Loneliness

By Shirley Mitchell

“The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’ ”
Genesis 2:18

Do you know that most people struggle with loneliness? I was quite shocked one time during Bible study when I asked the ladies about loneliness. No matter how close they were to God every one of them experienced loneliness from time to time. Deep inside, they all felt lonely in some way. This time of year between Christmas and Valentine’s Day breeds it the most. The holidays accentuate feelings whether they are joy or sadness. The cold, dark winter months affect the human psyche. Scientific evidence shows that depression increases when there is less sunlight. Sunlight causes the production of Vitamin D in your body and this is a natural antidepressant. If you don’t get a good amount of sunlight it is likely that you will start to feel depressed.

First we must understand that there is a difference between solitude and loneliness. Solitude is to be alone physically while loneliness is feel alone spiritually psychologically. We can feel lonely in a crowd. We can be quite content when we are all alone. Solitude is inner fulfillment while loneliness is inner emptiness.

I’ve seen people be pulled from their pit of depression and released from the snares of darkness through just being able to leave their home for the night, go to a social function, and be around people. Sometimes just some human interaction with some of our friends is the medicine. Sometimes, we need something more.

We can feel lonely because we think we don’t have close friends. Maybe we don’t know how to get close to others. Maybe we don’t feel accepted by our friends or the ones that we are trying to befriend. As humans, we want to feel accepted like we belong and that we are loved. God created us for interaction with Him, and thus with each other. We need companionship because we were created for it!

When God created the world, He knew that He could not just create Adam alone to take care of it. He knew that it was not good for Adam to be alone. So He made Adam a suitable helper. He gave him a companion, Eve. She would share his experiences, his work, and his entire life. Isn’t it great to know that we feel lonely, because we were designed for interaction? God made us this way!

We were created for love - both friendship and romantic love. Love would not exist without loneliness to inspire it. We have to risk revealing ourselves. We can’t sulk and wallow in our loneliness. We have to get the courage to open up and to reach out to others. We have to let people know us. If they reject us, then we continue to trust God. He will bring us to the right relationship at the right time.

The next time you feel lonely, ask God to identify why you are lonely. Is it because you need more of a relationship with Him? Are you not letting God meet your needs? Are you looking for love and acceptance in all the wrong places instead of letting God fill those empty places? Also, ask yourself if have contributed to this empty feeling because you have neglected your physical needs. Are not eating right, getting enough exercise, or getting enough sunlight? Or is it because you have not risked yourself by trying to build relationships with other people? Have you built up walls? Have you isolated yourself? Whenever loneliness overcomes you, don’t let it envelope you and smother you. See it as a call to seek God and let Him search your heart and reveal to you His plan for you.

Pray with me: Almighty God, Maker of heaven and earth, we praise You! Thank You for how You designed us for interaction with You. We were made for companionship. When we feel lonely, help us to identify the source. Don’t let us remain in a pit of depression. Pull us out of the loneliness pit. Set us free to praise You! It’s in the Name above all names, in Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, we pray. Amen.

Copyright ©2011 Christ Compels Ministry

The Egypt Prophecy

The Egypt Prophecy
By Shirley Mitchell

“In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.’ ”

Isaiah 19:23-25

Have you been keeping up with the world news lately and what is going on in the Egypt and the Middle East? Do you understand this pivotal time in our world, beloved? I do not want you to be unaware of the significant events that are happening. As your teacher, I must keep encouraging you to be like the men of Issachar who understood the signs of the times. When we hear world news, we can’t disassociate ourselves and discount that things on the other side of the world have no impact on us. Additionally, we should want to share God’s heart for all nations to know Him.

Now in the focus of Scriptures, let’s talk about what is going on in Egypt and the Middle East today so we can understand things from God’s throne room. As the people of God, we must understand His perspective and not our own limited view or the news media’s view of the world.

250,000 people have flooded Cairo’s main square to protest the regime of President Hosni Murbarak. The crowds include the young, the old, the urban poor, and the middle class professionals. People travelled from our cities to join the protest. People rallied in other cities. Almost 100 people have died in the protests, and hundreds have been injured. They are demanding for President Mubarak to leave after 30 years in power. He is accused of ignoring the needs of the poor and allowing corruption of the police and public officials to run rampant. Yesterday, President Mubarak said he would step down at the next election.

Egyptians protest movement was built on the work on online activists. They were emboldened by Tunisia. Last month, Tunisia’s president was ousted from office. Mubarak is now the second Arab leader pushed from office by uprising in recent days. Additionally, Jordan’s King Abdullah II just fired his government in face of smaller street protests.

Egypt has kept three decades of peace with Israel. They have resisted the Islamic militants. Some fear this gives a foothold for the nation to turn against Israel. The Muslim Brotherhood wants to form a state governed by Islamic law.


God’s Word includes a prophecy about Egypt in the end times. The entire chapter of Isaiah 19 tells us what will become of Israel. This passage became alive to me a few years ago when I had the privilege to travel from Israel to Egypt to pray this prophecy. There are few countries in the world that I have been to where you can feel the oppression of the enemy upon entering it. Egypt was one of them.

In Egypt, we held a prayer meeting for the nation at a mosque that sat high and overlooked the city of Cairo. We went to a garbage city where a beautiful church remained hidden and met the few but mighty Christian believers. We travelled by bus through the Egypt to pray and sing for the fulfillment of Isaiah 19:23-25 that there would be a highway between Egypt and Assyria through Israel. Assyria is modern day Iraq and some areas of Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. One day the nation will accept the God of Israel, will be blessed, and will be called God’s people.

However, the nation of Egypt has been in the tight grip of the kingdom of darkness for years and years. May the current events be the beginning of taking the enemies clutched fingers off the throat of the nation.

Isaiah 19 starts by saying, “A prophecy against Egypt: See, the LORD rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear. ‘I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian— brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists. I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.” Verses 5-17 describe how Egypt will be impoverished. In that day the Egyptians will become weaklings. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the LORD Almighty raises against them.

Now do not be mistaken. Our God is not treacherous or evil. He does not plan and execute violent riots and wicked acts. He is good. He is loving. We must understand this Scripture through the full counsel of God’s Word. God allows mankind to make choices, and thankfully restrains us from going too far. He uses it all together to work for His plans, purposes, and good. Daniel 2:21 tells us that our God is the one who sets up kings and disposes them. He is the one in control. These riots didn’t surprise Him. He is shaking up the nations of Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia.


Isaiah 19 also tells us that there will be a great revival in Egypt before the LORD returns. The people will be healed, repent, turn from the darkness of Islam to the one true God, the LORD Yahweh. It says that there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt. Verse 20 says, “When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them.”


Now, do you understand why the kingdom of darkness desires to thwart the plans of God and oppress and destroy the nations of the world? He knows his time is short and he is trying to cling onto the nations he has controlled in cruelty. I implore you to seek God on this matter. Let’s pray for God’s stage to be set for Egypt to know Him and to take its most favored nation status in the eyes of God.

Pray with me: Lord, we know that You are at work in Egypt. The Egyptians people have lived under great oppression – spiritual and economically – for so long. You are working to bring healing to the people. You are shaking the nation to draw them closer to You. You will rescue them!

We know that You set up kings, and You dispose of them. No ruler has ever been put into place outside the realm of Your control. They may not have been Your choice, but You have allowed them to rule. You are preparing the stage for the return on Your Son. You tell us clearly that one day there will be a highway between Egypt, Israel, and Assyria.

We want to bless Israel. The battle for Israel is intense in the spiritual realm, and may we recognize that satan is going after the place where Your name is. Protect Israel as the new government is formed.

God, we ask You to spare lives. Show Your power and Your might. Bring the lost to know You. Fulfill Your divine plan for Egypt and the nations. It’s in the Name that someday every knee will bow and every tongue will confess it, in Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, we pray. Amen.

Copyright ©2011 Christ Compels Ministry

Reflect

Reflect

By Shirley Mitchell


“As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.”

Proverbs 27:19

I’m one of the few people who still send out Christmas cards and take the time to send a Christmas letter. I have not stepped into the electronic age of sending it through the email. Plus there is just something about a letter that you can hold and read. Every year someone replies to me and tells me how much it meant to them and encourages them. However, I know God has me do it for me, too.

You see, when I write that Christmas letter, I am taking the time to reflect on what has happened over the past year. I think about what God has done. I think about what God has taught me. I think about how I have experienced God. I think about the new friendships that God brought into my life and the old friendships that have gone through bumpy times but still decided that the relationship was the most important thing.

I ask God to show me how I made an eternal difference through the past year. What treasure did I lay up in heaven? Who did I love with the love of Christ? God’s Word says in Proverbs 27:19, “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” What is the reflection of my life? Is it showing that I am like David and have a heart for God?

In the Christmas letter, I select my favorite photos of the year. By looking through the pictures, I remember what God has done. Each year, I I give Him praise and glory for His protection and healing of my loved ones. I stand amazed at how far He brought me and transformed me to be more like His Son and less like me in my selfishness and sin.

By taking the time to reflect, I’m invoking my memories. Memories are essential for learning. Without a memory, we would not have a foundation to learn anything new. Remembering what God has done in our lives will give us hope for what He will do in the future. It prepares me for the next year. I don’t know what the next year holds, but God knows. He knows how to equip me for it. He knows the trials and battles as well as my victories and mighty exploits. He knows how I will once again join in the exhilaration of participating with Him and experiencing the divine in some feat that is beyond me. He knows my destiny.

My job is to know Him. By knowing Him and building a relationship with Him, I will be prepared for the days to come. When I choose to reflect on what God has done, I’m building a foundation for the new thing that He wants to build on top of it. My foundation has to be secure. My trust has to be complete. He has proven faithful so far, He will prove faithful again. He has shown Himself mighty in these things, I can trust Him to do even more.

So beloved, when was the last time that you reflected on what God has done in your life? How have you seen His hand in your life? He is very much involved in it. Although you can’t see Him with your physical eyes, He can given you discernment where you know without a doubt that you have seen Him work in your life. Take some time to reflect over the past year. Think about how it looked from God’s throne room. There won’t be any criticism for the things you did wrong or berating for the things that you didn’t do. If have accepted Jesus as Your Savior, then He has covered your sin debt. If God convicts you of sin, repent and move on. Remember He is the God who loves you and wants the best for you. He doesn’t want to rip you to pieces and leave you useless. So, pray and ask God to reveal to you what He did. You can even take the time to write it down as an encouragement for when you may need it later.

Pray with me: Father God, we praise You! We want lives that reflect our hearts for You! We want a heart that is pure and strong in You, Lord. Help us to carve out the time to reflect on what You have done in our lives. We don’t want to take for granted what You have done. You don’t owe us anything. We are not entitled to anything. But You love us. You have made us Your children. So we recount what You have done. We remember You. It is foundational for what You want to do in our lives this year. May we learn from it and be encouraged by it. It’s in Your precious Son’s Name, Yeshua’s Name, we pray. Amen.

Don’t Hold It

Don’t Hold It


By Shirley Mitchell
“I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.”
Psalm 119:45

She held onto her secret sin for months. No one knew that she had done it. Then one morning in Bible time, God’s Word convicted her of her sin those many months ago. She couldn’t sleep at night because she was tormented by her guilt and the lies of the enemy. Desperate for relief, one of my daughters sneaked into my bedroom while her sisters were sleeping and my husband was working. She poured her heart out to me through tears and agony. She thought no one would love her and that she would lose her friends. I won’t tell you which daughter it was or what sin she committed for her protection.

Together we worked through the process with God to find forgiveness for her sin and restoration. While she received discipline for her sin, the consequences of confession were nothing compared to what she had imagined or had been experiencing through keeping the sin a secret. Since it took a couple of weeks to work out everything, I could see how much it had plagued her. I sensed a willingness to never listen to the lure of the enemy to commit the same sin again. When it was over, she wept for joy in my arms and praised her Father in heaven for working everything out. She was set free!

What amazed me so much was that she had kept her sin a secret for so long! She let it torment her until it was completely unbearable! While no one in the physical realm knew her sin, the spiritual realm knew. Both our loving Father God and satan knew. The accuser fed her shame while God waited patiently for the right time when her heart would be tender to hear His voice and be convicted of her sin. She knew she heard a voice in her mind pressuring her to commit the sin. (I find that so interesting at her young age.) The enemy thrives on tempting us to sin and then piles the shame upon us after we have committed it. He makes us believe that all of the worst consequences are inevitable.

This is a classic case of the enemy’s deception and accusation. It is a classic example of how we humans sin and respond to our sin. We are lured and tempted to sin. We don’t listen to the alarms in our minds telling us not to sin, and we do it. After we commit the crime, the accuser hurls all sorts of names at us. There is some twisted truth to it that we really believe we are these terrible things. We don’t hold the twisted truth up to the precepts of God. We become beaten down by the enemy’s lies and unable to deal with our shame. We fall into devastating patterns of sin. Sometimes we become desensitized to it since we can’t deal with the pain. We complicate the situation by not bringing it to God. Or we decide that it was not really that wrong and forsake the ultimate truth of the matter.

All of this makes me wonder if you and I do the same thing but in a grown up way? What sin are we holding onto for so long? Do we have any sin that we have become desensitized to? Are we not finding freedom in Christ by taking the matter to God? Are we not seeking the ultimate truth of the matter and finding out what Scripture says about our situation? Have we broken relationship with God by focusing on a cover-up story instead of restoration? In what ways do we want to protect our image and reputation instead of keeping our intimacy with God? Whatever we are holding onto needs to be cleared out of the way and dealt with so we can gain the greatest prize – a cleansed heart and intimate relationship with God. I’m ready for letting go and seeking His precepts more! Are you?

Pray with me: Almighty God, You never intended for us to hold onto our sins. We were intended to bring our dirt and filth to You. In our hands, things just become worse. Consequences are amplified. Situations spiral from bad to worse. In You, we find relief, a cleansed heart, and the joy of the redeemed! Angels cannot experience what a fallen person redeemed of her sin can. We know what it is like to be set free from the shackles of sin and clutches of darkness. We are unchained and free! Hallelujah for the freedom and cleansing that can only be found in You! It is for freedom that Christ set us free (Galatians 5:1). When we seek Your precepts, Your Word, then we will walk in freedom! Oh, how we adore You! It is in Name above all names, Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, that we pray, Amen.

Copyright ©2011 Christ Compels Ministry

Encouragement’s Power

Encouragement’s Power


By Shirley Mitchell

“But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it.”

Deuteronomy 1:38
“But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.”

Deuteronomy 3:28



Are you down, my dear friend? Are you struggling with the cares and stresses of life? Or do you know someone who is discouraged? How does it feel to you when you have been down and someone has said just the right words, at the right time, with the right facial expressions or tone of voice that helped you to rise again? Do you remember the feeling of being recharged so you could face your situation?

Dictionary.com tells us that “encourage” can mean to inspire with courage, spirit, confidence, like a coach encourages us to keep running. It can also mean to stimulate by assistance and approval like a teacher encourages her students. Or it can mean to promote, advance, or foster like poverty encourages crime. Did you see in all three definitions for encouragement that it is the power to influence for good or bad?

I’ve been thinking a lot about the power of encouragement and building others up. Encouragement plays a significant role in the body of Christ. It is crucial to a healthy church. God’s Word tells us that it is every believer’s duty and not just the one who has received an extra measure through spiritual giftings.


In Deuteronomy 1:38 and 3:28, God tells Moses two distinct times to encourage his young apprentice Joshua. God had given Moses the assignment to lead the people out of Egypt, and He gave Joshua the assignment to lead the nation of Israel to inherit the land. Moses knew the difficulties of leading a nation that was prone to wander from her delivering God. Moses would not be there for Joshua when it was his time to lead, but his words would live on in Joshua’s memory. How many times do you think Joshua replayed over and over in his mind the fact that his mentor Moses, who met and heard from God regularly, believed that Joshua was the man to do this God-sized role? Joshua drew his strength from his God first but also from the man whom he admired and served for 40 years.


Some of us may have a Moses in our lives encouraging us, and some of us may not. However, all of us can be a Moses in the sense that we can listen to God’s voice for whom we are to encourage and strengthen. Maybe we haven’t known that person and served in ministry together for 40 years, but we know her and recognize God at work in her life. We have the power to influence her when we know she is headed in the right direction. We have the obligation to fortify her courage when we know she is doing the right thing. This is how we get to participate in the great adventure with God in others’ lives. We get to applaud them as they run the race heavenward to the prize set before them. We get to believe God will do mighty things in their lives. We fight the battle of this very discouraging world every time we sow into others’ truthful words that encourage them to keep pressing on.


My friend, this is a battle worth fighting. This is something that you and I can do. Let me ask you to take some time now and ask God whom you need to encourage. The method is between God and you – email, Facebook message, tweet, phone call, lunch, gift, or hallway conversation. The words are between God and you. Ask Him to give you both the words and the method and see the power of encouragement through your obedience. Then go one step further and ask God to give you more opportunities to encourage others. Your words matter. They have great power in the spiritual realm. So take some time to ponder the power of encouragement and how you can use it to impact the kingdom.


Pray with me: Father God, we praise You! Thank You for the people who have encouraged us for good. We know that You are the Giver of encouragement. Lord, reveal to us whom we are to encourage today and throughout the next week. Give us insight into what we should say. Help us to understand the power that we wield through encouragement. We often get caught in the busyness of life and forget that we can change the world by sowing strength and courage into others. Through our nudging and belief in them, they will believe You and act on their faith even though they cannot see the way. It’s in Your precious Son’s Name, Yeshua’s Name, we pray. Amen.

Copyright ©2011 Christ Compels Ministry

Shirley with Mary Kassian and Jaye Martin at the first W conference

Clean Inside

Clean Inside

By Shirley Mitchell
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.’ ”

Luke 11:39-41

Happy New Year! Did you have a good holiday season? Were you better prepared for Christmas than ever before since we focused on the birth of Jesus and the meaning of Christmas? Did you spend time with the people that you love?

My holiday season was precious since I was able to spend almost 3 weeks with my family. My computer was quite neglected while I was able to be with the ones that I love. I also started to prepare for the New Year. At the close of every year I focus on clean and organize my house. The beginning of January is the best my house will ever look.

I start by doing a deep cleaning of the closets and drawers. If these are not in order, then the room can not be straight. The scariest place of all has always been my children’s rooms. While the older two children’s rooms are better now that they have separate rooms, nothing has tested my ability to not explode to the moon more. At the ages of 5-8 years, their idea of cleaning up their rooms is stuff every thing in a closet, drawer, or under the furniture.

So this year I focused on Victoria’s room. I found school papers, church stories and notifications, and loads of candy from church and friends. I found wadded up papers, used kleenexes, old catalogs from Land’s End stuffed under the bed. I found boxes in the closet that had never been unpacked since we moved in the house earlier this year. I threw away 17 bags of trash and have 10 bags of clothes, shoes, and toys to give away. All of these things were hidden from her sight so they didn’t bother her. But they took up space in her room so that she could not manage the things that really belong in her room.

The whole process of cleaning the closets, drawers, and things stuck under the furniture reminded me of Jesus’ words to the Pharisees in Luke 11. The Pharisees had the outer appearance that they were godly men. They wore the right clothes, went to synagogue on the right days, said the right prayers, and appeared to have it all together. However, on the inside, their hearts were filled with nothing but the desire to take care of themselves. They were greedy. Their hearts were wicked and ugly.

Gosh, God spoke to me through this. After 3 weeks with my family, it seemed that God exposed some things that were hidden in our closets. Things that we had moved out of the way, stuffed in drawers, and hidden through the busy, hectic pace of the year. We were able to have a lot of good talks about how we treat our family members. We used God’s Word as our standard, and realized we had a lot of work to do to be more Christlike. As a family, we have to work on cleaning up the inside of our hearts, if we are to ever make a difference in the kingdom on the outside. We have to get it right internally first.

So as we begin this year, tell me how are things inside your heart? If God were to inspect the closet of your mind, look under the bed of your heart, and pull out the drawers of your soul, what would He find? Would He be pleased with you? Or do you have some cleaning to do like I do? Don’t get down. Just start pouring God’s Word into your mind. It is the best way to get truly clean.

Pray with me: Father God, we desire to make 2011 a year that please You. We ask You to examine our closets, and reveal the things hidden deep in our hearts. We want to be like Christ. We want to be clean inside. Expose our issues and unveil our sin. Throw away the trash. Help us to let go of the things that don’t have a place in our hearts anymore. Make room for more of Your Spirit to fill us. It’s in Your precious Son Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, we pray. Amen.

Christ Compels Ministry 2011