{"id":7781,"date":"2018-03-23T08:52:03","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T12:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/?p=7781"},"modified":"2021-07-08T15:50:17","modified_gmt":"2021-07-08T19:50:17","slug":"a-real-basket-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/2018\/03\/23\/a-real-basket-case\/","title":{"rendered":"A Real Basket Case!"},"content":{"rendered":"

“In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me: And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.” II Corinthians 11:32,33 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Reading the above verses this morning reminded me of myself a few years ago. Referring to a season in my life where the Lord had allowed extended trials and testings to come my way, I have admitted to other sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n

“I was a basket case” <\/strong><\/p>\n

This particular time in my life found me very low – mentally, physically and spiritually. But, it was also during this time that God brought some encouragers into my life. Praise the Lord!<\/p>\n

Now, although the above verses do not indicate that the Apostle Paul was having a mental “basket case” experience, we do know that he was in great need of help. Acts 9:23-25 gives us more detail:<\/p>\n

“And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him: But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket.”  <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We also know that, as great a Christian as Paul was, there were times in his life that he needed and often benefited from the spiritual, mental and physical refreshment of other believers.<\/p>\n

“…And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself.” Acts 27:3<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

“I am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus: for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied. For they have refreshed my spirit and yours: therefore acknowledge ye them that are such.” I Corinthians 16:17,18 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh, how very thankful I am for the refreshment we can receive from other believers! That is why I love Sundays and Wednesdays – I don’t HAVE to go to church…I GET to go!<\/p>\n

I get to be FED, once again, from God’s Word.<\/p>\n

I get to FELLOWSHIP with God’s people.<\/p>\n

I get to FEEL the burdens of others…and be reminded that I’m not the only one carrying a load.<\/p>\n

This, along with my own personal time with the Lord, is what equips me to FACE another day! This is what gets me through my own “basket case” experiences!  Thank the Lord! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

This morning, are you in the midst of a severe time of extended testing? May I encourage you to allow yourself to be refreshed by other spirit-filled Christians. Yes, there may be things about which you can only talk to the Lord, but please don’t isolate yourself from those who truly care.<\/p>\n

“That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.” Romans 15:32 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me: And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.” II Corinthians 11:32,33  Reading the above verses this morning reminded me of myself a few years ago. Referring to a season in my life where the Lord had allowed extended trials and testings to come my way, I have admitted to other sisters in Christ, “I was a basket case”  This particular time in my life found me very low – mentally, physically and spiritually. But, it was also during this time that God brought some encouragers into my life. Praise the Lord! Now, although the above verses do not indicate that the Apostle Paul was having a mental “basket case” experience, we do know that he was in great need of help. Acts 9:23-25 gives us more detail: “And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him: But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket.”   We also know that, as great a Christian as Paul was, there were times in his life that he needed and often benefited from the spiritual, mental and physical refreshment of other believers. “…And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself.” Acts 27:3 “I am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus: for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied. For they have refreshed my spirit and yours: therefore acknowledge ye them that are such.” I Corinthians 16:17,18  Oh, how very thankful I am for the refreshment we can receive from other believers! That is why I love Sundays and Wednesdays – I don’t HAVE to go to church…I GET to go! I get to be FED, once again, from God’s Word. I get to FELLOWSHIP with God’s people. I get to FEEL the burdens of others…and be reminded that I’m not the only one carrying a load. This, along with my own personal time with the Lord, is what equips me to FACE another day! This is what gets me through my own “basket case” experiences!  Thank the Lord! \ud83d\ude42 This morning, are you in the midst of a severe time of extended testing? May I encourage you to allow yourself to be refreshed by other spirit-filled Christians. Yes, there may be things about which you can only talk to the Lord, but please don’t isolate yourself from those who truly care. “That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.” Romans 15:32 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47,63,65,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comfort","category-compassion","category-relationships","category-trials"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4o6C2-21v","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7781"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11246,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7781\/revisions\/11246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthineheart.com\/staging\/8143\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}