Broken-ness: It’s Inevitable, But It Brings Us Closer to God

Broken-ness: It’s Inevitable, But It Brings Us Closer to God              Kelly Durant 

Psalm 119: 66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments. 67 Before I was afflicted, I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. Matthew 5: 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

2. One thing that has always bothered me about life was since I was a kid I noticed that when something breaks, it becomes worthless and trash, and that special thing is lost, if not able to be repaired, and it is gone from your hands into oblivion! When I was about 6, I recall I got an electric train for Christmas, and I was so excited. I watched it go in circles for hours, but that only lasted for one day! The instructions were to unplug the transformer when not in use and we forgot to do that, so it burnt up! The smell of the burnt wires, and the dead, once alive train, was gone. I was devastated!

All things break overtime, right? It is nice when you get a new toy, tool, some new shoes, but despite how much you like your new acquisition, it is bound and condemned to get old, wear out, and become trash, and be gone forever except for existing in your memory.

Because broken-ness and losses of all kinds hurts, few of us want to dwell on this subject. It really hurts when we lose a friend who dies. Notice that our own God created our psyche to be designed to make us forget our pain and bad moments over time. Our losses and humiliations of never having something forever gets buried deep inside; but those memories are there, like a scar that few ever get to see. 

3. There are many ways we as ordinary people respond to our pain. Often a loss, a breaking event, or a trauma totally reshapes our being and causes us to become someone very different from whom we once were.  We meet and observe all different kinds of people every day, all choosing to live in reaction to their past experiences of both good and bad.

When a person is overly aggressive, overly shy, or extreme in some way, we often conclude they are that way because something happened to them to make them become that way. Some people have gotten so broken in life that they just give up, they no longer care how they look, no longer dream to accomplish something inspiring, and it is as if they have died and are still walking around like a confused zombie. How sad, right?

But broken hearts, dulled brains, and sad indifferent cold personalities, mad at the world, are not in God’s plan for humanity! The plan to see us broken, suffering in pain, sick, and confused is what Satan wants for us! This is why Satan hates Jesus so much, because Jesus brings healing, restoration, and a new life out of the brokenness. He takes us like a dried-up dead looking seed, not good for anything, and waters with His wonderful Words of life and makes us spring back into life to produce good fruit! 

4. What we must learn through our brokenness, like it or not, is humility. People that have had losses, or been broken, intimidated, abused, and deeply hurt can respond in 2 ways, either they forgive, and God heals them, or they decide they want to be the abuser, not the abused, so that they have the dominion but then they repeat the painful sins done on them! 

What a sick evil abuse it is when a person who knows personally about a deep pain, that instead of wanting that for no one ever, they, in response, repeat the evil that they experienced on another. That is Satan’s demons getting passed from one victim to another! 

Just living life’s breaking realities will push you and me towards God for comfort, or these pains will leave us permanently wounded in a world where no love or sympathy is our daily bread, and prideful selfishness takes over.  Over time you and I either start getting more full of Jesus, or more full of ourselves, and people full of themselves, prideful like Satan is, are very destructive dangerous personalities! Their boastful stories are boring, and they do not see how others see them as they are blind to their sin, shamefulness, and pitifulness.

5. Here are some verses that spoke to me when I was lost in the world, surrounded by other lost souls. When I read Scripture, it spoke to me…It penetrated deep!

James 1: 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Like personalities in the movies, and by what I observed in people around me, I thought I needed to display myself with a tough façade, I needed to show myself to the world as strong, in need of no one, and arrogant so no one messes with me. But these verses convicted me to change! I was broken inside already, like most everyone when young, but to read I needed to be broken even more, that I should weep and be humble, well, I concluded the sooner I do this the better it will be for me!  I did shed tears when I prayed and sought God! True repentance is emotional, when God touches you!

6. Think of this, God’s heart is very broken over all the horrific sins in this world, and over our lack of love for Him, our creator, and the lack of love for each other. He needs us to be remade in His image, humble as Jesus taught us, desperate to share His salvation to this dying world that Satan is manipulating. Getting to know God’s heart will break yours!

There is a huge difference between humbling yourself, in giving your brokenness to God, and in getting humbled, intimidated, or broken by another. We must choose to let go of the past, to let the Lord do a new thing in our lives. God is in the business of taking broken lives and giving them a rebirth, but we must choose to escape the ways of the world and reset.

Jesus said we must deny ourselves, in other words leave behind all the pain, brokenness and baggage of who you think you are, and to take up the cross and follow Him. 

Luke 9 23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? 26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.

7. The way of Satan’s world is totally opposite of Jesus way! Broken people without Jesus usually seek positions of power; power is an obsession as it brings them pride and the feeling that they are in control despite their weakness. But it is for nothing! Once their sins are exposed, no one respects them anymore, they become hated and despised! Like Satan, they want adoration and worship, but they are not worthy of it lacking holiness and love! 

Satan knows how to break and hurt a person beyond repair. Jesus can heal but the fight to convert over to God’s side is real as demons do not leave quietly! In the secret societies they perform humiliation rituals on their unsuspecting initiates. The elites and ‘principalities’ of this world cruelly manipulate, by Satan’s design, their recruits by abusive power plays. Broken people become vulnerable for demons to take over.

It has been exposed of late that all high-level politicians, actors, musicians, entrepreneurs, and Satanic cult members get a humiliation ritual done to them. Their handlers make them participate in shameful acts such as making porn, consuming drugs, performing blood rituals, and worse! This creates a trauma from which it is very difficult to recover from! People become mentally insane puppets in their hands. Imagine the stupidity of agreeing to sell your soul to the devil for fame and fortune! How tragic! It leads to severe trauma, demon possession and those who want to escape it either go crazy or die (killed) young!

8. In conclusion, each one of us may have a good reason to justifiably be angry over being broken, over being abused, over being disillusioned of what one expected in life, but it did not happen. I have discovered in my years that almost every family is divided, almost every person hides their pain, and most every person will confess they feel lonely, rejected, and unloved! There are always hidden chapters no one wants anyone to know about!

Jesus came to love and heal us; He understands us as He Himself was broken! Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

If we have lost possessions, or family, been rejected and are full of pain and sorrow, those things are just temporary anyway, so we must learn to give them up for The Lord. Doing God’s work is what brings togetherness and undoes brokenness. Matthew 19:29 And everyone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

9. By age 20 I saw through the world, how Satan has all the people here crazy insane over not being loved, over being rejected and broken. Most people have no one to turn to when they have an accident, surgery, or suffer a loss, like the loss of a loved one. That’s why as Christians we must be different from the people programed by the lies of the non-values of this world.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. In the end, He is the Potter, and we are the clay!

Are you broken? Do you need healing? Most of us are wounded healers by God’s grace! Do your family and friends let you down? Gain a new family in Christ by being a brother or sister to the hurting! Jesus was broken, everyone is, so let His love fill all the holes in your life!

Appreciation: For God and Others Who Honor God

 

Appreciation: For God and Others Who Honor God   Re 5-19-24 Kelly Durant

John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Proverbs 21:21 He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour.

2. Do you want to know about the character of a person? Ask yourself, who do they love and appreciate?  Who do they talk about and spend money or time on? Are they the vain type of person that idolizes mere men or women in high places of power? Ask, who are their favorite performers, movie stars, or rich and famous ones they look up too? Or do they (or you) speak of what God is doing in their lives or in the lives of others having their pleasure in those who inspire by good works? Who we honor says everything about who we are as a person! 

Basically, to appreciate is to reciprocate! Appreciation is a reaction, something was done for you, and now you seek to return a favor or gesture to reveal your thankfulness. Often you and I cannot return the same value of what was given but to do something reveals an honorable heart. Friends are often those whom we appreciate most but often you or I do not get a chance to thank them appropriately! Tell others, “Thank You!” more often!

Appreciation can be shown in different ways but one must always be a support to the person. This may also include being an imitator or admirer of their goodness. Appreciating a person by sharing with them something of value like a gift is a good thing but simply spending time with someone may reveal that you appreciate their presence and value them as a person. But too often today people do nothing, and they do not even say, “Thank You!” In today’s world too many people do not appreciate anything! Sad, right?

3. Let’s start with priorities, how do you show appreciation to Jesus for His love to you by dying on the cross to give you eternal life? The verse of today are Jesus words, He gives us eternal life and the blessed assurance that no “man” can ever take it away. Eternal life? How amazing! How incredible! Jesus had appreciation for His followers so much so that He granted them (from the present and the future) life after this life in a perfect utopian heavenly world!

How can you or I ever thank Jesus enough for saving our soul? Eternal life in heaven is something that no amount of money can buy and there is no way to earn it! Eternal life has been the obsession of all cultures since mankind’s inception and is usually the basis for all religions, disciplines, and sacrifices throughout time. Before Jesus, the Hebrews, the Hindus, the Egyptians and all humanity have sought ways to gain eternal life and earn position by purification and respect by following Godly standards (laws) which would carry over in the next life. But mankind’s attempts at being worthy and clean are never enough to gain a purified soul acceptable enough for a Holy God who is the embodiment of pure holiness and love.

So how do you and I show appreciation for eternal life? Are you taking it serious how much God loves you? What can you give back to God?  The gift of God, is eternal life, but it cost Jesus His, to give it to you, And it will probably cost you yours, to live it too! You are no fool to give a life you cannot keep, To gain a love you’ll never lose!

4. For the gift of eternal life, a chance in heaven, people will do anything! Some religions teach you must earn it by being selfless, sacrificial, ritualistic, and generous to their church, or even live separated from society. Some religions also teach that you must kill others who are unfaithful to God (what they think God wants as described by their false prophets) so people will also even commit murder and violence. Until when will this type of horrible radicalism dominate mindsets submitting people to a misrepresented idea of god?! The only way to conquer is with Jesus! Violence and the murder of the unfaithful brings no justice to any God or to anyone. It is the system of Satan and only serves to satisfy man’s lust for power, wealth by robbery, and sexual domination and it is the total opposite of what we know our God of mercy, compassion, and love to be!

 

Imagine such a perverted way of thinking that in order to please God, to show God appreciation and in order to gain eternal life with rewards you should murder another human being who does not agree with your god as defined by these ideas?! John 16:2 (b): “Yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service”. Appreciation and how it should be expressed has always been misguided by those carnal and dead towards God. God sent Jesus as the ultimate example of how we are to live and love. God Jehovah is the only one who taught us how to love through Jesus granting obedient ones eternal life and God will honor them with crowns and rewards in heaven.

 

5. What I can witness is this, once Jesus really touches your spirit, you will be changed, you will understand that your life is not yours anymore and that you owe Him everything! To show Jesus appreciation I chose as a young man to give up everything to follow Him. I gave up (sold) all my possessions, I gave up comfort for poverty in poor nations for 14 years, and I still am giving up all my years in service to Him, I can never pay Jesus back so all I can do is to show Him I love Him by obeying and following Him and winning news souls to Him! Appreciation for Jesus requires being His disciple full of love for every person, appreciating every soul you meet as a potential future lover and servant of Him!

 

We know how we all should appreciate God by living for Him worshipping Him, but who should we appreciate in this life? Should not appreciation be shown to those who do the most for God and Jesus? Think about who you know here in the Corps church, who are the ones obeying the Lord, sacrificially “serving one another in love” as Jesus commanded.

 

Each person according to their talents do what they can for the Lord and sometimes amongst ourselves we are unaware of what the other is doing for God or the Corps because not everyone is here all the time to be informed about who does what. But in general, you and I should try to not judge who to appreciate more than the other, but instead just take an attitude to appreciate and love everyone that we know are here for God! It is God that keeps a record of words and deeds. But by our fruits, God knows who we are!

 

6. Many times others do many good things for the Corps church that you may not be aware of and often these are things you could not do yourself. For example, some people have a talent to raise several hundred dollars every time they go out ringing the bell for the red kettle and others do not. Some others of you can repair broken doors and locks; others can decorate amazingly while others know how to cook and provide great meals for a hundred people. Each person has value, and to appreciate that try switching the tasks and ask the decorators to repair the sound system!? We all must show honor and respect to one another! All have value! Always esteem the humble poor ones, God does!

 

Someone asked me one time, what did the shepherds give Jesus on Christmas? (Assuming they gave Him a sheep) The Bible does not record that they gave Jesus a sheep, but they did run to admire and worship him! Maybe they did give Him a sheep, I don’t know, but the important part is they gave Jesus their heart, praise, and worship! That surrendering of the will is what anyone can give and is what God wants! We should not expect people to give what they may or may not be able to give, but we must show appreciation to those who do something for God.

 

7. Do you want to know what has been a hard lesson for me in life? It is to appreciate broken-ness and to just work with broken people! We have volunteers that have had bodily injuries and cannot lift more than 10 pounds, some of them are homeless, some of them are not very solid emotionally, but do I reject them? No! I appreciate them! At least they are serving God in some manner as best they can around here. Some Christians are too good and too proud to work with a motley crew but not me because I know Jesus disciples were a mess, and I know I am still a work in progress! Being a Volunteer Army, we take whoever will serve!

 

In this life our Corps church will never be perfect with perfect people altruistically loving and sacrificing for each other to the level Jesus expects. Some of you sometimes I perceive are not happy with each other and you don’t like the way some show or don’t show appreciation to the Corps church as you think these people are benefiting more than giving and in some cases this has been true. 

 

Reality is, like it or not, all people always are measuring who does what and they comment about it so try to examine yourself well in what you do for God. Also, remember none of you are ever seeing the whole picture of all that goes on behind the scenes. Some people with rough edges that may appear undesirable may actually be doing God’s work and going out and visiting the sick and helping the helpless while others stay back and clean, serve food, decorate and repair and even provide a gift for someone in need without calling attention to it.

 

8. Concerning the things of God, you and I should concern ourselves with own ourselves first, so ask yourself, do I actually give enough to God as He wants to my Corps, family and friends? Do I do all of what God expects of me? Do I show the appropriate amount of appreciation to God and others? Do I, as in the Proverb of today, concern myself to be full of “righteousness and mercy” which invokes life and honor?

 

The reality is everyone should take conviction to be more appreciative to Jesus, to their brothers and sisters, and to their Corps church which should shine like a light in the community with the evidence of the love a God present in each person. In order to please God we must appreciate every act of kindness, appreciate every visitor, and appreciate and love each other!

 

There are different types of appreciation. You may appreciate a person who feeds you once, but what about someone who over a course of more than a decade has fed you hundreds of times? Now that is where a deeper appreciation takes place! It is obvious some of the people of this Corps have provided service, food, and acts of kindness for the people of this Corps and for those of the community many hundreds of times. Now that is truly worthy to be admired and appreciated on a deeper level! Each one of us will reap what we sew! Sew in a big way!

 

9. As human beings and animals of habit we often take for granted the good that others do for us through the church or on their own and sadly we later only take notice of it once it is gone! It is sad reality that ‘you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone’? We should all wake up and notice all the good that each person does and thank them, whether they be a driver who picks up people on Sundays, or whether they be a cook, or a Bible teacher who brings clarity to God’s word. 

                                                                                                             

My grandmother use to say some people would not do things neither for ‘love or money’, and it is true, many people are motivated or not motivated to do things as it affects their personal gain, but with God things works to the contrary. You are expected to love, give, and serve expecting nothing in return! Just be a faithful humble servant! The reality is, however, that by being obedient to Jesus, sacrificial, and generous you do gain things that money can’t buy such as honor, respect, righteousness, and love! And most importantly, Jesus will grant you eternal life and rewards in heaven when you do these things in His Name!

 

Let’s ask God to forgive our past failures and ask Him to give us a love and appreciation for Him so deep that it will sustain you and me to do greater things for Him, for our brothers and sisters, the Salvation Army Corps, and for all others out there in the community! Appreciate everyone, always, and thank them!