THE DEVIL IS IN THE DISCOURAGEMENT (2 OF 2)
by Keith Krell
Scripture: Haggai 2:1-23
This content is part of a series.
The Devil is in the Discouragement (2 of 2)
Series: Haggai
Keith Krell
Haggai 2:1-23
I read once that the devil was having a yard sale, and all of his tools were marked with different prices. They were a fiendish lot. There was hatred, jealously, deceit, lust, pride—all at expensive prices. But over to the side of the yard on display was a tool more obviously worn than any of the other tools. It was also the most costly. The tool was labeled, DISCOURAGEMENT. When questioned, the devil said, "It's more useful to me than any other tool. When I can't bring down my victims with any of the rest of these tools, I use discouragement because so few people realize that it belongs to me."
I'm sure you would agree that discouragement is of the devil. There's nothing worse than a steady diet of discouragement. Yet, in our age of high expectations we can find a lot to be discouraged about. Perhaps you are discouraged about your marriage. Things just aren't what you'd like them to be with your spouse. You remember how your relationship used to be when you were first married, yet those days of bliss seem like another lifetime. The same is true with your kids. You have wonderful memories of how things used to be when they were children. Now that your children are teens or adults it seems like you no longer connect. Maybe you recall the glory days of college or a previous job. Those were the best years of your life. It seems that things were much easier and enjoyable back then. Now you feel underpaid, undervalued, and underutilized. It seems like life is passing you by. In your more honest moments, like me, maybe you would acknowledge that you know a thing or two about discouragement.
The good news is that the Lord Himself wants to encourage us. Today, He will tell us that the remedy for discouragement is to see God's perspective. Turn with me to Haggai 2 where we will see three important remedies to discouragement.
1. Stop looking back; start looking ahead (2:1- ...
Series: Haggai
Keith Krell
Haggai 2:1-23
I read once that the devil was having a yard sale, and all of his tools were marked with different prices. They were a fiendish lot. There was hatred, jealously, deceit, lust, pride—all at expensive prices. But over to the side of the yard on display was a tool more obviously worn than any of the other tools. It was also the most costly. The tool was labeled, DISCOURAGEMENT. When questioned, the devil said, "It's more useful to me than any other tool. When I can't bring down my victims with any of the rest of these tools, I use discouragement because so few people realize that it belongs to me."
I'm sure you would agree that discouragement is of the devil. There's nothing worse than a steady diet of discouragement. Yet, in our age of high expectations we can find a lot to be discouraged about. Perhaps you are discouraged about your marriage. Things just aren't what you'd like them to be with your spouse. You remember how your relationship used to be when you were first married, yet those days of bliss seem like another lifetime. The same is true with your kids. You have wonderful memories of how things used to be when they were children. Now that your children are teens or adults it seems like you no longer connect. Maybe you recall the glory days of college or a previous job. Those were the best years of your life. It seems that things were much easier and enjoyable back then. Now you feel underpaid, undervalued, and underutilized. It seems like life is passing you by. In your more honest moments, like me, maybe you would acknowledge that you know a thing or two about discouragement.
The good news is that the Lord Himself wants to encourage us. Today, He will tell us that the remedy for discouragement is to see God's perspective. Turn with me to Haggai 2 where we will see three important remedies to discouragement.
1. Stop looking back; start looking ahead (2:1- ...
There are 28979 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
