Encouragement

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Psalm 69:33 For the Lord hears the poor and needy and despises not His prisoners (His miserable and wounded ones). (Quick Amplified Bible)

The Apostle Paul (at the beginning of Chapter three in Ephesians) called himself the prisoner or captive of Christ. All over this world Christ has his true captives. Not all are required or assigned the same task for His glory. Many of Christ captives are in the battle field fighting on the front lines of this invisible spiritual war that is ever present and constant in this earth realm. Some of His captives are reaping a huge harvest that others plowed and sowed with many attacks and persecutions from the enemy.

His captives are always to be in the harvest field or the battle field for the Lord. We know that all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted. The afflictions of Christ captives bring Him very near. His grace is ever present and dispensed to release them from their wants and distresses.

Psalm 34:6 This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. (NKJV)

Christ is never more real, near, and present than in the afflictions, persecutions, reproaches, and oppressions of His captives. Blessed are all who suffer reproaches for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. The light afflictions placed on His captives for this brief life is not to be compared to the glory that Christ Himself will reveal in them when He appears finally apart from sin for the redemption of the body. To be Christ's captive is to no true peace no matter the physical pain and suffering or the emotional anguish of the soul. Even being alienated by friends and family for the sake of living godly in the Lord can be a real stress on the soul, and the Lord knows this and is always ready to give abundance of grace.

Psalm 10:14 You have seen it; yes, You note trouble and grief (vexation) to requite it with Your hand. (Quick Amplified Bible)

The unfortunate lowly soul commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless. If God be for His servants who can ever really be against them. The Lord was a man acquainted with sorrow and new first hand the anguish of the soul rejected and despised by His own. To be poor in spirit is to know the Lord Jesus Christ with pure untarnished intimacy. He is drawn to the lowly heart who sees his helplessness and need of rescue and deliverance that can only come from Him.

The Lord not only hears the cries and petitions for help, but it goes even deeper than that it actually means that He listens with attentiveness to their petitions and that He will be obedient to Himself to furnish relief. The word poor in Psalm 69:33 actually means a person who is destitute, a beggar, in feeling, and all need.

The Lord has His spiritual ear on high alert all over the earth to respond immediately to His captives in this lowly and humble condition. This is why we are not ever to envy the seemingly ease and comfort in which many sinners live, but in contrast we are to be zealous and eager for the fear of the Lord.

Proverbs 24:1-2 Be not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them; For their minds plot oppression and devise violence, and their lips talk of causing trouble and vexation. (Quick Amplified Bible)

Proverbs 24:19-20 Fret not because of evildoers, neither be envious of the wicked, For there shall be no reward for the evil man; the lamp of the wicked shall be put out. (Quick Amplified Bible)

For soon the sinners perceived comfort and ease will turn into eternal torment and hell. For if Christ captives suffer with Him they shall also reign with Him. There is nothing more satisfying than the reality of this end.

Secondly, Christ is attentive to those all over the world who are captives and bound by sin. The Lord said, “For this cause I have come into the world.” The Lord left the riches and glory of Heaven and humbled Himself to death on the cross for all those souls who are aching for release and freedom from their captivity.

Many men today where a mask to hide the poverty of the soul as it is bound by such things as lust, alcohol, drugs, pornography, depression, anxiety, loneliness, doubt, fear and many other things visible and invisible, that vex and make captive the soul.

There are recorded today hundreds of phobias and compulsive behaviors that render a man or woman a slave to their minds until they can see no way out. Some of these things lead men, woman, girls, and boys to take their own lives because they cannot see any way out of the captivity. Christ has come to set every soul held captive free from the tyranny of the oppression of the mind or soul.

The Author of all these phobias and compulsive behaviors that renders people helpless and unproductive and a detriment to themselves and often to others is none other than the devil. The Lord Jesus spoke to the people during His time on earth before the cross (when He was accused of having a demon and casting out demons by the power of Satan) as an analogy of what He came to do to the power of the devil in the hearts and minds of men and woman. All those things listed above are do to some form of demon oppression or possession. The Bible tells us that out of Mary Magdalene Christ cast out seven demons.

Luke 11:21-22 When the strong man, fully armed, [from his courtyard] guards his own dwelling, his belongings are undisturbed [his property is at peace and is secure]. But when one stronger than he attacks him and conquers him, he robs him of his whole armor on which he had relied and divides up and distributes all his goods as plunder (spoil). (Quick Amplified Bible)

The Lord Jesus Christ has from His sacrificial death on the cross bound the power of the devil in all who truly trust in Him. In the Beatitudes the Lord gives us a strange and peculiar recipe for blessedness or happiness. He tells us that a person continually beaten down or broken in spirit and mourning over their sin is the happy person. His glorious presence and grace would be near all in such a spiritual state or condition.

The Lord is near all who are of a poor and contrite spirit. His power and strength are made manifest in all weakness. Christ does not ever use our strengths to manifest His glory but our weaknesses. The Lord has never witnessed a soul beaten down in despair, afflictions, and enslavement to sin (that opened the door of their heart) that He did not respond with an abundance of grace.

John 10:10 The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). (Quick Amplified Bible)

In the verse previous to this one, the Lord described Himself as the door. He lets the poor, mourning soul into a new life of pasture and feeding for their hungry and weary souls downtrodden and made low because of sin. He gives a new life a life of superior quality free from the oppression of sin, darkness, and the devil.

Christ longs to meet those souls like this at His cross. He weeps and mourns over every rejection and neglect of the poor mourning soul to turn to Him for relief. His eyes are full of the water of liquid love dripping down each of His divine cheeks. His divine heart aches with unbearable pain and agony as He sees such a soul constantly going their own way searching for relief in all the wrong places (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, the cults, new age, scientology, etc.)

He knows that they will only disappoint the longing of their hearts and minds and act as a band-aid for a deep cut or wound. They will not heal the longing and yearning of their souls. In Christ there is rest and redemption, a peace which passes understanding, and all the fullness of God. Oh! how He wants so earnestly to see them turn (in their hearts) to Him. For no matter His agony He cannot help them lest they are willing to receive His rescue of their souls. He will not, no matter the quantities of tears force Himself on their heats and wills. Christ by His death has made captivity captive and every soul that cries out to Him at the cross will be freed. Oh! to be one of His captives, that's not captivity it is true freedom.

Sincerely in Christ,

Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author, Silent Assassins of the Soul (not yet published; coming soon)

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