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Take the Spiritual Battle Seriously Don’t Become a Casualty!

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When my prayer warrior hubby, Dave, hears about a Christian going through a tough time, he always asks, “I wonder if they’re prayerfully putting on the armor of God everyday?”

Anyone who knows us well knows that Dave and I have prayed the armor of God found in Ephesians 6:10-18 daily since the beginning of our twenty-eight years of marriage. We know that spiritual warfare is real; it’s not a myth! It’s a reality that the Lord speaks of clearly and often in the Bible. Yet, many Christians don’t realize that not only is this spiritual battle going on in our world, it’s also going on in our personal lives. It’s the battle between good and evil, Jesus and Satan, which will continue until the time of Jesus’ return.

When we take that first step of faith as believers, we automatically enter into the battle raging in the heavenlies and become Satan’s target. Satan hates Christians and the influence we can have on the culture so he does everything in his power to neutralize our influence and the role we allow God to play in our lives.

I’ve said many times that Satan wants our children and grandchildren, and we’re watching how openly and aggressively he’s going after them in the schools today. He knows his time is short, but he can do a lot of damage during whatever time he has left if we don’t stand in his way!

We shouldn’t let him intimidate us. Don’t succumb to his crafty wiles. Never give up or give in! Instead we take up the spiritual weapons our Great God has provided and implores us to use in victory over the enemy. Yes, you and I have assignments in God’s battle plan!

Praying the Armor of God

In Ephesians 6:10-18, the apostle Paul penned a prayer of protection known as the armor of God. Dave and I pray these verses every morning, which by now we have memorized, because we know that as Christians the enemy is going to put obstacles in our way and try to take us down. You’ve surely experienced some of those obstacles yourself, but verses ten to eleven encourage us to “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.” (NLT)

Ephesians 6:12 reminds us of something we often forget: “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” (NLT)

The good news for every believer is that we have access to a hedge of protection against Satan’s schemes, “Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Verse 17 NLT)

God assures us that we can trust him to fight the spiritual battle for and with us, we just need to engage and do our part and not be passive bystanders or victims.

Rather than trying to solve problems ourselves or find ways to combat what we might be experiencing in the earthly realm, our role is to call on God. “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” (Verse 18 NLT)

When we’re feeling fearful, worried, threatened, or stressed, we can prayerfully search the Scriptures to discover that God has already provided a safety hedge or shield of protection around those who trust and believe in him. It doesn’t mean the enemy won’t try to weasel into our life, but we know how to prevent his feeble attempts from penetrating our mind, heart, and soul.

Imagine yourself with a hedge of spiritual swords pointed up and surrounding you against any attempts of the enemy as you open your Bible to read God’s Word and pray each day.

Here are four hedge-of-protection prayers and sword-of-the-Spirit Scriptures to fend off and shield us from Satan’s schemes. Remember that verse 18 instructs us to “pray for all believers everywhere,” not just for ourselves.

1. A Prayer for a Hedge of Protection around Your Thoughts

Lord, you know how my mind wanders with what-ifs and should-ofs. These nagging thoughts keep me awake at night worrying and wondering about circumstances over which I have no control. I’m often angry and frustrated with world events and find myself brooding or depressed.

Father, please help me to focus on things that are lovely and beautiful. Let me see the good in people and not corrupt my mind with the discourse and divisive voices on social media or the news. Guard me against spiraling into the abyss of sinful harmful thoughts.

In your name, Lord Jesus, I prayerfully secure over my mind the “helmet of salvation” from Ephesians 6:17 and claim a hedge of protection against any lies, thoughts, and/or emotions inserted in me by Satan or his followers. Let me be exclusively open to your voice and available to do your will alone.

Guide me in seeking the mental hedge of protection from the Holy Spirit as he fills my mind with peace, joy, righteousness, compassion, and love. Amen

When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer. Psalm 94:19 NLT

Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield. Psalm 5:12

2. A Prayer for a Hedge of Protection around Your Actions

Oh Lord, I want my actions to be pleasing to you. My desire is to reflect the Holy Spirit residing in my heart. But I regret to admit that I don’t always think clearly and rationally before I act. When I rethink what I’ve done rashly, impetuously, or selfishly, I want a redo, but it’s too late. I can’t rewind or erase my actions.

I admit that my wrong actions are actually a sin against you Lord. I pray you will have mercy on me as you did on King David and teach me to walk in your ways so that I can say of you as David did in Psalm 62:6 (NLT), “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.”

Lord, I pray that I would consider how my actions appear to others, especially the ones who look to me for direction and wisdom. Do they see you in me or is my pride and self-absorption more evident? I desperately want your light to shine through me. So Lord when I’m about to act in a way that is not loving or respectful, I beg you to give me a check in my spirit.

Protect me Father from temptation and falling into old patterns of behavior. Surround me with a hedge of caring people who will lovingly point out when I’m acting in a way unbecoming a Christian. Remind me that I am a new creation in Christ and place barriers to prohibit me from acting in a way that would grieve you. Amen

Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees! Psalm 119:5 NLT

The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. Psalm 121:5 NLT

3. A Prayer for a Hedge of Protection around Your Speech

Father, I want my words always to be pleasing to you, but I know when I speak impetuously or sharply you are not pleased. Oh, Lord, I need you to guard my tongue, even though James 3:8 (NLT) warns, “No one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.”

I know what James says is true Father. I often seem to lack control over what comes out of my mouth. Only you can place a sentinel around my tongue to guard what I say and when I say it.

Lord, you gave me the gift of speech, which I watch brighten a face when I choose my words wisely, but I also see it bruise an unsuspecting victim when it cuts like a knife.

Your Word says that what comes out of my mouth, forms first in my heart so I need a hedge of protection to filter what’s allowed to take residence in my heart. Give me patience not to speak impetuously and wisdom to speak appropriately.

Weed out of my vocabulary ungodly words filled with poisonous vengeance, anger, meanness, harm, or pride. Fill me with grace, kindness, compassion, understanding, and love. Help me choose words and intonation worthy of being a Jesus-follower. Amen

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. Proverbs 4:23-24 NLT

But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. Psalm 5:11

4. A Prayer for a Hedge of Protection around Your Circumstances

Father, our universe is changing rapidly. Everyday circumstances subject us to what feels like an unstable insecure environment. We deal with issues we could’ve never imagined even six months ago. It seems like the world, and thus my life, is spiraling completely out of control. Each morning presents new calls for restrictions that would separate us from each other and the stability and freedoms we once knew.

Lord of Creation, I want to be brave and courageous, especially for those who depend on me to be strong and dependable, but I admit that I am fearful watching the norms I once took for granted crumble into chaos.

Help me find solace in turning each new day over to you. Remind me that nothing catches you by surprise. Just as your eye is on the sparrow, you watch over my loved ones and me. I know that you might not remove me from uncomfortable circumstances, but you will go through them with me. You promise to always be holding onto me with your righteous right hand and shielding me. Even as I walk through the darkest valley, your rod and your staff will protect and comfort me.

How fortunate I am to have a God who loves me beyond my expectations and imagination. Open my eyes Lord to visualize your spiritual hedge of protection like a solid wall surrounding me that Satan cannot penetrate or destroy in any situation or circumstance.

With you at my side and on my side, what can man do to me? Why should I fear? Thank you Lord for being my Rock, my Shield, my Refuge, my Hiding Place, my Fortress, my Protector, my Savior! Amen

The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. Psalm 121:5 NLT

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. Psalm 18:2 NLT

Be Not Afraid

God stands ready to protect us against what the Bible calls the world: a culture, way of thinking, and world system controlled by Satan. Since we must live in this world, we continually ask God to protect us from the way the world thinks, speaks, acts, and the ensuing circumstances of an evil culture.

It’s a continual process of separating God’s ways from the world’s way. We can never let down our guard or spiritual hedge, but when we trust omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent almighty God, he will lead, guide, and direct us. God stands ready with a spiritual hedge of protection to shield us from the world and to keep us from letting the world seep into our life.

How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world. Psalm 31:19 NLT

“May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.” Numbers 6:24–26 NLT

For the Lord is our judge, our lawgiver, and our king. He will care for us and save us. Is. 33:22 NLT

Note: Dr. Charles Stanley wrote a daily prayer, Dressing in Your Spiritual Armor, you might want to print out and incorporate into your daily quiet time.

Portions of this blog appear in a Crosswalk.com article I wrote August 5, 2020 4 Powerful Ways to Pray for a Hedge of Protection

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August 9, 2021
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Do You Know the Difference Between Misinformation and Disinformation?

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Last week, we learned directly from the White House Press Secretary during her briefing on July 16, 2021, that the White House is colluding with Facebook to flag any posts the White House determines contains “problematic misinformation” and to reset their algorithms to eliminate comments and posts the White House doesn’t like! They want those people not only banned from Facebook, but from all social media outlets. Chilling! Something you might expect to hear from a Communist dictator-run country but not in America where the 1st Amendment protects our right to freedom of speech and differing ideas.

At least we’re supposed to have that right. But instead, the White House tells us that any conversation on social media they don’t like must be shut down, and they’re actually flagging “problematic posts” themselves! They want to take control of the free flow of information regarding Covid and shield the public from information they consider inaccurate.

Social media by its very definition and original intent was to be a public square of sharing ideas where free debate and differences of opinion could flow. We’ve known for a long time that hasn’t been the case as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google have been censoring and flagging posts, even banning the sitting President of the United States, who said if they can do it to him, they can do it to you. And they are!

Facebook, as well as other social media outlets, are taking orders from the White House which determines what you can say and know. State censorship. Propaganda.

What’s the Difference Between Misinformation and Disinformation?

On Fox News Sunday, while Chris Wallace was interviewing the Surgeon General Vivek Murthy about Murthy’s telling Facebook they must do more aggressive censoring of Covid “misinformation,” the caption running below read “Facebook defends its efforts to remove vaccine disinformation.”

In the White House Briefing, Jen Psaki repeatedly interchanged the two words.

“Misinformation” and “disinformation” don’t mean the same thing. However, they’re both often the foundation and propagation of “fake news” and manipulation.

These two often mistakenly interchanged words are only differentiated by one letter, mis and dis. The distinction between the two words is intent.

Misinformation is wrong or false information. When weaponized it becomes disinformation.

The prefix mis means wrong, mistaken, or misunderstood.The prefix dis  means reversal or removal.

Here are interesting examples of disinformation from the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language:

Deliberately misleading information announced publicly or leaked by a government or especially by an intelligence agency in order to influence public opinion or the government in another nation.

Dissemination of such misleading information.

The dissemination of intentionally false information to deliberately confuse or mislead.

Who Determines What’s Considered Misinformation?

Every time I hear the words misinformation or disinformation tossed around and disseminated indiscriminately by news media, politicians, and now the White House, my husband can attest that I often say aloud: Who determines what’s misinformation? Misinformation according to who? What’s the source?

Have you noticed we’re seldom given that information? We’re supposed to accept that something is “misinformation” just because someone said it was even if they’re not an authority or provide any proof or evidence.

On social media, it’s the “fact-checkers,” whoever they are! Even as we’ve seen with Covid, experts often disagree, but one opinion is arbitrarily selected by those in control as the only acceptable source of information and any dissenting ideas are labeled misinformation. Other times, it’s determined by whoever will benefit from burying the truth or subverting questions. Anyone challenging the validity or wanting to discuss other opinions must be silenced.

Every opinion that challenges or disagrees with the liberal ruling establishment is classified as misinformation or disinformation. Even factual biological truths like there are only two genders. Marriage is between a man and a woman. Life begins at conception.

We’re Watching Our Freedoms Slip Away!

When I first saw China forcing everyone to wear masks, I thought that could never happen in America where we’re protected by the Constitution, a Bill of Rights, and freedom. Then masks were “mandated.”

We would never be forced to stay home! Then we were.

The government could never close our churches. Then they did.

Public schools would never be closed. Then they were.

The government cannot spy on citizens. Now they are.

Medical records are private and protected by Hippa. Now they’re not.

The government cannot force anyone to take medication. Now they’re trying.

Big Tech is being deputized to do what the government still can’t do legally . . . yet . . . spy on and censor American citizens.

How Can We Know the Truth?

I was recently asked on Facebook how we can know the truth in the midst of “the craziness of the world news and social media.” I gave the only answer I know and use myself. We go to the source of Truth: God and the Bible and we pray for wisdom and discernment.

My child, don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment. Hang on to them, 22 for they will refresh your soul. They are like jewels on a necklace. Pr. 3:21-22 NLT

Then you will show discernment, and your lips will express what you’ve learned. Pr. 5:2 NLT

Rich people may think they are wise, but a poor person with discernment can see right through them. Pr. 28:11 NLT

Jesus was assailed with people spreading and believing misinformation about Him. He was crucified by bad actors who seized on the opportunity to turn misinformation into disinformation, with the intent of stopping His ministry and taking His life.

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

The Unbelief of the People

37 But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in him. 38 This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted:

“Lord, who has believed our message?
    To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?”[a]

39 But the people couldn’t believe, for as Isaiah also said,

40 “The Lord has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their hearts—
so that their eyes cannot see,
    and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
    and have me heal them. John 12:37-40 NLT

Many missed the Truth walking amongst them that Jesus was the Messiah and every word He said was true. Jesus was then and always will be our Only source of Truth in the midst of deception, manipulation, control, and evil diabolical disinformation.

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. John 14:6 NLT

 In her controversial briefing on Friday, Jen Psaki was asked how the White House justifies this current infringement on public speech in light of the misinformation they’ve fueled in the past causing Facebook to ban people for sharing information the White House now admits was true. She defended, “Information is always changing and evolving,” which is true. That’s why it’s ludicrous for them to label something misinformation without allowing any dissent or discussion only to find out it’s actually correct information and always was.

Information and knowledge evolves from allowing open debate. Listening to and considering different points of view. Not relying on those who have political interests in the outcome.

We must do our research and not let the hyperbole on the news and social media influence us. Sadly, much of the misinformation out there is used to project disinformation to control and subjugate the American people and that’s wrong!

This latest state censorship by the White House can easily morph right into the political elections where political opponents will be silenced. We already saw social media doing that during the last election when they banned anyone from mentioning Biden’s family scandals and removed President Trump from Twitter and Facebook.

It’s NOT misinformation to say that conservatives are flagged, banned, and censored on social media while liberals are free to project lies and disinformation. That’s a proven fact.

“Every corrupt regime since the beginning of time has framed its silencing of citizens as being in the public good,” Erielle Davidson of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.

I personally, have seen the traffic to my author page disappear. I have 1000 followers on that page, Janet Thompson/ Christian Author and Speaker | Facebook, but as of several months ago, the only person that seems to see it is my daughter. No longer are there likes or comments on anything I post there. When I post one of my blogs on my personal page, same thing. So if you agree with anything you read from me, please share the blog and comment on the website.

I’m obviously not deterred from writing the blogs, but I do know we’re not on a fair and free playing field. God knows where the words He gives me should go, and I won’t be silenced. I hope you won’t be either.

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. Romans 1:6 NLT

As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should! Ps 119:7 NLT

Prophecy News Watch posted an interesting article The Road to Fascism? White House And Facebook Merge to Censor Problematic Posts

I also recommend the new book by Mark Levin American Marxism!

July 19, 2021
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Who’s Behind The War on Women?

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Over the years, it’s appeared outwardly that women are advancing in respect and career opportunities. Women are CEO’s, own businesses, hold political positions, host news programs, headline movies and TV programs, author books, own homes, are public speakers and the list goes on.

Until recently, we would’ve said that the culture was on the side of women achieving their goals. Or has it been?

What’s changed?

Who’s behind the devaluing of women and their safety?

Who’s behind the war on women?

I think the answer to those and even more questions originated in the Garden of Eden when the serpent, the Devil, chose to tempt Eve instead of Adam with the forbidden fruit. Sadly, she succumbed to the question so often used to justify sin today, “Did God really say?”

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

 The disgraced Satan has always been at war with God. He wants to be God and when that fails, he wants to be sure that God’s people do not multiply and fill the earth as God predestined.

Satan will try anything to stop God’s people from multiplying. Since God gave women reproductive anatomy, the Devil is the commander, plotter, originator, and perpetuator of the war on women.

Remember in Ephesians 6 that we’re told our battle isn’t against flesh and blood, aka the liberals, progressives, Democrats, atheists, imposters trying to be women. No, the battle is against the spiritual principalities of evil. Those flesh and blood people perpetuating the evil often don’t even realize that they’re being played by Satan. Used. Deceived. Weaponized as they do his dirty work.

But like Eve learned, there will be a price to pay for anyone manipulated by Satan and sadly his victims.

10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we[a] are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Eph. 6:10-12 NLT

One of Satan’s most effective tactical weapons is the use of lies to create confusion. As with Eve, if he can create enough doubt and confusion, his evil battle rages on.

43 Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! 44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me! John 8:43-45 NLT

Let’s look at some of Satan’s strategies in the War on Women!

The Battleground of Abortion

Many women believe the lie that they’re not carrying a baby; it’s just tissue and cells they’re told. Even with the advent of seeing the baby via sonograms, hearing the heartbeat, and knowing that each cell contains the baby’s DNA, Satan uses semantics to confuse them. It’s just “ending or terminating a pregnancy.” “A woman’s choice.” “Women’s healthcare.” “My body, my choice.” “Reproductive rights.”

Women are deceived into believing their life will be better without the life of their baby. Instead, millions of women have a hole in their heart grieving the children they didn’t allow to be born. Only Jesus can help mend that hole and He will if asked and allowed.

When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a mother of five and grandmother of nine, is asked about how she reconciles her Catholic faith with her undaunted support of abortion, she responds: “Let me just say that I’m a big supporter of Roe v. Wade . . . . I am a mother of five children in six years. I have some standing on this issue as to respecting a woman’s right to choose.”

I often wonder what her children think when they hear her repeated and relentless defense of abortion?

An author of an article in the Washington Examiner wrote:

“I am a mother” is really not an answer to whether abortion takes a human life. It is, in fact, a false appeal to authority. And it looks especially bad precisely because a mother, of all people, shouldn’t have a hard time answering the question.

Pelosi does have some “standing on the issue” on account of her having a large family. For her, this shouldn’t be a difficult question. But as the standard-bearer for a party with a fanatical devotion to keeping abortion legal and available through all nine months of pregnancy, she cannot even bring herself to say whether a 15-week-old unborn child is a human being.

Imagine how fanatically devoted to politics one must be to deny even one’s most life-affirming experiences.

What a missed opportunity to support life and encourage women! She’s had five children and still rose to the third highest political position in the country. She could wear her motherhood like a proud badge of honor encouraging all women that you can have the blessings of motherhood and still achieve your goals.

The Battleground of Genders

God was very specific when He created only two, genders: Male and female.

So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Gen. 1:27 NLT

We also know that the woman Eve was created as a helpmate for the man Adam. Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” Gen. 2:8

We’re told in God’s Word that men and women would marry and come together sexually to continue populating the earth. Any deviation from God’s plan was an abomination and a sin. Period.

When my grandson was nine-years-old, he pointed out that of course men were not supposed to have sex with men or women with women because then the world would end!! There would be no more babies. No more people. That’s a no brainer even for a nine-year-old!

Even the animals get that! Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird. There must be a male and a female in each pair to ensure that all life will survive on the earth after the flood. Gen. 7:3 NLT.

Only Satan could try to subvert God’s plan for humanity by causing what we now call “gender confusion.” Again, confusion does not come from God, it comes from Satan.

Confused men who think life would be better as a woman have demanded legal rights to pretend they’re women. They’re allowed to invade the private and public spaces of women in bathrooms, locker and dressing rooms, spas, beauty contests, and even competing in sports against biological women!

Logically and anatomically this is ludicrous and lewd, but instead of rationale people standing up for protecting women, the government is bending to social pressure from a fringe element.

A man is now “Miss Nevada!” A biological 43-year-old male who “identifies as a woman” from New Zealand will compete in women’s weightlifting at the Olympics.

How many biological women do you see trying to compete in men’s sports? Not many or maybe none.

We’re told it’s discrimination to not let confused men “identify” as women with all the privileges, but what about the rights of real women? Why isn’t this male invasion considered discrimination against women?

In a commentary by Joe Saunders in The Western Journal, Saunders wrote about comments from NFL quarterback Brett Favre.

 He was never more on target than when he nailed the issue of transgender “women” competing against true females on the biggest stages in sports. Liberals are going to hate it, but no sane, honest person — man or woman — could disagree.

“It’s a man competing as a woman,” Favre said with characteristic bluntness. “That’s unfair.”

Every human past puberty understands that there are basic physiological differences between men and women. It’s just that in the 21st century, liberals seem to have decided ideology trumps biology.

The Battleground of Motherhood

Last week, I wrote about this battleground and I’ll refer you to that blog “Never Poke a Mama Bear” where I point out that Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats are trying to eliminate Mother and replace with “birthing people.” Do you think Pelosi’s five kids call her their birthing person?

What’s a Woman to Do?

We must stay educated on the issues facing women today and consider them from God’s perspective. Educate our children and grandchildren to not become influenced or persuaded by the ways and sways of the world.

If you know someone influenced negatively by false teachings or ideologies, take the time to talk with them and pray for and with them. Share with them God’s purpose and plans for men and women and why He made us different and unique with specific life roles.

Get involved. Don’t be afraid to stand up against wrong. Like the woman who protested when a male came into the women and children’s area of a spa in California and exposed himself. One of her comments was that other women were afraid to come forward and confront the spa owners who were allowing such an atrocity. But she wasn’t afraid and good for her!

Silence in the face of wrong is wrong itself!

Our tendency often is to avoid adversity but Jesus never avoided sharing the truth even when it wasn’t welcomed or convenient.

The spiritual battle isn’t between Democrats vs Republicans or liberals vs conservatives. It’s between wrong vs right, evil vs good. Satan vs Jesus. The enemy vs the Savior!

It’s easy to say we know who wins in the end so let’s not get involved, but other people are hurt when we don’t engage. The Christian life isn’t about standing quietly on the sidelines; it’s about standing boldly on the Lord’s side of the spiritual battle.

What Satan means for evil, God will use for good! He’ll use those of us who are willing to join Him in the fight for right. I hope you’re in the Lord’s army. I am.

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For 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. 13 Therefore 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. Eph. 6:10-13

The Lord has given me Joshua 1:9 not just once but several times today, so I leave you with a theme verse from my book Everyday Brave: Living Courageously as a Woman of Faith.

If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here! Thank you. I answer every comment.

July 12, 2021
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How “God Winks” Can Help Us Through Difficult Times

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When I said in my last blog that I’d be taking a break for my husband’s knee replacement surgery, I didn’t expect to be MIA for six weeks. We heard stories of people having this surgery as outpatient or at best coming home the next day. I had no idea the journey that lay before us and we’re still venturing on, but God did. My husband continuously says he doesn’t know how anyone goes through this without God!

Praise God, He was our constant companion, even though I must admit I had a few meltdowns along the way!!!

For those of you who prayed for us, we’re grateful. Please keep praying! If you didn’t know about what we were going through, I’m sure you know someone having a difficult time right now and I encourage you to stop reading for a moment and pray for them. They’ll feel your prayers. They need your prayers.

Back to our story . . .

Dave got off to a rocky start when he had a bad reaction to the meds and anesthesia used during surgery. While he was in the hospital for five days, his oldest daughter Michelle and I were with him all day and evening. Michelle had flown out from Chicago to help us with his transition home.

Then to my shock, the doctors determined he wasn’t home ready and needed to go to a rehab facility where he would be placed in COVID quarantine. We could no longer see him! He had a negative COVID test right before they moved him, and we were all vaccinated, but those were “the rules.”

We walked with him as they wheeled him down the sidewalk to the rehab facility, but when the elevator doors shut, I was shut out of his life. Half of my heart ripped away!

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Mark 2:7-9

I’d been his advocate in the hospital and now I was standing on the outside. I couldn’t stop crying. I’m crying now just remembering. I was one of those people you read about kept from their suffering loved ones. It’s reality to me now. It’s cruel.

I came home alone and Michelle flew home. Our family’s only visible communication with Dave, doctors, therapists, and nurses was FaceTime. Dave was there for eight days where he received physical, occupational, and recreational therapy and excellent care, but this was so beyond what we had anticipated.

I stared blankly when people asked, “Why?” Every time I heard that question, or about people who came home the next day, it only made me feel worse. Sad. Heartsick. Despondent.

There’s a lesson for us all. When someone is going through a traumatic experience, hearing how someone else sailed through it only impounds the hurt and trauma. All I wanted was a hug or a prayer. Compassion.

My worst nightmare became reality when 5’5” 122 lb. me, who had recently had surgery, would be bringing home by myself 6’4” 230 lb. hubby who could barely stand up and move by himself, even with a walker. He would have to stay in our basement “Man Cave.” It would be a long time before he could navigate stairs up to our living level.

And so the journey began even though I felt completely inadequate for what God was asking me to do on my own to successfully help this man I love so much recover well and safely. It seemed overwhelming. It was overwhelming.

But of course, I wasn’t completely alone. That’s when the God Winks started!

God Winks Don’t Miss Them!

Dave and I had prayed before his surgery and during his recovery that we would be a witness and light for God’s goodness to everyone we met, and that they would see Jesus in us, no matter what. Maybe that prayer set us on this trajectory because God wanted to use us for His glory. I can’t say I always represented Him well. My emotions at times overtook me when I couldn’t stop crying or heard myself having an unkind outburst, but there were also some amazing experiences where God’s glory shown through in spite of us.

God Wink #1

I thought daughter Michelle came to help after we got home, but it turned out God wanted to use her to support me while Dave was in the hospital and through the experience of sending him off to rehab. Michelle was my rock, a calm and steady voice, gentle pat on my back, and hug that guided me through the crisis and chaos. When I was too upset to eat, she located a smoothie shop nearby that’s now become my favorite!

We live 1 ½ hours from the hospital and rehab. So our daughter Kim, who lives closer, welcomed Michelle and me to stay as long as we needed, which meant my two granddaughters gave up their bedrooms and slept on the couch. No complaining. That’s what love does.

While I was away from home, neighbors Joni and Mike, who are also part of our Couples Bible Study Group, watered our plants and mowed our lawn. Mike takes our trash to the dump when he’s home. (We live in the rural mountains, no trash service.)

God Wink #2

One of the male nurses in the hospital stopped in Dave’s room, even though Dave wasn’t his patient that day, and said he had looked up my books on my website! He was a Christian too.

When Dave was in rehab, I brought some of his favorite juice to help him get more fluids since his BP kept dropping. The nurse that came to the door began comforting me about not being able to see him and I noticed the cross around her neck. Turns out, she’s a Christian also and Dave was her patient for the day. I knew he was in God’s hands.

She assured me that rehab was right where he needed to be. He wasn’t capable of coming home yet, but they would work to get him ready. Rehab was actually a God-Wink blessing.

God Wink #3

Several days before I brought Dave home, three men from church came over and helped prepare the Man Cave by taking off doors, moving furniture, making repairs, and taking Dave’s recliner downstairs.

God Wink #4

Leanna, a dear friend from our Couple’s Bible Study Group, got up early to leave at 6:30 am to drive down to Boise with me to pick up Dave from rehab. I don’t function well early morning, but with Leanna in the car and Jesus at the wheel, it was a beautiful morning even though it had been a rainstorm the day before.

God Wink #5

Dave’s second night home he had cramps in his calf and shooting pains down his leg. He was wreathing and crying in pain. Hot compresses helped but he couldn’t stand up. Leanna, who called me every day, had said call us no matter what time of night. So I did. She and her husband Bob and muscular son Ty came right over and the men got Dave up out of the chair and into bed. Ty gave me his number to text if I needed him in the middle of the night or next day.

God Wink #6

Friends Cynthia and Tom, who were dropping off food they had bought for us at COSTCO, were here when the doctor’s office called about Dave’s leg cramps and shooting pains. We needed to bring him to ER (1 ½ hours away) for an ultrasound to rule out blood clots. When we got off the phone, Tom said he would drive us and Cynthia said she would sit at our house and wait for UPS to drop off medication that needed a signature.

This was the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend, a heavily traveled day in our area and I had been up all night with Dave. This couple was having a family reunion at their home in a few days, but Cynthia said that taking time to help us was confirmation to her that God had the reunion under control! Praise God there were no blood clots.

God Wink #6

The following day, the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, daughter Kim and hubby Toby came up to plant our garden, mow our lawn and do other things on my “to-do” list.

God Wink #7

Memorial Day, Barb from our Couple’s Group stopped by to ask where I needed help. She folded all my laundry and vacuumed my whole house! Amazing timing since around 4:30 pm I got a text from long-time friends from Arizona, Debbie and Jerry, that they were about an hour away and what did I need at the store?! I thought they were coming the next day, but thanks to Barb, my house was ready and I had food to feed them because Gene, another friend from church, had brought over a tray of her famous enchiladas the day before!

Debbie and Jerry had planned this trip to visit us before we knew Dave was having surgery and they said they would only still come if they could be of help. I said, “Oh yes! Please come. I need help!”

They were visiting angels as Jerry is an amazing “handyman” and Debbie just pitched in and saw the many things that needed doing while I was tending to Dave downstairs. Together they cut down on the thousands of steps I was taking up and down the stairs. Debbie went with me to Boise to grocery shop and go to a doctor’s appointment with me to take notes when my brain was exhausted.

I was sad to see them go, but we all were aware of God’s timing in bringing them to “visit” when I needed them most. I finally felt a little rested and ready to tackle Dave’s recovery on our own.

God Wink #8

Now for the over-the-top presence of the Lord showing His face in an act of kindness of two strangers, Scott and Donna May. Physical therapy recommended we get a recumbent bike for Dave. I put a request on our local community Facebook page and began getting messages about bikes for sale. One in particular looked perfect but it was pricey even used. Then there appeared a message from a gentleman who said he had one he could loan us that they only use in the winter and he could deliver it?!

I asked for a picture and it was the exact one I had considered buying. I messaged back thanking him for his generosity and he responded, “Christians help Christians!” I wondered how he knew I was a Christian, but I certainly told him he was an answer to prayer.

When Scott and Donna May brought the bike over the next day, I asked how he knew I was a Christian. Scott laughingly admitted he had looked at my profile and website to be sure I was someone he could trust to return the bike LOL!

Donna May said she refers to these serendipity experiences as “God Winks.” I assured them that God had definitely been winking at us.

And He still continues. Neighbors Bob and Theresa, also in our Couples Group, called and said they’d noticed our lawn getting pretty long again. Could they come over the next morning and mow and spray for mosquitoes. Bob also stops by and picks up our bags of trash to take to the dump.

A physical therapist we’ve been working with in town was concerned about Dave using our shower if we moved him upstairs and offered to come over to our house after work and check it out! He did a survey of our home while he was here to give us tips on moving Dave back upstairs, which we did several days later.

What’s the Take Away from Our God Winks?

1. Ask for Help!

Don’t try to go things on your own. Let people know where and when you need help! We also asked for prayer and I know our church was praying for us and for God to watch over us.

Many times people will just say, “Let us know when you need help.” But then we don’t because we don’t know what kind of help they’re prepared to give and we don’t want to be an imposition.

2. Receive Help

It’s a blessing for others to bless you! Let them. Yes, it’s humbling and maybe even embarrassing, but the Bible tells us that “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.” Ecc. 4:9-10 NLT

3. Join or Form a Bible Study Group

Our Couples Bible Study Group have been through many things together and as one woman in church put it, “Your group is really tight.” We’re there for each other to celebrate the good times, help each other through the difficult times, pray and learn more together how God wants us to navigate the world through the wisdom in His Word.

4. Be Alert to Who Needs a God Wink

Because people are reticent to ask for help, or impose, let’s try and notice when and where someone needs help and then just do it. I’m sure there’s someone in your life who needs a “God Wink” right now!

Note: There are many issues in the world today that I want to write about, but I’ve been so consumed with our issues that I didn’t have the energy or brain-power to tackle them. For several nights after I returned home alone, I couldn’t even turn on the news to hear the world’s troubles because I was living through troubles in my own little world. It all seemed like more than I could process.

I told a friend that I’ll know when the Lord frees my mind to write again, and today was the first day I’ve actually sat down at the computer to write. I’m not sure how consistent, but I’ll try to be back on Mondays. We’ll find out this week when Dave will have his other knee done. Yes, we’re doing this again in the near future, but I know God’s winking at me right now and assuring me He’ll be right there seeing us through it.

All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. 2 Cor. 1:3-4 The Message

Photo by Saad Chaundhry @saadchdhry

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June 21, 2021
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Reimagine One Nation Under God

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Democrats, progressive left liberals, the media, and the White House have introduced the word “reimagine” into their rhetoric. I don’t know about you, but I’ve seldom heard or used that word in my own vocabulary. Suddenly, we hear it in situations where I feel the user wants to disguise or mask what they really mean knowing that if they come right out and say their true intentions, it won’t be received well.

Reimagining seems more esoteric.

The definition of reimagine is to “reinterpret (an event, work of art, etc.) imaginatively; rethink; to form a new conception of.” The most prevalent use of this nebulous creative way of rethinking today is to apply it to policing and “criminal reform.” In the process, they’re trying to reframe policing as racist and brutal and send criminals back out into the streets to terrorize our cities.

In fact, the Democrats want to reimagine our entire country as systematically racist and create the perception that there’s universal racism in need of reform. The mainstream media echoes the mantra.

Their idea of “unity” is that we all agree that America’s problems originate from the police, “white privilege,” “systemic racism,” climate change, guns, not wearing masks, questioning the vaccine, using the wrong pronouns, not letting men play in women’s sports, wanting to save babies, border protection, following the Constitution, fair voting laws.

Conservatives, Christians, Republicans and their values are the real problem.

Yes, if we would just acquiesce, conform, and agree with the left’s liberal/Marxist /Communist takeover of America, we could all live in Joe Biden’s version of “unity.”

They want us to . . .

Reimagine America as “whites” apologizing and making reparations for being born white and racially categorizing all conservative Caucasians as white supremacists.

Reimagine that rioting is actually “peaceful protests” and we’re not actually seeing looting, burning, stealing, and violence in the streets of America.

Reimagine the meaning of words and eliminate words they deem no longer acceptable.

Reimagine that you can change your God-given sex.

Reimagine the biological definition of gender.

Reimagine who responds to your 911 call.

Reimagine life without the security of law enforcement or owning guns for protection.

Reimagine that releasing hard-core felons and criminals is not a danger.

Reimagine the Supreme Court.

Reimagine the need for three separate branches of the Federal government.

Reimagine America’s history.

Reimagine when life starts and who is worthy of life.

Reimagine mandatory masks forever.

Reimagine the meaning of fair and legal elections.

Reimagine who can censor and cancel you.

Reimagine the need for classroom school for your children.

Reimagine how you worship in church.

Reimagine two equal political parties.

Reimagine the military.

Reimagine how you celebrate holidays.

Reimagine the Bill of Rights, Constitution, and Amendments.

Reimagine 50 states.

I bristle every time I hear “reimagine” from the mouths of news commentators, liberals, progressives, leftists, Democrats, and politicians using the term to camouflage the Marxist plans and schemes they have for America. Doesn’t “reimagine” sound more palatable than make America Communist!

Even some liberal-woke “progressive” churches and church leaders are trying to reimagine the Bible and God. Reimagine the remaking of God in their own image.

Here’s who is behind reimagining America and God: Satan.

Can You Imagine?!

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. Is. 55:8 NLT

The reason I titled this blog Reimagine One Nation Under God is because we’ve moved so far away from how our Founding Fathers imagined America. Can any of you remember what it was like when Christianity’s values were at the core of our nation? I can.

God and moral principles and values were respected, as were those who lived by them. Not by everyone but the majority.

People understood the harrowing hazards of Marxism and Communism and would do anything to make sure those ideologies didn’t invade our country.

People could disagree and debate without being canceled or “racist.”

People honored the American flag, stood for the National Anthem, and recited the Pledge of Allegiance with their right hand over their heart.

Children were in classrooms where the day started with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. They learned reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, science, social studies, they weren’t indoctrinated with Marxist critical race theory or perverse sex curriculum.

Boys grew up to be men and girls grew up to be women!

Our government and the White House were not intentionally instilling racial discord into our nation but sought to bring all races and colors together to live in harmony.

Elected officials, the President, the Vice President loved our country and were proud of it and the union they represented.

Children were taught to value the country they were fortunate to live in, not despise it.

God mattered! God’s creation mattered! The men and women in blue mattered! All people mattered! Babies mattered! Life mattered! Freedom mattered! Marriage between a man and a woman mattered! Faith mattered. And they all still do! Don’t let anyone coerce you into saying or believing they don’t! You matter to God!

Can you remember that America?! Well let’s not just reimagine One Nation Under God, let’s be part of the movement to reinstate One Nation Under God with Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness for every citizen . . . every color, every creed, every age!

That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Cor. 2:9 NLT

18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 1 Peter 1:18-19 NLT

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April 26, 2021
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Trust In God, Not the Government

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It doesn’t matter which party is in power or who is in government positions, we should always place our trust and hope in God, not the government or politicians. That’s why it still says on our money and in the House Chamber, “In God We Trust,” which became our nation’s official motto on July 30, 1956, when Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill proclaiming it the law of the land!

I think many lawmakers walking the halls of Congress and many voters forget that God is the only One who is trustworthy, regardless of how many politicians try to put themselves in His place.

Last week, as Biden gave his first public address to the nation, he painted a “dark” picture of our country and tried to tell us that our only hope of living free again in the land of the free was in his words as he leaned into the camera, “trust the government and science.” A government that wants to tell us when we can hug grandma and grandpa and maybe have a backyard BBQ on the 4th of July if we obey and follow the government’s ever changing “science-based” rules and guidelines for living everyday life.

What he grossly omitted from his lecture to America was mentioning the Only source of hope out of any darkness or trouble: Celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ together in our churches on Easter Sunday next month!

For a child is born to us,
    a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
    And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His government and its peace
    will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
    for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    will make this happen! Isaiah 9:6-7 NLT

Discernment and Rational Thinking Seem to Be Masked

During the election, a group of prominent Pastors and Christian leaders who called themselves, “Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden,” baffled me. It seemed an oxymoron. They wanted to believe that Biden’s campaign would honor a verbal agreement to check with them before making any abortion legislation, so they supported him and tried to get others onboard.

Yet, with only a little investigation and discernment while listening to his campaign points directed to his core liberal constituency, they would have easily deducted that he actually would . . .

  • Reverse the Hyde Amendment, which he once supported but now Democrats call racist
  • Make himself the champion of a “woman’s right to choose” and call it “healthcare”
  • Force taxpayers to pay for abortion up and through the point of birth
  • Reopen the case against the Little Sisters of the Poor and reinstate the policy that every organization had to pay for abortifacient contraceptives
  • Reverse the Mexico City Policy, which prevents taxpayers from funding abortion overseas
  • If SCOTUS overturned Roe V Wade, he’d go to Congress and make it the law of the land
  • Oh and BTW, his running mate was a liberal advocates for abortion.

They would know that the head of the U.S. Catholic Bishops wrote a public scathing rebuke of Catholic Biden’s radical support of abortion and redefinition of gender.

You had to be completely oblivious or in denial not to know that the Biden/Harris administration was going to not only support and liberally promote abortion, but also radical gender identity issues.

Yet still the Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden are now publically outraged and feel betrayed?!

“We are very disappointed about the COVID-19 relief package’s exclusion of the Hyde Amendment, a longstanding bipartisan policy that prevents taxpayer funding for abortion. We’re even more upset that the Biden administration is supporting this bill,” the group declared in a recent statement.

“As pro-life leaders in the evangelical community, we publicly supported President Biden’s candidacy with the understanding that there would be engagement [with] us on the issue of abortion and particularly the Hyde Amendment,” the group said. “The Biden team wanted to talk to us during the campaign to gain our support, and we gave it on the condition there would be active dialogue and common ground solutions on the issue of abortion. There has been no dialogue since the campaign.”

How could any Christian be so deceived? How did they think they would find common ground with the Biden liberal agenda even if they had been consulted? They weren’t betrayed; they were used. He’s doing just what he said he would do. Joe Biden is being Joe Biden.

Wouldn’t you think that Pro-life Evangelicals, and even Catholics who voted for him, could’ve seen through his political two-sided facade?

What made Joe renege his Catholic faith beliefs and reverse position on many policies he once championed like the Hyde Ammendment? Power. It seems that the temptation to compromise became too great. Becoming President overshadowed his once core beliefs.

It’s so important as citizens and Christians that we diligently do our homework and persistently pray for wisdom and discernment. Look at facts and details with clear unbiased eyes. We don’t want to become jaded with cynicism, but we do want to be realistic and pursue all avenues before making final decisions or placing our support behind a person or issue.

Often Christians are characterized as naïve and gullible, and honestly, the Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden being so easily manipulated and duped, only reinforces this misconception. But it’s the opposite of who we are! We know the Author of Truth who is just a prayer away.

We are naïve and gullible when we trust those who do not have the same values and beliefs that we do. If we have doubts or concerns, then we do our own research and don’t rely on political rhetoric.

Give discernment to me, your servant; then I will understand your laws. Psalm 119:125 NLT

My child, don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment. Hang on to them. Pr. 3:21 NLT

Rich people may think they are wise, but a poor person with discernment can see right through them. Pr. 28:11 NLT

Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the Lord are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But in those paths sinners stumble and fall. Hosea 14:9 NLT

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

Science Continually Changes, God Never Does

What so many people forget is that science and faith are not mutually exclusive. God created science and gave man the potential to explore and study it. God created the world; only He knows when it will end. God created and controls the weather and the climate. God created gender, male and female.

Covid was man-made by scientists and yet we’re continually told to trust the science as government uses the pandemic to control us.

God knows what we should do in all circumstances. Who we should trust and who has evil motives. We just need to take our concerns and questions to Him. Then listen for His answer!

Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe. Pr. 29:25

 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. Ps. 20:7

It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in humans. Ps. 118:8

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. Ps. 46:1-2

What Does God Want Us to Learn About Placing Our Trust in the Wrong Places?

When we pray about decisions, God gives us a confirming peace or a check in our spirit that something isn’t quite right. If you’re experiencing unrest right now, pray and ask God to fill you with discernment and wisdom then trust that the peace you feel moving forward is coming from the Lord.

Dave and I often pray about big and little decisions on our own and then together. Then we wait until we’re both in agreement that we’re doing the right thing. It might take a while and each of us might need to change some preconceived ideas or do more research, but God will speak to us in unity through our prayers and reading our Bibles. Often one of us will say to the other one, “I was thinking the same thing.” Then we know we’re close to a decision.

If you’re not married find a prayer partner that you feel comfortable and confident sharing with each other.

We’re not going to find the way God wants us to go by relying solely on outside input like the culture, media, or social media. We’re children of God, not children of the world.

“Every Kingdom citizen is called to be a conformist toward God and a nonconformist toward the world’s systems. Let the Spirit change the environment within you; then trust the power within you to change the world around you.” Chris Tiegreen

If you now regret decisions that you’ve made in the past, join the club. We’ve all been there, but we can learn from our mistakes and with God’s help, choose a better way next time. He’ll never make us go it alone.

I hope that as you pray over the Scriptures I’ve included in this article that you’ll feel a peace come over you, like I did. We do our part to further the Kingdom, but we do it out of a sense of peace and not stress or fear. Shalom!

“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense ; he has become my salvation.” Is. 12:2

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal. Is. 26:3-4

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. Ps 143:8

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? Ps. 56:3-4

Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD. Ps. 112:6-7

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The quotes from the Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden came from an article by Mike Huckabee and also a link he shares, but they were readily published in the media. As I read their comments, I sensed that they still didn’t understand where they went wrong as many said they would still vote Democrat even knowing the liberals support everything they don’t support? Voters’ Remorse – Latest News – Mike Huckabee

March 15, 2021
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5 Ways to Refocus and Renewal This Easter Season

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Easter is less than a month away! I hope your church will be open to celebrate as a church family the commemoration of the foundation of our Christian faith: Jesus Christ arose from the tomb and lives today in every believer’s heart! The Gospel! The Good News!

I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that if your church is not open, find one that is! Yes, it might take a little effort, but if there was one day out of the year, especially this year, that believers needed to gather together in praise, worship, and fellowship . . . it’s Easter. It’s time for churches to cut the chains on their doors and throw them wide open just like the tomb was wide open on Easter morning! Then stay open.

Covid canceled Easter in churches last year. Don’t let anyone cancel Easter for you this year! Yes, you can watch services online, which is awesome for those who are housebound and I’m so glad it’s available for them. But for those of us who are able to attend church in person, we need to be participating and professing together with our brothers and sisters in Christ as one body in God’s house.

People without a church family desperately need to be with us in church on Easter to experience the hope we have in the living Christ, our Lord and Savior who overcame the grave! Easter is a great outreach when many turn their life over to Christ. An important role of the church is to welcome those seeking the Truth or any who are lonely, depressed, discouraged, fearful. It’s not all about us, it’s about us being there for them!

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Rom. 12:4-5

Easter Reminds Us of Our Hope in a Fallen World

Without Easter, there would be no hope. Easter reminds us, and the world, that there is forgiveness for our sins and the assurance of eternal life. As the Apostle Paul reminded the Corinthians:

Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

When we ask Jesus into our heart and receive the merciful forgiveness of our sins that nailed Him to the cross, we experience a spiritual rebirth. Hallelujah! Then, as we grow in our faith, we need a daily empty-tomb reawakening not just annually at Easter.

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” John 3:3

Jesus lives within the heart of every Christian and He wants us to live as if we believe it! The Christian life is one of evolving renewal! We continually cast off old patterns of thinking and behaving as we transition into a richer more fulfilling faith.

But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. Col. 3:8-10

I don’t know about you, but watching the prevalent and even celebrated evil in our culture, I feel like we need an Easter season, not just Easter Sunday. A refocus of our heart and mind. A reminder of who we are in Christ and why we must continue persevering in His name and His purpose!

Store shelves and displays take commercial advantage of Easter to sell their products for over a month prior to Easter; shouldn’t we start NOW sharing the real message of Easter?! The world needs Jesus, let’s remind them of that message and prepare our hearts for sharing loud and clear: Jesus is alive!

5 Ways Scripture Helps Us Refocus and Embrace Renewal This Easter Season

1. Renew Your Mind

What we let enter into our mind—positive or negative—controls our emotions, actions, and beliefs.

What is bothering you right now? What is seeping into your psyche that keeps you up at night or troubles you during the day? Can you identify it? The news. Politics. Social media. Stock market. Cancel culture. COVID.

Whatever is stressing you, try a mental fast! Free your mind from everything that furrows your brow. You may never want to let those things have dominion over your thoughts again.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

Personal Renewal: God wants us to rid our mind of worldly ways and saturate our mind with His wisdom. Proverbs is God’s Book of Wisdom, so try reading a proverb everyday and write it on an index card. When your thoughts begin to drift to things of this world, recite the day’s proverb. If you’re ambitious, read an entire chapter in Proverbs daily and in thirty-one days you’ll have read the entire Book of Proverbs. When you finish, start back at Proverbs 1:1. You can never be too wise!

The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out. Proverbs 18:15

2. Renew Your Heart

God created us uniquely with our mind, heart, and spirit intertwined. A renewal of one affects the other two. A mind change touches our heart and our spirit nudges us to act according to our mind and heart. If our heart fills with compassion for a situation, our mind follows suit and again our spirit reminds us of how God wants us to act. We are to have the mind of Christ and what breaks His heart should break our heart too. Much in our world is surely breaking His heart!

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

Personal Renewal: Who could you invite to Easter services? Maybe you’ve asked them to join you at church before and they’ve declined or it’s someone you’re sure would say no. Perhaps your heart has become a bit hardened toward their spiritual future. Ask God for the courage to ask them anyway. This could be the Easter they say “Yes!” and their life changes forever.

If they say no, then commit to pray for them to say yes to God someday.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

3. Renew Your Commitments

A commitment is a sacred vow, a promise, to honor your word. Commitment often involves a sacrifice of putting others’ needs before your own needs, even when it’s inconvenient or painful.

Our Christian faith hinges on a commitment we make to Christ to follow Him and adhere to His Word, whether it’s easy or difficult. At Easter, we remember the ultimate cost Christ paid on the cross to fulfill His commitment to save a lost world. Now he expects us to honor our commitments to Him and to others.

Don’t let your mouth make you sin. And don’t defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved. Ecclesiastes 5:6 NLT

Practical Renewal: Have you committed to something you wish you hadn’t? We’ve all been there. Learn from it and pray next time before you make a decision; but this time, follow through on your commitment. Backing out of a promise damages the credibility of your Christian witness.

All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Matthew 5:37

4. Renew Your Testimony

There is no greater witness to God’s goodness than sharing what He has done in your life. No one can question your testimony because it’s your personal experience. The Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) isn’t just for disciples and pastors; it’s for every follower and believer of Jesus Christ. You don’t have to be an evangelist to share your story.

As we mature and evolve spiritually, we retell our testimony to benefit others. You and I are Christians today because twelve disciples obediently followed Jesus’ command to tell the world the Good News. They shared their personal experience with the gospel to anyone who would listen and with many who didn’t listen.

When we become Christians, our charge is to tell the world why we love Jesus! Your story becomes your testimony when the focus is on God, not on you.

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:3-7

Personal Renewal: When you give God the glory for something in your life, you testify to God’s goodness. Your salvation testimony shares your life before Jesus. How He changed your heart and spiritually, maybe literally, saved your life. God has given you a story to share, so seize every opportunity to tell it. Sometimes God redeems your testimony by surrounding you with people who need to hear your past so it doesn’t become their future.

Who needs to hear this Easter what Christ has done for you?

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:11-12

5. Renew Your Soul

Easter is springtime in our souls! God is calling His people into a closer relationship with Him so that we can share Jesus with others who need more of Him in their life . . . or don’t yet know Him.

The world is full of unsaved people stumbling in spiritual darkness and deceit. God calls every Christian to help the lost find their way to the light. When Jesus spoke . . . he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

We need to refresh, renew, and refuel our body, mind, and soul so the illuminating joy of Christ radiates from us!

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:30-31

Personal Renewal: Let the songs you sing on Easter and the messages you hear, revive your spirit and speak directly to your soul. Bask in the glow that Jesus is alive!

If you’re ready to arise and be God’s messenger, start praying now for those divine appointments where God will use you in a hurting and lonely world.

I pray this Easter season finds you refreshed, refocused, and renewed in your relationship with Christ and the purpose He has given each of us to keep the memory of Easter alive and vibrant, every day in our hearts, speech, and actions. Let us never forget:

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Col. 2:13-14 (NLT)

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16

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March 8, 2021
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What Do We Do When “Equality” Isn’t Equal?!

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As a kid, I remember hearing the term “tomboy.” Did you? I haven’t heard that term used in many years. It was fondly given to girls who liked playing with boys and their toys more than dolls and playing house. Tomboys usually preferred participating in sports over playing jacks. They liked wearing jeans, never dresses. Maybe you were a tomboy.

It was a phase of adolescence that most girls outgrew, although many might grow up to still not like “girly things” and fight for the right to have girls’ sports taken seriously. They wanted stereotypes to change so that girls could enter the police force and military, but I doubt that few considered physically becoming a boy instead of a girl.

In today’s culture, that young “tomboy” might be told in school how she could change physically to become a boy. To permanently change her body and medically alter her natural hormones to resemble a man forever!

Or a young boy could choose his gender and be physically altered to a girl. Whether or not parents approve, liberal school curriculum begins discussing “sexual identity,” “sexual orientation,” and gender change in Kindergarten.

A child who is not capable of making independent decisions in any other area of their life, who needs parental permission to go on a field trip, could make a forever life-changing decision as early as a young child!

The proposed Equality Act could make it illegal for parents to seek counseling for their child, which the bill refers to as discriminatory “conversion therapy” and seeks to eliminate.

That’s just one of the unequal, unfair absurdities of the so called “Equality Act” that just passed Congress and is headed to the Senate. They need to get 60 votes in the Senate for it to pass and as you know right now the Senate is divided 50/50. So we need all the Republican Senators, and hopefully some Democrat Senators with a conscience, to stick together and vote against it. The Democrats tried this bill before and the Senate voted it down, but with the majority in both houses, they’re trying it again.

In case, you are interrupted from reading further in this blog, where I will outline more evil proponents of this Democrat backed bill and why it is inequality not equality, I want to prevail on you to take action right now.

1. Pray for the bill not to pass the Senate but also pray for your Senator! Dave and I recently listened to a telephone town hall with our Idaho Republican Congressman and when one of the callers asked how we could help him, the Congressman was startled and humbled because he hadn’t ever been asked that question.

He actually asked for prayer! He admitted it’s tough in DC and there is practically no civility anymore across the aisle. Everything is partisan and with the Democrats having a majority in both houses and the White House, it’s not an easy job. But he was still hopeful and felt it was an honor to represent us, even in such a hostile environment.

2. Contact your Senator NOW! They need to hear from us and know what we want and expect them to do, especially if your Senator is a Democrat. Call 202-224-3121 or go to this link and you can find the phone number of your Senator and also send him/her an email.
Another easy option is at MyFaithVotes where they have an email already written for you to send right from their website to your Senator along with further discussion of the “Equality Act” ramifications. They need to know we’re counting on them to do the right thing and we’re praying for them.

3. Read this prayer alert from Franklin Graham “We Cannot Remain Silent!” and share it. He outlines so well some of the many dyer consequences of this bill. Then share it with everyone you know. In the last twenty-four hours, I’ve had several friends send it to me, even as I’m writing about it here.

The “Equality Act” Denies the Bible

It’s not hard to see that the trajectory of this bill is to outlaw churches, religious organizations, and the Bible . . . to criminalize and cancel God. Man is trying to establish “truth” and replace God’s Truth as confirmed in our Bibles. To deny the Judeo/Christian values our country was founded on that sets us apart from any other country in the world.

I cannot imagine how anyone who believes in God could support or vote for this bill. The next step could be to declare the Bible as “hate speech” and Amazon would cancel selling the Bible just as it has begun to do with books that talk about gender issues.

The bill’s legal goal is to deny the exclusivity of scientific biological sex at birth and introduce interchangeable terms like “gender identity” or “sexual orientation.” Here are just a few of the Scriptures that could then be considered offensive:
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Gen. 1:27

He created them male and female, and he blessed them and called them “human.” Gen. 5:2

“Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’” 5 And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ 6 Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.” Matt. 19:4-6 NLT

Under the Equality Act, Christian businesses like bakeries, florists, photographers, and venues couldn’t decline servicing weddings that go against their faith. They could be sued for discrimination if they refuse.

Churches and other religious ministries would not be exempt from hiring people who don’t share their faith and beliefs.

How long do you think it will be before the church cannot proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God?

Not to mention the inability to declare sin as outlined in Romans 1, where God talks about His wrath and anger against sinful humanity. Specifically in verses 24-28. When people wouldn’t listen to Him, God washed His hands and abandoned them to their evil ways. Isn’t that what we’re watching now in our country?

24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. 25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. 26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. 28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Rom. 1:24-28

The Equality Act Denies Women’s Rights

Did you ever think you would be living in a universe where male and female genders would come under attack? Children would be able to pick their gender and deny the body God gave them?

Men who “identify” as women allowed to compete in women’s sports with their male physic that gives them a physical advantage over women? Title IX was established to create a balance in male and females sports and athletics. It would be abolished by the Equality Act as biological men are allowed to participate as women and compete against real women.

As one female school athlete put it, “Inclusion” for everyone means “exclusion” for women in sports.

Gender “identity” doesn’t erase physiological realities and differences. That’s common sense and a biological scientific fact. But the progressives tell women that they’re not important in this discussion. They’re telling biological men who “identify as a woman,” it’s okay to invade women’s sports where they know they’ll win and push out opportunities for women to attain scholarships, grants, and advancement. We’ve all seen the pictures of them overpowering women in track, basketball, soccer, and wrestling in states that are already allowing this travesty.

How many fathers, grandfathers, legislators with daughters and granddaughters want them competing with men and having men in their locker rooms and bathrooms? Does President Biden or Pelosi want this for their own granddaughters?

Are We Sheep Or Fighters for Freedom?

Adults are free to believe what they want, choose their lifestyles, and do to their bodies what they choose, but to legally impose the acceptance of the contents of H.R.5 on Americans who find it offensive or morally wrong is beyond comprehension. To deny pastors and counselors the freedom to talk with those who have what is now called gender dysphoria is ludicrous. To force physicians, hospitals, and medical professionals to go against their conscience and perform mutilating surgeries or administer gender transition treatments they know will harm children, and adults, for life is inhumane.

I’ve only addressed several of the horrific ramifications of this bill, but I encourage you to read it for yourself. If passed, no one is exempt from adhering to it. Christian businesses, schools, churches may choose to close their doors rather than comply! It’s that serious.

We need to get out of our Sunday-go-to-church bubble and become an active voice in what is happening to our culture, our families, our children, our grandchildren. We need to live out our faith with compassion and love for those who are lost and confused while we stand firm in our biblical and moral beliefs.

The Equality Act is not a shield to protect a group but a sword of inequality to use against those who don’t agree with the progressive movement.

Listening to South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem at CPAC, I picked up a few nuggets from her excellent speech: “The left takes its vision to change America seriously. They want to lead, which means they expect us to be the sheep and follow. We will NOT be the sheep.”

“If we’re going to be the land of the free, we have to be the home of the brave!” Ben Carson

“An act of Congress can change the law, but not even an act of Congress can change Scripture.” Mike Huckabee

This is the written account of the descendants of Adam. When God created human beings, he made them to be like himself. He created them male and female, and he blessed them and called them “human.” Gen. 5:1-2 NLT

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*The opening picture is a poster outside Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s congressional office.

March 1, 2021
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What Can the Church Learn from Rush Limbaugh?

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Last week, America lost an iconic grass-roots, conservative, bold, and brave patriotic voice. As I listened to the glowing tributes for Rush Limbaugh, I learned many things about him I didn’t know, even though he and I were in the same generation. Hubby and I play Christian music in the car, and I need quiet to write, so I don’t listen to talk radio. I wasn’t a Rush follower, but I wish now that I had been.

I didn’t realize that he helped save AM radio with his widely successful talk-radio program that reached 20 million weekday listeners for over thirty years! People listened for three hours a day to Rush in their cars, work place, and homes.

His open and popular discussion of conservatism helped launch the concept of conservative TV news programs, which like Rush provided conservatives a recourse as mainstream media became increasingly liberal and partisan left leaning.

Rush was definitely controversial and sometimes brash and sarcastic and said some things he later needed to apologize for, but haven’t we all. In his later years, especially after his cancer diagnosis, he spoke more openly about his faith, attributed his gifts and talents to a “loan from God,” and thanked God for the blessings in his life: “God is a profound factor; Jesus Christ a profound factor. I have a personal relationship. I’ve not talked about it much publicly because I don’t proselytize these things,” he said.

Best-selling author and Evangelical leader Joel C. Rosenberg worked for Rush at one time and knew him personally. Rosenberg wrote a heartfelt tribute, “Rush Limbaugh gave his life to Jesus Christ a few years ago and it gave him tremendous hope as he faced his toughest fight.”

I haven’t read or listened to any of the vicious liberal attacks on Rush, but you know they’re always going to throw out “racist,” so I appreciated this article, “Bo Snerdley recalls Rush Limbaugh as a ‘second-generation Founding Father’ who ‘returned his talent to God.’” Bo’s real name is James Golden. He was the long-time friend and producer for the Rush Limbaugh Show, and just happens to be black. Bo said on the Hannity show, which I heard, “It burns me to my soul when people sully his reputation with falsehoods, calling him a racist. This man was just an incredible phenomenon — and we love you, Rush.”

“Rush Babies”

Whether or not you agreed with Rush Limbaugh or even liked him, as I listened to the tributes I noticed how Rush spoke to the generations like we strive so hard to do in the church. Limbaugh referred to his younger followers as “Rush Babies.” I was curious how he managed to bridge across the generations.

Several years ago, I noticed my daughter was becoming increasingly conservative in her opinions and conversation and to my surprise, she often quoted Rush Limbaugh. Kim has a Sign Making and Sign Party business and she spends a great deal of time working in her “She Shop.” While cutting wood, painting, and stenciling, she listens to talk radio programs and Rush was a daily favorite, especially this past year.

With Covid and the election, she wanted to keep informed and she found Rush a “very caring voice who loves the country and talked through the questions of the day.” When she listened to Rush on the radio in the car, her sixteen-year-old son asked, “Who is this? I like him and the way he talks.” Her fifteen-year-old daughter listened too.

And that’s how millions of “Rush Babies” came about! Parents played Rush’s radio program in the house or in the car while taking the kids to soccer practice, vacations, running errands, road trips. Thirty-four-year old Benny Johnson said on his NEWSMAX show The Benny Report that he was a Rush Baby as he interviewed his parents, avid Rush fans. Benny concluded, “Rush raised my generation. Maybe you were one he raised too!”

Thirty-seven-year old Rob Schmitt recalled on his NEWSMAX program, “As a kid, I remember riding around in the car listening to Rush with my dad. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I liked his voice and listening to him.”

Schmitt had country music star John Rich (47) as a guest who talked about also riding in the car with his dad and asked what a bumper sticker “Rush is Right” meant. Rich’s dad replied, “A lot of stuff he says is right on the money.”

The headline that really got my attention was from thirty-two year old Kayleigh McEnany: Rush Limbaugh inspired a generation of young conservatives! It was an article by President Trump’s former White House Press Secretary. Here are a few quotes:

“My journey to becoming White House press secretary began in a pickup truck, alongside my Dad, who played Rush Limbaugh religiously. Though I was in elementary school, there was something magnetic, alluring and just so passionate about the conservative radio host who had such conviction and assuredness. 

My rides in my dad’s trucks through Plant City, Fla., later turned into drives in my own car to my all-girls Catholic high school. My friends knew if they chose to ride with me, they would be listening to “Maha Rushie,” as he affectionately dubbed himself. 

Rush was a giant in the conservative movement for a reason: he exhibited unrelenting boldness for the truth. He never backed down. You knew where he stood. And he was never, ever afraid to speak truth to power and challenge the mainstream media. 

Rush had a word for people like me: a “Rush Baby.” 

You see, Rush inspired tens of thousands of young men and women all across the conservative movement. Though Rush has departed this life for the next, he leaves behind a generation that will catapult forward the movement he created.” 

Kayleigh’s dad said Rush was the best friend he never met.

Rush was a mentor to all ages of listeners he might never meet. But some he did meet like Charlie Kirk the founder of Turning Point USA, a nonprofit organization that educates students about the importance of conservative values: fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government. Charlie started listening to Rush in high school and was introduced to him several years ago. Rush took the time to befriend and mentor young Charlie (now 28) and spoke several times at Turning Point conferences. Charlie says of Rush, “He was a great mentor focused on building up the next generation of conservatives.”

I began to see a theme: Rush influenced conservative values and ideals to his generation who passed that down to their children who undoubtedly will pass it on to their children, and like my daughter, he was still reaching new audiences! Isn’t that what we want to do in the Church with Christianity?!

What Can the Church Learn from Rush?

1. Like Rush, The Church Should Never Back Down to Cultural Pressure or Ignore the Issues of the Day!

Too many churches today are more concerned with being culturally correct or canceled than with sharing the unabashed Truth of God’s Word to the culture. They’re letting Christ be canceled!

2021 years ago, the culture tried to silence and cancel Jesus, but we know how that turned out. Jesus arose from the grave so that He could live within the heart of every man and woman who believed in Him at any age.

Yes, the culture has been trying to cancel Jesus since before the Cross, but His influence only grows wider and stronger. Jesus passed the torch to His 12 disciples and that torch of truth will continue to pass on until His return as long as believers like you and me continue to carry His torch of light and Truth.

In the Woman to Woman Mentor Handbook, I challenge mentors: What if you mentored 12 women in your lifetime just as Jesus mentored 12 men? Then those 12 women mentor 12 more women. That would be 144 women in mentoring relationships If you take that out five more levels, do you have any idea what the number of women in mentoring relationships would be just from you starting it out? 2,985,984! You have no idea how many other lives will be touched besides those of you and your mentee.

The Church is about saving lives, not saving face.

2. Like Rush, The Church Should not become a Relic but Remain Relevant!

The Bible is timeless and doesn’t change with the changing world; it brings peace, hope, and calm in the midst of the change. Its purpose is to be the consistent guide for people’s lives. Believers can count on it. A pastor’s message should help people respond to the challenges they’re facing by familiarizing them with the Book and the One with all the answers.

Sermons are not motivational speeches based on the latest trend; they’re motivational Truths to live a life ready for the Lord’s return at any moment. Urgent. Bold. Real. Challenging.

Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 1 Thess. 5:1-2

3. The Church Could Learn How and Why Rush Reached the Generations!

Someone is always watching how the church responds to the times. Children are watching their parents. The next generation wants to see us live out what we say we believe without reservation. They don’t want us to waver. They need us to share the Truth with passion, caring, and love for Jesus and love for them.

A 70 year-old man still could capture and influence the audience of younger generations. He created a bond of trust. He was still relevant. He had no biological children, but he passed on a legacy to generations of patriots to pick up the torch and carry on.

I sign every Woman to Woman Training Leader’s Guide, “Teach what you’ve been taught.” So those they teach will go on and teach what you taught them. “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” Heb. 13:7

Like Rush had “Rush Babies,” we want to have Jesus Babies. Followers of Jesus long after we’re gone who go on to share Jesus with others because we shared Jesus with them.

Our charge is to pass on the Torch of Truth of Jesus Christ to all generations! How focused is your church on reaching all generations?

Parents, teachers, mentors, the church, or anyone with a platform, must boldly, bravely, and with conviction speak up and stand up for living a life pleasing to Jesus and explaining what that means today. Never back down but always defend good vs evil, right vs wrong, moral vs immoral, even when it’s uncomfortable or inconvenient or unpopular.

Live your faith. Share your faith.

If your listeners choose to ignore you, that’s their fault. If you never tell them, that’s your fault!

15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. 16 But do this in a gentle and respectful way.[a] Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. 1 Peter 3:15-16 NLT

Picture used by permission Legal Insurrection at https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/02/branco-cartoon-on-loan-from-god/

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February 22, 2021
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4 Hope-Filled Promises From Jesus, Our First Love

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Yesterday, was Valentine’s Day where you might have celebrated with a special dinner, gifts, cards, flowers, or candy, but most importantly, time spent together with your loved one. Dave and I had a lovely dinner out on Sunday. Our church had a special dinner Saturday night, but we were snowed in and couldn’t attend!

While our focus and attention is rightfully on our earthly love on this annual universally recognized day of love, we know that we don’t just love the object of our affection one day a year, but every day.

We make promises to each other that we have great intentions of fulfilling, but can’t always honor. “I promise I’ll be home by 6:00!” Many unexpected things could prevent you from keeping that promise.

Other promises are a sincere commitment, but aren’t always honored, “I’ll love you for as long as I live!”

Jesus’ promises to us are sincere commitments that He always keeps! We can count on it. We can trust that Jesus will fulfill all His promises in the Bible.

Scripture delineates over 7000 promises of God that provide the answers to all our cries for help for things like our provision, problems, decisions, crises, spiritual questions, and just daily life.

You’ve probably sang worship songs in church with lyrics like “standing on the promises of God.” Have you ever wondered what those promises were and how you could stand firmly on them? Do we just take it for granted that God promises us everything we want or desire . . . or is He more specific about what He will and won’t do for us?

How Do I Know If Jesus Hears My Cry for Help?

Jesus always hears our cries and pleas, but sometimes he adds the qualifier “if” and asks us to do something first.

For example, Jesus promises forgiveness and salvation to everyone who asks and repents, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

2 Chronicles 7:14 is a verse we’ve used a lot lately as we cry out for God to heal our land. It’s a promise from God, but there’s a big “If,” “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

God is saying that if we, His people—Christians—humbly pray and repent from our sins, then He will forgive us personally and heal our land. God wants us to live righteous and upright lives and He promises to help us be that kind of person . . . that kind of country.

We know it’s fair to say that the whole country isn’t going to repent and God isn’t expecting that, but God does expect His people will repent. That’s daunting. The pressure is on us to comply with His “If.”

How Do I Know If Jesus Will Help Me?

Like parents when their children ask for things, God answers and provides for us what He knows is best at the right time, not just for the moment, but also in the future.

‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ Jer. 33:3

Rest assured that “my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19).

Most of us can look back on our lives and know that Jesus was there helping us navigate through struggles, confusion, decision-making, hurts, and likewise, celebrating with us during triumphs, joys, accomplishments, and good times.

It’s easy to forget our victories with Jesus in the past, when we face a new problem. But if we take a moment to pray and ask God to help us remember how His presence intertwined through all our life experiences, we’ll have confidence that He will be there for us now. A testimony to His faithfulness to all generations.

God doesn’t promise a life of ease, but he does promise always to be with us in all circumstances. God’s character is unchanging and He cannot lie. He assures us, “The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm” (Ex. 14:14 NLT). Relax and count on it.

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. (Is. 41:10 NLT)

Here are four hope-filled promises for trials where Jesus can help you make it through.

1. Jesus Help Me Believe in You

It’s God’s desire that all would come to a saving grace by believing in his One and only Son, Jesus Christ: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

What an amazing promise! One that every believer cherishes.

You might think that you’ve done too many bad things in your life for God to ever forgive you, but the Apostle Paul had persecuted Christians before he became a believer and an avid evangelist.

“Even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim. 13-14 NLT)

Notice that Paul admitted that he didn’t initially understand about the saving grace of Jesus. It wasn’t until he believed and had faith that Jesus was who he said he was that his eyes were open to receive the love and forgiveness of Jesus.

The Bible is the inspired Word of God. So to understand about Jesus we need to read the Bible. When you have questions talk to your pastor or a mentor who can help you understand how to change your life to adapt to the Bible not change the Bible to adapt to your life.

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. (James 1:5 NLT)

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Acts 2:21

Jesus wants to have a relationship with you. It’s always two-way where you can talk to him through prayer and He talks to you through His Word, the Bible.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! 1 John 3:1

2. Jesus Help Me Overcome My Doubts

Maybe you identify with the father who asked Jesus to help his son tormented by demons, but he added the qualifier, “Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” (Mark 9:22 NLT)

Jesus replied with a promise, “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” (Mark 9:23 NLT)

The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24 NLT)

It is possible to be a Christian but have moments of questioning when things don’t go the way we think they should or we’re not sure God can, or will, truly help us. In the case of the father, Jesus did give him a visible tangible miracle and healed his son. But what if we don’t get our miracle? How can we come through with our faith still intact?

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

Faith requires believing in things we cannot see because we don’t see the whole picture like our Sovereign God does. There are things we must accept as believers because, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)

For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. (Heb. 3:14 NLT)

3. Jesus Help Me Overcome My Fear

Fears are a natural part of life. Fear is an honest, real emotion. Our heart races. We tremble. There’s a sinking fluttering sensation in our stomach. We’re terrified. Sometimes even frozen to the spot—we can’t move.

We’ve all experienced fear. Often, it’s a healthy reaction to a dangerous situation. Other times, it’s rooted in past or recent trauma or chronic worry. Letting Jesus help you conquer a fear can offer a world of new opportunities and accomplishments you might have previously avoided.

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you. (Deut. 31:8 NLT)

In Everyday Brave, I remark that faith is the opposite of fear. So the antidote to fear, worry, and anxiety is to trust God. Don’t doubt Him. Realize and internalize the fact that God’s got this and He is way ahead of us.

“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.” (Josh. 1:9)

When I’m encountering a particularly difficult time in my life, I recite the 23rd Psalm, especially the promise in verse 4:

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

4. Jesus Help Me When I’m Lonely

When asked to share a time when they were lonely, some responses were grief, living alone, singleness, misunderstood, moving, spiritual emptiness, illness, unemployment, financial loss, and you can probably think of more. Sometimes loneliness is short-lived and other times it is ongoing, even chronic.

We long for someone or something to fill the ache in our heart for companionship or relief from the feeling that no one understands us or has time for us. But God does!

God wants to be our everlasting friend, but this is another one of those “if” promises. “You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14). And what was that command? “This is my command: Love each other” (John 15:17).

Jesus is saying that He wants us to reach out to others. Extend the hand of friendship or make an effort to take action to overcome the source of our loneliness knowing that Jesus will be right by our side giving us encouragement and confidence.

He promises that “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). Those were such comforting words to me when I lost my father at an early age, but accepted Jesus as my Heavenly Father. His promise proved true that He was, “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling” (Ps. 68:5).

God’s promises provide the help we seek and an answer to all our needs and problems. We just need to find them in the Scriptures, pray over them, claim them, and rest in the assurance that God is always faithful, He is omnipresent in our lives, and He loves us with a never-ending love.

The destination will be worth the journey. Refuse to get discouraged!

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 15:57)

A Prayer to Ask: Jesus, Help Me

A wonderful promise when we need help or are anxious about anything is when the Lord tells us to pray and He will bring upon our hearts and minds the peace that we so desperately seek.

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. (Phil. 4-6-7)

So let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, I’m crying out to You because I need Your help. Help that I cannot achieve on my own. I surrender to You all my attempts to try to solve my problems. I am so grateful for all the promises You give to me to personally claim and the solutions they offer. Help me to trust and obey the times You ask me to do my part in applying Your promises to my life. I know each one will improve and enhance my relationship with You and with others.

Lord, when I falter or forget Your faithfulness to me, please remind me that You’re only a prayer away! Amen

Parts of this blog appeared in my Crosswalk blog on 6/25/2020.

You might enjoy reading my recent Crosswalk article 5 Calming Prayers for Serenity During Stressful Times. We certainly are living in stressful times, but I read a great quote “Worry is a fruitless attempt to make things better. You must seek peace and pursue it by believing that I [God] hear and answer prayer.” Marsha Burns

A blog I wrote on February 9, 2015 has been trending on my website How to Have a Date With Jesus.

February 15, 2021
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