Spiritual Rehab for the Wounded Christian

By Anthony L. Norwood

Have you ever had a crisis in your faith? Have you ever been angry with God? Have you asked, Lord, why me? Have you ever felt like you just cant go on any more? Have you ever felt abandoned by God? Well, these are all questions that millions of Christians face on a day-to-day basis. However, God has an answer for all of these situations in your life. He is in the restoration business of bringing back peace, joy, happiness, and stability in your life. This book will give you insight to help you heal and thrive again in your faith!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524564650

Anthony L. Norwood

Anthony L. Norwood has preached Gods Word since 1999. He is currently the minister to the Henry Street Church of Christ in Gadsden, AL, USA.

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Copyright © 2016 by Anthony L. Norwood.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Bible Citation:

New International Version

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

New King James Version

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

New American Standard 1995 Version

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Rev. date: 11/23/2016

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Contents

Foreword

A Love Letter From Jesus

Do You Need A Revival?

Forgive Yourself So You Can Move On!

You Are Not Who You Used To Be!

Do You Start Your Day With A Smile?

Worry Never Solves Anything!

Sometimes You End Up In The Garden (Part 1)

Sometimes You End Up In The Garden (Part 2)

Let God Restore Your Sanity!

It’s Time To Look Forward And Not Backwards!

If God Hasn’t Quit, Why Should You?

Get Up! Get Moving! We Have Work To Do!

Waiting On The Lord To Bless You!

Reasons For Joy In Our Hearts

References

FOREWORD

F RIEND, WE ALL hurt at times. Life can be extremely tough as a Christian. Problems surround us on every turn. Our issues generate from many sources: home life, work, and even within the church to name only a few! Humanly speaking, we do get down. We try to be strong, but we need encouragement and a helping hand from the Lord to cope with the issues we face on a daily basis. This book is just a humble attempt to restore the joy and peace within a Christian whose struggling with many issues in life. Yes, we are our brothers keeper! Thus, we must do are best to encourage each other. Hopefully, this book will lead us to the comfort that comes from God so we are able to comfort others in their afflictions. As always, keep these sweet Words from God as daily encouragement on your heart, " 3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God " (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). May God bless you to find the comfort of the Lord at this great time of need!

Please note, all Scriptures presented in this work are from the King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted. Enjoy!

A LOVE LETTER FROM JESUS

"MY DOVE IN the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely" (Song of Solomon 2:14 New International Version).

P ROBABLY ONE OF the most misunderstood and neglected books of the Bible is called the Song of Solomon. It is the story of love between a king and his wife. It is filled with emotions of longing for each other and missing each other when they are apart from each other! It is a beautiful model of what Christian marriages are supposed to be; even in our times. But most importantly, it is a symbolic story of the LOVE OF CHRIST FOR HIS CHURCH (Ephesians 5:23; Revelation 21:9)! Even more, it is the symbolic story of the church’s mutual love for its husband, Jesus Christ!

Keep in mind that the church is the bride of Christ, because we are told these heart touching words in Revelation 21:9, which read, "And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife." Who is the Lamb? Very simply, the Lamb is Jesus Christ, because this is what John the Baptist called our Lord when He said the famous words of John 1:29, which read, "…Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." As a result, this shows that we, as the church, are in a mutual marriage of love with Jesus Christ, Himself!

So sit back and relax. Enjoy the message that Christ is going to teach you this day. I am sure that each sincere Christian heart will be blessed thoroughly before it concludes.

Our chosen text, Song of Solomon 2:14 again shows us the tremendous love of King Jesus for us and again reads according to the New International Version, "My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely." The King gives us a beautiful image to think about. Notice, the King called His bride a DOVE IN THE MOUNTAINSIDE! The King obviously picked something symbolic of beauty and purity to describe what He thinks of the church.

First of all, in order to see a dove in the mountainside, one must look up to see it. Our King Jesus is showing us that He thinks highly of us in this image. He doesn’t have a negative attitude or opinion about us. Remember what the Scriptures say in Matthew 11:28-29, which read, "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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Jesus’ nature of being meek and lowly is another way of saying that He is GENTLE AND HUMBLE with us! He’s not putting us down to make Himself feel better. Instead, He is CONSTANTLY BUILDING US UP with compliments so that we can hold our heads up!

When the devil attempts to make us worry about tomorrow and how we are going to make ends meet, Jesus says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33). Be encouraged with God’s Words and not discouraged by the devil’s lies!

When the devil attempts to make us feel low as if we are nobody, the Holy Spirit that the Lord sent into the world tells us, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye