God’s Word — Page 14 — Woman to Woman Mentoring

We Are Resilient! We Will Not Be Silenced!

First, let me extend to you a blessed 2021!

We’re not even two weeks into the New Year and we’re already seeing that it’s going to be eventful. So many were anxious to have 2020 behind us hoping that at midnight we’d have a fresh start. But I felt 2021 would be extensionally affected by the previous year’s difficulties and probably usher in it’s own plethora of challenges. I think that’s why as I prayed for God’s guidance to choose a “word” for 2021, which is my yearly tradition, resilience came to mind.

I heard resilience on TV a day later; I knew it was God’s confirmation. He often uses a variety of ways to get our attention.

When I told my friend about my word for 2021, she warned, “You don’t need the practice on that one.” Kind of like don’t pray for patience because then God may let you experience circumstances requiring patience.

I’ve already sensed, as many of you have, that with our country on a downhill trajectory into the evils of socialism, we’re going to need to practice resilience. We can’t become intimidated emotionally, physically, or spiritually by our changing country, but we must remain firmly grounded in our convictions, faith, and family.

What Does Resilience Even Mean?

Here are several definitions for “resilience”:

“Resilience is the ability to withstand adversity and bounce back from difficult life events. Being resilient does not mean that people don’t experience stress, emotional upheaval, and suffering. Some people equate resilience with mental toughness, but demonstrating resilience includes working through emotional pain and suffering.”

“Mental resilience means the ability of an individual to respond to stress and adversity in a healthy way. Being mentally resilient is not necessarily a personality or genetic trait that you are born with. Rather, it’s a set of skills and coping mechanisms that can be learned.”

I would add that you can pray for resilience, which I’ll be doing daily all year!

When you search Scripture, there are numerous examples of biblical men and women who didn’t let their adverse circumstances hinder them from doing God’s will. As Christians, we don’t learn “coping mechanisms” from the world, but by reading our Bibles and depending on and trusting in God and His ways and words.

We can’t succumb to Socialist/Marxist radical liberalism, but we also can’t live in turmoil or fear. We need to conduct our lives as the Lord leads regardless of who is leading our government. We live confidently as Christ-followers. Unapologetically, Bible-believing Christians.

You‘ve heard me say many times, and I emphasized in Forsaken God? Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten, “progressive liberal Christianity” is a fallacy. Blasphemy. Godless.

Progressive is a secular term coined by people who want to change the Bible to adapt to culture instead of adapting culture to the Bible. They can call themselves anything they want, but a Christian, especially a “Pastor,” cannot use the Bible to justify abortion, homosexuality, secularism, or any sin!

I posted on Facebook the morning after the Senate loss in Georgia of two Conservative candidates to two radically socialist liberals: “What a good reminder this morning that this world is not our home; we’re just passing through! While here, we’re called to make a difference for the Kingdom. Our eternal home, a mansion, awaits all who know Jesus as their Lord and Savior! Come Jesus come!”

Courage and Not Cowering is Our Mission

Our mission and earthly purpose does not change by who is in the White House or government. It’s easier when they agree with us, but it takes more faith and courage when they don’t!

Nothing we’re watching in our world should surprise us. The Bible says it will be hard to be a true Christian who follows Jesus and not the world.
Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. John 15:20

The Bible also says that in the endtimes, which I believe we’re in, we will watch many fall away and Satan will come out of the shadows. He knows his time is short and he’s not going down without a fight.

Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” Rev. 12:12

So what do we do?

We don’t become complacent or compliant with evil.

We remain aware, not afraid, and take a firm stand against the enemy!

Hold On Tight to Your Family

The very first thing the Speaker of the House did when Congress reconvened in the New Year was pass rules that prohibit the use in Congress of personal gender pronouns and family terms: father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half-brother, half-sister, grandson, or granddaughter.

I think we all agree this is ludicrous, but it also has a sinister motive to eliminate all gender classification of the way God created us: male and female.

Why would “first cousin” be included?

We cannot let this genderless language or concept creep into our own families or conversation.

It has long been the Devil’s desire to destroy God’s creation starting with the family unit. Before BLM removed it from their website, they admitted their goal is to eliminate the Patriarch father led family and BLM would become the “family.”

During the holidays, Democrat Mayors and Governors were telling us NOT to spend time with family!

By building stronger faith-filled families, we will persevere and be victorious over the attack on our way of life. Mothers and fathers must not let technology raise their sons and daughters. One of the benefits of having schools closed was that parents could see what their children are being taught and so much of the curriculum today is a liberal-left agenda against America, morals, and values.

I’m encouraging everyone to hug your family daily or call them regularly. Let each one know how much you love them!

Worship with Your Church Family and Take Your Family to Church!

Many states are still prohibiting churches from meeting, even though the Supreme Court has ruled this is unconstitutional! Another ploy from Satan who wants to destroy God’s church! It’s also a tool of Socialism/Communism.

It was alarming to me how long it took some pastors to fight back against the infringement on our 1^st Amendment right to freedom of religion and to assemble in church.

I’ve written so much about this in the past and I’ll give you the links at the end of this blog. It’s absurd that people can cram into airplanes and yet can’t safely go to church.

If your church is not open, find one that is open. Sitting home on your couch and watching a sermon does not replace gathering together with your church family any more than zooming with your children replaces sitting down to dinner with them.

²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Heb. 10:24-25

Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. Malachi 3:16

We Will Not Be Silenced!

We must be vigilant and vocal but not violent or vicious.

God will not abandon His people but He will always call on us to live by His principles and share the Gospel with the lost, even those who irritate us and seem beyond reach.

2021 is off to a rocky start and none of us can predict what lies ahead, but our resilience comes from putting our trust in Jesus. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb. 12:2

Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My instruction: do not fear disgrace by men, and do not be shattered by their taunts. ⁸For the moth will devour them like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool. But My righteousness will last forever, and My salvation for all generations. I—I am the One who comforts you. Who are you that you should fear man who dies, or a son of man who is given up like grass? Is. 51:7-8, 12 HCSB

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Is. 26:3

Big Tech is trying to censor, silence, and stifle the conservative voice, so I now have accounts on Parler and Me-We. Apple is removing Parler’s App and Amazon dropped them as a web host, but I’ve heard that Parler will be up and running again with new support soon.

You can find me on Parler @JanetThompson
MeWe mewe.com/i/janetthompson29
You will see my picture on both profiles to confirm it’s me.

Rumble is an alternative to Google’s YouTube, which has been removing conservative videos and accounts.

DuckDuckGo is a search engine that does not trace or track you like Google.

Here are some of my previous articles on topics discussed in this blog and the last one is a new Crosswalk article for married couples.

Why Watching Church Online Is NOT a Substitute for Attending in Person

If God Is Pulling Back the Veil on Evil, How Should the Church Respond?

Don’t Let COVID Divide The Church! We’re On the Same Team!

How Is Home Depot More “Essential” Than God’s Home?

God Will Not Be Silenced So Why Are His People Being Silent?

10 Marriage Goals Every Couple Should Have For 2021

January 11, 2021

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Dream A Little Dream With God

You may be reading this blog a few days before Christmas as you’re hurrying to wrap the last presents, or maybe even buy them. But somewhere in the frantic last week, you’ll read the story of the birth of Jesus in the Books of Matthew and Luke. Or maybe you’ll hear a sermon where the pastor takes a particular event to focus on in his Christmas Eve sermon.

As I read the Christmas story this year, three words resonated with me, “in a dream.” God spoke uniquely and in miraculous ways to key people and the dreamers responded and acted on their dreams. Prophecy was fulfilled because some way, somehow, they each knew it was the Lord speaking to them.

Joseph’s Four Dreams

Dream #1

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about^[^a^]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet^[^b^] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

²⁰But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[c] because he will save his people from their sins.”

²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matt 1:18-23

Dream #2

¹³When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

¹⁴So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son. Matt. 2:13-15

Dream #3

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

²¹So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. Matt. 2:19-21

Dream #4

But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, ²³and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene. Matt 2:22-23

The Wise Men’s Dream

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. Matt. 2:9-12

Does God Speak to Us In Dreams Today?

I don’t know about you, but reading about God fulfilling prophecy in the story of Jesus’s birth, gives my dreams a completely new perspective.

I do dream a lot, almost every night, and often they’re random or I don’t remember them. But often, I wake up in the morning knowing exactly what God wants me to do about an issue. Maybe it’s what I’m supposed to write about, an action to take, or a warning and I know it’s from the Lord.

God changed history through dreams: Abimelek, Jacob, Laban, Joseph, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Solomon, Job, Pilate’s wife, all had dreams.

God transmitted his plan for the birth and the protection of the Savior of the world in dreams. Joseph paid attention to his dreams and seemed to know it was God speaking to him. Even though it went against what he thought he should do about Mary being pregnant, he obeyed the angel of the Lord in his dream and the prophetic Scriptures were fulfilled of where and when Jesus would be born.

Later, he recognized God’s warning dreams and saved Jesus’ life while also fulfilling prophecy. We don’t know much about Joseph, but we do know he recognized the voice of God.

The Wise Men were wise enough to know they should not return to report to Herod the location of the baby and Jesus’ life was spared again.

What Might God Be Telling You In Your Dreams?

What life changing events might happen in our life if we spent more time paying attention to not only our dreams, but what God is telling us in our prayer time? Remember prayer is supernatural conversation with God and He’s talking to us. But are we listening?

Prayer is no different now than it was in biblical times so why should we think our dreams are different. Why would we not believe that God could use dreams to warn us or fulfill his plans for us, and perhaps for others, just like He did in the past?

God also speaks to us through His Word, the Bible. I knew He wanted me to write about dreams in the Christmas story because He made the word “dream” stand out to me as I read it. I wrestled with Him about whether that was really His intent, and He was very clear and adamant.

So whether you dream at night or even remember your dreams, God will give you visions. He will find a way to speak to you directly of how He wants you to live your life for Him!

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:27-28

“A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it. ¹³Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people. Job 4:12-13

For God does speak—now one way, now another— though no one perceives it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds, ¹⁶he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, ¹⁷to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride, ¹⁸to preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword. Job 33:14-18

In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Acts 2:17 from Joel 2:28

If you don’t receive my monthly newsletter, you might enjoy my opening article this month on how Christians can still, and should, rejoice in hard times. We rejoice in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior offering redemption and forgiveness to all who believe in Him.

I’m taking a pause for the next two weeks and will be back January 11.

Merry Blessed Christmas and Happy 2021 New Year!

*Opening picture courtesy of Mount Zion Ministries.

December 21, 2020

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5 Prayers to Experience Peace On Earth Goodwill Toward Men

If you’ve been listening to Christmas music, which I recommended in last week’s blog, you’re probably familiar with the song “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” Maybe you’ve even sang along. For copyright reasons, I can’t print all the lyrics, but I encourage you to read them here and listen to Casting Crowns sing them.

The inspiration for this song seems to be Luke 2:14 NKJV, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

“Peace on earth goodwill to men” is repeated throughout the song.

One stanza of the song laments:

And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men

With Covid still running rampant and the unsettling evidence of voter fraud in our elections while mainstream media spews propaganda, we might also cry out to God “How do You still expect that we can live in peace?” How can we have good will to those who spread lies, cheat, and have evil intent?

But later in the song, we’re reminded that God is not dead and He never sleeps. He sees everything and eventually “wrong shall fail and right prevail,” and that’s the truth we must keep in our hearts and prayers.

It’s important to look at the context of Luke 2:14. Who spoke it? To whom? What was it announcing?

⁸Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹And ^[^c^]behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. ¹⁰Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹²And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill^[^e^] toward men!” Luke 2:8-14

Those angels were announcing to the Shepherds that Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, was born! Hallelujah!!

Christmas is a time for us to remember this announcement also and open our hearts to hear and believe God’s proclamation. No matter how bleak our earthly circumstances appear, the joy of Jesus Christ must still reside in every believer’s heart.

In unsettling times, we find our peace in the presence of the Lord. He is the only One who can effectively prevent the contagious epidemic of fear and calm our frustrations.

Yet, we live in a fallen world that keeps us fearfully treading from one crisis to the next. It seems like every morning we wake up to a new peril: virus pandemics, new flu strains, recessions, earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis, floods, fires . . . even the threat of other countries attacking us.

Then there are our own financial, physical, relational, health, and personal crises that often catch us by surprise and strike terror into our heart. We feel helpless as events spin out of our control.

Fear is a powerful human emotion that can cause us to respond inappropriately or motivate us to take positive action.

Fear also has the ability to paralyze us from taking any action.

Fear can even stop us from turning to God, our Rescuer, who knows every personal and world disruption we will face. His timeless Word, the Bible, has all the answers and antidotes to help us remain calm, cool, and collected. He assures us, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

We want to trust God but there are times when peace and good will eludes us. We’re worried and anxious. We don’t want to be brave this time. Then God challenges, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

In Everyday Brave, I remind us that . . .

Here are five prayers to help us call on God and faithfully transcend from panic to peace.

1. Lay Your Worries Before the Lord

Lord, I know that Satan created the spirit of fear, anxiety, doubt, and worries to torture and entrap my mind and rob me of my joy, peace, and sleep. When what-ifs wake me in the dark of night, please help me to denounce Satan and remember 1 Peter 5:7 where you say internal peace is as simple as casting all my anxiety on you because you care for me. I am comforted that you see into the depths of my heart and the intricacies of my mind where unhealthy fears dwell.

You already know what’s troubling me, but you want to hear me share my concerns with you to release the stronghold grip they have on my thoughts and emotions. Father, I trust that you don’t want me to waste a moment of my life fretting. Please calm my racing heart and fill my troubled mind with hope and my spirit with peace. Assure me that no weapon formed against me will prosper and you have a plan and a purpose for me in this time of turmoil. Show me your ways Lord and grant me the courage to follow where you lead. Amen

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Isaiah 26:3 NLT

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

2. Trust God’s Timing

Lord, it saddens me that many people don’t understand the power of prayer and even mock me for taking my worries to you in prayer. So I pray first for those who do not believe in you. Where is their hope? I’ll admit that sometimes you seem silent when I so desperately want to hear from you. It’s torture waiting on you and yet I will wait because I know my prayers are not in vain.

I don’t know if the latest crisis will affect my family or me, but you are omniscient Lord, so I pray that you will spare us. But if fallout touches any of my loved ones, please comfort them with your healing balm. Sometimes our own choices can put us at risk. So Lord, I pray that we would all be judicious in our actions and interactions. I can remain in perfect peace because I put my future in your capable hands. Amen

You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.” Lamentations 3:57

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. Psalm 91:1-2 (NLT)

3. Don’t Doubt God

Lord, as I pray with confidence and great expectation, I anticipate your gracious answers to my prayers. When I remember your faithfulness to all generations, excitement and eagerness replace concern and discouragement. Please help me to remember that doubt and faith can’t coexist in my heart. If I’m doubting or anxious, my shield of faith has slipped.

God I know that you’re looking at the big picture and I can only see a small glimpse distorted by my confusion and perspective. I realize that having faith doesn’t mean there won’t be setbacks or difficult times, but if I’m going to enlist your mighty powers, then I must prayerfully trust that your will is done on earth as it is in heaven. I pray for a miracle of your design.

Your answer isn’t always what I want to hear, or the option I was hoping for, but whatever it is I will give you the glory because regardless of the outcome, my eternity is with you. Thank you Lord for your Son Jesus Christ coming down to earth as a humble baby and then enduring the brutal cross for victory over our sins and sicknesses. I claim that victory in my life and for my loved ones. Amen

But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. James 1:6

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

4. Seek Wisdom and Discernment

Lord, I want desperately to take your Word to heart, but a tsunami of negativity and fear engulf me. My thoughts wander to worse case scenarios. I need your insight to diligently untangle truthful facts from embellished hysteria. I ask the Holy Spirit to guide me in filtering out what I should avoid listening to or considering.

Infuse me Lord with discernment and wisdom. Give me clarity of mind and heart. Guard my mouth that I don’t spread gossip or hearsay to alarm others. Help me to exhibit love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control even to those who disparage me. Like the apostle Paul, may I learn the secret of being content in all circumstances, knowing that I can do all things through you who gives me strength to fulfill your desires. Praise you Lord, Amen

Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance. Proverbs 1:5

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:5

5. Impart Good Will to Others

Lord, we won’t live in a perfect world until we join you in heaven. This current situation won’t be the last crisis for the world or for me. I can’t outrun, outpace, outdo, outsmart, outlive . . . trouble. It has a way of popping up even in the good and prosperous seasons in the culture, my life, and the lives of those around me.

Lord, quiet my raging emotions so that I can be a beacon of healing love and peace to those in my sphere of influence who are overwhelmed by panic, fear, and discouragement. Please help me memorize John 14:1 to share with others who ask me where my peace comes from: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” These are the words that your Son Jesus spoke to His disciples to comfort them and they also give me comfort when I don’t know how the story ends. Use me Lord as your disciple to bring healing to a hurting world. I love you Lord, Amen.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

Peace Be With You!

Sensational media headlines keep us stressed, agitated, and fearful because fear-fueled news sells. Press-induced or politically motivated panic will stoke more pandemic fear and consequences than the source of the crisis. Stay current with pertinent news that might affect you personally, but don’t overwhelm yourself reading everything written on the internet or social media.

Taking recommended and reasonable steps to protect yourself and your loved ones will give you a sense of control that helps to manage uncertainties. Prudently, continue your normal activities this Christmas season that typically bring you joy. Healthy coping mechanisms like exercise, rest, eating properly, reading your Bible, staying connected to friends and family, and listening to praise music can help soothe frazzled nerves. If you have medical anxiety, contact your doctor.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

Portions of this article first appeared in my Crosswalk article 5 Powerful Prayers for Peace Amidst Pandemic Fear.

December 14, 2020

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How to Celebrate a Peaceful Post-Election COVID Thanksgiving

My heart is heavy as Mayors and Governors in some states make mandates to cancel Thanksgiving. Threatening constituents with fines and even imprisonment if they invite anyone besides the immediate family living in the house and encouraging neighbors to report on each other! Setting an arbitrary number of how many people can enjoy Thanksgiving together . . . and on and on the restrictions go.

As if canceling Thanksgiving, a time when we gather together to give gratitude to God for our many blessings, is going to be a way to eradicate COVID?!

First, it was closing our churches and now closing our homes and cancelling holidays.

This does not sound like the America we ask God to bless.

When I hear of these draconian threatening measures treating adults like children or even criminals, a wave of remorse comes over me. Hundreds of people can gather together with strangers in Walmart, Costco, Grocery stores, and casinos, but don’t you dare have extended family and friends in your home for Thanksgiving fellowship!

I appreciate the common sense message from South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to her state in a series of tweets. Here are several quotes from her.

In South Dakota, we won’t stop or discourage you from thanking God and spending time together this Thanksgiving.
I’ll continue to encourage each and every one of you to exercise personal responsibility and make smart choices for yourselves and your loved-ones. As you dig in to enjoy that delicious turkey and stuffing, make sure that everyone in your household is practicing good hygiene. Wash your hands. If someone in your family is in the vulnerable population, take extra precautions to keep them safe.
Smaller gatherings may be smarter this year. Let’s make sure to use common sense when we’re planning our celebrations. If you or someone in your family is sick or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, it may be best to stay home and join your loved-ones over FaceTime, Skype, or another app. As we learn more about COVID symptoms, it can be hard to keep track of them all, so visit the CDC website to refresh your memory.
Let’s all take the time to remember what Thanksgiving is all about – thanking God for everything that he has blessed us with in our lives. During difficult times, it’s important to be extra thankful for what we have.”

I would add to be mindful of anyone we know who is spending Thanksgiving alone. If possible, take them a meal or have one sent to them. We need each other now more than ever!

Tensions Over Turkey

For those of you, like our family, who are still going to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner together, the election could be as contentious around the table as it is around the country.

During our small group prayer request time, a reoccurring request went something like this: Please help us be a light on Thanksgiving among those with differing political and faith beliefs.

In the fragile aftermath of a volatile contested election, I imagine many of you are having similar concerns and conversations. I remember my mom cautioning that if you want to keep the peace, don’t talk about religion or politics. As a kid, I never understood that warning. Believers are supposed to tell everyone about Jesus. Since being a Christian is our first identity . . . how could we not talk about our Savior? And isn’t everyone entitled to his or her own political opinion?

Then I grew up!

If you follow me, you know I’m bold about being a born-again Christian. But as I wrote in Forsaken God? Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten: “Bold doesn’t mean obnoxious. It simply means not being afraid to speak the truth, even in the face of adversity: ‘Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold’ (2 Cor. 3:12).” For example, if someone asks what I write, I answer, “Christian nonfiction.” Or I’ll say, “I’m a Christian author and speaker.”

For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. Philippians 1:20 NLT

Is Thanksgiving a Religious Holiday?

That could be an awkward question in some circles.

When I mentioned to a group that I hoped people would set their differences aside on Thanksgiving Day, one response was, “It’s just a time for eating a lot of food, watching football, and shopping online anyway.”

Me: “I’m pretty sure the first pilgrims who celebrated Thanksgiving didn’t have TV or Amazon.

Another responded: “Well at least Thanksgiving isn’t a religious holiday.”

I asked: “Who then are we thanking?”

Complete silence.

Of course, God is the answer.

Abraham Lincoln made it an official national holiday “as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe.”

The English colonists we call Pilgrims celebrated days of thanksgiving as part of their religion. But these were days of prayer, not days of feasting.

Yes, Thanksgiving is a time of family and friends gathering, but as we sit around the feast together, we can’t thank each other, or aliens, or the “big bang” for giving us life, the sun, the moon, the trees, the ability to grow the food, the earth, the waters, the sky, sweet babies, and all the blessings we enjoy.

We read in Genesis that God spoke everything into being, and yet, many of us will be sharing turkey and dressing with people who don’t believe or discount the existence of God. They don’t know where they’re going when they die, or where everything we enjoy on earth came from . . . and maybe they don’t even care. They’ll walk out of the room when we pray before the meal, and may try and bait us into an argument over who we voted for and why. Maybe after a few drinks, their conversation will turn ugly, even though innocent young eyes are watching how the “adults” interact.

Yes, my husband and I have been thinking and praying about all of this and beseeching God to prepare us to be a light in the darkness . . . not ignore the darkness because that would be the cowards way out . . . but to help us respond as if Jesus was standing behind us speaking through us.

As I prayed and talked to the Lord, here’s a list I hope will help us, and maybe help you. I’d love to hear your ideas too.

Don’t worry what to say—“Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” Mark 13:11 (Jesus was talking to his disciples if they were arrested, but it could apply to us too if we felt our faith was being tested or put on trial.)

Speak kind words— “Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” Pr. 16:24 NLT

For your part, maintain peace—“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Romans 12:18

Don’t ask or answer antagonistic questions— “Interfering in someone else’s argument is as foolish as yanking a dog’s ears.” Pr. 26:17 NLT

Play with any children present— “We will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.” Ps 78:4 NLT

Don’t drink— “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18 NLT

Smile, Smile, Smile— “Fix my eyes on God— soon I’ll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He’s my God.” Psalm 42:5 The Message

Listen— “Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.” Pr. 12:15 NLT

Take a deep breath and think before you speak—“There is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking.” Pr. 29:20 NLT

Less is more—“The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they?” Ecc. 6:11 NLT— There’s “A time to be quiet and a time to speak.” Ecc. 3:7 NLT

Say mind prayers continuously.—^“Pray continually.” 1 Thess. 5:17

Have a secret sign or word between you and someone else that signals: Let’s change the subject or move into the other room.—“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.” Ecc. 4:9

If you’re hosting—Pray and thank God for each guest. Ask to be a blessing and to share joy. Pray over your home and each chair at the table. Pray before the meal as you normally would; your guests know they’re coming to a Christian home.—“Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” 1 Peter 4:9

If you’re a guest—As you walk up to the home pray that you’ll be a blessing and that God will stir up the fruit of the Spirit in your heart. If your hosts don’t pray before the meal, ask if you could say a prayer to bless the food. — “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Gal. 5:22-23

Thanksgiving is a day for harmony and focusing on God and giving Him thanks and praise in whatever way He leads. Fiction writers have a saying: “Show don’t tell.” Which simply means: you don’t always have to speak Jesus with your words; you can show Jesus with your actions!

Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. Psalm 100:4 NLT

Past Thanksgiving Blogs

Here are my past Thanksgiving blogs you might enjoy reading. I give thanks for each of you for following these Monday Morning Blogs and I pray you have a joyful, peaceful, healthy, and God-filled Thanksgiving Day.

Acquiring Overshadows Thanksgiving

What Are You Most Thankful For?

Love Your Body During the Holidays

Thanksgiving Tablecloth Idea

In Forsaken God? Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten, I share a way to use your tablecloth as a conversation piece and make memories for generations to come. Here is an excerpt from the book. I hope it gives you some ideas. I’ll be taking our memory-making tablecloth with us this Thanksgiving.

When my breast cancer journey started, I became keenly aware of making memories with my family. At times like that, you think seriously about your mortality and the legacy you want to leave with your loved ones. You appreciate each new day of life. The sun rising every morning is an act of God to celebrate.

Holidays like Thanksgiving have new meaning. Typically, Thanksgiving is a celebration where family and friends gather for a feast, and everyone says what they’re thankful for in the past year. But after finishing the dishes and putting away the leftovers, how many really remember what everyone said?

The Thanksgiving following my first breast cancer surgery, I had an idea of a Thankful Tablecloth. I purchased a Thanksgiving themed tablecloth with plenty of white space and a box of wash-resistant colored markers. After Thanksgiving dinner, I brought out the markers and asked everyone—kids included—to find a spot on the tablecloth to write what they were thankful for that year, sign, and date it. We traced handprints for the tiny ones with their name and age.

Today, we have years of thankful messages to read every Thanksgiving and remember the many acts of God’s goodness to us and the people who joined us at the celebration table each year. If we go to someone’s house for Thanksgiving dinner, I ask if I can bring our Thankful Tablecloth and markers.

When I go to be with the Lord, I pray my family will continue bringing out the Thanksgiving Tablecloth as a reminder through the generations of how good God has been to our family and friends.

I’m taking a blog holiday next Monday, but God willing, I’ll be back the first Monday in December.

If you receive this blog by email, you can leave a comment here.

November 23, 2020

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The Battle Belongs to the Lord

Like many of you, I went to bed Election night fairly confident that President Trump would win the election; although it was concerning that some of the states had stopped counting ballots for the night. That seemed strange as the President noted in his speech that night. Yes, I stayed up to hear him.

Then the world woke up to a complete turnaround. Somehow, in the middle of the night, thousands of ballots only marked for Joe Biden showed up in all the battle ground states and President Trump had lost his lead in those states along with several other key states.

What happened?

That’s what President Trump’s legal team along with everyone who voted for him is asking!

As my husband and I prayed together asking for God’s intervention to reveal any fraud and allow America to have a fair and legal election, I heard in my spirit, “The battle belongs to the Lord.”

I knew that God wasn’t telling me to sit on the sidelines and do nothing because He was in control. No, He was saying that as one of his spiritual followers, workers, and warriors, it was my job to join forces with Him in the battle between good and evil.

For many years in my morning quiet time, I pray Matthew 6:10: “May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Now, God was calling me to take action toward that goal in this election.

Voting was a good start, but not enough. Now we need to make sure there is a legal and fair election. Everyone’s legal ballot counted and all fraudulent ballots cast aside.

Suddenly, I felt an uncanny peace and calm come over me. I was even surprised at my own response. Anxiety and worry was a waste of energy and time. There was the Lord’s work to do. A battle is raging and I’m in the Lord’s army.

1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

What Weapons Do We Have for the Lord’s Battle?

Another verse I pray every morning is Zechariah 4:6 NLT: Then he said to me, “This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

There’s a spiritual battle taking place in the heavenly realms as well as a physical and legal battle for truth to prevail in our country. Each of us will live with the results of whoever wins this election and for any Christians who voted for the Biden/Harris ticket, I wonder if you actually studied what they plan for our country and the church.

We’ll all be held accountable for the political platform we chose to support.

The Armor of God found in Ephesians 6:10-18 describes what those who care about the lives of the unborn, the freedoms we enjoy in America, the future of religious freedom, and the integrity of our government should be doing right now.

My husband and I have prayed and personalized the Armor of God daily since we were married almost twenty-eight years ago. I’ve often said that I might not still have life if I didn’t suit up in my spiritual armor every morning.

The weapons we use in this spiritual battle are our Bibles, our prayers, our voices, our faith, and our activism against any schemes of the devil and his evil plans.

Christians should stand together strong and united by the Gospel as we go to war for the truth to prevail and lies and deception to fail.

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

We place our trust in our Commander-in-Faith and apply God’s Word to every area of our life, no matter the consequences. When Satan sends the arrows of depression, discouragement, dissolution, and denial, we remember our hope is in Jesus not judges!

¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

God Has a Battle Plan

Regardless of the results of this election, we prayerfully ask God to show us why He allowed the outcome and what He wants us to do now!

I’m not sure yet what God’s plan is but I do know He doesn’t want His people to cower or succumb to any evil imposed upon them. Just the opposite! He wants our light to shine brightly in the darkness. He’s up to something and we’re on His team, so put on your spiritual armor and engage in the battle. There’s a war to win!

I’ve written before that God is so kind to confirm that I’ve heard correctly in my spirit what He wants me to write to you. I finished this blog on Saturday and Sunday morning our pastor’s sermon topic was “Living as Christians in a Harsh World.”

Pastor reminded us that if the Democrat platform prevails after this election, we may not experience the same religious freedoms we know today and Christians and pastors who adhere to God’s ways and His Word could come under persecution. We’ve already seen that with the closure of churches during COVID and the attack on pastors who open their churches regardless of tyrannical mandates to stay closed.

Our pastor pointed out that this will not be the first time believers have come under attack starting with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! We live in a world that isn’t like us and doesn’t always like us. But not to worry, our life is in Jesus!

“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.” John 15:18-19 NLT

As I said in last week’s blog, Biden has been saying that he will unite the nation, but there is nothing in his platform that Bible-believing, Jesus-following Christians could unite with or validate.

Liberal progressivism is atheism. That is the direction right now of the Democrat party and if they gain power over us, the church is going to suffer. But we stand strong and we do not bend or waiver under adversity.

And this could be what God is up to . . . separating true Bible-believing Christians from “Christians” in name only.

But that will be for another article.

For now, keep fasting and praying for our President and for all election corruption, fraud, and unethical or illegal activity to be revealed and prosecuted.

Pray for the President’s legal team to be wise and persistent and for the integrity of all the ballot counters.

If you participated in President Trump’s rallies or live where the votes are being contested, take your Trump signs and flags and go sing praise songs while interceding outside the ballot counting facilities.

Don’t give up. Don’t lose hope. Don’t lose heart.

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 1 Tim. 2:1-2 NLT

I wrote a timely Crosswalk article last week: How Can I be Slow to Anger in Today’s World?

Here is an article by Pastor Robert Jeffress who has been a supporter and spiritual advisor to President Trump. I’m not sure I agree with all of it but it’s a good read. If Biden is elected, how should Christians respond?

November 9, 2020

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Christians Should NEVER Validate an Evil Political Platform!

I struggled with what to write about the day before an election that could change the trajectory of our nation. How we experience the American way of life. How we practice our Christian faith.

This is not an election about whether you like a candidate’s personality or communication style; it truly is a choice between good and evil.

Many will challenge that statement so let me explain.

Biden has been saying that he will unite the nation, but there is nothing in his platform that Bible-believing, Jesus-following Christians could unite with or validate.

The Bible is clear in The Message translation of 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.

Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives. God himself put it this way:

“I’ll live in them, move into them;
I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people.
So leave the corruption and compromise;
leave it for good,” says God.

God could not be more adamant that His people don’t vote for a political party that champions evil and removes God from their platform!

He warned the Israelites when they went into the Promised Land not to partner with pagans, but they didn’t listen to Him and there’s been a battle between people who walk in the light and those on the dark side ever since.

They are corrupt and not his children;
    to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.
⁶Is this the way you repay the Lord,
    you foolish and unwise people?
Is he not your Father, your Creator,^[a]
    who made you and formed you? Deut. 32:5-6

Our country was founded on Judeo Christian values that both parties agreed to in the writing of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. God’s principles were central to those two documents that form the basis for our government and laws. At least they should!

But the Democrat party wants to remove God and His moral principles and values from the public square, from their convention platform, and in some cases even the Pledge of Allegiance. While incredulously Biden’s campaign slogan is “a battle for the soul of the nation!”

He’s got that part right, we are in a battle but it’s a spiritual battle and only God, not a godless political party, can put the soul back in America and possibly unite us again!

Here are just a few areas that this election highlights to Christians on how we should use our voting power to vote our values for the Presidency, the Senate, and the Congress, as well as local officials.

Christians can NEVER Unite with a Murder-Driven Platform that Denies the Sanctity of Life!

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Ps. 139:13

The most profound moral division between the Democrat and Republican platforms is on abortion— the spilling of innocent blood in murdering, yes murdering, millions upon millions of precious babies created by God in their mother’s womb, who never had a chance at life.

Abortion is cherished by the Democrat Party in the name of arrogance, pride, and moral decay. They are in rebellion against God’s commands that sex is for the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman. Proponents of abortion encourage sexual promiscuity without responsibility.

The opposite of pro-life is pro-choice of having sex without consequences.

The opposite of pro-life is pro-death when a life is not convenient.

Science, as well as God, tells us that sex results in possible conception of a child.

Democrats promote sex without consequences. Their solution is genocide that allows the ripping apart, poisoning, or burning in the womb of a viable child who feels pain. Even extending this barbaric torture up to and after delivery.

They expect every taxpayer to subsidize this horrific and savage practice of the shedding of innocent blood that has brought a curse upon America. How could it not? Abortion does have consequences.

Planned Parenthood is the primary baby murdering organization and they refuse to compromise with ways to reduce the number of abortions they preform because abortions are their primary business and source of revenue! Democrats will restore funding removed by the Trump Administration to Planned Parenthood, which is why PP is a huge financial donor to the Biden campaign with money made from the destruction of babies!

Biden, who professes himself a “faithful Catholic,” now endorses abortion in his platform. He will repeal the Hyde Amendment and continue to defeat born-alive protection bills! While he touts restoring the soul of America, He has sold his own soul to the evil partyline.

If you’re a Christian considering voting for the Democrats, knowing their stance on taking the life of a baby God created in His image, I challenge you to find justification for the sin of abortion in the Bible.

If you’ve had an abortion, voting for it won’t remove your guilt but Jesus is waiting for you to ask for forgiveness and repentance and He offers you grace and mercy, which brings the peace your heart desires.

Abortion: A Crime of Passion

Babies Lives Are Important, But . . .

Christians can Never Unite with “Gender Fluidity”!

“On his first day in office, Biden will reinstate the Obama-Biden guidance revoked by the Trump-Pence administration, which will restore transgender students’ access to sports, bathrooms and locker rooms in accordance with their gender identity. . . . Biden will ensure that LGBTQ+ individuals have full access to all appropriate health care treatments and resources. This includes covering care related to transitioning.”—Biden campaign website

The Democrats who contend we should always “follow the science,” reject the science of biology that God created every human male and female.

Christians can Never Unite with a Political Party that Restricts Religious Liberty!

Democrat run states have kept their churches closed and inflicted penalties and fines on churches allowing their congregants to worship together. President Trump has repeatedly said churches are essential and should open now.

Obama/Biden lit up the White House in gay pride colors and if the Democrats are in power, they could prevent pastors from preaching the sins listed in Acts chapter 1. They have already shown hostility to religious freedom in running your business according to your faith beliefs as in the cases of Christian florists, bakers, and photographers who choose to not serve at gay marriages. Under the Trump Administration, their faith rights have been protected but they were persecuted under Obama/Biden.

Biden promises to make the misleadingly named Equality Act a top priority in his first 100 days. This federal legislation makes sexual orientation and gender identity protected civil rights, with no protections for religious organizations or people of faith who hold orthodox beliefs on sexuality as taught by Judaism and Christianity. It would also gut the landmark Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The Equality Act treats churches, businesses, adoption agencies and medical professionals as discriminators if they operate based on their belief that humans are created male and female and sex is between a man and a woman.

Biden plans to reverse all of President Trump’s actions to protect religious freedom.

Christians can NEVER Unite with a Socialist/Communist/Marxist Agenda!

We’ve watched the Democrats, including Biden/Harris, stay silent while ANTIFA and BLM riot in the streets looting, burning, and destroying innocent business owner’s livelihoods! They don’t condemn what they refer to as “peaceful protests” while cities are destroyed.

They talk about the police being the enemy and reimagining the police, whatever that means.

The mainstream media supports the liberal agenda and feeds the people propaganda! Yes, just like in Communist countries. Often the networks all repeat the same identical mantra! That’s Communism!

Big Tech, which I wrote about in last week’s blog, censors conservatives while spreading liberal lies and talking points.

We see the “tyrant” governors and mayors in Democrat run states during Covid, but what would it look like if they were in charge of the entire country?! You might be able to leave California or New York now, but where would you go if the long arm of socialism and liberalism could reach you wherever you lived in this country?

We are one nation under God not under a liberal Socialist government!

The attack by socialism and communism on the status quo is a call to our consciences — those of us who consider ourselves Christians. This call warns us more strongly than any sermon that our task is to live in protest against everything that opposes God in this world. So poorly have we Christians filled this role that the question must be asked: Are we Christians at all? (Eberhard Arnold) The Intersection of the Gospel, Culture, and Politics

The Two Candidates

If I haven’t offended you too much and you’ve read this far, you may still have an argument about the character of the candidates so let me briefly discuss that too.

Biden is a corrupt politician. He had to back out of several previous attempts at the presidency because of his blatant lies, fantasized life stories, and plagiarism that were investigated by real journalists who exposed him.

He still tells the same lies and untruths, but as I said earlier, today’s propaganda media covers for him. For example, the recent discovery that he lied about having interaction with his son Hunter’s business dealings with foreign countries, and may have profited from them even while in office as VP, has only appeared on FOX and NEWSMAX. Silence on all the other networks.

The Democrats have vowed to increase the number of justices to pack the Supreme Court with liberal judges if they win the Senate and Presidency. A “liberal” Supreme Court removed prayer from the schools, made Roe v Wade the law of the land, and went against the vote of the people to legalize gay marriage.

President Trump has his character flaws, as has every past and future President. But it’s never mentioned that Trump has asked for forgiveness for his past discretions in his personal life. Christians should grant grace to a man who acknowledges his wrongs.

It’s amazing how many Christians want to continually go back to things he did and said years ago, ignoring the person he has become in the past four years and the good he’s done and the promises he’s fulfilled for our country, and Christians in particular. In his first term, he has put three conservative justices on the Supreme Court and hundreds of federal judges.

President Trump definitely has room to improve. Even his wife doesn’t agree with some of his tweets, but unlike corrupt politicians who just tell you what you want to hear, as his family attests, you always know what he’s thinking.

President Trump made his money before becoming president and walked away from a good life because as a patriot, he saw the downward slide of America. He doesn’t take a salary as President but donates it. Unlike Biden, who has become rich as a politician!

I believe God put it on Trump’s heart to leave the comfortable life he had and step into the lion’s den of Washington where he has been unmercifully spied on, plotted against, resisted, hated, lied about, and even impeached.

God is using this unlikely man to unveil the evil and corruption in our government and the underground world. I pray he has four more years because the work isn’t finished yet.

Many people think that Jesus came to Earth to unite the world, but He actually came as a divider to separate those who would follow Him and His ways at any cost from those who might follow Him in name only or those who chose a secular life. Divide, not unite, those who chose the world over His ways.

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
³⁶ a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’^[^a^]
³⁷“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Matt. 10:34-38

Sadly, many deceived “Christian” leaders have tried to meld Christianity’s truths with secular culture’s fallen mind-set and morals.

Christians are to infiltrate and influence the secular world but never let the world’s ways invade the church or their personal lives.

We don’t unite with evil, we fight evil.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Is. 5:20

God does not compromise or condone evil and neither should we, His people.

If you’re a Christian voting for Biden/Harris, I would ask you to prayerfully consider why you would choose the Democrat’s evil policies and plans that will affect our country for future generations as they vow to eradicate generations that will never get to take their first breath.

If you know a Christian voting for the Democrat platform, please prayerfully send them this article.

When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan. Proverbs 29:2 ESV

A closing note from Pastor Bill Johnson a fifth-generation pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California, author of Born for Significance, and speaker on revival and the Holy Spirit, who wrote an op-ed for The Christian Post on why he voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and will again in 2020. In it he says,

“For me it is worthy of note that I’ve never seen a president who loved prayer as much as Donald Trump — and that includes from those I voted for and those I didn’t, . . . His passion for godly counsel is also legendary. His historic actions for Israel should appeal to believers, as the biblical mandate to pray supportively for Jerusalem is a clear priority in scripture.”

If you haven’t voted already, please pray and let God lead you to vote your faith values for President, Senators, Congress, local candidates, and our country.

God Bless America!

November 2, 2020

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Have We Willingly Forfeited Our Privacy and Freedom to Big Tech?

I remember well attending a writer’s conference with a friend in the mid-nineties and the speaker said he would periodically check his email to take a break from writing.

I naively asked my friend, “Why does anyone need email? Who has time to sit and read it?”

She looked at me incredulously and said something to the effect that once you have it, you’ll love it.

She was instrumental in helping me set up my first email account and then sent me emails nonstop. At first, I looked at them as an intrusion in my life. This was before IPhones and my computer was upstairs so it wasn’t convenient or important for me to run up and down the stairs to see if anyone had sent an email.

My friend and I used to talk a lot on the phone or in person, but then our mode of communication became almost exclusively email. I also learned that our words could be misconstrued and misunderstood on the computer screen and our first disagreement came via an email message.

Next, came Facebook which again seemed like a major intrusion in my life but when my daughter moved from California to Idaho and she set up a Facebook account, we became “Facebook friends” so I could see what was going on with her and the young grandchildren.

And hey, it was free as opposed to long-distance phone calls, even though I still preferred hearing her voice and seeing the hard copy pictures she sent in the mail.

Soon, I was Facebook friends with many people I recognized and many I didn’t! It was a fun way to stay in contact and connected. But again, it meant climbing the stairs and sitting at the computer a big chunk of time.

Later, as my writing and speaking ministry was flourishing, I attended another writer’s conference where I took a workshop on how to use “Twitter.” That seemed much more complicated and had a number of steps to actually set it up and use effectively. Maybe I’d work on it later.

I progressed to a Blackberry and a laptop so I no longer had to climb the stairs to my office to engage in email and social media. It was accessible 24/7!

Book publishers expected authors to have a social media presence and it was advantageous to have numerous followers.

Social media began to consume a big part of my waking hours.

I long sometimes for the days when I asked my friend, “Who has time for this?”

We’ve Lost Our Privacy

Like many of you, I’ve begun to see social media acting like Big Brother. If I Google or look on a website for an item, I suddenly see ads for it popping up on Facebook. It almost seems that if I even just say I might need something, ads appear for it.

Just yesterday, I was talking face-to-face with someone in the privacy of my home asking about carpet cleaners in our area. Last night, while scrolling through Facebook, there was an advertisement for a local carpet cleaner!!

Coincidence or is Facebook somehow listening to my conversations if my IPhone is near?!

No, we don’t have Alexa. I’ve read Alexa does listen in on conversations in your home.

Years ago, my daughter told me, “Mom, just Google anything you want to know. It’s all there.”

She’s right and actually it’s quite helpful when I’m doing research for a book, even if I’m looking for a Scripture on a topic.

But there’s a downside to all this “free” technology that we’ve ignored.

Big Tech knows way too much about us and we’ve let them.

Big Tech knows where we are, where we live, where we go, what we buy, and maybe what we say and think.

Big Tech has all generations addicted to electronic devices, which have become a necessity rather than a luxury. We’re hooked!

And we’ve ignored Big Tech’s personal invasion into our lives.

Now Big Tech has us just where they want us so they can control what we see, read, and think.

We’ve Lost Our Freedom of Speech

There is no question that Facebook, Twitter, and Google are biased and loyal to the liberal left. Their goal in this election, and universally, is to squelch and censor any communication that does not fit the Democrat and liberal talking points and agenda.

Our President, his campaign, the White House, conservatives, Republicans, and Christians are having their social media accounts censored, locked, and closed, including by YouTube owned by Google.

Even though Congress and the Senate have themselves been censored if they’re on the wrong side politically of Big Tech, they’ve done nothing to stop this communist type censorship.

We’ve heard the stories of China and Russia censoring what people can say and hear in their countries and we said this could never happen in America, yet here we are.

It’s not Russia interfering with the election. It’s the Big Tech conglomerates who can shutdown anything that doesn’t support their liberal platform, beliefs, and candidates.

And we let it happen. We’re sacrificing our freedoms for what they dangle in front of us as free convenient communication while they censor and control us!

I’ve watched Congress and Senate bring the heads of each of the Big 3 into question them, and things only get worse. After the election, next month the Senate is questioning Facebook’s Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Dorsey on alleged censorship, but the damage is already done for this election.

Will they be held accountable? Will anything change? I’m doubtful.

When I saw many in China forced to wear masks and locked into their homes, I thought that would never happen in America. But it did!

Would you have ever thought schools would be closed in America?

Churches closed?

Neighbors encouraged to snitch on each other?

Support for defunding the police and the Pentagon?

Socialism/Marxism/Communism on the ballot?

There are substitutes for Facebook available, but none are very effective.

I’m speaking to myself when I muse whether God is telling us to use the time we spend on social media to instead communicate with Him through His Word, not the world’s ways and words.

I’m going to write more about that last thought next week.

Social media definitely has its rightful place in our society. It can be used for good.

I’m just considering how it’s also being used to manipulate and distract us from good.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

As you prepare to cast your vote in a week, consider which party supports freedom of speech?

Which party is using Big Tech to control what you hear and say?
Why don’t they want you to know and share the truth?
What would America look like if they won?

Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side—
    leaders whose decrees permit injustice?
²¹They gang up against the righteous
    and condemn the innocent to death.
²²But the Lord is my fortress;
    my God is the mighty rock where I hide.
²³God will turn the sins of evil people back on them.
    He will destroy them for their sins.
    The Lord our God will destroy them. Psalm 94:20-23

I would enjoy hearing your thoughts.

October 26, 2020

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What Color Do You See?

Recently, I’ve been going to a new hairstylist, and like we girls do, I took a picture that I thought depicted well the color highlights I was trying to achieve. But each time I had my hair done, the color turned out different from what I was expecting.

Last week, as the stylist and I put our heads together over her color chart, I noticed she was looking on one side of the chart and I was focused on the opposite side. Finally, a little frustrated I’m sure, she asked me a key question about the picture I had brought her to follow: “What color do you see?”

We had to laugh when we realized she was seeing rust tones and I was seeing reddish tones! How could that happen you ask when we were both looking at the same picture?!

It was such an “Ah ha” moment for me.

Isn’t that how we look at so many issues in our world? In our marriages. In our faith. In politics.

We can’t imagine how anyone could see something so differently from what seems crystal clear and apparent to us. But all you have to do is glance at social media or engage in a political or spiritual conversation to see that we’re often coming from completely different viewpoints on the same subject that looks so obvious from our point of view.

Seeing Black and White, Or Grey

Like many of you, I watched a good portion of the Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court Justice hearing last week. What a perfect example of how political parties differ on beliefs and how they present their differences.

Judge Barrett listened to presentations and questioning from Democrat and Republican Senators. The Dems tried to get her to change/admit what they thought was her position on specific issues and Republicans endorsed what each side assumed she would rule.

Judge Barrett gracefully and wisely never gave either side a hint of how she would vote. If confirmed, when presented with a case as a Justice, she would base her final decision on interpreting and applying the law according to the Constitution. One side was frustrated with her answers and the other side was elated.

Judge Barrett has black and white guidelines to base how she judges a case: the law and the Constitution. She said many times that she would make a decision using those benchmarks even if it went against her personal beliefs. No grey areas.

She would not rule as an advocate or activist but as a judge!

It shouldn’t matter if the left or the right nominated her because she wouldn’t be influenced by political, personal, or sociological persuasion.

That will be unique and refreshing because it seems few judges can make that distinction today. I’m convinced Justice Barrett will!

What Colors Your Faith?

Biblical laws and beliefs are not popular today, but they’re the foundation of our Christian faith and God expects us to follow them even when our faith comes under pressure. Even when it’s hard. Even when the majority does not agree with us.

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. James 1:2-4 The Message

It’s not easy today to go against the culture and sadly we see prominent people of faith moving to the dark side. We wonder how they could go from the brilliant light of Jesus into the world’s evil darkness, especially when we’re all reading the same Bible and praying to the same God.

How could they support the barbaric tortuous murder of unborn children?

How could they dismiss the Bible’s definition of marriage between a man and a woman?

How could they endorse the mutilation and child abuse of gender change in young children?

The Bible has the answer–

They left us, but they were never really with us. If they had been, they would have stuck it out with us, loyal to the end. In leaving, they showed their true colors, showed they never did belong. 1 John 2:19 The Message

We cry out . . .

God, put an end to evil; avenging God, show your colors! Judge of the earth, take your stand; throw the book at the arrogant. God, the wicked get away with murder—how long will you let this go on? They brag and boast and crow about their crimes! Ps. 94:1-4 The Message

Christians have God’s law and His Word to guide us in our actions, choices, and decisions. There is no grey area. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” Is. 5:20

What Colors Your Vote?

We see states labeled with Liberal Blue or Conservative Red and yet there are both types of people living in those states. My birth state of California is liberal blue, but I have many conservative friends and family living there and many who are leaving. It’s hard to live under a tyrannical rule that pushes agendas contrary to your beliefs.

As a conservative, I admit I’m happy to be living in a “red” state, but I know there are liberals on the ballot who would like nothing better than to turn our state blue! And there are liberals who will vote for them.

Why?

I don’t know.

What do they see in socialism that attracts them? I’m truly curious, but when I ask that question, I never get an answer. I’m usually bombarded with all the things they don’t like about President Trump personally, ignoring everything he’s achieved for our country. Nothing about what they like in the Democrat agenda, which would become the law of the land if they were to win in the election.

Sadly, many people’s vote will be colored by their emotions and not wisdom.

Regardless of who we’re voting for, I believe we should base our vote primarily on platforms and polices, not personality.

Many people today are putting personality first. A treacherous mistake.

Here’s a good article to read. Deroy Murdock: Trump vs. Biden—Voters in 2020 should think long and hard about policy, not personality!

Every few weeks, I can change a wrong hair color, but we can’t change a wrong voting decision for years.

What colors do you see for America?

Red or Blue

Red, White, and Blue!

Last week, I gave a link to Vote Your Faith. I want to add a few others as we move into the countdown to November 3 and maybe you’re voting early.

Decision Magazine free voter guide to download.

Million Voices 2020 Voter Guide

We’re not just voting for a President, Congressmen, Senators, and local government officials. As Pastor Jack Hibbs, who opened the doors of his large California church on May 31 says, we’re voting for a way of life . . .

…we’re voting for our freedom.

…we’re voting to save the unborn.

…we’re voting for our right to worship freely.

…we’re voting to protect our streets and secure our borders.

…we’re voting for the right to promote Godly values!

October 19, 2020

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What Does It Mean to Pray for Your Enemies?

When I woke up Friday morning to the news that Donald and Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19, like many of you, I immediately started praying.

I heard President Trump in a phone interview with Sean Hannity late Thursday night and I commented to Dave that the President’s voice sounded tired, which is understandable since it was late and he had just spoken at an event. But looming in the interview was the knowledge that senior White House advisor Hope Hicks had been on Airforce One with the President and had just tested positive for COVID.

We prayed that night, “Lord please protect the President and First Lady.” But sadly, they both do have COVID along with some of their staff and Republican senators.

I knew instinctively what was going to happen next after their diagnosis. The vitriol on social media, mainstream media, and many liberals and Democrat politicians would start spewing from the abyss.

City Pages, an alternative weekly covering Minneapolis and St. Paul, published an article Friday headlined, “Let’s laugh at all these very good ‘Trump has COVID’ tweets.” Editor-in-chief Emily Cassel led the piece by writing, “So President Trump and the First Lady have COVID. Man, anyone else just in a really, inexplicably good mood this morning?”

We’re in a cancel, carnal, cruel culture so repulsive that people would wish death to their President and political opponent. Granted there were some politicians from the opposing party, including Biden, who declared a partisan truce and wished well to the president, at least for now.

I don’t know about you, but anticipating the evil attacks on our President and First Lady, I tried to stay off social media and just pray. I knew my friends and followers would be posting about praying, but others might want to post examples of the horrible things said by others. I didn’t want to taint my mind.

I wanted to “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Phil. 4:8 NLT

I needed to focus my thoughts on President and Melania Trump having a quick recovery and healing from this terrible plague and not let my mind be filled with the comments of insensitive and hideous people actually celebrating the possible demise of our President to this unseen enemy.

They wanted him to suffer. Die. Joking about a dreaded illness.

What kind of person does that?!

“If you find yourself rooting for someone’s death—anyone’s death—it’s time to pause and take stock of how your own souls has rotted.”—Tucker Carlson.

“If you gloat over other people’s afflictions, you are not worthy of being called a human” is another worthy quote I read.

I would not give this human depravity an audience.

My Personal Epiphany

Then the Lord asked me a question I had to address: How would you react if it was Biden who had contracted COVID?

I am praying that he doesn’t win the election. He and his liberal party represent everything I don’t want for our country, much of it I consider evil and ungodly.

So would I pray as earnestly for his recovery as I’m praying for President Trump?

Wow?!

How I respond would show what resides in my heart. Would I show Christian compassion? My husband says I would pray for Biden. I hope he’s right!

How a Christian reacts to other’s misfortune is telling of their spiritual maturity when someone they don’t like is in distress.

Then the Lord brought to mind the verses on loving and praying for our enemies. Those we don’t agree with or even those we fear or have done us wrong.

The Sermon on the Mount

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus first started with the Beatitudes (Mt. 5:3-11). Then he taught about being salt and light, (13-16). He taught about the Law (17-20), anger (21-26), adultery (27-30), divorce (31-32), vows (33-37), revenge (38-42), and he ended his sermon with the difficult admonition to love your enemies.

Jesus Teaching about Love and Prayer for Enemies

⁴³“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. ⁴⁴But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! ⁴⁵In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.
⁴⁶If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. ⁴⁷If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. ⁴⁸But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48 NLT

Are you convicted like I am when reading this teaching from Jesus? Even on the cross, He prayed for those who were putting Him, an innocent man, to a cruel death.

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34

Jesus wants us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us when something inside us tells us to not even like them!

It doesn’t mean we accept or agree with their actions, which for purposes of this article we’re talking about those who go against everything we believe spiritually, morally, and politically.

Jesus tells us to be like Him. We must pray for our enemies and be kind to them. I take that to mean we pray for their salvation and what greater “love” could we show for them than to pray they become believers.

Bill O’Reilly commented last week, “If you feel glad that Donald and Melania Trump are ill, then you have a sickness, too. And while most recover from Covid, the disease of enjoying the suffering of others is rarely defeated. That disease is called evil.”

O’Reilly is right that evil is a disease, but there is a cure for it: Jesus Christ.

I think that Matthew 5:45-48 is calling us to pray for those we hear and see vomiting hate and evil. We detest what they’re doing, so we pray that someway, somehow they find salvation in Jesus because He went to the cross for them just like He did for us.

Maybe some of them claim to be believers. Look at their actions and if they’re behaving according to the world or in a hurtful harmful way, we pray that they will return to God and His ways.

What we don’t do is match their behavior in our thoughts, words, or actions because Jesus warns us that then we’re no better than them.

I like this quote from Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family: “I believe strongly in being conservative in my politics–but liberal in my fellowship and in my willingness to pray for others.”

The person I’ve seen in politics who does the best at responding to opposition as a Christian is Vice President Mike Pence. He lets you know when he doesn’t agree with someone, but he does it in a way that is never demeaning or disparaging. He tends to defend his position rather than attack the other person personally. I’m looking forward to his debate with Kamala Harris this week. And I’m praying for him and his health.

Let’s be sure during this very contested political season that our comments and posts reflect the mind and kindness of Christ. That we pray for the hearts and souls of those who persecute us, or persecute the ones we care about, or decry our values.

Pray for those who seem consumed with anger and animosity.

If you remember in last week’s blog, I said the Lord kept giving me a vision of a sudden outpouring of the Holy Spirit over all those who are doing evil in our cities and government. A miracle of mass salvation!

I see all the rioters and haters suddenly dropping their weapons of destruction and their tongues of vileness being stilled. The tyrannical government officials and those trying to tear down our country, having a reawakening about the goodness of God and the greatness of the country He blessed us with—The United States of America!

We have to look for things to praise, even when small, and focus on finding ways to “be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.”

Let’s keep our minds and hearts positive and loving as we pray for the recovery of our President and his beautiful wife, even if he isn’t your preferred candidate. Remember we haven’t reached perfection either.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2 NLT

October 5, 2020

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We Prayed. God Blessed Us. Now What?

Only God would coordinate the timing on September 26, 2020 of the Franklin Graham Prayer March 2020 and The Return with Jonathan Cahn both in Washington DC on the National Mall on the same day that President Trump announces the nomination of a conservative Christian woman Justice for the Supreme Court!

Only God!

This was no coincidence!

A friend messaged me what I also believe to be true: “I believe the remnant is storming the Highest Court in prayer and praise!”

I do believe that God heard the prayers of His people and the heavenlies smiled down on us.

So now we keep on praying and believing. We must not stop because you know that Satan is only going to ramp up his efforts to create chaos, fear, and turmoil.

I also participated in a “March for Peace and Prayer in America” in my small rural mountain community. It was nondenominational and not political. You could bring “signs of prayer and peace but please no negativity.”

As I discussed the walk with a friend from church, I found myself wondering if carrying an American flag would be considered political. Negative?

I’m happy to say we carried a large American flag and signs with encouraging Scriptures and quotes. Some of those walking were barely able to walk from the very young, one with a cane, and even some slightly lame. But everyone completed the march and gathered together at the end for encouragement and prayer.

The morning started with rain that cleared before we walked and God blessed us with an affirming rainbow!

What a spirit-filled day from coast to coast!

How Have We Strayed So Far?

As we watched the joy and smiles of the thousands walking, and some even in wheel chairs on the National Mall, I noticed many carrying and waving with pride small American flags. I couldn’t help but think what a sad day in America when emblems of patriotism and love for our country are politicized. Even scorned and burned.

I ask myself so often: How did we let this happen? I know many are bravely and boldly speaking up, as am I, but why are so many denouncing their own country? Why are children being taught that America is bad when the rest of the world looks up to us with admiration? At least they used to.

Why are we letting a fringe element of Marxists convince us that there is “systemic racism” in our country?

Why aren’t more people acknowledging that the problem is systemic secularism?

People are rejecting what they once held true and dear to fit in with a system that is rejecting not only our country . . . but our God.

As I pondered these thoughts, my Bible reading was Psalm 37 in the Holman Christian Standard Bible. I’m going to share with you some of the verses that spoke directly to my heart in these troubling times where God calls His people to action but not agitation.

I add my commentary in italics and add emphasis to the scriptures. I hope they bless you too!

Psalm 37 “Instruction in Wisdom”

Isn’t wisdom what we all want right now as our tempers rise with current events? I’ve even had some friends say their blood pressure is literally rising. God says this:

Do not be agitated by evildoers;
do not envy those who do wrong.
²For they wither quickly like grass
and wilt like tender green plants.

³Trust in the Lord and do what is good;
dwell in the land and live securely.^[^b^]
⁴Take delight in the Lord,
and He will give you your heart’s desires.

God tells us that if we trust Him completely and continue doing what we know is right and good, even in the midst of all the rioting, lying, COVID, and evil we’re watching daily, He will keep our lives secure.

He wants us to keep our focus on the Lord and the joy that He brings to our life and He will give us what we’re praying for either on earth or later in heaven.

Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him;
do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way,
by the man who carries out evil plans.

⁸Refrain from anger and give up your rage;
do not be agitated—it can only bring harm.
⁹For evildoers will be destroyed,
but those who put their hope in the Lord
will inherit the land.

I don’t know about you, but at our house we’ve found ourselves very agitated at the injustice and evil that seems to be prevalent in our country today. But notice that in eight verses, God tells us three times to not be agitated by those doing evil because it does no good. In fact, it can bring harm to our health and well-being.

Instead, we need to do just what thousands of us did on Saturday, pray with trust that God is on His throne and we will get our land back if we don’t lose hope.

A little while, and the wicked person will be no more;
though you look for him, he will not be there.
¹¹But the humble will inherit the land
and will enjoy abundant prosperity.

¹²The wicked person schemes against the righteous
and gnashes his teeth at him.
¹³The Lord laughs at him
because He sees that his day is coming.

The wicked have drawn the sword and strung the bow
to bring down the afflicted and needy
and to slaughter those whose way is upright.
¹⁵Their swords will enter their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.

. . .

The Lord watches over the blameless all their days,
and their inheritance will last forever.
¹⁹They will not be disgraced in times of adversity;
they will be satisfied in days of hunger.

²⁰But the wicked will perish;
the Lord’s enemies, like the glory of the pastures,
will fade away—they will fade away like smoke.

As Christians, we know that doing wrong or evil to satisfy the culture, never pleases God. Even though we’re laughed at and disparaged, we let it bounce off us because our future is eternal life. Those who are scoffing at God will learn some day that their future is literally in hell.

A man’s steps are established by the Lord,
and He takes pleasure in his way.
²⁴Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed,
because the Lord holds his hand.

²⁵I have been young and now I am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous abandoned
or his children begging for bread.
²⁶He is always generous, always lending,
and his children are a blessing.

Turn away from evil and do what is good,
and dwell there^[i] forever.
²⁸For the Lord loves justice
and will not abandon His faithful ones.
They are kept safe forever,
but the children of the wicked will be destroyed.
²⁹The righteous will inherit the land
and dwell in it permanently.

God reminds us that in the end, His justice will prevail. Until then, we seek righteous wisdom from God and follow guidance from His Word. We will dwell safely and securely with the Lord forever.

This theme runs through the remainder of the psalm. As you continue reading, pray that God will speak to you to calm your heart, mind, and soul as you pray for His righteousness to prevail in our world and that those promoting and supporting the evil will be unveiled and stopped.

It may look like they are winning for the moment, but God is always the winner.

The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom;
his tongue speaks what is just.
³¹The instruction of his God is in his heart;
his steps do not falter.

³²The wicked one lies in wait for the righteous
and seeks to kill him;
³³the Lord will not leave him
in the power of the wicked one or allow him to be condemned when he is judged.

³⁴Wait for the Lord and keep His way,
and He will exalt you to inherit the land.
You will watch when the wicked are destroyed.

³⁵I have seen a wicked, violent man
well-rooted like a flourishing native tree.
³⁶Then I passed by and noticed he was gone;
I searched for him, but he could not be found.

Watch the blameless and observe the upright,
for the man of peace will have a future.
³⁸But transgressors will all be eliminated;
the future of the wicked will be destroyed.

³⁹The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord,
their refuge in a time of distress.
⁴⁰The Lord helps and delivers them;
He will deliver them from the wicked and will save them
because they take refuge in Him.

Amen!

So What Do We Do Now?

We keep on praying!

Let’s pray for Amy Coney Barrett and her family. We know how malicious the attacks will be but the Lord will be her strength and give her the right words and countenance.

Pray for President Trump as he continues to govern our nation while campaigning.

Pray for an outpouring of the Spirit on our nation.

Pray for a down pouring of rain and cold temperatures on the cities where the riots continue.

Pray for the safety of our police force and the military.

Pray for the coronavirus plague to subside.

Pray for churches to open their doors.

The vision the Lord keeps giving me is a sudden outpouring of the Holy Spirit over all those who are doing evil in our cities and government. A miracle of mass salvation!

There is no one outside of God’s reach, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Rom. 10:13)

Nothing is impossible with God.

Let me know what you’re praying for. What vision is God giving you?

September 28, 2020

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What Does Resilience Even Mean?

Courage and Not Cowering is Our Mission

Hold On Tight to Your Family

Worship with Your Church Family and Take Your Family to Church!

We Will Not Be Silenced!

Does God Speak to Us In Dreams Today?

What Might God Be Telling You In Your Dreams?

Tensions Over Turkey

Past Thanksgiving Blogs

What Weapons Do We Have for the Lord’s Battle?

God Has a Battle Plan

Christians can NEVER Unite with a Murder-Driven Platform that Denies the Sanctity of Life!

Christians can Never Unite with “Gender Fluidity”!

Christians can Never Unite with a Political Party that Restricts Religious Liberty!

Christians can NEVER Unite with a Socialist/Communist/Marxist Agenda!

The Two Candidates

We’ve Lost Our Privacy

We’ve Lost Our Freedom of Speech

Seeing Black and White, Or Grey

What Colors Your Faith?

What Colors Your Vote?

What colors do you see for America?

My Personal Epiphany

The Sermon on the Mount

How Have We Strayed So Far?

So What Do We Do Now?

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