Don't Let Go (Get a Grip)! - The Watch Letter
January 7, 2022
We have a hard time letting go of people, letting go of things, letting go of money, letting go of thoughts, and letting go of habits. But have you ever noticed the one thing we seem to easily let go of is God's unchanging hand?
Although God is the one thing that is unconditional, constant, and perfect in our lives, we so easily turn our backs on Him and leave Him behind when we think we don't need Him or we don't agree with what He is saying or doing. Which is crazy because God never turns His back on us ... even when He disagrees with our behavior, he still loves us, and is always waiting for us to return to him with open arms. When someone mistreats us and we don't agree with them we will still talk to them or take them back, but God can give us a word to save or direct our lives and if we don't like what He says: we ignore him and often the messenger he sent.
How many times have we let go of his hand when something or someone new and shiny comes along or when we are hurt so bad we move our hand out of his to try to tend to the pain ourselves?
Last Saturday, during service, our Pastor Chief Apostle H.C. Gunn begin with exhorting and singing. The anointing was on his tongue. One thing he kept singing and saying is "I called on the Lord and wouldn't let go"... "Call on the Lord and don't let go." He said and sung "Call on the Lord when the load gets heavy" and "When the load gets heavy you can lean on Jesus."
It was such a powerful moment that could have easily been missed amid our excitement and praise during service, so I thank God for the saints who record our services. (Don't get me wrong, it's a blessing for service to be high in worship, but sometimes our pastor tells us to slow things down and go back over what was said.) And as I begin to play it back and got to that moment, all I could do is stop right there and write it down. It was an outcry... as if the Lord was saying with a loud voice: "DON'T LET GO OF ME." Because God knows that when we let go of Him, the next thing that happens is our demise.
Chief Apostle Gunn once preached before "Get a Grip." People usually say that phrase when you are urging someone to check back into reality and be logical, but what he was saying is: let go of the world and your ways and grab ahold to God and the things of God with all your might. Grab Him like you were hanging off the side of a building or a mountain and the only thing that would keep you from falling is having a good grip. God is the only thing that keeps us from falling.
There's a curse that we need to break. Since the beginning of time, with Adam and Eve, when we see something we want or mess up ... we leave God, even if we are right in His midst, even if we are sitting in the church .... we leave him in our hearts and our thinking. We let go. Our disobedience is a let go! Our unbelief is a let go! Our fear is a let go! Our worldy desire is a let go! Our selfishness is a let go! Our pride is a let go! Our laziness is a let go! Our unforgiveness is a let go! Our worry is a let go!
Think about it. When things in our lives get hard and heavy instead of leaning on Jesus and calling on the Lord, we seek relief from the heavy and hard things from things that can't truly make us whole. They only numb the situation or band-aid it .... whether that be internet and social media, TV, gossip and complaining, music, alcohol, drugs, over-eating and over-spending, bad relationships, self-pity, depression, self-doubt, you name it, we do it.
My pastor always taught me that the best thing we can do when we are faced with something difficult, painful, scary, regretful, lustful, etc. is to run to God not away from Him. (Get in his word, stay connected to your pastor, stay in prayer, get help from someone who has faithful fruit, fast, etc.)
Jesus is an expert at carrying heavy loads. How heavy was the cross?
Some researchers and architects have stated the weight of the cross could have been anywhere from 165 pounds at the crossbar to 300 pounds total for the entire cross. That is the whole of two or three people or several children in body weight. Who do you know can walk around carrying their own weight and the weight of others on their back like that? And that's just in the natural. The weight that Jesus carried can never be calculated or known to man, for he carried the weight of the sin and sickness of the whole world.
Think about how heavy you feel when you sin or when you are sick. And imagine Jesus feeling that for billions and billions of people all at one time.
So, why can't we trust him to carry what we are facing or carry us in general for that matter?
Why do we always think our way of dealing with something is better? Why did Adam and Even think the wisdom that the devil promised them from the fruit of the tree was better than the wisdom God would teach them when spending time with them every day in the garden?
That's what the devil set out to accomplish, he wanted us to receive earthly wisdom more than Godly wisdom because the wisdom of the world tells us we don't need God and that we know better than God or that there is something out there that will help us or make us feel better than God can and that is the lie. The devil is a liar. So, every time we let go of God's hand then the devil rejoices. Because he is envious. He is permanently for all time separated from God and misery loves company. So let's not give him that satisfaction, let us draw near to the Lord. Let us hold on to him like our life depends on it because it literally does. Let us take everything about us, in us, and around us to him so that he can carry us through.
Imagine what would have happened and how the world would have been if Adam and Eve didn't LET GO of what God told them and didn't give up the opportunity to physically dwell in his presence. But we have a chance to break that curse and that cycle. The answer is: DON'T LET GO!
Isaiah 41:10
10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Matthew 11:28-29
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Be sure to listen to this week's FORREAL Radio Broadcast "Like My Lord Said Do:" https://www.thebodyofchristinc.com/listen-in?wix-music-track-id=6288266768305880&wix-music-comp-id=comp-kjfzbgmx
Here are the lyrics to the two songs Chief Apostle Gunn was ministering last week.
"Lean on Me" by Helen Miller: Watch the Video here: https://youtu.be/D0kveVCnoVU
Jesus said if you lean on me,
Jesus said you can lean on me,
Jesus said if you lean on me,
I won't let you fall if you just lean on me.
He said I'll bare your burden, if you lean on me,
I know how to bare your burdens, if you just lean on me,
He said I'll bare your burdens, if you lean on me,
I won't let you fall if you lean on me.
O I will bare your burdens if you
Lean on me
O I'll bare your burdens if you just
Lean on me
O I know how to bare your burdens you can
Lean on me
I won't let you fall
I won't let you fall if you lean on me.
And When the load gets heavy you can
Lean on me
When the load gets heavy you can
Lean on me When your load gets heavy you can always
Lean on me
I won't let you fall
I won't let you fall if you just lean on me.
"All Night" by Alvin Darling & Celebration: Watch the Video here: https://youtu.be/DpaSZSYzbZM
All Night, I wouldn't give up
All Night, I wouldn't let go
All Night, I just held on
I called on the Lord all nightlong and I wouldn't let go Until he blessed my soul. I'm a witness Great GOD almighty that he came through
Jacob wrestle with the Angel all night long and he wouldn't let Go until the break of dawn He said, You gotta bless me before You leave. I felt the same way, when I was on my knees I asked the Lord to help me to be strong I called Him all night long
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