Caught Up with Jesus

I am caught up with Jesus.

I'm addicted to Jesus. I don't know how to breathe anything else but Him. I really don't.

I don't know what to do differently from Jesus. I don't know what I would do without Him. I don't know what I would do without what He has told me to do. I wouldn't have a clue where to go, how to live, or what direction to take. Without Him, I would be completely lost.

That is why the words of Paul resonate so deeply with me. In 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, he writes:

"We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed."

What a powerful promise. You may feel oppressed by circumstances. You may feel pressure from every direction. But don't worry, you will not be crushed.

You may be perplexed. You may not understand what God is doing. You may not have all the answers. But you do not have to live in despair. Walk in that truth today. You may be persecuted, but you will never be abandoned.

I've experienced that personally. There have been seasons when God felt closer to me during persecution than in times of ease. When everything else is stripped away, you discover that He is still there. Sometimes persecution drives us into a deeper dependence on His presence. And even when you feel cast down, you are not destroyed.

If you are pursuing the glory of God and walking in His presence, there may be opposition. There may be a misunderstanding. There may be moments when you feel knocked down. But you are not abandoned, and you are not destroyed. God is building something in you.

Like a palm tree, your roots are simply growing deeper. The storms are not there to destroy you; they are there to strengthen your foundation.

Every battle has a purpose. When I choose joy instead of despair, and when I allow pressure to become a tool rather than a torment, something powerful happens. The battle produces faith. It produces endurance. It becomes another victory mark on my spiritual armor.

I can look back and say, "By God's grace, I won that battle." But we do not win battles for ourselves alone. We win them for the generations that follow.

Our children do not need to fight every battle we fight. They do not need to wrestle with every stronghold that has plagued previous generations. We are called to establish a legacy of faith. As mature believers, we must stand our ground, overcome, and break through so that those coming behind us can walk in greater freedom.

When the next generation looks at our lives, they should be able to say, "They did it through Christ, so we can do it too." That is how faith is passed on.

That is how endurance becomes legacy. James tells us to count it all joy when we fall into various trials. Why? Because we already know where we stand.

We are not fighting for victory; we are fighting from victory. We can count it all joy because we know who has already won. We know that Christ has conquered. We know that the authority of heaven is backing us.

The trial may come, but the victory is already established. Every test, every challenge, and every battle can strengthen us if we allow it to. When we refuse anxiety and choose faith, pressure becomes a tool in God's hands to move us forward.

As Scripture says, "Be anxious for nothing." Then Paul writes in 2 Timothy 1:8:

"Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God." Paul was completely captured by Christ. And honestly, so am I.

I am a prisoner of the Lord. Every time I try to do something apart from Him, it simply doesn't work. My life belongs to Him. I don't know how to live without Him. I don't know how to think apart from Him. I don't know where I would go without His voice leading me.

So if enduring hardship is part of the calling, then let us endure. If carrying the Gospel requires perseverance, then let us persevere. If the Kingdom is going to come on earth as it is in heaven, then we must remain faithful through every season.

We endure not by our own strength, but according to the power of God. And because of that power, we are never crushed, never abandoned, and never destroyed.

In Christ, victory remains our starting place and our destination.

Amen.