“The Mayflower Compact was established before they ever hit the beaches, and that was the foundational divinely inspired document.” Cofounder of The Renewal Rev. Kevin Jessip tells Jeff Crouere about the origins of his conference.
A number of ministers have shared with me their concern for parishioners who are simply giving up. “Good honest Christians are so overwhelmed by guilt and condemnation that it causes despair. When they can’t live up to their own expectations, when they fall back into sin, they decide to give up…”
Growing numbers of Christians are at the breaking point. Few Christians would even dare entertain thoughts of quitting on their love for Jesus, but in despair they consider giving up on themselves.
Some ministers today continually preach only a positive message. To hear them tell it, every Christian is receiving miracles; everybody is getting instant answers to prayer; everybody is feeling good and living well, and the whole world is bright and rosy. I love to hear that kind of preaching because I really desire all those good and healthy things for God’s people.
That’s not the way things are, though, for a great number of very honest, sincere Christians. No wonder our young people often give up in defeat. They can’t live up to the image created by religion of a carefree, rich, successful, always positive-thinking Christian. Their world is not that ideal; they live with heartbreaks, hour-by-hour crises and family problems.
Paul talked frankly about his troubles. “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life” (2 Corinthians 1:8, NKJV).
Positive thinking won’t make these problems go away and “confessing” that these problems don’t really exist doesn’t change a thing. What is the cure? Paul speaks of it after describing his anguish. “Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that he will still deliver us” (2 Corinthians 1:9-10).
This absolute has brought me great comfort and help. God loves me. He is a loving Father wanting only to lift us out of our weakness. It is my faith that pleases him most. He wants me to trust in his deliverance.
God is undivided. He’s not split in any way. He’s altogether lovely, pure and loving. There is only one God, and this God is one in fullness and perfection. He’s totally unified with all things that are holiness.
We were by God created to be holy, to be loving, to be one, as Peter writes in the New Testament. “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:13-16, ESV).
Ideally, you act loving, and you are loving; the actions show that you are whole and holy. However, there’s this really big problem called the flesh. The Bible says the spirit and the flesh are at war with one another.
We are all divided. There’s a psychological condition called schizophrenia, and I think all of us have a touch of that ailment in God’s understanding. There are many splits in our personality.
If you ask my wife, “Is Kevin loving?” she would say, “Yes.” If you ask her, “All the time?” she couldn’t say yes because she’d be lying. I’m not loving all the time, even though I wish I could be. The reason I feel that way is because God is one, and in his oneness he is holy. When I’m not being holy, I’m not being the way I was meant to be as a person made in God’s image, and I’m out of synchronization with God. That’s why people who don’t even know God feel bad when they do something wrong, because they weren’t created to act divided that way.
Fortunately, we have hope that our spiritual schizophrenia can be healed. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:16-17). The Spirit can start fixing those divisions in us and make us holy!
In 1 Samuel 30, we read about how David was in deep distress and how he dealt with it. This man had a lot of reasons to be miserable. He was deeply distressed because the call on his life, the prophecy Samuel had spoken over him that he would be king, looked like it wasn’t coming to pass. He was probably also distressed because his great relationship with Jonathan had been broken by time and distance. He certainly was distressed because King Saul was coming after him, saying evil things against him and trying to kill him.
The chapter begins where David had just found out that his own family had been taken by the Amalekites, and he didn’t know where they were at or if they were even alive. Then this happened: “Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:6, NKJV).
Many of you can probably think of some things that are bringing you distress in your life. What is giving you anxiety right now? What kinds of things keep you awake at night?
There are sources of distress that come upon you that are just part of life, but then there are people who deliberately speak against you and undermine you. The challenges seem to come back-to-back, and your stress builds. At first, you may be able to talk yourself through it and keep steady. As time goes on — weeks, months, maybe even years for some of you — the situations become overwhelming. This is where David was at this point, so how did he strengthen himself in the Lord?
That might sound like a paradox. When you’re under a lot of stress, that seems like the time that you would not be able to strengthen yourself. David is an illustration for us in this; if he could do it, you can do it! He didn’t manage this out of his own ability. Scripture is clear; David strengthened himself in God.
You have a choice today. You can allow all of those negative natural elements to crash over you like a wave, or you can rise up and find strength in your Lord because God is right there with you.
Rev. Kevin Jessip joins April Moss to discuss historical accounts of God’s covenant with his church, with America, and what people of faith must do now to partner with what God is doing in the world.
On January 8th, 2022 THE RENEWAL will take place in Plant City, FL. The event will be a faith-focused day of heritage, history, praise, worship, and prayer dedicated to the American renewal of the covenant the Pilgrims made with God four centuries ago. The event will be broadcast on national television networks and simulcast online to thousands of churches. Times Square Church General Overseer Carter Conlon will be the keynote speaker, delivering an important national and global message on the covenant.