“... I will carry...”

                                                                                                                                                           Isaiah 46:4

Dearly beloved in Christ,

Greetings to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!

At unexpected times and in unknown ways calamities strike man. When this happens we feel down, and are sorely depressed. But there is One who can uphold us and strengthen us to stand against the forces at work and lead us. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. This God of love will uphold us daily as He is faithful, and powerful. Let us meditate on whom and how He upholds.

The Lord Jesus Christ has assured us that He will uphold us even unto old age from the day of conception in the womb of the mother, as He can do so. Let us examine here how He does that.

1. By His Word

“God, ... by His Son, ... who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”

Hebrews 1:3

The Lord upholds us by the word of His power. His words are filled with spirit and life. With the words He counsels and satisfies our thirst. The words are comforting and are sweeter than honey. They can speak to us and encourage us and strengthen us to enable us to complete our race.

In my life I was afflicted with a heart disease. I was struggling and was at the verge of death. At that time, my wife was sitting by my side and reading Psalm 91 aloud. I was thinking of the consequences of my death that would render my wife and children to become orphans. I had a huge debt and my wife would not be able to settle it during her life time even with all her earnings. I wanted to live and was seeking the one who would deliver me from this imminent death. Then the words read by my wife fell in my ears and comforted me: “Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling” (Psalm 91:9,10). The condition mentioned in the nineth verse made me commit to live for Jesus Christ. A new turn in my life happened. With a contrite heart, I accepted Jesus into my life. A new strength came into me. I could realize that a miracle had happened. And then the Lord gave me the desire to seek Him and to pray in His presence with a grateful heart. With His word, He worked a great powerful transformation in me. Those words upheld me and made me stand for Him.

2. By His Mercy

“If I say, “My foot slips,” Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up.”

Psalm 94:18

By His mercy the Lord upholds us from falling. Mercy is the grace or kindness shown to us who are undeserving. It is His gift. Many attribute it to their fortune or luck or good times, when their problems get solved. But the Lord God is One who created the times and seasons. There is nothing as good or bad time. Everything is good in His sight. He created everything beautifully.

In August 1983, I was riding on my brother’s scooter. I was going through congested traffic. At that time, the brake cable of my scooter snapped. I did not know what to do. I slowed down the speed of the vehicle. All of a sudden, the lorry going before me stopped. In my wisdom, I sought a way of escape by directing the front wheel of my vehicle to bump against the tyre of the lorry. As I was unable to stop it, I hit the lorry and the vehicle rebounded and I, who was holding onto the back of the lorry was thrown upon the road. A passing car’s wheel just brushed over the hairs of my head. I just escaped by a hair’s breadth. I was not worthy for His act of kindness. It was purely His mercy. He gave me a new lease of life because of His abundant grace. That night I shared with my wife how the Lord had mercy on me and that there was a purpose behind it. At the end of that year, the Lord met me through another disease and led me to do His ministry. How true is the word: “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.” (Lamentations 3:22)!

3. By His Spirit

“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.”

Psalm 51:12

The Lord sustains and upholds us by His spirit, when we are broken. Because Jesus Christ pleaded for us with the Father, the Holy Spirit is given to us as a comforter to dwell within us.

Jesus Christ assured His disciples: ‘“... and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen’ (Matt. 28:20). He remains within us, as the Holy Spirit who does good works through us. He will be with us to the end. Whatever may be the situation, He remains with us in the midst of struggles and tribulations, and at all times encourages and comforts us through His good works. He is faithful to the very end.

Once during a ministry, when I prayed for two sisters, the evil spirits manifested. I prayed for them for several hours. All of a sudden, a sister who was ministering there came and caught hold of the hair of those sisters and began to beat them commanding the spirits to leave them. Consciousness came to the sisters and they appeared to behave normally. I was ashamed and that night I went to bed with a sullen spirit in me. I told the Lord that I was not worthy to do the ministry. I had neither the wisdom nor the courage to beat and cast out devils. I lamented before the Lord in tears and refused to pray for such people. Then the Spirit of the Lord comforted me and assured me that He would use me. He told me that the evil spirits did not leave those sisters, but the Lord commanded the spirits to hide to save them from the treatment meted out to them. The Spirit of the Lord asked me to pray for them the next day assuring that He would deliver them and anoint them. Thus, the Lord encouraged and comforted me to do the ministry the next day. The next day again the evil spirits began to manifest in the two sisters. I prayed for them as the Spirit of the Lord had encouraged and strengthened me. As the Spirit of the Lord came upon them powerfully, they were delivered and were anointed with the Spirit. The sister who had beaten people to cast out devils observed everything and learnt to change her way in casting out devils. Thus, the ministry was specially blessed.

Who are thus Upheld?

1. Those Who Keep the Lord with Them

“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

Isaiah 41:10

Today the Lord Jesus Christ wants to dwell with us. He wants to be with anyone who accepts Jesus Christ and entreats Him to remain in his heart. He dwells with such people and upholds and guides them. The Lord commanded: “And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.” (Lev. 20:26). Those who are holy and give room for the Lord to be with them by obeying Him are blessed with His presence. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). When He is with you, He will uphold you and guide you in all situations.

Once one good brother working with the navy had come to his native place. When he was driving fast in his vehicle, he met with an accident. He was thrown to a distant place and he became unconscious. The Lord who said, “For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” (Psalm 91:11-12) worked a miracle and saved him. The hand of the Lord which was pierced with nails upheld him and he was delivered without any harm. Everyone was astonished. The Lord saved him and helped him to live for the Lord.

When we keep the Lord with us, He upholds us. Dear Brother/ Sister, if you open your heart to the loving Lord Jesus Christ who is knocking at the doors of your heart, He will be with you till the end of the world as He has promised. He has all power and authority and He will be with you and protect you from destruction by upholding you with His loving hands.

So when you receive Him into your heart, He will dwell with you and be in you to uphold you. Set right your heart to receive Him.

2. Those Who are Mindful of the Poor

“Blessed is he who considers the poor; The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, and he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed.”

Psalm 41:1-3

The Lord God upholds those who consider the poor in their state of oppression, pain and disease. As we were proceeding to Chennai from Trichy on 24th May 1993 by car, we saw a man with facial injuries struggling for life on the roadside. My second son asked us to stop the vehicle to assist the man. I told my son that we had to be in Chennai by 6 am and that we were already late. So we couldn’t stop the vehicle, as we had 6 hours of journey before us. I assuaged his feelings by saying that I had prayed for the man. That explanation would not satisfy him as he wanted to be like the good Samaritan. But after a few kilometres, we realized that we had left behind some important documents at home. Therefore, we had to go back home. On the way, we saw people and police helping that man.

On 5th June 1993, the vehicle in which we were travelling as a family met with an accident. Even though the vehicle was heavily damaged, the hand of the Lord saved us all. But the left leg of my second son was fractured. After praying for him, I lifted him and placed him on the road. As he called out to me ‘father’ in pain, I asked him to call on the name ‘Jesus Christ.’ In a few minutes, a brother came to offer his help with his vehicle. My second son fainted in pain and my wife was in agony. The considerate brother came forward, took my two sons and my wife to a brother who was very helpful. Then I realized how the Lord sent help to him who had a sympathetic heart for others. I thanked and praised the Lord.

Dear Brother/ sister, you meet several people in dire need of help in their troubles, not knowing the way out for their problems. They may not know about the redeeming power of the Lord Jesus Christ who can deliver them. Not only in this life but also in the life to come, they may be clueless as to what to do. They may be drifting toward destruction and eternal fire of hell. If you have concern for the perishing souls, you should come forward to pray and deliver them from destruction at the hands of the enemy. If you can do that, the Lord will uphold you.

3. Those Who are Upright

“For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous.”

Psalm 37:17

Dear Brother/ Sister, the Bible tells us that the Lord upholds the righteous. But those who do evil lose their peace and the blessings. Doing the right does not come to one by itself. By birth we are bound to do evil and are sinful. But when we believe the Lord’s work on the cross for us, He Himself justifies us. We are cleansed and are made righteous in Him (Rom. 5:9).

Before I was saved by the Lord Jesus Christ, I had questions as to how the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse us. But when He delivered me from my deathbed, from the heart disease, I began to seek Him with a whole heart. One day when I was left alone, I began to pray in the presence of the Lord as to what I should do according to His will. I saw in my mind’s eye, as in a movie, a scroll rolled up. When a man unrolled it before me, I could read all my sins written in it. My hard heart was broken and I cried before Him realizing that He suffered for my sins, and trespasses and His blood was shed for my sake. Then I saw a drop of blood falling on it and the scroll became white. Thus, all my sins were shown to me and they were removed by His blood because of His mercy. A great peace that the world cannot give filled me and I was overwhelmed with joy. I rose up and praised the Lord. I reconciled with my wife, my mother and sister by confessing my sins. Only on that day I realized that the blood of Jesus Christ can atone us of our sins and has the power to cleanse us.

Dear Brother/ Sister, if you are cleansed with the blood of Jesus Christ today, you will be rid of all your sins and would become an instrument of righteousness. The blood of Christ shed on the cross would transform your organs into righteous ones and would uphold you in all situations. Just like the lightening conductor protects a tall building from dangers, the Lord Jesus Christ hoisted on the cross would protect and uphold you in all situations from all oppression and dangers if you keep Him exalted in your life. He will uphold you as He has promised, and guide and bless you. Commit in His presence.

May the Lord bless us so!

In the service of Christ Jesus,

Late Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul

(This message was published in August 1993)