Author: Hillary van Eyssen

1Sa 11:1 Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh Gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.
1Sa 11:2 And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.
With the men’s right eyes blinded, they could not accurately shoot an arrow. They could not see an enemy approaching from the right hand side.

In Sierre Leonne and the Congo, the rebels would cut off the arms and feet of the villagers so that they could not work. Women’s breasts were cut off so that they could not feed their babies. Their children were stolen and the boys forced to be soldiers for the enemy, while the girls were forced into sexual slavery. The whole purpose of the enemy was to cause total fear and humiliation in the villages, with no regard for the horrific pain and suffering of their victims. In parts of Africa these things are still common practice.

The enemy wanted to perpetually humiliate shame and cripple the men of Jabesh. This is what the devil continually tries to do with the people whom God has created. He cripples people with sickness, disease, infirmities, fear and poverty. He shames and humiliates. There are so many beggars who are physically handicapped. Millions of wheelchairs have been manufactured to enable the quadriplegics, paraplegics, those without lower limbs and those extremely weakened by disease to be mobile. These are amazing, absolutely necessary means of transportation. Thing is, there should never have been a need for them. Multitudes, especially in third world countries, do not have the financial ability to obtain wheelchairs. I’ve seen them drag their broken bodies along the ground, crawl, or use their hands as feet with which they swing their legless frames. In some cases, I’ve seen them use skateboards, which they mobilize and steer with hands, which are often chafed despite being wrapped in old rags. Others are pushed in wheelbarrows, or makeshift little carts. Sadly, God never intended for any of us to be infirm.

The blind need guide dogs to lead them. These dogs are extremely expensive as they have to be thoroughly trained and few can afford them. Imagine having to depend upon and put all your trust; even your very life, in a dog. As important as guide dogs are, [and I am by no means diminishing their wonderful attributes, nor am I recommending that they be discarded,] this should not be. God intended that all people should have perfect eyesight.

Psa. 146:8 The LORD opens the eyes of the blind: the LORD raises them that are bowed down: the LORD loves the righteous. I could go on indefinitely mentioning innumerable diseases and their crippling and devastating effects. Furthermore, people who are either mentally or physically handicapped are more often than not the brunt of cruel jokes and mockery. This cruelty also applies to the deformed, the burn victims, the albinos and even the vertically challenged or so called dwarfs in our society.
Orphans, children from broken homes, the offspring of drug addicts, crack houses and of emotionally, physically and sexually abusive parents, become emotional, sometimes physical, and even mental cripples.
All of the abovementioned people have been crippled and humiliated or shamed by the enemy. Muggings, rape, molestation, and bullying are also malicious tools used by the powers of darkness to cripple and shame, to bring devastating fear, low self worth and low self esteem to their victims.

Often we read or hear of the results of road rage, such as derogatory foul language, horrific beatings and even shooting incidents. I have personally witnessed a young man being kicked and beaten by thugs even after he lay helplessly on the ground, while one on their friends attacked the motor vehicle in frenzy, bashing it with a baseball bat and pulling out the smashed windscreen with his bare hands. The vehicle was so badly damaged that the passenger door was jammed open at a 90 degree angle and could not be budged. Seemingly as an afterthought, the perpetrator then stole the vehicle and sped away with the passenger door still jammed in the same position, while his friends followed in their cars. The reason for this road rage was that the victim had taken a turn too wide, causing the other driver to stop in order to avoid a collision. I shudder to think of the financial, emotional and physical damage caused to that unfortunate young man.

In the workplace this trend of humiliating and crippling is also true for the most part. Employees are frequently grossly underpaid, overworked, insulted, and even sworn at. It’s a dog eat dog world out there with no holds barred. People are ruthlessly trampled on in the frenzied climb to the top of the ladder. Deserving, loyal employees are overlooked regarding promotion, and both salaries and pay increases are as minimal as the companies can get away with. I thank God that there are still some companies and small businesses which have integrity, although these are few and far between.

Right now the world is in a recession and thousands of people have been retrenched or forced to take large salary cuts. Factories, producing luxury products, are working less days because the demand for their products has greatly decreased. Numerous businesses have foreclosed or sold out to bigger companies.

Wealth, however, does not leave the earth, no matter how great the recession. All that happens is that there is a wealth transfer into extremely affluent hands. Recession does not just happen. It is caused by devious men with diabolical intentions. In their quest for maximum control and ultimate power, they systematically cripple and humiliate those who stand in their way.
There is Good News though. Jesus came to pay the price of sin for us. He came to be made our sin so that we could be made the righteousness of God.
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Our sins no longer exist in the mind of God. Furthermore, the shame attached to sin is eradicated. Problem is, the devil keeps showing us photocopies and we fall for it hook, line and sinker.
Isaiah 43:25 I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and remembers your sin no more.
Jesus came to take away our sorrows, disease, pain and suffering.
Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
He came to take away our fears and to deliver us. He came to protect us.
Psa. 56:11 In God have I trust. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me.
No matter how enormous and ferocious the giants are, God is much bigger and much more powerful. Never be intimidated by the circumstances you facing. Never focus on the problem. Keep your eyes and Your trust focused on the One who is able and willing to deliver you. [Read Psa. 91]
He came to remove the curse of poverty.
2Co 8:9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

I thank God that as His children, we do not need to do recession. Poverty, lack, fear and shame have no part in us. The enemy cannot cripple us unless we allow him to. He may try and he often has, but greater is He within us than he that is in the world. When we make the Lord our dwelling place, no harm will befall us. We might stumble at times, but God is quick to lift us up and to place our feet on solid ground.
The remarkable thing is that while God does not cause recession, He also uses it, to the advantage of His

children. Joseph rose from the dungeon to the highest position in Egypt after Pharaoh in a single day. The reason was that God gave the king a dream which Joseph interpreted. It foretold of a seven year famine in the land. God not only gave Joseph the interpretation of the dream, but also the solution. As long as our ears are open to the instruction of God; we too will prosper while the economy plummets. During the time of famine, Isaac prospered greatly. [Read Gen 26]
God came to restore all that was lost in Eden when Adam and Eve sinned, causing the fall of all mankind. There is no area in our lives that He has not made provision for.
Gal 4:29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
As children of Abraham, we are to live extremely blessed during times of economical famine. We are not to be dependant on any man for our needs or our desires. That would definitely cause fear of the economical crisis and such acute dependence on our employers that we would probably be willing to accept whatever they dish out, even when our spirits rage out against it. Our dependency should be on God alone. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.[Jam 1:17]
All that God requires of us is for us to firstly love Him with all of our hearts, minds and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Secondly, we need to place our lives in His loving hands and to trust Him completely. When we love God above all else, we consistently grow in our relationship with Him and tend to seek His rule and reign in our lives. [Matt 6:28-33] When we love our neighbors as ourselves, we do not want to see anybody end up in hell. As a result, we will have a heart for the lost. A heart filled with love will keep us from selfish ambitions. God doesn’t just want to give to us. He wants to give through us.
Mar 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.
Behave as if you have already received that which you have asked for. Remember, God’s Word never fails. If God said it, it is so.
Num 23:19 God is not a man that He should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Doubt is the biggest hindrance to the blessing of God in our lives. It is an insult to the grace of God. Doubt is actually twisted or perverted faith. We are faith beings. Every one of us has faith either in the works of the devil or in the Word of God. Adam and Eve chose to believe a lie spoken by God’s archenemy instead of the truth of God’s Word. The world is still reeling under the chaos of that choice.  Only Noah believed God’s Word when He said that the world would end in a flood. The world believed in a lie and all perished. If we believe that we will never amount to anything, we won’t. We need to be careful what we believe in.
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
We are saved by grace through faith. This is not of ourselves. It is the gift of God. [Eph2:8] Grace is the unmerited favour of God toward usHow do we learn to trust Him unreservedly?Rom 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
We hear God’s voice by reading or listening to the Word of God and meditating on it. To meditate literally means to murmur. We need to speak that which we hear. This causes faith to grow in our hearts until it comes to the harvest and brings forth fruit.
Pro 4:20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
Pro 4:21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
Pro 4:22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
Pro 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Pro 4:24 Put away from thee a froward (perverse) mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
Pro 4:25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Pro 4:26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

A froward mouth and perverse lips are a mouth and lips that speak against the Word of God. If The Word says: By His stripes we are healed, that settles it. We do not look at the illness. We look to the finished work of the cross. We may not feel healed. In fact, we might even feel worse than before, but we cannot afford to go by what we feel. If we want to receive our healing, we must walk by faith, not by sight. [2Cor 5:7] It may take a while until our faith has reached the measure of attaining what we are claiming, but we need to stand firm. This concept applies to every area of our lives, whatever our needs may be. God has said that He will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory. [Phil. 4:19]

We need to have the Word in our hearts, before our eyes and in our mouths. [Read Deut 11:18-21] Speak what the Word says. Say: The enemy can no longer cripple me physically. God sent His Word to heal me. He cannot cripple me financially. The Word says that God will increase my store of seed and enlarge the harvest of my righteousness. He will make me rich in every way so that I might be generous on every occasion, in order to bring praise and thanksgiving to God through those whom I bless. [2Cor 9:10-11] I will not be crippled by fear. God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. [2Ti 1:7] I will not be crippled by shame. God has forgiven my sin and wiped the slate clean. [Read Col 2:13-15]

Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? This includes everything that pertains to wholeness in our spirits, souls, and bodies. It applies to our finances, our circumstances and our relationships. God loves us as He loves Jesus. [John 17:23] He loves and cares for us more than we could even imagine. All that He has, He has placed in our hands. He gave us His Name as authority over the works of the evil one. We need to take dominion and subdue the works of darkness. It’s our God given right and commission.
With regard to Pro 4:25, for our eyelids to look straight before us, we would have to have our eyes closed. Why would he tell us to let our eyes look right on and at the same time to close them? I believe that we are to close our eyes to everything that is contrary to the Word of God that would cause us to doubt and thereby to miss out on the purpose of God for us. V 26 says to ponder the path of our feet. We need to allow God to guide our feet instead of trying to do things our way. When He guides our feet by His revealed Word in our lives, our ways will be established in Him.
Psa. 43:3 Send forth Your light and Your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You dwell.
Psa. 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and light unto my path.
We are called to be more than conquerors. That is why God told us to have dominion over the earth and to subdue it since the beginning. [Gen 1:28]
Phil. 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Mar 9:23 Jesus said unto him, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”
I love what is written in Gal 5:6[NIV]: The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

The wisdom of God is the Word of God
Store each Word you hear in your heart
Search diligently and the Lord
His mysteries will impart

Keep His Word before your eyes
And write it down and see
Each promise that He made is true
They’re all for you and me

Memorize the Scriptures
Meditate on them each day
They’ll stir up faith within your heart
And gently guide your way

Seven gates have opened
Seven lies destroying man
But God revealed them to us
And they’ll not fool us again

You will only get to Heaven
Through repentance from your sin
Renouncing all for Jesus
And giving all to Him

He shed His blood to save you
Made a way to enter in
Be baptized and be holy
Let His spirit dwell within

Good works aren’t the answer
They’re as filthy rags to Him
Let Holy Spirit guide you
Let God’s Kingdom reign begin

Only do that which He shows you
Listen to His voice each day
Preach the good news of His Kingdom
Make disciples who obey

There should not be different visions
All the churches should have one
Establishing the rule of Christ
In each and everyone

Keep your eyes upon the Father
Have one Master you obey
Come out of false religions
Daily live the Jesus way