It means this: there's always a calm before the storm. But after the storm, there is relief. Even if you do not have relief in this life, if you have turned to Jesus and accepted the fact that he is risen from the dead, and paid your penalty so that you did not have to, you will have relief in Heaven. Life itself sometimes is a raging storm, but with God, he will give us rest. Stress is such a major issue in today's world, between the business of rush hour, the stress of having to complete a task, a project in time, is stressful. There is stress from relationships, from family life, from life at school and at work. Stress from bills and from global occurrences.

How can we be relieved of stress? First, we need to forgive others for wronging us. Then you ask for forgiveness for wronging others. Then you ask God for forgiveness of your sins against him, and count them all settled. Pray for peace, for relief from stress, for help. Learn to pray for others too, even those who wrong you over and over. Pray that God helps them. Try to think positive in everything that you do. Stress can be lowered by not swearing, too.

Those who swear tend to have higher blood pressure at times, for some reason. For one, there is no reason to swear. It causes strife and strain among people. It stirs up anger in people. God asks us not to, and he does this repeatedly throughout the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. Ephesians 4:29 says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." In other words, don't spew curses, slang, and foul things out of your mouth. Build others up, and they will build you up.

"Do unto others what you would have done unto you." By doing what this verse says, it will relieve a lot of stress. Try to focus on the good in life. Also, Ephesians 4:26 tells us, "'In your anger do not sin' [From Psalm 4:4]; Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry." If we are angry less, we will be relieved from much stress. We all get angry - it is whether we act upon our anger or if we let go of our Anger and allow God to help us. Also, Ephesians 4:31 tells us, "Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other." Take that at face value. Try to focus on the blessings you have instead of the bad in your life.

As put by a great man, "We're too blessed to be stressed." So true. Keep those words in mind. In the same way, "We're too blessed to be depressed." Just as God delivered Moses and the Israelites from the Egyptians, so too he will deliver us from the evil one, Lucifer. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we are delivered from being slaves to Satan. It was the same with the Israelites, God delivered them from being slaves to the Egyptians. God fulfills his promises, and while life can be hard at times, Trust in God and his promises, for while we may not have rest on Earth because of who we are, we will one day. Stress has many ways to be relieved. God can help alleviate stress, and God will also deliver us. In fact, he already has. It is whether we put our faith in him, or reject him. I urge you to repent for sinning against him today, that you too may be saved. I say these things not for my own benefit, but for the benefit of those who read this.

Take Care, and God Bless. Troy Hillman