Do you ever feel like a human punching bag… or the human punching the bag??? Probably more like monsters sometimes in fits of rage.  It is horrible.  Sometimes we don’t know how to process things accurately or appropriately.  There is always some damage being caught on that bag.

I feel like I’m taking some hits a lot lately. For myself, family, friends…or just LIFE.  I went home to pray, read, draw it out…to do something to make sense of anything and I came to this verse repeatedly…

“Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good!”
Romans 12:21

I definitely need to overcome evil with good…but sometimes I end up taking the angry bait.  It’s TRUE! I’m just being honest.  I retaliate right back with words, actions, withdrawal but most obviously the same thing –ANGER! 😥

Sorry about that.

I’m just tired of all the hits. I am tired of being a dumping ground for people’s negative vibes and bad energy.  I want no part in that. But how can I escape it? We all pass through those emotions. We just need to get better at working through them. Prayer helps, the bible helps, books help….oh and WORSHIP! Super amazing. ❤

I learn how to say sorry too and back down so that I’m not in the fire.

Here is what I found in just thinking of that punching bag that we can be.  Jesus was the biggest punching bag of all! He took ALL OUR BLOWS… to the point He was unrecognizable.  His face was disfigured because of it. But He was made for it! He was sent for it! He was sturdy enough to handle it.

See a punching bag is STRONG! A punching bag is a sturdy bag designed to be repeatedly punched. A punching bag is usually cylindrical, and filled with various materials of corresponding hardness.

So we are filled with the corresponding materials to be able to BEAR IT! That is the Word, Prayer, Worship, Fasting… so ever when we get to feeling those blows then we gotta sturdy up more in our resources because that it what we were made for! WAR!

So Jesus endured the blows so that we would be able to get past them right into heaven– our destiny! There it goes, blow for blow. Jesus style. A punching bag. And Jesus was GOOD.  He was the best. Did He deserve that? NO! Neither do we…but God knows all things.  We won’t be overtaken by them! Not one blow! They come fierce because that is what we are to the enemy! A threat! Fierce for Jesus! Fierce for life! Fierce and victorious!

Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
Isaiah 53:1-10

The truth of the matter is most people cannot handle adversity.

Most people don’t know how to overcome.

Most people live a sick cycle of relapse.

Most people keep going back to bondage.

Most people cant move past pain or hurts.

Most people stay angry.

Most people walk around feeling neglected and bitter.

Most people don’t wanna let go.

Most people don’t know how to get out of their negative thinking.

Most people don’t read the Word.

Most people don’t know where to go or who to turn to.

Most people don’t know how to call on God.

Most people don’t know how to live.

Most people don’t know how to PRAY!!!!

They keep becoming prey because they don’t pray!!!!

Most people don’t know how to fight the right way! They don’t understand that their weapons are MIGHTY IN GOD for pulling down all these strongholds and for casting away every negative thought and argument that tries to exalt itself against the knowledge of God! (2 Corinthians 10 paraphrased)

To cast is to throw! It is to use force! There is work involved in throwing away and off! There is force used to counterattack all those things that try to weigh us down. All those things that try to take us off course and away from our God-given divine purpose.

We need to learn how to stand up in the face of adversity!

These things happen so we can learn.

Because we are victorious!

We are not a victim of our circumstances.

We are the victor.

We are victorious!

We are change agents!

Able to do! Able to make things work!

Coming back from a youth conference this weekend, one of the keynotes Jeff Grenell said, “In hardship learn to worship! Our chaos becomes His canvas!”

This was just another reminder that there is a way! After he lost his wife to cancer he thought life was over. Ministry was depleted! But in that precious situation…. ministry actually BEGAN for him alone! God uses us greater when we are down to less! So we have to learn how to express our gratitude to God and find LIFE! The life He wants us to live.

Cristina Mendez, Pastor of HEIM told the world, “I will still roar! I got more fights in me!!! This is after losing a husband!

Pastor Juan Mendez shouted just weeks after losing his brother, “Grow through what you go through!” And continues to uplift the church God gave Him— MUI, Yonkers.

Levi Lusko said after his 5 year old daughter past just 5 days before Christmas, “The day I closed her eyes was the day God opened mine!” And he lives every day to preach the gospel!

Now what are you saying?

What are you doing to help change your situation? What are you doing to help broaden your perspective?

All these people with heavy trials they are still preaching, still raising kids, still filling the church and they still living for God! They are impacting nations. So can you.

Get up and stand in the face of your difficulty! Face the adversity! Rise above it! It is not over!!!! God is just beginning His BEST work when you feel like nothing is going to work!

With love,

Christina