Category Archives: Captivity

Bible, Captivity, Freedom, Running, Scripture

YOU HAD BETTER RUN TO GOD

ZECHARIAH 2:6

“‘You there! Flee from the land of the north,’ declares the LORD, ‘because I have spread you out like the four winds of the heavens,’ declares the LORD.”

Have you ever been told, “Run and run hard”? When I was a little boy my brother and I used to love to go to my Grandma Carter’s farm because we could roam that place and find all sorts of things to do. We loved to climb over in the pasture with the cows (that was a no-no, but we did it anyway). We would get as close to them as we could and then we would throw rocks at them. All is well until…you hit the bull. He didn’t like that. We would get chased by him and have to dive under the fence to escape. I can still hear my brother Tim yelling, “Run, Carl, Run!!”

The Lord God is delivering His message through the angel to Zechariah, but it is meant for all those still in Babylon. He says, “Run! Get back home! I’ve got a place for you here where you can spread out and be safe.” In fact, the sentence begins with a double yell. He cries out “Hoy, Hoy” just to get their attention. In other words, “Hey you there, you better listen up.”

APPLICATION

Isaiah tells the people a very similar message in Isaiah 48:20. “Go out from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this, send it out to the end of the earth; Say, ‘The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob.’” You have to understand something. For some of the captives, all they had ever known was Babylon. The thought of leaving, even a captivity, was frightening. It took some urging.

Is that you? You know you are being held captive by your sins. You know you need to leave what you are doing, but you are afraid to step out. Listen! Hoy! The God who is calling you is waiting for you. He has a better place for you. He would not call you out of the sin you are in to place you in a worse place. He is all about drawing us near to Him.

That reminds me of James 4:8. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Do that today. Cleanse and purify. That is done by coming to Him. He is the One who cleanses. He is the One who purifies.

I run to You, O God. I know You are standing with open arms.

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Bible, Captivity, Despair, Devil, Enemies, Evil, Faithfulness, Satan, Scripture, Submission, Surrender, Trust

WILL IT EVER STOP?

HABAKKUK 1:17

“Will they therefore empty their net, and continually slay nations without sparing?”

(This is blog #2500. I cannot believe it. I began these post on January 1, 2016. I am about to finish my 7th year of writing these daily blogs. Please pray for me as I seek the Lord as I write these each day.)

The rise of evil and its spread throughout the world seems to never cease. It just gets worse and worse. Just the moment you think it can’t get any worse, it does. The depth of evil a person will plunge is beyond our imaginations. Will there ever be an end to this? When will God step in and stop it?

That’s the question Habakkuk is asking at the end of Chapter One. God has shown him this vision of the Chaldeans coming in and defeating them. He knows of their ruthlessness. He does not want his people to suffer. He is crying out to God, “When will they stop? Will they ever stop? Haven’t they done enough?”

APPLICATION

You may have been under spiritual attack from the evil one and have cried out the same as Habakkuk. “Lord, when will it end? I can’t take much more of this.” Trials come in all shapes and sizes. Some last a long time and others are over quickly. It is those that linger that truly test us.

We must remember, though, that God will not put on us more than we can handle with His help. We surely cannot handle it on our own, but as we submit and surrender to Him, we can get through whatever it is we face. There may still be dark days as you trust Him, but we are assured of His faithfulness.

I have faced these challenges. I have shared about some of them in my blog posts of the past. Suffice it to say, I have learned these lessons the hard way. There have been times when I entered a trial fully trusting. Then there are other times I went in kicking and screaming. But through them all I have found my Lord to be right there with me, sustaining and nurturing me. Will you rest in Him in the midst of your struggles?

Father, in Your strong hands I place myself. Do with me as You see fit.

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Affliction, Battles, Bible, Captivity, Defeat, Enemies, Protection, Scripture, Victors

CAPTIVITY 

NAHUM 3:10 

“Yet she became an exile, she went into captivity; also her small children were smashed to pieces at the head of every street; they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound with shackles.” 

In this study of Nahum, there has been a lot of talk about captivity. That got me thinking about what holds me captive. What do I allow in my life that holds me captive emotionally, spiritually or even relationally? I bet you have the same captors in your life. 

Nahum is continuing to address the Ninevites in his prophetic statements. He is painting a picture of the horrors of human captivity – children killed and adults led away as slaves in chains. Both their present and future were taken. How defeating.  

APPLICATION 

As horrible as that sounds in today’s verse (and it is horrible), we willingly or naively put ourselves in similar chains. We stay in relationships that we know are not good for us spiritually. We continue in behaviors that will only lead to trouble down the road. We even sit under teaching that floods our minds with ideas that run contrary to God’s Word. 

Paul warned the Colossians of this in chapter 2 of his letter to them. Colossians 2:8 reads, “See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the elementary principles of the world, rather than in accordance with Christ.” 

We have warnings all through Scripture, if we will just heed them. There lies the problem. We don’t read the Scriptures to know of these warnings. We don’t memorize and meditate on them to build our defenses. The only way to combat captivity is to take our thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). Get in the Word today. 

I am armed with Your Word to battle against any evil force that may come my way. You are my tower of safety. 

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