"In spite of everything I shall rise again: I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken in my great discouragement, and I will go on with my drawing." —Vincent Van Gogh
Thank you Pablo for baring your heart to us as fellow pilgrims on the journey to the celestial city. I appreciate your honesty and it is very encouraging to me to know that we are not alone in our struggles. The end result is worth it, of course, but we often lose sight of it. God Bless you as you continue to walk forward, one step at a time. 😊
Hi Pam! My apologies for the late reply. Love the reference to Paul Bunyon's 'The Pilgrim's Journey'. Such a masterpiece allegory. I do often times lose sight of the end results as well as the amazing blessings that surround each and everyone of us. It's easy to lose sight of things and get caught up in the moment...speaking from experience. The older I get, the more I realize just how much I don't know. But, praise God for His kindness, mercy, grace, love and patience. I thank you so much for your encouragement and thoughts! Blessings!
God bless you Pablo! Thank you for the wonderfully written and encouraging post. We all struggle with discouragement , along with other negative feelings. I know from the beginning of creation, discouragement was felt by many who walked with God,,,we are no different in this day. God never leaves us in spite of how we feel or don’t feel.
I always try to remember it feels bad when we face it,,but it only lasts a short while and God renews us once again through prayer and His Word or a word from someone else!
Be blessed brother…love and prayers always for you,Inez and Jeremiah. ♥️🙏🏻
2 Timothy 4:8
Finally, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to those who have loved His appearing.
Dear Lori, I want you to know that you definitely have the gift of encouragement...for real! Praise the Lord for the truth you wrote that the Lord never leaves us in spit of how we feel or don't...so, so true! I am soooo looking forward to being caught up with our Lord and meeting all of my brothers and sisters in Christ (should we be privileged to be a part of the catching away!). I'm praying it's soon, 'cause this world is headed for a 'world' of hurt...no pun. May our Lord richly bless you and your hubby. Always am blessed and encouraged by your thoughts and words! Blessings.
Excellent article. I'd like to add one thing. I've known the Lord since mid-January 1974. I gave myself to Him completely in June. And the Lord was really good to me. But I was extremely messed up. When I met Jesus, I was a drug-crazed hippy, heavily into the occult, and a fine artist. So the Lord had a lot He wanted to do to get me functional. He gave me a marvelous wife, and that helped a lot. But there was still something wrong.
It wasn't until the early nineties that I was healed enough for Him to show me my habitual, life-long depression which kept me in a constant state of discouragement. From that time I fought it in prayer, and the Lord gave me some relief. But then in 2020, the Holy Spirit showed me that I had some hidden enemy whispering discouragement in my ear. He showed me that I had picked up my demon companions back in 1955 when I entered junior high.
That was an extremely traumatic time for me with a lot of rage. But it had resulted in an imperceptible companion(s) who had been whispering discouragement in my mind for sixty years. Evidently it was hooked into some things which finally were healed in me when I strongly turned to the Lord when my wife went home in 12/2019. But now He's been able to get me healed of a lot of stuff, because I had to ask Him to get rid of these specific tormentors. My general spiritual cleanup prayers hadn't touched them.
It has been remarkable how much that has transformed my life. You cannot imagine how many things have become clear. Now I can laugh at the thought that there was always a little cartoon demon sitting on my shoulder whispering in my ear‚ and he had my permission to be there. Once I understood that, the Lord could finally clear that out of my life also. Hallelujah.
Hi David, thanks so much for taking the time to write in and share your heart! I'm intrigued by what you experienced and how it kept you "down" for so long. I have questions for ya, but, I'd rather do it via the messages part of Substack. Please send me a request via the built-in Substack app. Blessings!
You need to know that I am an old graphic designer who writes in InDesign. Just let me know if we're messaging over in the chat window. It seems to say we are on my Studio displ0ay. My hands are too large to use a phone and the Substack App has been useless to me. I can't find anything in that, even on my iPad Pro.
You're words encourage me Katy! The Lord has blessed me with a great online church family. I have to say I'm more American than anything for sure! But, you're correct that I am Argentine as well. Such a blessing to know that the Lord blessed you via this article. Cheers right back at ya!
Thank you Pablo for baring your heart to us as fellow pilgrims on the journey to the celestial city. I appreciate your honesty and it is very encouraging to me to know that we are not alone in our struggles. The end result is worth it, of course, but we often lose sight of it. God Bless you as you continue to walk forward, one step at a time. 😊
Hi Pam! My apologies for the late reply. Love the reference to Paul Bunyon's 'The Pilgrim's Journey'. Such a masterpiece allegory. I do often times lose sight of the end results as well as the amazing blessings that surround each and everyone of us. It's easy to lose sight of things and get caught up in the moment...speaking from experience. The older I get, the more I realize just how much I don't know. But, praise God for His kindness, mercy, grace, love and patience. I thank you so much for your encouragement and thoughts! Blessings!
God bless you Pablo! Thank you for the wonderfully written and encouraging post. We all struggle with discouragement , along with other negative feelings. I know from the beginning of creation, discouragement was felt by many who walked with God,,,we are no different in this day. God never leaves us in spite of how we feel or don’t feel.
I always try to remember it feels bad when we face it,,but it only lasts a short while and God renews us once again through prayer and His Word or a word from someone else!
Be blessed brother…love and prayers always for you,Inez and Jeremiah. ♥️🙏🏻
2 Timothy 4:8
Finally, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to those who have loved His appearing.
Dear Lori, I want you to know that you definitely have the gift of encouragement...for real! Praise the Lord for the truth you wrote that the Lord never leaves us in spit of how we feel or don't...so, so true! I am soooo looking forward to being caught up with our Lord and meeting all of my brothers and sisters in Christ (should we be privileged to be a part of the catching away!). I'm praying it's soon, 'cause this world is headed for a 'world' of hurt...no pun. May our Lord richly bless you and your hubby. Always am blessed and encouraged by your thoughts and words! Blessings.
Thank you Pablo I always try to follow the prompting of my Saviour!
Many blessings and may the Lord continue to honor your faithfulness!
Excellent article. I'd like to add one thing. I've known the Lord since mid-January 1974. I gave myself to Him completely in June. And the Lord was really good to me. But I was extremely messed up. When I met Jesus, I was a drug-crazed hippy, heavily into the occult, and a fine artist. So the Lord had a lot He wanted to do to get me functional. He gave me a marvelous wife, and that helped a lot. But there was still something wrong.
It wasn't until the early nineties that I was healed enough for Him to show me my habitual, life-long depression which kept me in a constant state of discouragement. From that time I fought it in prayer, and the Lord gave me some relief. But then in 2020, the Holy Spirit showed me that I had some hidden enemy whispering discouragement in my ear. He showed me that I had picked up my demon companions back in 1955 when I entered junior high.
That was an extremely traumatic time for me with a lot of rage. But it had resulted in an imperceptible companion(s) who had been whispering discouragement in my mind for sixty years. Evidently it was hooked into some things which finally were healed in me when I strongly turned to the Lord when my wife went home in 12/2019. But now He's been able to get me healed of a lot of stuff, because I had to ask Him to get rid of these specific tormentors. My general spiritual cleanup prayers hadn't touched them.
It has been remarkable how much that has transformed my life. You cannot imagine how many things have become clear. Now I can laugh at the thought that there was always a little cartoon demon sitting on my shoulder whispering in my ear‚ and he had my permission to be there. Once I understood that, the Lord could finally clear that out of my life also. Hallelujah.
Hi David, thanks so much for taking the time to write in and share your heart! I'm intrigued by what you experienced and how it kept you "down" for so long. I have questions for ya, but, I'd rather do it via the messages part of Substack. Please send me a request via the built-in Substack app. Blessings!
You need to know that I am an old graphic designer who writes in InDesign. Just let me know if we're messaging over in the chat window. It seems to say we are on my Studio displ0ay. My hands are too large to use a phone and the Substack App has been useless to me. I can't find anything in that, even on my iPad Pro.
I think I did it. Let me know. I sent you a direct message, I think.
I don't know how to do that. I'm still learning how to deal with Substack. I'd love to talk with you.
You're words encourage me Katy! The Lord has blessed me with a great online church family. I have to say I'm more American than anything for sure! But, you're correct that I am Argentine as well. Such a blessing to know that the Lord blessed you via this article. Cheers right back at ya!