When a person reaches the bell curve of their struggle, this is when that person has to dig the deepest within their soul to break through and overcome the unwanted addiction, bad-habit, or toxic codependent relationship that has to be broken. You may even hear someone say at this point, “You have nothing to lose but your chains, so keep fighting.” Thank God the Lord is there to help us conquer the vice the enemy has tried to destroy us with. 1Chron. 14:11 So David and his troops went up to Baal-perazim and defeated the Philistines there. “God did it!” David exclaimed. “He used me to burst through my enemies like a raging flood!” So they named that place Baal-perazim (which means “the Lord who bursts through”).
      How did we get to a place in our life where we were left so vulnerable to the attack of the devil that even an addiction took over our will? In most cases, self-control was no longer being practiced in our everyday choices. Prov. 25:28 A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls. Our walls of defence were breached because we became careless with our words, choices, and attitudes. The Lord has placed a wall of protection around us but we have to maintain the integrity of that wall as we walk with our Lord and live in our salvation. Job 1:10a You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property.
      If you find yourself in a place of utter desperation because of the mess you created within your own life, please be assured there is a way out. If you are at the bottom of an endless grave and the shadows of death are stalking your every move and thought, please know there is a mighty God who can deliver you. You have nothing to lose but the chains that have you bound at this time. Christ is well able to turn your life around and break every chain that has been wrapped around your life squeezing your very essence away. Psalm 107:14 He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom; He snapped their chains.
      The madman of Gadara had nothing to lose but the insanity the devil was destroying him with and the chains the villagers had bound him with. Mark 5:5 Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. It is amazing that this man did not start in with all the false humility like “How can Jesus love a demon-possessed guy like me? Or, how can God ever forgive a super sinner like I am?” and all the rest of that self-righteous rubbish people come up with in the middle of their despair.
      In the full-blown manifestation of blasphemous howling, self-harm, and demon-driven insanity, the possessed man saw Jesus and ran to Him and worshiped. The madman had nothing to lose but what he had become to this point in his life. No matter the mess you are in, Jesus our Lord came to save sinners and that includes you and me. We have nothing to lose but the filth and detritus we have created in our lives. If we hand our lives over to the Lord and let Him exchange our sin-stained souls for His salvation, we will be victorious in Christ. Isa. 61:3 And provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
      There is nothing in this world that will be coming with us when we die. We really have nothing to lose but our souls. Since this is the reality, our life’s efforts should be, to live fully with the gift God has given us through Christ. As we have so often heard from the scriptures, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” This question has to be answered. We have nothing to lose on this side of eternity and so much to gain as we enter eternal life with all that God has for us. What an amazing gift salvation is for those who choose it. Blessings.