PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, JOHN COLLINS MINISTRIES, THOUGHT OF THE DAY: DESPAIR
PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: SOUL PAIN THAT SUCKS THE BREATH RIGHT OUT OF YOU
when there is hurt in this world, we need to make an even greater effort to love more~Pastor John Collins |
How many of us have not felt despair asks Pastor John Collins, Evangelist of John Collins Ministries? Things happen in this life we live here that are sad, dark, scary, ugly and leave us feeling like we want to curl into a fetal position and just stay there. That darkness is of Satan and it is meant for us to become separated from God who loves us. It gives that evil being pleasure to know he can torture God’s creations. We know pain because it’s part of this world, says Pastor John Collins in this daily devotional. So many of us do not know how to handle the pain because society has driven God from church, family, and home. There is an epidemic of narcotic and opioid use that is out of control. Alcoholism destroys families and individuals. The agony of this life is overwhelming at times and we simply are at a loss to understand how to cope.
Pastor John Collins reminds us: the answer is faith.
Believing in something that we cannot see can be
discouraging if we don’t have immediate positive feedback. The false hope that is often preached by
those who only want to line their own pockets through snake oil style methods
is sadly the most prevalent voices we hear from the pulpit and the media. Faith in God, faith in Jesus is what will
pull us through the shadows of fear and darkness, preaches Pastor JohnCollins. It is the only way.
“We need to choose to not allow pain to overwhelm us when we will be confronted with pain every day, whether or not that pain is our own personally or collectively. You see, when there is hurt in this world we need to make an even greater effort to love more. The more that we can genuinely love, beginning with loving God, who in turn allows us to love ourselves, not selfishly but with compassion and the ability to forgive ourselves so that we don’t go on punishing ourselves for past mistakes, bad choices or tragedies that we internalize and take on guilt for and that allows us to be able to love others with sincerity and truth.” Pastor John Collins (January, 2018).
Pastor John Collins, evangelist of John Collins Ministries,
does not and will not preach false hope.
Pastor John Collins preaches truth.
It has gotten to the point that the Gospel of Jesus Christ now needs to be
redeemed because those in the pulpit over the past two thousand plus years have
watered it down and turned it into something to serve man, not God and His Son,
Jesus Christ. Pastor John Collins
redeems that Gospel, telling it like it is so that we can learn what each of us
needs to do to get back to God. Pastor John Collins is not going to tell us what we want to hear, he will tell us what
we need to hear. Hope will come from
faith, and as Pastor John Collins continues to preach, faith as small as mustard
seed can move mountains. God will take
that tiny bit of faith in us and teach us lovingly to become strong and
overcome the agony that we endure here in this world.
Pastor John Collins writes:
“Cursed be the day in which I was born! Let the day not be
blessed in which my mother bore me!” Jeremiah 20:14 (NKJV).
Who has not felt despair pulling on their world that seems
to outweigh any hope that may exist? This life is full of ugly truths and
disappointing days that will rip your heart out if you let it. There are
valleys and shadows of a darkness that is uncompromising. People who find
themselves at low points may turn to substances, whether prescription or
illegal or over the counter in order to dull their pain and put off the agony
of reality. It is at these low times when you feel as though you have nothing
to hang on to, nothing to live for and nothing to pull you out of the darkness
that faith is most important. For some, it is these dark spaces that create
faith and for others it is the place that creates the doubt that challenges
one’s faith. Sometimes it is hard to hold on to what you cannot see.
The human spirit is amazingly resilient. We are tougher than
we realize. The truth is that there will come a time or many times in a
person’s life that will leave you low and wanting to curse not only the world
but your place in it. We are created with a great capacity to feel great
emotions both high and low and we are capable of great compassion for each
other and need to find the ability to have compassion for ourselves, not in any
superficial or selfish way but in a way that allows us to let God into our
hearts in order to be healed by Him. We need to choose to not allow pain to
overwhelm us when we will be confronted with pain every day, whether or not
that pain is our own personally or collectively. You see, when there is hurt in
this world we need to make an even greater effort to love more. The more that
we can genuinely love, beginning with loving God, who in turn allows us to love
ourselves, not selfishly but with compassion and the ability to forgive
ourselves so that we don’t go on punishing ourselves for past mistakes, bad
choices or tragedies that we internalize and take on guilt for and that allows
us to be able to love others with sincerity and truth. We have to be able to
see the big picture as well as the little picture at the same time. Not only do
we need to realize that God does have a plan and that He has not forgotten us
nor forsaken us but know your life matters, what you do and who you love
matters and that love needs to allow for forgiveness, acceptance and hope to
shine through the darkness.
If you have not experienced pain of the soul that sucks the
breath right out of you then you have not lived. If you have not stood back and
felt awe for the world we live in then you have not awakened to the truth of
God. The entire human experience will bring both despair and joy beyond
imagination and knowing both allows you to be a better person and a person of
compassion and truth. God is good and will not leave you alone. Do not grow
bitter for having known the darkness because without it you could not
appreciate the light.
“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His
compassion's fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, therefore I hope in Him!’” Lamentations
3:22-24 (NKJV).
LOVE THAT CROSS PASTOR JOHN COLLINS
Pastor John Collins is a nationally and world known
evangelist. You can listen to Pastor John Collins live, Sunday mornings on AM and FM stations across the country and
Heaven’s Country radio, broadcast on www.heavenscountry.com at 10:00 a.m. and
6:00 p.m. Mountain Time.. Pastor John Collins’ messages are to the point and compel us to examine ourselves and our
hearts to draw us closer to God who loves us.
Pastor John Collins regularly posts thoughts on Facebook and
Twitter. There are Christian podcasts on
Youtube on the John Collins Ministries channel. The answers we are looking for
can be found by looking up, not looking in.
God sent Jesus Christ to teach us and then save us from ourselves,
Pastor John Collins preaches that Word every Sunday. Pastor John Collins is also available for
personal contact for prayer, encouragement and hope through his personal email
jcollinsministries@gmail.com or if you need a guest preacher or revival. Pastor John Collins is in it to win it for
God: it is time for a change.