Breaking Up Is Hard to Do!

I’m sure you’ve broken up with someone in your lifetime. Maybe you found someone you liked better. Or maybe you learned the person wasn’t who you thought they were. Or maybe they were even talking bad about you behind your back. Or just maybe you discovered your values were at odds with theirs and you weren’t willing to compromise on your values and morals.

On different occasions in my life, I’ve broken up for each of those reasons. When we become Christians, the Bible tells us clearly to leave the old life and ways behind and choose to follow Christ in our relationships, words, actions, thoughts, time, and money. It might even mean breaking off a close relationship because that other person is tempting and luring you to return to wicked ways you’ve already asked God to forgive you for and you don’t want to regress. You want to live a new life in Christ.

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Cor. 5:17 NLT

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Rom. 6:6

Occasionally, God points out that something or someone has become an idol in our life. God warns us to have no other gods or idols before Him. We may need to break up or break away from anything that becomes more important to us than God or change our perspective and outlook on whatever is getting more of our attention than God is.

“You must not have any other god but me. ⁴“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.” Ex. 20:3-4 NLT

Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 1 Cor. 10:14

Breakups are painful. Hard to do. Sometimes freeing. Other times grieving. But often something you know you need to do to honor Jesus and your witness for Him. God may want us to use our breakup as a wakeup call to others. That’s the message I’d like to share in the remainder of this blog.

We’ve all seen the impact consumers can have when the woke agenda attempts to normalize sin and sinful behavior. Before anyone starts calling me names, I proudly identify as a Bible-believing Christian. My identity is in Christ alone. I’m not “homophobic,” I’m sinphobic! I think I coined a new word since spellcheck doesn’t like it. Webster’s Dictionary describes phobic as “having an intolerance or aversion,” and that’s exactly how I feel about sin. Anyone’s sin, including my own. But especially when the media, government, fringe groups, and even some pastors try to tell me I should be “tolerant” of sin, I’m gonna say a resounding, “No Way!”

Jesus was NEVER tolerant of sin. He spent time with sinners with the sole goal and purpose of helping them turn away from their sin and repent, not to celebrate, party, and revel in their sin or impose it on others. Jesus gave His life on the cross to free us from sin, not parade sin in the streets, teach it in schools, or ignore it in churches. He told the woman at the well living in sin with her boyfriend and the woman caught in adultery, “Go and sin no more.” He went to Zacchaeus’ house and even to the Pharisees’ homes to share the truth with them in hopes some would be saved from their sinful, prideful lifestyle.

So that being said, here are a few breakups I’ve experienced with businesses who finance, support, encourage, and promote sin. Maybe you’ll want to break up with them too if you haven’t already. We can make a difference as we saw with what is now termed the “Bud Light” effect when the beer brand decided to make their mascot a lunatic and very sick man impersonating as a woman. Hubby and I don’t drink beer, but we cheered the effective reaction and response from the conservative population who support the way God created us as either a man or a woman and never the two shall exchange bodies!

Here’s Some of My Breakups and the Whys

#1 Breakup with Target-In 2004, the Target retail chain announced a new corporate policy that banned Salvation Army bell ringers and their collection kettles from Target storefronts. Next, they banned employees from saying “Merry Christmas.” Then slyly they stopped having separate areas for little boys’ and girls’ toys and bedding. Their woke agenda continued to get worse with a crescendo this year of placing obscene clothing in the front of their stores and next to the children’s section, even displaying alphabet mafia clothing for babies!!

That’s what happens when you take Christ out of Christmas; it’s a deep dive into hell. Needless, to say we broke up with Target many many years ago and have NEVER missed them!

#2 Breakup with Starbucks—My breakup with Starbucks was brought on by their huge financial support and endorsement of gay marriage. But that was only the beginning. They also support abortion, the alphabet sexual perversion, pronoun reassignment, gender mutilation and castration even of children, and the entire radical liberal agenda.

When we lived in California back in 2008, voters voted in Proposition 8, which “provides that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” It passed 52% to 48%, by a margin of about 600,000 votes. The Protect Marriage campaign supporting Proposition 8 constantly invoked the “far-reaching consequences” of legal gay marriage, particularly the implication that school curriculums would be required to teach that gay marriage is “the same as traditional marriage.”

Pollster David Fleischer, in his analysis of the election results, found that the greatest shift toward “Yes” among undecided voters was “among parents with children under 18 living at home—many of them white Democrats,” who feared the effects of legal gay marriage on their children’s public education. Evangelicals and Republicans formed the core of Proposition 8’s support. Sadly, the people’s will was overturned and gay marriage was legalized.

What these parents feared most has become our reality today. The Biden Administration labels parents who protest the sexual/pornographic indoctrination of their children as domestic terrorists. Many Evangelicals and Republicans today seem defeated and fear speaking out against the cultural demise.

When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, Starbucks announced it would reimburse travel expenses for employees who “need” abortions and cannot get them within 100 miles of their homes. They also provide insurance coverage for mislabeled “gender-affirming care,” which is actually gender annihilation, and cover travel expenses for employees who don’t have access to this horrible atrocity near their homes.

One article said, “Starbuck’s customers and workers tend to be more liberal.”

I’ve been laughed and scoffed at when I compare Starbuck’s logo signs with Asherah poles from the Old Testament. But after my breakup with Starbucks, that’s how I see them. Like an idol, the Starbuck’s logo sign used to magnetically draw me to pay an insane price for a calorie-ridden cup of coffee! Now I see that sign and pray for everyone still deceived into throwing money at a company whose values are the opposite of God’s.

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot about the Lord their God, and they served the images of Baal and the Asherah poles. Judges 3:7 NLT

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. 1 John 5:21

#3 Breakup with Disney—I remember going to Disneyland as a child not long after it opened. I was so excited to take my daughter and then later her children to enjoy the “happiest place on earth!” Tragically, they’ve become the wokest place on earth with their corporate executives caught on video saying their goal is to include as much of the DEI and satanic agenda as possible by rewriting beloved children’s movies to depict gay, trans, morally sick people.

“Diversity” is a word you hear repeatedly along with “inclusive” and yet they now exclude conservatives, Christians, and godly values in all their movies and disgusting remakes of old favorites.

Diverse has become perverse!

#4 Breakup with Kohl’s—I was never much of a Kohl’s shopper, but like Target, they support the alphabet sexual agenda, especially during June.

#5 Breakup with Bed Bath and Beyond—I enjoyed this store because it didn’t matter how old the coupon, they would take it. Then they showed their true liberal loyalty by canceling Mike Lindell’s line of My Pillow because he was questioning the 2020 election. We stopped shopping at BB&B and threw away the coupons.

#6 Breakup with Maybelline— When they had a bearded man as a model for their makeup!

#7 Breakup with Fred Meyer/Kroger—Of all our breakups, this one is by far the hardest. We live in the mountains of Idaho over an hour away from major shopping. So, when we go down the hill to Boise, we appreciate one-stop shopping where we can get most of our needs from food to housewares, pharmacy and clothes. For twelve years, Fred Meyer was that store for us. We took advantage of their digital coupons, savings on gas, first Tuesday of the month and every Tuesday in December savings for seniors, and savings for Veterans on the 3^rd Thursday of the month.

This is an extremely painful breakup for both of us. Here’s why we’re parting ways with our treasured Fred Meyer and all Kroger products, since Kroger merged with Fred Meyer. You may have a Kroger store with a different name than Fred Meyer.

The gay, trans, alphabet “pride parade” and “celebration” of their sinful and perverted way of life not only dominated the month of June in Boise, Idaho’s Capitol, but because of Covid last year, they moved their parade and festival to the second weekend in September. When I got home from our church Women’s Retreat that same weekend, my daughter told me what took place in Boise. First, she sent a picture of the Fred Meyer float with children on it, then the heartbreaking photo that Fred Meyer not only participated in the parade, they also actually put it on!

This year’s parade title was “The 2023 Fred Meyer Pride Parade.” The parade was at 9:30 Sunday morning, I imagine so Christians would be in church and not protesting this debauchery.

Mad and grieving, I dashed off two emails to Fred Meyer corporate. The only response was an automatic form email confirming they had received my “valued customer” comments. I don’t feel like a valued customer. I feel like a betrayed ex-customer!

#9 Breakup with Walmart, Albertsons, and Wells Fargo—We seldom shop at Walmart, but they were a sponsor of the Boise pride parade as was Wells Fargo where we had already closed my ministry account many years ago when they went liberal woke. I don’t shop at Albertsons, but they also had a float in the parade.

What Does a Breakup Accomplish?

When God told Abraham that He was going to destroy his nephew Lot’s town of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their horrible sin, Abraham asked God if He would spare it if there were 10 righteous men. God said He would. But the night before Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed, two male angels came to Lot’s house and a group of despicable men surrounded the house demanding Lot send those men outside so they could have sex with them. Do you remember that? Sexual perverted sin has been going on since the beginning of time, but never in my lifetime was sin celebrated in the streets until now.

The picture opening this blog is not when Obama lit up the White House for the legalization of gay marriage. No, it’s the Boise Capitol during the September Fred Meyer pride event on Friday night September 8^th and Saturday September 9^th. Since it was illegal to have the lights on government property, they solicited donner money to set up lights across the street and shine them on our beautiful Capitol. That should’ve been illegal too!

My blood pressure is rising and tears flowing just writing about this. We must have more than 10 righteous people in Boise because God has allowed us to remain a red conservative state, but how long Lord will You wait for those righteous people to take a stand against this evil? People used to try to hide their sin, but the current culture wants to flaunt their sin and force people to accept and embrace it. Indoctrinate our children.

Gay marriage was only the beginning and would never be enough. When Satan gets a foothold, he never stops.

Why do you boast about your crimes, great warrior? Don’t you realize God’s justice continues forever? All day long you plot destruction. Your tongue cuts like a sharp razor; you’re an expert at telling lies. ³You love evil more than good and lies more than truth. Ps. 52:1-3 NLT

I want you all to remember what the Bible says in Romans 1:24-28 NLT

²⁴Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

²⁶Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

²⁸Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.

You may think I’m being too extreme, but God is watching where we spend our money and what we’re supporting. We can’t tithe on Sunday, proudly give to missionaries, and then throw money at businesses whose values are the opposite of ours because it’s more convenient or we like the products. That goes for our investments too! We must be good stewards of what God gives us. He’s watching. He knows. Do we speak one thing and do another?

As a cohesive likeminded group, we can make a difference. Many of the companies I listed, and others, are either going bankrupt or losing billions of dollars from conservative consumer pushback. When a restaurant in Boise was having drag brunches, I wrote about it and even stood up in church and told the congregation what was happening at this Italian restaurant. That restaurant is now closed.

If you’re thinking these breakups are unloving, 1 Corinthians 13:6 reminds us, “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” When we know the truth, we have no excuse for not living it. God will keep us accountable.

Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Phil. 2:1-2 NLT

Please leave a comment here. I reply to all comments.

September 18, 2023

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When Brave Choices Regarding Our Children are Hard!

When I was writing Everyday Brave: Living Courageously as a Woman of Faith, I chose “Brave Choices” as the chapter to feature Jochebed, the mother of Moses. We know how terrible our culture is for children today, but when Moses was born, Pharaoh was demanding the murder of all newborn baby boys. Parents and children have been the object of satanic attack since the beginning of time.

Today, we have our government calling parents domestic terrorists for trying to protect their children from Marxist propaganda and perverted sexual grooming in schools. In some cases, those parents have been falsely labeled, targeted, canceled, and even lost their job, as one California mother experienced. Even still she says, “It’s been tremendously stressful, absolutely devastating to my family … Hopefully people will be inspired to just be courageous and strong and supportive of each other. And it’ll inspire parents to stand up for their children and come together as a community to not let cancel culture happen to anyone else.”

Marxists are running the American Library Association and pornographic books are considered curriculum in schools. Emergency room visits by children and youth with mental and behavioral health emergencies in the United States have been increasing over the last decade with an increased prevalence of depression and suicide.

Parents and grandparents can relate to Jochebed when they send their kids out the door to school not knowing what harm might come to them physically or mentally. Imagine Jochebed’s angst when she was making her legendary brave choice. As she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, her heart twisted in turmoil: the joy of a new mother competing with fear for his life. Egyptian Pharaoh, observing the Israelites were multiplying too fast for his comfort, had commanded the killing of every Levite baby boy upon delivery.

Fortunately for Jochebed and Moses, the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, feared God more than Pharaoh and made the brave choice to defy Pharoah’s death command; “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” (Ex. 1:16) Selective infanticide even back then.

How the midwives must have feared for their own lives when the dreaded Pharaoh summoned them and angrily demanded to know why they were letting the baby boys live. Without wavering or hesitancy, they calmly answered that the Hebrew women were much stronger than Egyptian women were and they delivered before the midwives arrived. These two women risked their own lives to save lives. Discovery of their secret would surely result in punishment or even death. Instead, God blessed their courage and grit, “So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous.” (Ex. 1:2)

God also caused Pharaoh to believe them so the king decided to take matters into his own hands by sending his soldiers to locate and drown newborn Hebrew males in the Nile River. Jochebed trembled with trepidation hearing the wails and screams of new mothers as soldiers ripped infant boys from their arms and mercilessly drowned the crying babies.

Jochebed and her husband Amram cried out to God to spare their precious son and trusted God to answer. For three months, she nursed and tended to her baby, while trying to muffle his cries and coos and cautioning her two older children, Miriam and Aaron, not to tell anyone about their new baby brother.

When she could no longer hide her baby, Jochebed resolutely wove together a basket to keep him safe from the flowing waters, swaddled him in a blanket, nestled him in the basket, and prayed as she tearfully slipped him into the Nile to float downstream, not knowing his ultimate fate. Would God protect her precious baby? Would the soldiers discover him? A mother’s distraught tears—a heart-wrenching choice.

Living Everyday Brave!

In an article titled, “Living Every Day Brave,” Rachel Linden wrote, “Today I am choosing to be every day brave. What does that mean, you may ask? In essence, every day brave means choosing courage in the face of challenge. Believing that on the other side of fear is something better. It means embracing bravery as a mantra, a habit, a way of life, and embracing it every single day.”

Some choices are easy, but others not so much. While vacillating between options, we’re often weighing the effect of our choice on ourselves or someone else. Sometimes, we have to dig deep to find the courage to make a hard choice . . . a brave choice we may not want to make, especially when it comes to our children.

In Putting the Basket in the Water: Trusting God in the Next Phase of Your Child’s Life, children’s teacher and author Ashlei Woods wrote:

“There comes a time – many times, actually – in the lives of our children where we have to put the basket in the water. We have to let go and trust the plan of the Father. The world is a scary place – a place where we fear our children could drown. But we must remember that we have to let go so that God can draw them from the waters for His great purpose. He has called us to be their parents, but they were His first.

My friend, whatever water you may be getting ready to put your basket into – remember that you have to put them in the water for God to draw them out and place them into His perfect plan. Though you might not be physically present with your child as much during the next phase of life, you can always petition the heart of the Father on their behalf.”

Susan Reinhardt commented on Facebook about Ashlei’s quote above, “I need this message again and again, reminder after reminder. The “water” grows much more tumultuous every day and can be terrifying, especially since I now have grandchildren to pray for as the world’s agenda is to own their souls. Praying, praying, praying!”

Susan has the answer for all of us with children or grandchildren heading off to school this year as the schoolroom turns into a political and spiritual battleground. As I was writing this blog, I came across an Op-ed by Jeannie Cunnion, “I’m a mom who left it all on the field raising my sons and I can’t stop smiling and crying.” The subtitle is “God was our coach and our leader, but now it’s time for my son to move on to college.” As the Lord led me to read this article about a mom sending her firstborn off to college, putting the basket in the water if you will, Cunnion shared why like Moses’ mother she could let the basket go with confidence. Here’s what she said:

“I know this: What I get right and what I get wrong does not determine who my child becomes. Yes, I play a vital role in his life. My words and actions matter greatly. But God’s sovereignty over my son’s life supersedes my significance in his life. What I’ve done is significant. But what God can do is supreme. And His wild grace covers us both!

But more than anything, God was our coach. He’s our leader and He held us together. And for all the things I got wrong, this is one thing I got right – I left it all on the field and I entrusted the outcome of our effort to God. I trusted God with the son He entrusted to me. God knows what my son needs in this next season. He loves my son in ways I can’t comprehend. He has a plan for my son that is better and bigger than what I often felt pressure to orchestrate for him.”

Our Children and Grandchildren Need to be Prepared to Make Brave Choices

God lets us all make our own choices, yes even our children and grandchildren. They have free will, but we as parents and grandparents can make the decision to ask God that they would follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance. S. Hawkins writes in his devotional The Believer’s Code, “An amazing aspect of God’s love for us is the fact that He gives us choices. We are not His puppets . . . . He loves you so much that He allows you to make choices in life. While most of the choices are small, some have the potential to be life-altering.” It’s those life-altering choices that keep us on our knees for our children and grandchildren.

They are His creation, made in His image, but he will not force then to remember that or to make choices according to His will or His commandments. That’s the hardest part in letting go. Some choices could change the trajectory of their life and that’s what scares us, but Janet Denison wrote in an article in Christian Parenting, Push the Basket from the Shore, the following wise advice for every parent and grandparent: “Put the basket in the water—then push!”

“Congratulations to all of you who had to put your babies in a basket for the first time and especially for that last time. Pray that they will row in God’s directions instead of anyone else’s—even yours. Pray that they will serve God and become who he has called them to be. Look forward to watching them achieve their [Jeremiah] 29:11 life.”

“How did Moses’ mom ever place her baby in that basket and shove it in the direction of Pharaoh’s house? It was impossibly difficult, but she wanted her boy to live.

You will bless your kids if you follow her example. And, chances are, they will bless you in return. The baby Moses grew to become the man God used to save the children of Israel from slavery. Weave the baskets, put them in the water, and equip them for their journey. Then give them your blessing as they shove off from the shore. It’s not easy, but it’s the right thing—actually, the ‘God-thing—to do.”

I would add though that we as parents and grandparents must continue the battle to bring God back into our schools and actively do our part in preventing Satan from using public schools to indoctrinate our children. I read a great meme “It’s not about who is right and who is wrong. It’s about what is right!” We should all be fighting for God’s definition of right to prevail against opposition from those who are trying to turn our culture into Sodom and Gomorrah. It didn’t turn out well then and it won’t now either.

Please leave a comment here. I appreciate your thoughts and always reply.

*Portions of this blog were excerpts from Everyday Brave: Living Courageously as a Woman of Faith.

August 21, 2023

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4 Prayers for When You’re Hurting, Mad, or Sad!

It’s hard listening to the lies, corruption, and political injustice coming out of Washington D.C. without feeling angry, betrayed, or maybe even hopeless about the fate of our beautiful country. We’re watching the destruction of moral values and biblical principles our country was founded on and that helped us flourish as the world leader now seemingly being destroyed by our Marxist tyrannical government. It reinforces how important Christian and Conservatives’ votes are because if we didn’t have a majority in Congress all the corruption and lies would’ve never been exposed.

If you’ve seen the movie Sound of Freedom, you know our country has the highest rate in the world of child trafficking with cartels controlling our borders. You feel sick, sad, mad, helpless, and depressed wondering as we all said when we walked out of the theater, “What can we do to stop this?” We beg God to please help these children who our government is turning a blind eye to as they allow illegals and bad people to flood our borders using the “back door” instead of the “front door” into our country.

The President and Democrats show no compassion for children as they try to indoctrinate them into perverse sexual practices in the classroom, codify killing babies in the womb, and ignore child trafficking. I can say with certainty people condoning this evil will never see heaven but will spend eternity in hell. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Luke 18:17

Jesus said, “⁴Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” Matt. 18:4-6

If you’ve read 1^st and 2^nd Kings, which I referred to in last week’s blog, Loving God and America is “Dangerous” in 2023, there was always a bad king, then a good king, then a bad king who undid and overturned all the good of the previous king, which in some cases was his father.

Can a corrupt throne be allied with you—a throne that brings on misery by its decrees? ²¹The wicked band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. ²²But the Lord has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge. ²³He will repay them for their sins and destroy them for their wickedness; the Lord our God will destroy them. Ps. 94:20-23

Sin motivates depravity motivated by power, money, pride, self-indulgence, disregard for others, convenience, acquisition, greed . . . me, myself, and I doing what feels good. Men and women wanting to be their own gods just like we saw in the tower of Babel. Do you feel sometimes like you just want to give up?

Well Habakkuk felt like that too, but I encourage you to read Chapter 2 in the Book of Habakkuk. Here’s the link to The Message translation where God so clearly describes a world like we’re living in today. Habakkuk prayed, “What’s God going to say to my questions? I’m braced for the worst. I’ll climb to the lookout tower and scan the horizon. I’ll wait to see what God says, how he’ll answer my complaint.” (2:1)

Praise God, Habakkuk didn’t give up and as long as the Lord gives us breath, we can’t give up either. We pray and wait as Habakkuk did. For me, I pray for God to use my writings and life for His glory, but you don’t have to be a writer to share God’s truths in our current depraved culture. You can pray and live a righteous life for others to emulate until the Lord returns!

And then God answered: “Write this.
    Write what you see.
Write it out in big block letters
    so that it can be read on the run.
This vision-message is a witness
    pointing to what’s coming.
It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait!
    And it doesn’t lie.
If it seems slow in coming, wait.
    It’s on its way. It will come right on time. (Hab. 2:2-3)

Many of you experience hurts beyond world events, or maybe brought on by current events and our detestable culture. Your own private world might seem under attack. I want to use the rest of this blog to pray for and with you. I hope you’ll feel comfort and inspiration from the Lord as you wait, pray, and listen.

4 Prayers for Difficult Times

In Dear God, They Say It’s Cancer and Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter: Hope, Help & Encouragement for Hurting Parents, I encourage the reader to personalize Scripture as if God wrote it just for them. We can do the same when we pray for someone hurting or for ourselves. We don’t always need to come up with the perfect words because God already has. You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry. (Ps. 10:17)

People don’t need us to fix things. When they’re hurting, they want a shoulder to cry on, an arm around their shoulder, and company in the darkness of their soul. There might be a time later when we can sit down over a cup of coffee and help them work through details of their situation, but for the moment, they just need to feel God’s closeness and comfort in and through us.

Here are 4 prayers to help guide you in praying with people for specific situations, or if you’re in this situation, please personalize and pray for yourself.

Prayer for Those Grieving

Father, we pray for those suffering the loss of a loved one or someone close to their heart or even a beloved animal. The hurt runs so deep and grief so all encompassing, their mourning is palpable. They’re inconsolable: “You have taken away my companions and loved ones. Darkness is my closest friend.” (Ps. 88:18 NLT)

While they celebrate a life that’s hopefully now in Your loving arms, they’re left alone wondering how their life can go on without this precious person. Only You Lord can bring light back into their life and wipe away the tears. “You light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.” (Ps. 18:28 NLT)

You promise someday mourning will turn to dancing and we’ll dance together before Your thrown. Lord, only You can fill the void left in a broken heart. Only You understand the depth of grief and pain. Only You can help the grieving ever smile again. Father, please flood their mind and heart with sweet memories when thoughts wander into hopelessness and the pain seems overwhelming, especially on birthdays and holidays.

Remind the grief-stricken that Psalm 116:15 (NLT) assures, “The Lord cares deeply when his loved ones die.” You, Lord, care deeply when we’re sad. “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle You have recorded each one in your book.” (Ps. 56:8 NLT)

Help those with immeasurable sorrow to hold onto the truth that after a little while, those who know You as Savior will be united again. Until then, hold each one close in Your loving arms. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.” (Ps. 116:15) Amen

Prayer for When Disaster Hits

Heavenly Father, You promise “The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” (Ps. 9:9) You know the trouble that surrounds anyone experiencing a disaster when everything seems bleak. Help them trust that You will show a way out of this dark hole when there seems to be no visible way. Guide the many decisions, show the paths to take in moving forward when they just want to sit down in despair and cry.

You knew hard times would come and You will use this disaster to accomplish Your perfect will in their life. Give them courage not to fear the future with You by their side. Help them remember, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam, let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!” (Ps. 46:1-3 NLT)

Bring those to their side to help by showing Your love in tangible ways that express, “My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows.” (Hosea 11:8 NLT) Amen

Prayer for Health or Mental Illness

Dear Lord, let our hearts hurt and cringe with those who have received a harsh diagnosis or are in the throes of a painful illness. Remove platitudes and trite comments from our mouth and give us an ear to hear and feel their pain. Father, even if we’ve had a similar illness, we can’t fully understand their experience. Give us a kind, caring, and loving presence to let them pour out their heart.

Father, You promise in Joshua 1:5 that You will never leave or forsake us, so we pray Your presence surrounds anyone with an illness whether in the doctor’s office, the hospital, or the sick bed at home. Provide friends or family to hear their cries of pain and soothe their trembling body from fear or symptoms.

We pray Lord for the physicians and medical professionals they encounter in their journey who are a healing balm for this time of sorrow and pain. We thank You in advance for providing the human comfort and the Holy Spirit’s constant soothing for physical, emotional, and spiritual pain. You, Lord, are the Great Healer, the Great Jehovah Rapha. Only You can ease pain. Healing comes from Your power working through doctors, treatments, and medication, but we pray You won’t give anyone more than they can bear.

Provide those who are suffering with constant comfort and peace knowing, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” (Is. 41:10 NLT) Amen

Prayer for Loss of a Job or Provision

Lord, it’s devastating not being able to provide financially for family or loves ones. Fear of the unknown of what to do next to find a new job is overwhelming. Many are in this position today. It’s paralyzing and depressing.

Father, we pray for doors to open. This loss might be a time to pursue new opportunities. Please provide wisdom, direction, courage, and humbleness to reach out for help in the interim and let others be responsive. “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” (1 John 3:17)

You tell us to be aware of those in need, that the body of Christ is benevolent and ready to help our fellow brother and sisters, so please surround those in economic loss with others who have extra to share. “If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord—and he will repay you!” (Pr. 19:17 NLT)

Guide everyone in this situation to seek help. It’s humbling, but You love when we’re humble. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.” (James 4:10 NLT) Provide employment, replace lost possessions, and help families pull together not be pulled apart. “Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.” (Ps. 10:17 NLT)

Please Heal Our Country!

The promises of God are far more powerful than the sins of people. So, Lord, we humbly claim Your promises and pray in unison as Your people that we would do our part to heal our land. ¹⁴If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ¹⁵Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. (2 Chronicles 7:14-15) Amen

We all need prayers, and when we see those prayers answered, God wants us to reach back and help others who are going through something similar. Today, we pray for those who are hurting and someday we hope that others will pray for us. It’s God’s way and plan for His people.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. ⁴He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. (2 Cor. 1:3-4 NLT)

We never know if God is going to heal our hurts and problems here or in our heavenly home, but He does promise for all who believe in Him as their Lord and Savior that . . .

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Rev. 21:3-4

Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters^] Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 1 Peter 3:8 NLT

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. Ps. 34:18 NLT

“But oh! God is in his holy Temple! Quiet everyone—a holy silence. Listen!” Habakkuk 2:20 The Message

Portions of the above prayers appeared in my Crosswalk article 4 Comforting Sympathy Prayers for Those Who Are Hurting, May 13, 2021

Please leave a comment here. I reply to all comments and enjoy reading your thoughts.

August 14, 2023

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Why Would Mainstream Media NOT Want You to See ‘Try That In A Small Town’ Video?

I’m not typically a Country Western Music fan. We mostly listen to Contemporary Christian music, but when I started reading and hearing the liberals having a meltdown over Jason Aldean’s new song “Try That In A Small Town,” I knew I needed to learn more.

Last week in my blog, Why Would Mainstream Media NOT Want You to See Sound of Freedom?, which has received hundreds of hits thanks to you who shared it, I wrote a warning to every Conservative and Christian: “Consider that if mainstream media, liberals, elites, and most Democrats are attacking something, it’s probably something you should be supporting. If they’re supporting something, you need to avoid or boycott it. We are literally in a war of good vs evil.”

The song ‘Try That In a Small Town’ released in May, and no one criticized it until the music video released in July where Aldean is singing while live media footage of the 2020 riots’ destruction and carnage plays in the background. The libs and mainstream media went ballistic over the video. Aldean was showing the media clips they had tried to hide from the public, even while CNN and MSNBC absurdly showed reporters standing in front of burning buildings while claiming, “It was a mostly peaceful protest”!

Why Would Libs, Elites, and Mainstream Media NOT want you to see ‘Try That In A Small Town’ video? Because they don’t want truth revealed that contradicts their lies blaming the “Right-wing” for everything. How many times has Biden and the mainstream media parroted, “White Supremacy is our country’s existential threat”? These videos prove otherwise.

When Aldean posted the song’s video for his 4.1 million followers, he wrote, “When u grow up in a small town, it’s that unspoken rule of ‘we all have each other’s backs and we look out for each other.’ It feels like somewhere along the way, that sense of community and respect has gotten lost. Deep down we are all ready to get back to that. I hope my new music video helps y’all know that u are not alone in feeling that way. Go check it out!”

Kaye Smythe explained the liberal and media’s outrage in a Daily Caller article: Aldean’s new song, “Try That in a Small Town,” is one of the best he’s ever released. It tells the true story of social decline in leftist America, juxtaposed against the God-fearing, patriotic values held by those of us who don’t want to see this place burned to the ground. The video accompanying the song features a series of news clips and videos of violent protests, rising crime, flag burning and other atrocities being experienced in our cities, and suggests the same behavior wouldn’t fly in small-town America (because it won’t).”

Aldean tweeted in response to the media meltdown: “In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous. There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it- and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage -and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far. As so many pointed out, I was present at Route 91-where so many lost their lives- and our community recently suffered another heartbreaking tragedy. NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart.”

Aldean’s tweet continues, “Try That In A Small Town, for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief. Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences. My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from, and I know that a lot of us in this Country don’t agree on how we get back to a sense of normalcy where we go at least a day without a headline that keeps us up at night. But the desire for it to- that’s what this song is about.”

Shortly after the total meltdown by libs, Brittany Aldean shared a selfie of herself and her husband on a beach, smiling, under the caption, “Never apologize for speaking the truth.” Kaye Smythe wrote, “It’s responses like this that make Mrs. Aldean an icon for modern American women, who just want our children to grow up in a safe, thriving world.”

During the 2020 riots, mainstream media cherry-picked the coverage they would show trying to minimize the desecration, destruction, and devastation allowed in liberal Democrat governed cities and states. The mainstream media is doing the same thing today to hide the Biden / DOJ/FBI corruption and the Marxist destruction of our country.

So just like the liberals and mainstream media (MSM) attacked Sound of Freedom, they’re now attacking Aldean’s song with false accusations and ridiculous claims that it’s a “pro-lynching song” because there’s an historic courthouse as a backdrop in the video. Yes, there was a lynching there over 100 years ago, but it has since been used in many movies including “A Nashville Country Christmas” with Tanya Tucker and Miley Cyrus’ 2009 film “Hannah Montana: The Movie” along with other music videos with no concern! They’re grasping at anything and of course using the overused and consequently almost meaningless “racism” name-calling.

Here’s Verse 1 of “Try That In A Small Town.”
Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk
Carjack an old lady at a red light
Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store
Ya think it’s cool, well, act a fool if ya like
Cuss out a cop, spit in his face
Stomp on the flag and light it up
Yeah, ya think you’re tough

[Chorus]
Well, try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
‘Round here, we take care of our own

You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a small town.

When the backlash started, CMT (Country Music Television) caved to the liberal mob and canceled the video, which you can watch here on YouTube. But the same day they canceled it, the song shot to #1 on iTunes and Aldean’s concerts have been full of patriotic fans cheering USA!

Don’t Try That In My Small Town!

When God moved Dave and me from Orange County, California twelve years ago to the rural mountains of Idaho to a tiny, small town, I didn’t completely understand what God was doing. Many of our friends thought we’d lost it. But Dave and I were both in agreement that this was where God wanted us. As I wrote about in last week’s blog, Orange County is now one of the highest markets for sex trafficking, which saddens us greatly. During COVID, our previous Orange County mega-church closed its doors for an entire year. In our small town, we were back in church, restaurants, and at the gym no masks in less than a month.

The small-town life Aldean sings about where we wouldn’t put up with riots, violence, and lawlessness is exactly the life Dave and I are experiencing. I know many of you living in liberal large or even small cities can’t just pick up and move, but you can help spread small-town values with the love of Jesus and country right where you’re at. You can make a big city small by getting to know your neighbors and helping each other during difficult times. You can vote out the liberal politicians that are ruining your towns and support those who are taking a stand for righteousness, morals, and family no matter where you live!

Even in conservative Idaho, we have liberal run cities like Moscow where Christians were arrested and jailed for singing hymns in front of City Hall during Covid. That turned out to be a bad and costly mistake as Todd Starnes explains in his article Liberal Town Forced to Pay Christians Arrested for Maskless Church Service. The liberal college town is paying $300,000 to three Christians who sued city leaders in March 2021 for violating their First and Fourth Amendment rights.

Injustice can happen even in a small liberal town in a red state, but Christians fought back and won! In contrast, liberal New York is paying out 13 million to protesters jailed during George Floyd riots.

In another small town in Idaho, Nampa, police apprehended five suspects into custody. During the search officers found 909g of Cocaine, 2,759 units of Edible Psilocybin Mushrooms, 6,641 units of THC Edibles, 2,473g of Marijuana BHO Wax, 70g of raw Marijuana, and 77.22 pounds of Psilocybin Mushrooms. The edibles were packaged as popular candies and cereal brands with colorful and brand consistent packaging.

“Make no mistake about it, the packaging of these edibles is a very strong indicator this industry is targeting our children” says Police Chief Tracy Basterrechea. “This is why it is so important for parents to have proactive conversations with their kids early about the importance of staying drug free.”

When I posted on FB about the arrest and confiscation of drugs from criminals who should’ve never tried this in that small town, my daughter commented, “Good thing it wasn’t the FBI who found it, they would’ve never solved the case.” She’s referring to the cocaine found in the White House where somehow the FBI and Secret Service couldn’t arrive at even one suspect?! Or some of the large liberal cities like San Francisco and LA where they’re handing out drugs to homeless people! This wouldn’t or shouldn’t happen or be tried in any town.

Many of us are proud Americans who love God, family, country. Those used to be the values we could rely on no matter what sized town you live in, but progressive Marxists are determined to destroy the beauty of freedom in America. We must take a stand against this if we want our children and grandchildren to enjoy the America we once knew. And we’re succeeding little by little.

Conservatives and Christians have had enough of the insane craziness no matter what size town you live in. We’re making our voices heard. Even though it doesn’t seem to be dissuading elites losing money and customers, we’re making a positive difference.

Sound of Freedom is well over $100M at the box office.
“Try That in A Small Town” is #1 on iTunes.
Disney lost over 900M on their last 8 releases and their parks aren’t full anymore.
Bud Light is a beer of the past.
Major brands like Anheuser-Busch, Target and Kohl’s have collectively taken $28 billion in losses following boycotts over their decision to push LGBTQ merchandise, according to Axios.

Many people today are blinded to the truth because they’re only hearing lies. We can give them truth and facts that will hopefully open eyes once blinded and reach ears that haven’t heard. Even though we don’t have large platforms, we’ve got neighbors. Whether you’re in a big town apartment or a small town neighborhood, God is there.

The Psalms that often contrast evil versus righteousness comfort me. I close with a couple of Scriptures here.

Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. ²For like grass, they soon fade away. Like spring flowers, they soon wither.³Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. ⁴Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Ps. 37:1-4 NLT

Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper—it only leads to harm.
⁹For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land. Ps. 37:8-9 NLT Amen!

What’s happening in your town? Please let us know in a comment here. These comments go to my website blog and that is where I always reply. I appreciate you taking time to share your thoughts. Comments also give the blog more coverage. Always feel free to share my blogs.

July 24, 2023

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Don’t Be Silent as Our Country Surrenders to Evil!

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Germany was devastated by the brutality of the Nazi regime. Though there was evidence of the Nazi’s cruelty early on, the German church believed its best course of action was to avoid politics and remain silent.

Unfortunately, that decision had disastrous consequences. Before they knew it, the Nazi’s controlled every facet of society, including the church. Eric Metaxas, author of Bonhoeffer written in 2010 describing the downfall of Germany, now says he could sense remnants of a similar evil tyranny starting in America as he was writing, but never thought he would see the American church traveling the same path as the Germans like it is today.

That’s why he wrote his new book, Letter to the American Church, to wake up pastors and churches to the tragedy awaiting America if we remain silent.

“The Germans said, ‘We’re the country of Martin Luther. We are the center of Protestantism in the world, we’re fine. We’re saved by faith. We don’t have to worry about what we do too much.’ That’s what set them up for the kill. That’s what allowed evil to triumph, and that is exactly where we are in the American church today.” – Eric Metaxas

Awareness brings responsibility but many people today would rather ignore the evil infiltrating not only our country, our schools, our communities, but also our churches! Because if we admit we have a problem, then the Bible calls on us to do something about it.

Ignorance is not bliss. It’s blasphemy against the Word of God that tells us to reject evil and share the Good News wherever and whenever we have the opportunity if we truly believe that even the worst sinner can be saved!

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes. Romans 1:16 NLT

Because . . . Anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.” John 3:36: NLT

Silence is Compliance

We know abortion is murder! Why don’t we hear that in every church?

Have you seen the movie Sound of Freedom? We know America is now the biggest consumer of child trafficking, especially through our open borders. Does it sicken you? Why don’t we hear in the church how to be aware of it and help stop it?

We know the gay, trans, drag agenda is trying to normalize sex with children. Horrific pedophilia! Does that turn your stomach? Why isn’t the church speaking out forcefully against it?

Are we afraid to say what is so obvious that the White House is corrupt? Democrats and liberals support and lobby for everything I just mentioned. If you vote Democrat, you’re endorsing evil.

Our country is in a downward spiral because of the liberal progressive left agenda to oust God and the Judeo-Christian foundation and Constitution of our country. Think about that when you vote in any election. Or if you don’t vote, you’re voting for the other side. Yes, we are now in a situation of political good and evil and it can’t be denied!

Sen. James Lankford, a former pastor for 22 years and Oklahoma’s senior senator, is making religious liberty a pillar of his political agenda and claims the White House is failing to enforce basic protections on the issue and made these remarks in an interview with the Daily Wire. “Faith is not the freedom of worship. You have the freedom to be able to worship as you choose,” said Lankford. “It’s the freedom of religion. It’s the freedom to have a faith and live that faith. And so that’s been dear to me.” The senator went on to assert that President Biden’s administration has abandoned even basic legal protections for religious belief.

Sadly, we’re not only in a political and social battle, we’re in a spiritual battle, and political candidates are choosing their sides between good and evil, with many calling evil good and good evil! Why don’t we hear about this in our churches?

What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. Is. 5:20

I’ll make this one political statement for you to consider. Whether or not you “like” President Trump, he promised to appoint Constitutionalist Supreme Court Judges and he did that times three! We’ve seen Roe v Wade overturned, which many had given up hope. We just saw three judgements denying Biden’s attempt to cancel college debt, honoring religious rights of a Christian web designer, and eliminating race-based affirmative action. The liberals went ballistic over each of those judgments.

Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the embassy there (which many previous Presidents promised but never did), closed the border, and created the best economy in years, just to name a few things! Consider before you vote what the candidates stand for and then vote your faith and your freedom.

Every Church Should Preach: We don’t deny Christ; we denounce Satan!

Paul encouraged the church of believers at Phillip:

²⁷Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. ²⁸Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself. Phil. 27-28 NLT

Righteousness exalts a nation. Sin destroys a nation. We are being destroyed from the inside. You have to wonder if there were 10 righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah if God would’ve saved the city. Do we have enough righteous people, saved by faith, in America to save our country? I pray we do, otherwise we’re on a fast track to destruction. Silent churches and silent Christians are fueling the disaster!

Metaxas describes it as a “spiral of silence.” You don’t hear evil talked about in church so you don’t talk about it. When you don’t talk about it, your friends, family, children, grandchildren don’t talk about it, while evil blatantly floods the airways, entertainment, media, government, America, and the church does nothing, just like in Germany.

Jesus was not afraid of being canceled, unsubscribed, or disliked. He unashamedly called out sin, untruths, and unjust rulers and politicians. Christians must do the same. He didn’t go to the Cross so we could continue sinning. He gave His life to offer a chance at repentance and forgiveness from sin with the opportunity of a new changed righteous life. That’s also our message and witness!

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Cor. 5:17 NLT

Courage Begets Courage! Cowardice Begets Cowards!

Christians are good at being good people, but we’re not always good at connecting our goodness to God. Dutch Sheets reminds us that, “Truth must be shared and when it is, it becomes a weapon.”

Luke 12:12 (NLT) assures that the Holy Spirit will give us a holy boldness:“For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what needs to be said.”

God has equipped each of us to speak truth in all circumstances, and we can do all things through Him who gives us strength and courage.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 1 Cor. 7:12 NKJV

We are people who love God more than evil, so we must commit to God whatever it takes. Whatever He calls us to do, we do it with a “Yes, Lord, use me” mentality whether we’re in church ministry or in our own family ministry. Yes, we should look at our home as a ministry ready and willing to serve Christ. If the next generation is raised in Christian homes, we will see a turnaround in our country.

For me, it’s praying and pouring into our children and grandchildren. Not all of them appreciate it or even acknowledge it, but we can’t let that intimidate or discourage us from doing the right thing, or worse yet, stop us from living overtly for Christ.

I heard a pastor say, “Freedom and blessings don’t begin at the White House, but in our house!” I would add, in our churches.

Each generation is blessed or cursed by the previous generation and what we’re watching now is definitely a curse to those coming after us. Everything evil in our culture is NOT acceptable in the Bible. In fact, the Bible tells us how to combat it. We’re not to be silent, but to speak out and stand up for righteousness.

We have all the promises of God and the future at our fingertips in the Scriptures, but how often are Bibles open and read in our homes? I hope that you would respond often, but if not, why not?

Just because we’re saved doesn’t mean we stop learning from and listening to God. Every day, as I read my Bible and devotionals, I hear Him giving me marching orders for the day or for my writing.

Producing a weekly blog, monthly newsletter, writing for Crosswalk and books takes a large chunk of my time and I’m often asked, “How do you do it?” My response, “Only God!”

Then I’m asked, “Is it worth it?” I heard a great response to that question from a man who helped organize the evacuation of 17,000 people out of Afghanistan after the horrible debacle of America pulling out and leaving not only Americans behind, but Afghani civilians who had worked with our military. When asked if it was worth it, he said, “It doesn’t have to be worth it to do the right thing. You do it because God calls you to do the right things.”

Just this morning, after hearing that answer last night, my devotional started out with 2 Kings 7:9 NKJV, Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent.”

Don’t remain silent. Share and live the Gospel and do not fear speaking out against the evil engulfing our world and our children. It’s our job to raise the next generation to know and love the Lord and protect them from the evil that so easily surrounds them. We can’t pretend that they’re not exposed to it, so we must prepare them to resist it.

Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power. Ps. 145:4 NLT

Let Psalm 34:1-3 describe you! Replace “I” with your name. It will change you.
I will praise the Lord at all times.
    I will constantly speak his praises.
²I will boast only in the Lord;
    let all who are helpless take heart.
³Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness;
    let us exalt his name together.

In her book, Journey to Confidence, Kimberly Sowell suggests we BOW before God and pray, asking Him to make us His witnesses. She suggests using the word BOW as a reminder to plead for: Boldness, Opportunity, and Words of Wisdom. Wisdom is actually my word for 2023!

Kimberly Sowell asks, “Would you be so adventurous as to not only be open to witness for Christ, but to petition Almighty God to grant you witnessing opportunities?”

“When God tells you to do something, you do not hesitate.” – Sound of Freedom

I bow before your holy Temple as I worship. I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness; for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name. Ps. 138:2 NLT

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. Eph. 3:20-21 NLT

PS: The opening picture is depicting the armor of God found in Ephesians 6:10-18. My husband and I pray those verses EVERY morning.

Please leave a comment here. I reply to each one.

July 10, 2023

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Truth is Love! Not Sharing Truth is Hate!

Christians know that God and His Word is our ultimate source of truth, victory, justice, and freedom! When we remain close to Him, we operate out of each of those realms, but when we distance ourselves from God, even as Christians, we falter.

Sadly, we’re living in a country with a culture that is determined to distance actions, accountability, laws, behavior, and morals as far away from God’s Truth as possible causing us all to suffer the consequences, even in the church.

To silence Christians, Satan is using the tactic of calling the speaking of truth hate speech and yet sharing the Truth of the Gospel is the most loving thing anyone can do to help someone experience eternal life and not eternal hell.

Sadly, many pastors today are afraid of the truth and so avoid even talking about the downfall of our culture that is being imposed on congregants as well as innocent children. They’ve forgotten that their role is to speak truth to power and protect their congregation from falling into the trap of accepting sinful lifestyles as normal. Speaking the truth is not hate, it’s love and every pastor’s assignment from God.

¹¹So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹²to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Eph. 4:11-13

I find it interesting and a little disconcerting that some politicians and grassroots activists’ groups are more willing to speak the truth than many pastors.

Kirk Cameron, actor and Christian children’s book author, spoke the truth that what the transgender activists did at the White House is not brave — in contrast to the words of the President, who characterized it as such. “That’s an abomination,” said Cameron, and a “disservice and disrespectful to the brave men and women [who fought] on the beaches of Normandy [June 6, 1944,]” he added, including his own grandfather — who was a Navy corpsman during World War II. “Bravery is a call to courage to do the right thing, not to violate morality and undermine the very foundations of America.”

Following are others who spoke out against the pornographic display of promiscuity and sexual perversion entertained by the President at the White House during a “Pride” event last week where the gay flag was displayed prominently, in breach of the US Flag Code, between two American flags and Biden said that men dressing up as women were the bravest people he’s ever known?! The military, police officers, fire fighters, first responders, and even his own Secret Service aren’t the bravest people he knows. No, in his deceived mind and soul he gives that distinction to depraved men sexually cavorting and flashing on the White House lawn.

“I’m livid and incensed by this White House, not only for the kids present at this event, but the message this sends to children across the country. Biden’s disregard for commonsense and protocol is deeply troubling. This obscenity is never acceptable, let alone at the White House that belongs to the people.” Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.

“This is yet another example of the radical left shoving trans propaganda in the face of the American people. In our schools, at the White House, where does it end? The fact that this happened on White House grounds makes Biden look like the real boob.” Conservative radio host and former California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder

Following is one of my favorite quotes because it states the truth so clearly and lovingly!

“When someone says they’re trans, it usually means something else is badly wrong in their life. Confirming the confusion isn’t compassion, it’s cruelty. Joe Biden is celebrating that cruelty. Let’s abandon the farce that the ‘humane’ thing to do is to affirm their confusion, rather than to actually help. It’s inhumane.” Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, Republican Presidential candidate

After the White House agreed that topless trans activists were “inappropriate and disrespectful” and would not be invited back to the White House, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also asked why anyone would want to have that kind of curriculum “jammed into a second-grader’s classroom?”

Quotes above are from GOP candidates condemn Biden for illicit mishap during White House Pride event: ‘Very revealing’

Here’s What Parents’ Rights Groups are Saying!

“I agree with Gov. DeSantis in his analogy to his parental rights bill,” Sheri Few, president and founder of United States Parents Involved in Education said. “If it is inappropriate for adults, why then is it OK for children? The same can be said for the pornographic and vulgar books in government schools that are being objected to by parents across the country. I believe Pride celebrations, with their lascivious and drunken displays, are a true reflection of the mental health issues that accompany this often promiscuous lifestyle. Attempting to make ‘LGBTQ Pride’ palatable for children is merely another way to indoctrinate children with the Leftist agenda.”

Parents’ Rights In Education Executive Director Suzanne Gallagher said, “Public display of nudity at the national capital, and elsewhere by extreme far left LGBTQAI+ activists is an extension of their larger agenda. It is the goal of the far left to change the culture, by removing all sexual moral stigma. They are doing so by using public schools and mandating K-12 comprehensive – every child, every grade, every subject – sexuality education.”

“The nationwide response we are receiving regarding this trend, promoting and demanding acceptance of all sexual behaviors at any age with anyone, is negative,” Gallagher added. “Most people want higher, not lower, moral standards for themselves and their kids.”

“Parents and allies are tired of seeing and hearing it everywhere, every day,” she added. “Students are done with it in their schools, too. Polls show the net effect is less, rather than more, respect for those demanding it.”

CEO of American Family Association Action, Walker Wildmon said, “Our nation was built on a respect for biblical morality and decency with immoral behavior discouraged and even outlawed in many cases. It is sad that what was once deemed indecent behavior that brought about shame is now being flaunted by the president and other leaders in our government. Our nation must return to a biblical ethic of family where we promote that which is truly good and acceptable.”

Amen!

Quotes above are from Parents’ rights groups slam WH over topless trans activists at Pride event: ‘I agree with Gov. DeSantis’ The White House acknowledged topless transgender activists at the Pride event were ‘inappropriate’

What Are You Hearing in Your Churches?

Did you hear any of the above condemnations of the “Pride” or left agenda from the pulpit on Sunday? I hope so because weak pulpits create weak Christians who allow and maybe even justify elicit behavior from our White House to our classrooms. I’m here to tell you that is NOT what God wants or Jesus would tolerate. That is NOT love!

I know your grief when family or friends are influenced by this, or any, evil agenda. But just because they’re our loved ones doesn’t make their sinful confused choices or skewed definition of truth or love acceptable or any less sinful.

Love doesn’t affirm lies or deprecate truth.

Love doesn’t compromise the truth because sin destroys. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. 1 Peter 3:15 NLT

Love corrects. For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights. Pr. 3:12 NLT

Maybe you’ve heard the argument, like I did, of using Matthew 19:12 to justify gay or trans lifestyles. “For there are eunuchs who were born that way,” insinuating I guess that some are born as gay or trans. But eunuch here refers to being born impotent, not sexual preference.

It’s important to look at the rest of the verse as we can never take Scripture out of context, “and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others . . .” Sadly, that’s the evil happening today with children being castrated either with drugs or surgery.

Eunuchs were often male servants castrated in biblical times by those in power over them, so the men couldn’t have sex with the women in their household or royal entourage. It didn’t mean it was a good or justified mutilation just because it’s in the Bible. The Bible exposes many evil practices.

The remainder of the verse continues, “and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.” That meant those choosing to live in celibacy, maybe like Catholic priests and nuns today, or even those who are tempted to be gay but stay celibate and don’t give in to their sinful lustful temptations.

Interestingly, Jesus’s timing right after Matthew 19:12 are the following verses titled “The Little Children and Jesus.” ¹³Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there. Matt. 19:13-15

Here’s my point: Just because someone we love is living a sinful lifestyle doesn’t make it right. Believe me, I understand because I’ve been there. My daughter and I wrote about this in Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter; Hope, Help & Encouragement for Hurting Parents. Because we love our child, relative, or friend, we pray their eyes will open to the truth and they’ll no longer be blinded by Satan’s lies. Gay or trans was not the issue I prayed daily from Scripture for my daughter, although there are stories in the book of other mother’s praying against that sinful lifestyle.

I loved my daughter enough to NOT want her spending eternity in hell but instead to be in heaven with me someday. I wanted her to know Jesus personally and how He wanted her to live. So, I loved her unconditionally, but never condoned her living with her boyfriend. Today, that would seem like a minor sin, but as we know, there’s no minor sins. Even though living together unmarried has become normalized by culture, and even some churches, it’s still a sin in God’s eyes.

We’ve watched how far culture has fallen as to what’s ‘acceptable.’ Now we’re all exposed to a federally imposed month dedicated to celebrating perverted sexual sin from the streets, schools, and the Peoples’ House, the White House. Children are literally taught about sexual perversion as early as kindergarten!!

I said last week in Why The Serpent Is Still Going After Women, that Satan knows NO boundaries. God is giving us a glimpse of what the tribulation will look like after the rapture. He continues to provide more time for the church and Christians to care and love enough to share the Truth with everyone we know who has not committed their entire life to Jesus or is living in willful sin. Because as bad as it is now, it will be like this on steroids during the tribulation and who would want a loved one living through that hell on earth?!

Who do you love enough to share the Truth with today? Don’t wait for your pastor to give you the marching orders, Jesus already has. Remember: Truth is Love; Not Sharing the Truth is Hate.

²²And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. ²³Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives. Jude 22-23 NLT

³¹Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. ³²And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 NLT

But Romans 1:18-32 plainly states the fate of those who will encounter God’s wrath if they continue living a perverted sexual or sinful lifestyle. “²⁴So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. ²⁵They traded the truth about God for a lie.”

Do you love someone enough to pray daily for them to avoid this fate? I hope so. I’m so glad I never stopped praying for my daughter, and she’s glad too!

PS: After I had already written this blog, a friend sent me the link to a sermon by Pastor Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel, Leesburg, VA, titled “A Biblical Response to the ‘Transing of America–Romans 1:18-28.” Pastor Hamrick boldly, bravely, and lovingly says so much of what I wrote above and in previous blogs. This is a pastor not afraid to share the truth with his flock! I hope you’ll listen to Pastor Hamrick, who tells a very interesting and revealing story of a trans man visiting his church.

“It is not loving to affirm a lie.” Pastor Gary Hamrick

If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment on the website here. I reply to all comments. While scrolling Facebook, I saw this meme that summarizes everything I just said in this blog pretty well.

June 19, 2023

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Why The Serpent is Still Going After Women!

Have you wondered, like I have, why after all the years of fighting and voting for women’s rights and equal treatment with men that suddenly and slyly those rights are disappearing?

I’m not talking about the false claim that women have a right to kill their unborn babies because as you’ll see in this article, calling that a “right” is straight from Satan and not the Constitution.

No, I’m talking about things like a Supreme Court Justice who can’t even define a woman and she herself is a woman! A college student receiving an F from a female professor because she used the “unacceptable” term “biological woman” in her article. The former Democrat Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, trying to force rules to prohibit in Congress the use of terms like mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, woman, female, even though she herself is all of those. Oh, yes that brings up trying to eliminate pronouns signifying ‘she’ or ‘her.’

Matt Walsh traveling all over the United States asking “What is a Woman?” and only receiving an answer in a remote village in Nairobe and from his own wife. If you haven’t seen this excellent documentary, I highly recommend it and Elon Musk has made it free on Twitter. You should be able to access it on the link I provided above or at this one.

Democrat and progressive liberal legislatures and school boards voting to allow men to participate in women’s sports, use women’s locker rooms and bathrooms even in schools.

Men wanting to pretend they’re women by dressing in women’s clothes claiming they are now a woman just because they “identify” as one, even though they are biological males with all their male parts. But as one crazy professor told Walsh and many who are deceived believe, “Sex is how you’re born; gender is how you identify!” Wrong!!

I could go on, but you’ve seen the trend yourselves. Why the sudden war on women while encouraging men to become more feminine and using terms like male toxicity if a man acts like a man?

The blatant attempt from the political left to blur the lines between male and female, even with the propaganda that children or anyone can change their gender, is rampant in medicine, politics, government, education, and sadly even invading the church!

Would it surprise you to know that none of this is new? It all actually started back in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, with the first humans God created, Adam and Eve, and will probably continue to escalate until the book of Revelations is fulfilled with the rapture of the church and the tribulation of those left behind.

You’ve heard me and others say repeatedly that this is all satanic. Satan is behind every effort to eliminate genders and thus the human race!

It All Began in Genesis 3!

Sin entered the world in Genesis 3 where God clearly says what the ongoing repercussions of rebellion will be for the woman Eve, the man Adam, and the serpent the Devil.

We know that Satan first approached the woman Eve with the same question he asks many today about whether God really said you should follow His Words and His ways.

“The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” (3:1)

At first, the woman stood by her beliefs and faith in what God told them, but the serpent planted doubt in her mind.

²“Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. ³“It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”

⁴“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. ⁵“God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

Satan challenged Eve with a lie that she wouldn’t die and she fell for the temptation to achieve the same power as God. But what Eve overlooked was that the serpent introduced a word she hadn’t even heard of before “evil.” It seemed like a benign concept to her. What’s so bad about evil anyway?

⁶The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. ⁷At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

When Eve gave into the temptation to have equal power with God and ate the fruit of the tree and shared some with Adam, both immediately felt something new to them, shame. They had disobeyed God and experienced the remorse of sinning.

The verses go on explaining how God met them in the cool of the night and spoke to them. Not only did they experience evil, shame, and sin, they now experienced fear and thought they could hide their sin from God. But God sought them out asking “Where are you?” (v. 9)

Adam replied why they were hiding. “I was afraid because I was naked.” (v. 10)

God asked them if they’d eaten from the forbidden tree and Adam blamed it on Eve. So God addressed Eve directly, “What have you done?” (v. 13)

Then Eve realized another previously unknown evil, deception!

“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.” (v. 13)

The Lord pronounced the punishment for the serpent Satan, the woman Eve, and her husband Adam that would last through all generations until He provided a cure for repentance from sin through Jesus Christ.

¹⁴Then the Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live.¹⁵And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike^[^b^] your head, and you will strike his heel.”

¹⁶Then he said to the woman,

“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.^[^c^]”

¹⁷And to the man he said,

“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.

I want to focus on verse 15 as we watch the current satanic attack on women.

¹⁵And I will cause hostility between you the [serpent] and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike^[^b^] your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Satan had taken the form of a serpent to deceive the woman, Eve. In Revelation 12:9, he’s a dragon. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

The website Got Questions explains what has transpired ever since between Satan and women. As part of the curse, enmity—mutual hatred and ill will—will exist between the woman and the serpent. Later, the same enmity will continue between the serpent’s seed and the woman’s seed or offspring—mankind as Eve is the “mother of all living,” Genesis 3:20. Woman’s offspring will remain enemies with Satan throughout all generations. The serpent’s offspring are demonic forces and also those people who follow the devil and accomplish his will.

Jesus called the Pharisees a “brood of vipers” in Matthew 12:34 and said they belonged to their “father, the devil” in John 8:44. In short, God says that Satan will always be the enemy of mankind. It follows that people who side with Satan will be at perpetual war with God’s elect and that we are engaged in a very real battle between good and evil (Ephesians 6:12).

We also see Messianic Prophecies in Genesis 3:15 “you will strike his heel.” That is, the serpent will bite the heel of “the woman’s seed.” This passage points to the promise of Jesus’ birth, His redemption, and His victory over Satan. The woman’s offspring is Jesus, literally the offspring of a human woman. Being the Son of Man, Jesus is the perfect representative of humankind. The devil’s offspring were the evil men and demonic forces who like a snake, lay in wait for the Savior and struck at Him. Their venomous conspiracy condemned Jesus to be crucified.

But we know the serpent’s strike was not the end of mankind—offspring of the woman—because Jesus rose on the third day overcoming death and offering permanent victory for those who believe in Him.

The striking of the Messiah’s heel was a picture of the wounding and death of Jesus on the cross. Satan bruised Jesus’ “heel,” but Jesus showed complete dominance over Satan by bruising his “head.”

Satan Has Not Conceded Defeat

Satan through his demons has never given up the fight with the woman to try and prevent her from producing more generations, especially those who would follow Christ. Here are some of the ways he continues to deceive women and accomplish his goal of preventing proliferation of humans and counter God’s command to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it.

Abortion—Satan deceives women the same way he did Eve with fear, doubt, and lies that she has power over her own body and she’s not really carrying a human baby, God’s creation, in her womb. Did God really say abortion isn’t okay to kill my baby? Every abortion chocks up another success for Satan to stop mankind from reproducing.
Gay agenda and gay marriage—two people of the same gender cannot sexually reproduce.
Gender Confusion—women trying to become men and vice versa may surgically destroy their reproductive capability by chemical or surgical castration, puberty blockers, opposite sex hormones, or gynecological surgery. Sterilizing children and adults.
Trans—Men pretending they’re women, mocking womanhood by being culturally accepted for “identifying” as a woman and competing in areas which should remain exclusive to women, i.e. sports, bathrooms, locker and dressing rooms, women’s contests, and not sexually performing as a man to reproduce.
Confusing children about their gender or lying to them that they can change their gender and convincing schools and teachers to promote these lies has now turned schools into Satan’s playground.

God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful. Gay’s often say it will be the end of the world if their way of life isn’t tolerated, but indeed, it will be the actual end because two males or two women cannot reproduce. My grandson understood that biological truth when he was only nine.

Anyone who doesn’t understand that this is all satanic does not know the Bible and has given into the same lie that Satan uses over and over “Did God really say . . .?” Even Satan knows and misuses the Bible when he convinces pastors and Christians to just love everyone now living in their sin and not make any attempt to share the Gospel truth with them. Those are cowardly churches and cowardly Christians.

No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 1 John 3:6

Satan has succeeded at convincing culture to just let everyone live however they want and anyone who objects to evil being forced on us is called names and may be punished by losing jobs, arrested, shunned, ostracized, . . . Satan’s most effective tools against truth are deception, fear, self-preservation, and apathy.

As I wrote last week, Why Did It Take Beer to Motivate Conservatives and Christians to Boycott Woke? it’s encouraging to watch people finally pushing back because Satan knows no limits or boundaries. He’s coming for our children because they would be the next generation women produce and he’s not waiting until they’re of age to go after them. He’s got his target on them from birth. Satan temporarily lost some power over killing babies in the womb, so he’ll go for them as soon as they can walk and talk, or even as infants if you saw some of the ‘pride” products at Target.

What I don’t understand is why more parents aren’t waking up to Satan’s evil strategy, especially moms?! Who would take their children to drag shows or library readings, gay “pride” parades or events? It’s so obviously focused on perverted sex. I asked the question recently on social media, “Would you take your child to a strip club?” Yet, just this past week there was a gay “pride” show advertised as family friendly where one of the “performers” stripped and you could hear the audience gasping and laughing. Were there children in that audience? If so, Satan is cheering the loudest of all!

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” Matt. 7:13-14 NLT

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June 12, 2023

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Why Did It Take Beer to Motivate Conservatives and Christians to Boycott Woke?

By now, you probably know what I mean by the “Bud Light” fiasco that infuriated beer consumers to boycott Anheuser Bush. Bud Light actually thought they would attract more consumers by being “inclusive” to the woke agenda and put a picture on their beer cans of Dylan Mulvaney, a male who dresses and acts like a little girl. They were actually shocked when it backfired. They expected Bud Light beer drinkers, who typically were masculine middle class working men, to join woke craziness and embrace this insane lunacy!!

They probably thought why not? President Biden actually invited Mulvaney to the White House and had a conversation with this ridiculous woman imposter. That just illuminates the deception and sickness in the White House.

Instead, Bud Light discovered it was the tipping point for conservatives to rise up and say enough!!! You’ve gone too far when you mess with our beer. Anheuser Bush continues to lose billions of dollars as no one would be caught drinking a Bud Light or even some of their other beers, hopefully ever again.

Anheuser Bush was blinded by wokeness. Wanting a high diversity EPI score and “Corporate Equity Index” established by the woke movement, was more important to them than understanding their consumer base who previously had been fairly quiet about the alphabet trans cult ideology. But when they went after their beer, suddenly consumers woke up and came alive with outrage and pushback.

Maybelline and Tampax have used Mulvaney in their advertising and Nike had Mulvaney promoting its line of women’s sportswear earlier in April. Mulvaney can be seen working out with the brand’s leggings and a sports bra, along with hashtags “#teamnike” and “#nikepartner” on TikTok and Instagram.

Even though the news is saturated with stories of Bud Light’s financial blood bath, it wasn’t long before North Face featured their second annual ‘Summer of Pride” with a drag man out in a field looking goulash with wild makeup wearing women’s clothing telling everyone to “come out.” He wasn’t even wearing North Face clothing, just pushing the evil cult movement to sell hiking clothes!!

Adidas drew similar controversy with photos of women’s swimwear modeled by men as part of the company’s “pride” collection and Calvin Klein had a bearded man in a bra.

Typically, and I would add unfortunately, everyone expects Christians not to speak up, but we’re finally proving that we have a voice and we’re using it as we watch 2 Timothy 3:1-5 living out in our daily culture.
You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. ²For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. ³They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. ⁴They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. ⁵They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! (NLT)

The Los Angeles Dodgers came under fire from Catholics and Christians after it planned a “pride” night where the California State Legislature will honor the drag queen group The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an evil cult that raises money for LGBTQ causes and performs in drag dressed as nuns while blaspheming and desecrating the Cross and Jesus. The pushback was so loud and strong, the Dodgers uninvited the Sisters to the outrage of the Dodgers’ other LGBTQ partner groups, so they re-invited this satanic group back with an apology to them! BTW the president of this satanic group in New York is the “nonbinary” the White House hired as a senior Department of Energy official who got caught stealing women’s luggage at airports!

Trying to appease their fans, the Dodgers said they’ll plan a Christian night in July. Like you can bargain with the Devil versus Jesus?! Play both sides? How blind and yes stupid can they be? You cannot serve two masters. You must choose either Satan or Jesus. There’s no in-between. The Dodgers are erroring on the side of satanic evil and I hope the stadium is empty!

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Gal. 6:7 NLT

Then Target sparked outrage from conservatives and Christians for selling trans-inclusive “tuck-friendly women’s swimwear” and “pride” products designed by a satanist, leading the retailer to pull some items from its Pride collection or put them in the back of the store. A decision that angered LGBTQ supporters. Again, you cannot please both Satan and God!

Target has had June Pride Month displays with rainbow and LGBTQ+ messaging for years, but the addition of female-style swimsuits that can be used to “tuck” male genitalia was too much for their shoppers. It’s completely out of touch and offensive to women who once again are being mocked openly so Target can get a perfect score on the woke Corporate Equality Index (CEI).

Jason Whitlock says, “It’s a realization that all Christians must accept. The global economic agenda promoted by the World Economic Forum is the enemy of all Christ-centered religious faith. ‘Corporate Equality Index,’ [is] the business credit score that helps determine how much funding they’ll receive from the central banking system. The CEI is designed to enforce LGBTQIA+ inclusion in the workplace. Corporations are financially incentivized to celebrate and promote the Alphabet Mafia agenda.” A globalist at the World Economic Forum actually said, “We must force compliance.”

Carlos Saavedra, vice president of brand marketing at Target, is also a treasurer at GLSEN. GLSEN focuses on getting districts to adopt policies that will keep parents in the dark on their child’s in-school gender transition, providing sexually explicit books to schools for free, and integrating gender ideology at all levels of curriculum in public schools. GLSEN leads the movement in creating and affirming anti-racist spaces for LGBTQIA+ students. “We are proud of 10+ years of collaboration with GLSEN and continue to support their mission,” Target said. They provide annual donations to GLSEN, of at least $2.1 million. The following GLESEN propaganda sign is placed as you can see in the picture below in the children’s section at Target along with many “Pride” items designed for children labeled as “Thoughtfully fit on multiple body types and gender expressions.”

Podcaster Benny Johnson posted a disturbing 9-minute Twitter video showing gay “pride” clothing and accessories geared toward kids prominently displayed at a Target in Tampa, Florida. You can see his video showing the satanic items for children at this link.

What more evidence do you need that Target is in partnership with the Devil??!!

Even after watching the outrage over Target and Bud Light, Kohl’s became another major retailer to sell LGBTQ clothing for infants and young kids. Various social media accounts posted a plethora of Pride Month merchandise, including a “Baby Sonoma Community Pride Bodysuit set” designed for 3-month, 6-month and 9-month-old kids. The outfit depicts what appears to be a lesbian couple with a dog and three children, including a young boy in a wheelchair. One of the adults in the drawing carries a progressive pride flag. Other merchandise includes a “Love Is Love” banner, towels, bibs, candles, shorts, and pillows. Several other clothing items can also be found, including shirts that say, “Be Proud” and “Ask Me My Pronouns.”

And if you thought you could bypass all of this sick, and yes evil, marketing by shopping at Walmart, The Western Journal reports that The Walmart website shows clothing for babies, toddlers, and young children with slogans including “Choose Equality,” one shirt reading “Some People Are Gay Get Over It,” and various rainbow-emblazoned gear. Walmart isn’t just placating the radical left with a few stray products on its website, either, as they also have displays in their stores. The corporation has also spent millions in donations to gay groups that target children. From its LGBT policies for workers and local communities, to its support of drag shows and so-called “equality,” the company has been working for the gay movement for years. The Heritage Foundation found that Walmart has paid for drag shows and gay storytime events in local communities, hosted gay pride parades for kids, and pushed LGBT policies on schools.

Even beloved Chick-Fil-A has a VP of Diversity and has written DEI guidelines into their employee handbook!

Will We Take a Permanent Stand Against the Enemy or Cave?

As Christians, we know wokeness is overtly satanic and evil because God would never sanction it. Christians have tried to let the lost live their perverted lives and not get involved with more than praying for them. But when they begin to force us to not only accept their beliefs but live immersed in those beliefs, it’s past time to take a public stand for our beliefs in the Gospel, Jesus, and Christian values.

Conservatives and Christians are finally, speaking out against the onslaught of satanic woke merchandise and advertising, but I go back to my original question of why did it take desecration of a beer can to get everyone’s attention?

However, Senator Ted Cruz wonders if all this pushback by consumers will last after the alphabet trans drag queen “pride” month passes. Honestly, I wonder the same thing? Ten years ago, when Target partnered with GLSEN to introduce perverted school curriculum and keep it from parents, Target also started a war on Christmas. Anyone remember them kicking out the Salvation Army from the front of their stores? I do. That’s the moment we stopped shopping at Target. Many were outraged then too…but many went back or kept shopping at Target.

Target has a history of being at the forefront of woke identity politics. They sparked a boycott in 2016 after posting a public statement declaring that “transgender team members and guests” are permitted “to use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender identity.” They refused to stop even at consumer’s outrage and cases of men taking pictures of women in dressing rooms and Dad’s fighting with men who wanted to go into Target’s bathrooms while their daughters were using the restroom. Many were outraged then too . . . but many kept going, or went back to, shopping at Target.

Even now, when I remind people of Target’s past wokeness, I hear, “Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.”

Now Target has gone full blown woke targeting your kids with a satanic agenda and I’m sure many are outraged and will stop going to Target for a while . . . But Target is betting that yes, they’ll lose some initial sales, but like an addiction . . . many shoppers will return when the outrage dies down.

How many of you remember liberal left-leaning Starbucks was a big financial supporter of gay marriage? I do. Right then, we stopped going to Starbucks just like we stopped shopping at Target. Nothing could draw us back, not sales, gift cards, not even for free . . . . These stores can become like an idol or a drug that people can’t give up no matter how satanic they become. Did God really say you shouldn’t shop there? Satan asked Eve a similar question.

I heard a commentator say how surprised he was that Christians are pushing back now because in his words, “even Christians have accepted gay marriage.” Really? How could Christians, any Christian, accept something that is the opposite of God’s plan for only a man and a woman to be united in marriage? But because we let the argument die after it became law, the perception is that we agree with it. Same with abortion. Even when Roe v Wade was turned over by the Supreme Court, many Christians were silent? Was that because they had actually started to accept abortion, the killing of babies, as an acceptable practice?

Not speaking against evil, is evil itself! To be passive in the face of evil is to be evil!

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? ¹⁴But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats^[^a^]; do not be frightened.”^[^b^] ¹⁵But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. ¹⁷For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. Luke 17:28-30

God says support what He supports. Be wise. Don’t spend your hard-earned money foolishly and by all means don’t spend it to further Satan’s evil agenda!

If you haven’t read my May AHW Ministries newsletter, please check out the opening article discussing the similarity of Lot offering his two daughters in Genesis 19 to the homosexuals wanting to have sex with the visiting angels to today’s children being sacrificed to the evil woke agenda.

The angels pulled Lot back inside the house and I’m sure admonished him for wanting to throw his own precious children into the hands of those evil homosexual men, but isn’t that exactly what’s happening today to our precious innocent children?! They’re being thrown to the alphabet trans cult who want to ravage and groom them sexually and immorally.

Remember, Satan and evil knows no boundaries. Satan will go just as far as the church, citizens, and the government let him. Look at those justifying taking kids to sexually perverted pedophile drag shows and library readings, teaching them sexual perversion in schools, lying to them that they can change their genders and encouraging them to not tell their parents. Stores selling satanic clothing for as young as onesies for infants.

Satan wants our kids, he wants our families, and the left wants our country for the Marxists. That’s not a conspiracy theory. Indoctrinating kids and destroying the family is straight from the Marxist handbook. And when kids are confused about their sexuality, neutered at young ages, they can’t reproduce and that’s exactly what Satan wants.

These trans and drag men actually are excited sexually dressing in women’s clothing and many are pedophiles which is why you see drag stories for kids at libraries and children’s events. They’re not doing them for adults. It’s all evil! Evil! Evil!

It’s sad that it took beer to wake up conservatives and Christians with a Bud Light awakening, but our God moves in mysterious ways. Even though Board of Directors in woke companies have seen what happened to Budweiser and Target, everyday a new company feels like they must fall in line with a small group of woke activists with evil intent. Have you ever watched clips of their “pride” parades, which will soon be coming this month and their obvious intent of sexualizing our children? Yet, corporate America is being hijacked to think they have to appease them to get their equity scoring? Straight from the pit of hell.

But enough is never enough. Every year the alphabet mafia pushes these companies to go more woke, more evil, even though they’re going broke and alienating the majority of their customers and stockholders are losing on their investments. For example, I used to love Bed Bath and Beyond, but they went woke liberal and canceled My Pillow when Mike Lindell supported Trump and tried to rectify a stolen election. I stopped shopping there and many others must’ve also because now they’ve gone bankrupt and are closing all their stores.

Target claimed they moved the pornographic and “pride” products to the back of the store to protect their salespeople from us. Have you heard of one “violent” incident by Christians in Target? But that’s how they’re trying to reframe the response. Target and Kohl’s might think they’re too big to fail, but the further they go woke, I predict if Conservatives and Christians stay strong in their convictions, they will go woke broke.

I’ve heard it said and I believe, “The local church is the only hope for the world! The only way to take back our country is if the church gets loud and doesn’t stop voicing our outrage. Otherwise, an evil culture will dictate the future of the next generation.”

I hope you’re getting loud for what you believe and speaking out against the enemy. Please remember there is nothing prideful about remaining in and flaunting sin. Romans 1:18-32 tells us God will give these deceived people up to their own fate and incur His wrath which is tragic, but we His people certainly shouldn’t be financing their demise. Pray and evangelize with sincere godly love for the lost, but don’t throw money at them.

I heard Shelia Walsh say “Our nation is dying for the lack of people who look like they’re living. We need holy boldness.” It begins with you and me showing that we’re living for Christ, and we won’t bend to evil pressures! Peacefully protesting by where we shop and not tolerating or caving into the woke agenda is a start, but consistently being a witness of and for the Lord Jesus Christ is our primary purpose as Christians and will be the most effective.

The opening picture came from a Facebook Page “I’m So Blessed Daily June 19, 2022, and here’s what Sierra Conrad wrote below it.

“I am not shielding my children from accepting others. I am shielding my children from accepting this world’s standards of truth. I am shielding them from being indoctrinated by the world. I am raising my children to love everyone, while also raising them to love their God enough to stand for Him. My children will understand the symbolism of a rainbow as God’s Word defines it, not as our world falsely represents it. I am raising my children to see the beauty of Our Savior’s covenant. I am raising my kids to know that their identity is defined by God, NOT BY THIS WORLD.”

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. ¹⁷For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17

Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall. Pr. 16:18 NLT

In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. Ps. 10:4

In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul exhorted the believers to live their lives as a sacrifice to God and he challenged them not to conform to the anti-Christians culture of their day. A good word for us today!

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:1-2

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? ¹⁴But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats^[^a^]; do not be frightened.”^[^b^] ¹⁵But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. ¹⁷For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 1 Peter 3:13-17

If you received this article by email, please leave a comment here on my website. I always reply

PS Sorry this is so long. God and I have so much to say about the evil invading our culture especially aimed toward our children, and I hope we motivate you to speak out too!! Also, if my blogs are small on your phone screen, turn your phone sideways and the print will be larger.

June 5, 2023

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Looking For the Blessings in the Middle of Crisis

First, if you missed my blog last week, we were setting up a new computer my loving husband surprised me with, but the changeover didn’t go smoothly or easily. I did make the pronouncement at one point that this would be my last new computer EVER in my lifetime! What an ominous task.

Well, I didn’t actually perform the transition from the old computer to the new one. I just answered questions, agonized, and provided water bottles as two dear friends from church, Cathy and Scott, devoted many late and long hours to helping us go from a 12-year-old desktop with Windows 10 to a new desktop with Windows 11 and recapture everything on my very old computer, which included all my 20 books and reams of files and pictures.

It was complicated and stressful! I have to admit, I had a few meltdowns.

Now, I’m in the learning curve of writing on a system that at the moment is completely foreign to me. I’m not a techie; I’m just a writer. I realized how as an author I actually had a relationship with my old computer. I knew how it worked with all its quirks and yes freezing on me continually. But as I held my breath in anticipation, it always came around to eventually unfreezing and started responding to my mouse and keyboard clicks and off we would go writing together . . . until the next freeze. We worked well in tandem for twelve years.

Everything about this new computer is unfamiliar and I’m learning different routines while trying to locate where things are that I used to previously know instinctively. Instead of being my companion and friend that I breathlessly and prayerfully waited each day for the black screen to pop up with my familiar opening page, this new computer almost seemed like my enemy for a while. But through it all, I had two amazing and gifted friends who kept reassuring me that I would once again be able to find all my old files and pictures and continue writing new material.

Today, on this gorgeous Saturday before Mother’s Day, I’m giving it my first attempt. I’m distracted easily, so when I write I need to stay focused and not wonder what tab or icon to open or will I lose everything I just wrote. It’s been difficult staying quiet with everything happening in our culture that I wanted to write about, but God had me in a holding pattern where I was forced to wait on Him and the expertise of those who understood the intricacy of making such a momentous change in operating systems.

I’m sure any of you, especially writers, who’ve been in my situation understand exactly what I’m talking about and what I’ve experienced. If you’re not a writer, think of something you depend on every day that’s suddenly malfunctioning or broken, and you don’t know how to fix it. Or its replacement requires knowledge to operate properly that you don’t possess.

In the midst of all the computer chaos, I also had an article due for Crosswalk.com that had to be finished so they could post before Mother’s Day: 7 Best Ways to Pray for Your Mom!

More pressure. More stress. More prayer.

What Were the Positive Blessings?

As I lamented the disruption to my writing life and ministry, Cathy, the dear friend who was so willing to help me with her vast knowledge of computers, continuously reminded me to be patient always assuring me everything could be “fixed” eventually. She also reminded me of the many blessings I was overlooking when all I could see was chaos and confusion. Here were some of her wise words.

“I know all this has been very stressful and I truly understand. Please try to look at all the positives.

You have a loving husband that tried to ensure you had a better computer for your work.
You did not miss your deadline.
You have easy access to all your files & pictures, and you have learned a lot (way more than you wanted to).
Who knows, with this experience you may be able to help someone else now. Even if it’s just to calm them down …knowing that even in seemingly impossible life challenges, trusting in God’s guidance and support ‘fixes’ things we didn’t even know needed fixing.
I think you will grow to enjoy your new computer… especially when it does not freeze up, which will make you even more productive and give you some free time.
I promise to continue assisting you get to that ‘happy place’ with your new computer. I am blessed to have you as such a loving friend. Thank you for trusting me to help you -through God’s guidance.”

Sweet Cathy helped me put everything back into perspective that I know God wants us to apply to every crisis in our life.

There are people in our lives who love us and want to help us.
God will help us achieve what He feels is important.
Every crisis is an opportunity for learning something God wants us to know.
We can use our experiences to help others who are going through something similar in the future. That’s the tagline for my About His Work ministry: “Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness.”
We can maintain our joy, even in crisis, because “the joy of the Lord is your strength” Nehemiah 8:10b.
It’s a blessing to others when we let them help us.

Cathy was so right that this experience is something I need to share with you. Even though I serve the Lord in ministry and try to convey in my writing the thoughts and words He gives me, I will still have times in my life when I need to depend on others and remember to put my trust in the Lord to work things out in His timing and in His way. We all do.

My heartfelt gratitude goes out to my loving husband Dave who actually gave me this new computer to help make my writing life easier, which I’m sure eventually it will be. I’m not there yet, but with his encouragement and the Lord’s guidance, I’m hopeful.

We’re so blessed to have a church family willing to use their gifts and talents to help others. When my second screen wasn’t compatible with the new computer, Scott gave us an extra screen he wasn’t using that works perfectly! Cathy had an external hard drive that helped us transfer data. Now every time I look at that screen and hard drive, I give thanks for Scott and Cathy and say a prayer for them!

Scott and Cathy selflessly gave of their time, expertise, and Christian love to help Dave and me in our time of need. I pray we will always be available to do the same when we learn of others who we can help.

³All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. ⁴He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 2 Cor. 1:3-4 NLT

There won’t be a blog next Monday. Not because of the computer, but we’re blessed to have our daughter from Illinois and son from North Carolina come for a visit to help us get our garden ready for planting. Again, we not only have church family, but our personal family offering us a helping hand.

Praise You Lord for family and the family of God!

If you received this blog in an email, please leave a comment here on the website.

May 15, 2023

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Three Lessons Beyond the Story of His Only Son!

Last week, Hubby Dave and I saw the latest movie from Angel Studios, His Only Son. I was thrilled that just like Jesus Revolution, this new Christian movie stayed in theaters long after its Pre-Easter release and the five day expected showing. That’s because many Christians poured into theaters to support His Only Son.

When I looked over at Dave during the movie to see if the sounds he was making meant he was falling asleep, I discovered to the contrary, he was crying. The story of Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac brought my tenderhearted husband to tears more than once.

If you haven’t seen the movie, I don’t want to give away too many details, but it’s the familiar story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his long-awaited son, Isaac, born to elderly parents. The son that God had told Abraham would bring descendants outnumbering the stars in the sky. It’s a beautifully filmed movie with superb acting as it brings the Bible story of Genesis 22 to life. If you haven’t seen it and it’s still in your theaters, I encourage you to go, enjoy, and maybe cry at a father’s love for his son, but his even greater love for the Father in Heaven who Abraham trusted and obeyed, even when asked to perform a seemingly impossible sacrifice.

Interwoven into the story was a brief glimpse of Sarah’s servant Hagar when Abraham and Sarah attempted to go ahead of God. In today’s blog, I want to fill in some of the blanks with lessons from the story of Hagar and Ishmael, discussed in conversation during the movie if you listen closely, but not depicted.

We can learn from the consequences of Abraham and Sarah’s poor decision about using Hagar to circumvent God’s plan. Consequences still felt in the Middle East today.

Who Was Hagar?

When we first meet Hagar in the Bible, she’s an Egyptian maidservant to Sarai (later called Sarah), the wife of Abram (later called Abraham). Sarai was infertile and desperately wanted a child. God had told Abram that he would have an heir, a son, and yet as time passed the aging couple still didn’t have a baby (Gen. 15:2-5).

Mistakenly, Sarai thought the Lord had kept her from having a baby so she came up with her own plan to give Abram a family. (Gen. 16:2) In those days, a maidservant had no rights and was required to comply with whatever her owners told her to do. When her barren and desperate mistress Sarai decides to use Hagar as a surrogate to provide her husband Abram with a child, Hagar has no option but to obey. Abram agreed and slept with Hagar and she became pregnant.

The movie alludes to this, but tastefully never shows Abram and Hagar in any sexual scenes, not even an embrace. This seems like an odd practice to us today, but it was actually an ancient custom in biblical times to ensure the birth of a male heir.

What Happened Next to Hagar?

When Hagar learned she was carrying Abram’s child, she felt superior to Sarai and the Bible says she “began to despise her mistress” (Gen. 16:4). Maybe Hagar was upset that her mistress forced her husband on her, or she felt rejected that Abram didn’t treat her as a wife, and she took her frustration out on Sarai. Whatever the reason, she wrongly thought that her pregnancy empowered her to treat Sarai with contempt.

When the relationship between the two women deteriorated and became hostile, Sarai complained to her husband. Abram told her that this had been Sarai’s idea in the first place and Hagar was hers to do with what she wanted. He wasn’t going to get involved with their dispute. Sarai took that as permission to mistreat Hagar, so pregnant Hagar ran away into the desert. But what she didn’t expect was an encounter with God, which we don’t see in the movie.

⁷The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. ⁸And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered. ⁹Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” Gen. 16:7-9

The angel of the Lord also told her she would have a son and name him, “Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.” (Gen. 16:11)

So obediently, Hagar returned, gave birth to her son, and stayed on as Sarai’s maidservant. Sixteen years later, Sarai, renamed by God, Sarah, finally had her own miracle son as God had promised, but like any older brother, Ishmael started teasing his little toddler half-brother Isaac. Sarah was having none of this and demanded that her husband, now called Abraham, send Hagar and her son away . . . this time permanently. The movie eludes during a conversation that this took place, but we don’t see it happening. We hear about Ishmael, but never see him.

The child [Isaac] grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. ⁹But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, ¹⁰and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.” (Gen. 21:8-10)

Abraham, now the father of both sons, protested but to his surprise, God intervened and incredulously told him to let them go. Listen in the movie for when Abraham discusses why he let them both go.

¹¹The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. ¹²But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring^[^a^] will be reckoned. ¹³I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.” (Gen. 21:11-13)

Reluctantly, Abraham agreed and sent Hagar and Ishmael out into the desert with food and water.

¹⁴Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba. (Gen. 21:14)

God has lessons for us to learn from every biblical story and He tells us the story of Hagar in the Bible so we can apply what she learned to our own lives. Here are three important life application lessons.

Lesson #1: God Never Rejects Us

Hagar must have lamented her painful mistreatment and abandonment. Why was all this happening to her? When her hurt and despair sent her fleeing into the desert the first time, she was surprised but also very relieved and blessed when God met her there. She realized that even in her lowly position in life, she was important to God and He hadn’t rejected or forgotten her.

It was hard to hear God wanted her to go back to Sarai and endure abuse, but then God gave her a name for her son, Ishmael. God said He would even multiply Ishmael’s descendants. Wow, that was quite a promise, which God did fulfill in later years.

Hagar agreed to God’s plan and called the Lord, “The God who sees me, for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (Gen. 16:13)

God heard her cries of affliction. Amazingly, a slave girl was the first recorded appearance of God face to face in Scripture. Others had heard His voice or seen visions, but here was God in person.

Like Hagar, when it seems like others are rejecting you, God sees and hears you. Don’t let rejection define you; allow it to refine you. Hagar had the confidence and security in God to humbly return to Sarai and Abram and fulfill her role in biblical history.

Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me! (Ps. 66:20)

The Lord will not reject his people; he will not abandon his special possession. (Ps. 94:14 NLT)

Lesson #2 God is Near to the Brokenhearted

When Abraham sent Hagar and her son Ismael into the desert, it looked like they would surely die when the supplies Abraham had given them were exhausted. Now her precious son who God had given her and even named would starve to death. It was too much for her to bear. She couldn’t watch as he curled up in a fetal positon under a tree, but she couldn’t block out his starving moans and wails.

¹⁵When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. ¹⁶Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she^[^b^] began to sob. (Gen. 21:15-16)

But, what was she hearing now? Could it be a second encounter with God?! Yes, He had heard the cries of her son and asked her what was wrong? The Angel of the Lord spoke to this distressed mother yet again and reassured her not to be full of fear or sadness. Just as He had promised, God reaffirmed that her son’s legacy would be a great nation.

¹⁷God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. ¹⁸Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” (Gen. 21:17-18)

When we’re in deep despair, our tendency often is to shut out the world, and sometimes that includes shutting out God. But God is the one who understands our distress like no human can. Sometimes He will put people in our life and speak through them to comfort us, but what He longs for us to do is bend our ear towards Him and listen. Let His presence comfort you with the hope that He’s going through this with you and He always has a plan if we open our eyes to see our opportunities and listen to the wisdom He whispers in our prayer time.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Ps. 34:18)

Lesson #3 God’s Plan Is Always the Best One to Follow

When Hagar opened crying eyes, to her astonishment there was a well of water in the middle of the desert. Only God! She ran to fill her wineskin and gave her thirsty son a refreshing drink.

¹⁹Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. (Gen. 21:19)

Bravely, Hagar believed God and trusted that even as a single mom rejected and stranded in the middle of nowhere, if God said it was so, then she would trust Him and obey again. God was faithful to His promise.

²⁰God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. ²¹While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt. (Gen 21:20-21)

While we often focus on Abraham and Sarah, God has a powerful lesson in the story of Hagar. Through no fault of her own, she became entrenched in the couple’s contrived plan to fulfill God’s promise themselves instead of waiting for God’s perfect timing and plan. We can’t outsmart or outdo God. His plans always are for good and will prevail, but we’ll pay a price when our impetuous and prideful thinking is that we know best.

²²The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife.^[^a^] ²³The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise. (Gal. 4:22-23)

Just as God promised, Ishmael became a great nation but to this day, his descendants continue to be in conflict with the nation founded by his half-brother Isaac.

Everyday Brave Hagar

I include Hagar in Everyday Brave: Living Courageously as a Woman of Faith because she didn’t let the hard life that she encountered defeat her. She had a personal experience with God and He protected and provided for her. She courageously understood that God was the One she could depend on and trust. He would make a way when circumstances seemed impossible.

Even when we don’t see God face-to-face like Hagar did, or maybe have trouble feeling His presence, our faith assures us of the truth that we’re never alone. God has promised to never leave or forsake us even when others disappoint or even abandon us. God is always just a prayer away.

God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Heb. 13:5b)

If you received this blog by email, please go to the website at this link and leave a comment. I always appreciate hearing from you and reply to each comment.

April 17, 2023

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Here’s Some of My Breakups and the Whys

What Does a Breakup Accomplish?

Living Everyday Brave!

Our Children and Grandchildren Need to be Prepared to Make Brave Choices

4 Prayers for Difficult Times

Please Heal Our Country!

Don’t Try That In My Small Town!

Silence is Compliance

Every Church Should Preach: We don’t deny Christ; we denounce Satan!

Courage Begets Courage! Cowardice Begets Cowards!

Here’s What Parents’ Rights Groups are Saying!

What Are You Hearing in Your Churches?

It All Began in Genesis 3!

Satan Has Not Conceded Defeat

Will We Take a Permanent Stand Against the Enemy or Cave?

What Were the Positive Blessings?

Who Was Hagar?

What Happened Next to Hagar?

Lesson #1: God Never Rejects Us

Lesson #2 God is Near to the Brokenhearted

Lesson #3 God’s Plan Is Always the Best One to Follow

Everyday Brave Hagar

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