Destroying the Yoke!
Isaiah 10:27
Greetings! I am speaking to all of you women who might be
reading this about what the Lord has placed on my heart and
what has been related to me in my life for such a very long
time.
When we where little kids and our mother told us to go to
our room and clean it, what would we do? We would throw
everything under our bed! What is something that we do when
we have been hurt and we don't want to clean it out because
it hurts too badly? We just keep hiding it! We live in
denial, and the pain even grows deeper, just like under our
bed would eventually become too full to hide anything else,
so we would have no choice but to really clean it or we
would get in trouble.
That is what we need to do when we hide something in our lives; we need to clean it out with God's word. We need to allow Jesus to clean us up and set us free.
When we were
children and we would do something wrong, what were some of
the things that we would do to try to cover it up and make
ourselves look like we did not do it? We blamed our sister
or brother, or we even might try to blame our dog. What is
something that we do when someone takes advantage of us,
physically or emotionally? We blame ourselves, instead of
the one who needs to be blamed--the devil. When we were hurt
by our family members or by someone to whom we gave so much,
we hid the hurt and tried to cover it up and blame
ourselves.
I remember when I was growing up, I was told by one of my
boyfriends that I had at the time that I was so pretty and
that he loved me. What did that do to me? My face would glow
and it made me feel so good, but then he turned around and
cheated on me after I gave him what he wanted for the
relationship. What was it that I gave him? My body, my
heart, myself....
Why, I was only 13 years old. Why would I give a boy my body and my heart? I was too young to even be thinking about having sex at that age. So why did I do it?
Because I did not love myself. I was lonely, and I needed a man to tell me that he loved me and thought I was pretty. I was in a single family home; my dad was gone and remarried, and I was living with my mother and sister. So, there was no man in the house to tell me that he loved me or that I was the prettiest little girl in his eyes. So, I reached out to a boy who eventually broke my heart and left me with guilt.
So what happened after that boy cheated on me? Was that the end of the relationship? No, I went back out with him for another year and a half, and the relationship was based on sex. I was pretty much controlled by him, because if I did not do what he wanted me to do, he would get mad and make me feel guilty--so I would follow his wishes.
Why do things like this happen? WHY are their so many people in this world--and I am talking about women who allow someone to control them, but they won’t let Jesus control them. WHY?
Because they don't know Jesus. They might have heard about Jesus their whole lives and were raised in church, but when it comes right down to it, they did not really know Jesus.
There are so
many women out there today who are hurting because of a past
relationship that they have gone through in their lives, and
they never have let go of it. They just keep covering it up
with another relationship until they feel so shameful of
their bodies that they begin to find things that will numb
their body, such as drugs and alcohol. They will pop pills
until they are so very numb that they cannot feel a thing. I
did it; I took drugs to cover up the insecurity in my life
and the guilt, the shame, and the hurt. I took drugs; I
would get drunk so I could not feel anything. I would pop
pills to go to sleep. Did it work? NO! Why? Because the only
thing to get rid of the hurt is by letting Jesus take it
away from you. I finally realized that Jesus took it all
away.
It's time for us women to talk about something that a lot of
us keep doing--and that is hiding our pain. We might be
married women, single women or teenage girls, and we walk
around everyday covering up something that really hurts
inside of us. We don't want to realize it because we are too
afraid that someone will find out.
Some of us women have some dark secrets that we been hiding so very long, and they have to come out because if they don't, they will sneak up on us. Some married women have been hiding some of their darkest pains from their husbands for so very long, and if they don't let them out, they will destroy their marriage or destroy themselves. We have to quit hiding and let it all out. Now that Jesus has entered into your room, He wants to know where you are hurting.
Isaiah 1:6 says: “You are sick from head to foot--covered with bruises, welts, and infected wounds--without any ointments or bandages.” You have been hurt many times, and you keep hiding the hurts under bandages instead of anointing them with anointing oil. Do you walk around looking good on the outside, but on the inside you are falling apart from so much pain. You can only walk around looking good on the outside for so very long before you will even start to look bad on the outside. WHY? Because you will reach the point that you won’t even take care of what you have on the outside--because your inside is hurting so bad. To look good on the outside, we have to look good on our inside also.
So, how do we
look good on our outsides? By allowing Jesus to clean up our
insides. We are always covering up our pains and sins with
bandages, and they never heal because we don't recognize
them; or, we do recognize them, but we don't want to let
them heal because we don't know how. Or, possibly we do want
to let it heal, but it hurts too badly to let it
out--because to let it out, we have to talk about it; and a
lot of us don't want to talk about it. We want to forget
about it. But that does not make it go away. If you don't
let it out, it will hurt you. It will hurt you so badly that
it will destroy you. You will reach the point that you feel
like you need something to numb you so you can't feel a
thing. So what happens? We might become addicted to drugs or
alcohol.
How are you feeling right now? STOP, right where you are;
don't say you are feeling fine, and nothing is wrong if it's
not true. Feel what you are feeling; do not deny the pain
anymore. Are you hurting right now? Tell Jesus where it
hurts; tell Him--don't go on into the future until you tell
Jesus where it hurts.
Do you know what the word "yoke" is? It is something that is controlling you. You are being yoked by your pain; it is controlling you. You are being yoked to your sin, which is controlling you. The yoke has to be broken in Jesus’ name, or you will be destroyed. Receive God's truth and the Lord’s deliverance. Receive God's will for your life and destroy the yoke that has been trying to destroy you.
Maybe you are saying, "Well, I have already destroyed my yoke--I am fine!" Is that true? Have you really destroyed it, or have you just been hiding it? Are there days in your lives when you feel so very good and you just laugh and laugh until you cannot laugh anymore? And, then there are days when you begin to cry and cry, until you can't cry anymore--and you feel like you are broken in little pieces, and the pain hurts so very badly, but you cannot understand why? Is this you? Why does this happen? Because we have long thought that we have left our pain in the past, but we really have done nothing but keep patching it up.
Why? Some people are too scared to let it out so it can heal, and some people cover it up because that is the only thing they know to do. They have been doing it for so very long. In Jesus name, you have to stop trying to deny your pain or your sin anymore. Let it out, let go of it! Jesus wants to deliver you right now--so tell him where it hurts. Tell Jesus where the pain starts, and where it ends. Give him detail to detail, let it out. Let Jesus lift up your bandages and touch you; let your number one father, Jesus Christ, place His arms around you right now and touch you.
In Psalm 107:19-20 it says: "Lord, help! They cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.” He spoke, and they were healed--snatched from the door of death. Psalm 107:28: "Lord, help! They cried in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress." Let the tears flow right now. Let Jesus minister to you right now. Cry out to God and tell Him where it hurts, from the beginning to the end. Cry out to Jesus--tell him where it hurts.
Oh, no, I can't
cry! Why? Jesus cried, why can't you? “I am too tough to
cry.” What makes you a woman is when you do cry; cry, let it
out. Jesus wants to take off your bandages. So, are you
going to let him? He wants you free and to live in peace.
So, are you going to let Him take them off and heal them?
So what have you been hiding in your life or denying that
you need to let go of ? Ladies, I know what it is like to
hurt. I know what it is like to hide pain. I know what it is
like to deny my pain, and I know what it is like when the
Lord takes the pain away. It's a whole lot better then the
pain staying. I have heard that voice saying, “Don't cry,
people will see you”; or, “Don't cry, people will know that
there is something that is not right in your life.” Let the
tears flow from your eyes: Let it go, let it go, so you can
be whole and free from it all. Jesus is touching you right
now, and you feel the tears are wanting to come out; so, let
them come out, don't hold them back--let them come out. You
are being delivered, you are delivered.
Jesus says in
Matthew 11: 28-30: "Come to me, all you who are weary and
carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you. Let me touch you, because I am humble and gentle,
and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits
perfectly, and the burden I give you is light." Jesus
wants to give you rest--that sexual abuse, that broken
family, that broken marriage, that broken heart will no
longer be a heavy burden if you allow Jesus to restore you
and make you whole. You are free from that heavy yoke that
has been holding you down. You are free in Jesus’ name!
Jesus is good! Oh, Jesus is awesome! All you have to do is
tell Him where it hurts, and you are healed. All you have to
do is stop denying your pain and hiding it and let Jesus
have it.
Jesus will ask you where it hurts, and you tell Him where it
hurts. If you were raped, you told him you were raped and
what did He do? He took the guilt away from you and made you
whole and clean. You told Jesus that your father never told
you that he loved you, or that you were His little girl, so
Jesus told you that HE loves you and that you were His
little girl. You told Jesus that your mother betrayed you,
and Jesus restored it. You told Jesus that your family was
broken, and Jesus restored it.
Praise God, you are free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your yoke has
been broken.......... Psalm 116:7: "Now I can rest again,
for the Lord has been so good to me!”
All those sleepless nights and days that you could not get
out of bed are gone because you are free if you have
received God’s Word. Now, keep praising God and thanking him
for healing you.
Christi Slaughter
May
27, 2002
Servant's of Christ Ministries International Pastor's Walter
& Christ Slaughter, P. O. Box 1285 Fortson GA 31808-1285,
(334) 298-1623
Appearing Sunday, June 25, 2003