Redeeming Repentance

 

 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial."

1 Cor 6

I woke up at 5 am this morning with so many thoughts swirling through my head. Writing helps me process and I am hoping writing God's Word will help someone else process.

There has been a lot of discussion/arguments about the movie, Redeeming Love that just came out. I read the book almost 20 years ago when Reece (our oldest) was a newborn. I don't remember details but I remember not being able to put the book down and crying. I loved it back then. It was a beautiful story of God's relentless love toward someone who did not deserve it. I think we can all relate to that!  A lot of women did. It pulls you in emotionally. 

It quickly seemed to become everybody's favorite book. So when they announced a movie was in the works, I was so excited! This was gonna be awesome!! Such an opportunity to bring God's Word to life and it is always fun to support Christian movies since we want more of them. 

I planned a romantic night out to a fancy dinner with Tim and then we were gonna go see the movie the weekend it was released. What a perfect date night! My friend texted me and asked what we were doing so I told her. She texted back, 

"heads up...heard Redeeming Love has a lot of soft porn in it". 

Huh?? You should have seen the look on my face when that text came through. So, I googled some trusted movie review sites. She was right and spared me (and my cute prince!!!) from unknowingly walking into something I would never have signed up for.  

I shared this info on facebook and said I wasn't going to see the movie. Since then, hell has broken loose (no pun intended). Many women were thankful for the heads up but others were offended. 

I have been accused of a holier-than-thou attitude. That I should be able to "handle" it. That it is a great teaching tool for young girls to understand redemption. 

Almost all the Christians who have seen it say the sex scenes are "uncomfortable". One friend said she had to get up and walk out. 

(I have to wonder if that "uncomfortable" feeling described  by so many Christian women is the Holy Spirit grieving.) 

What is the big deal? 

Most people love to say "Primetime TV contains much worse". 

A lot of women justify the sex scene because they are "married". So, somehow that makes it ok to watch two people having sex? 

We are seeing a de-sensitizing. 

"Having lost all sensitivity, 

they have given themselves over to sensuality"

Eph 4:19

I was talking to my spiritual mom about all this and she said she had a raw conversation in her women's Bible Study. She asked them: "Would it be ok if I came over to your house and watched you and your husband have sex?" They said NO. "Would it be ok if I came over and listened to you and your husband have sex?"- NO. "Would it be ok if I had camera crews come and film you and  your husband having sex and then I watched it on a screen?"-NO. "Then why is it ok to do it and slap a Christian fish on a film of 2 people having sex and thousands of women watch it?".

She also went on to say that one of the acts of Baal worship back in the day was for 2 people to have sex on Baal's altar and people gather around to watch. That was an acceptable sacrifice to Baal!! :( 

This movie is suppose to be based on the book of Hosea. It is ironic to me that it is exposing thousands of women to the very sin that angered God in Scripture. The fall out from this movie also doesn't point to the Lord. The fruit is rotten. Division, fighting, compromise, etc...

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The Bible is CLEAR about how we deal with sexual immorality. Run, flee, put it to death!

Why? Because God wants us to miss out on a cool new movie? No. Because He wants to BLESS us. 

"Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts"

2 Tim 2:22

After years of doing conferences for high school/college age girls, I quickly discovered porn wasn't just a problem for guys. Girls were addicted to it too. From college girls to homeschool girls, erotica and romance novels quickly turned into porn addiction. They didn't know that the sin they flirted with was more addictive than heroine. 

If looking at a naked person can take down King David, it can take down me and YOU too. 

Our eyes are the lamp of our whole body. If our eyes are filled with light, our whole body will be filled with light. But if you are allowing darkness in through your eyes, it fills your whole body and your whole life with darkness. 

This IS a big deal. That is why I am willing to speak out about it. 

Even though I am getting beat up for it. I don't care. Take your shots. 

I have looked into the eyes of girls taken PRISONER by this and lives shattered. I have wept with my best friend as her husband went into rehab for porn... AGAIN. Eventually divorce was inevitable. Soft porn (if there is such a thing) turns into hard porn that turns into death porn that turns into lives, marriages, and families devastated.  

I have looked into eyes that are filled with this darkness and the depression that comes with it. No one should be flirting with sensuality. Not even in a "Christian" movie that plays on your emotions. It reminds me of Eve. The fruit "was pleasing to the eye". There will always be a lure. Something that will draw our flesh in.  James 1:14 says that our sinful nature is DRAGGED AWAY and ENTICED. The Message puts the next part it this way. 

"Lust gets pregnant and has a baby- sin! Sin grows up to adulthood and becomes a real killer."

Sexual sin is different than other sins. 

"Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body."

1 Cor 6:18

 Exposing yourself to sexual sin is planting seeds in your heart, your mind, and your marriage. You just don't realize they are venus fly trap seeds that start eating away at all things pure and lovely in your life. I'm not letting this garbage anywhere near my marriage. Marriage is HOLY. Sex within marriage is sacred. It is not meant for the big screen. It is the holiest of holies and to be treated that way. If you want a good sex life, you have to protect it! The enemy hates amazing sex lives. Because our bodies are instruments of righteousness and a weapon against him. He will do anything he can to keep us from experiencing the beauty of sex in its fullness. The devil wants to RIP YOU OFF.

We cannot give our flesh a chance! We cannot think we are beyond temptation. You will get DRAGGED by your flesh. Like my mom always said, "sin will take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay & cost you more than you are willing to pay".

The enemy knows how to entice us without us even knowing we are walking right into his trap. He will make the fruit lovely to look at. Just like the Venus fly trap! 

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Nothing is considered sacred anymore. Holiness seems like an out-dated idea with no relevance in our culture. Holiness has become "optional" for the believer. The Word is no longer the standard. Our emotions are. 

God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. 

1 Thess 4

When we understand what Jesus did on the cross for us and what our sin did to Him, we should HATE what is evil and cling to what is good. It is a command that is for our good. The people who choose to live holy are the most blessed, most joyful, most satisfied people I have ever met. 

The Bible tells us why they are this way in Isaiah 35 when it talks about a Highway called the "Way of Holiness". 

And a highway will be there;

it will be called the Way of Holiness;

it will be for those who walk on that Way.

The unclean will not journey on it;

wicked fools will not go about on it.

No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast;

they will not be found there.

But only the redeemed will walk there,

 

and those the LORD has rescued will return.

They will enter Zion with singing;

everlasting joy will crown their heads.

Gladness and joy will overtake them,

and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Is 35

When we make the choice to shun evil and separate ourselves from sin, we travel on a different road. 

There are no fools there or lions or beasts. But only THE REDEEMED. Those who know what their Savior has done for them. The redeemed sing! They have joy and gladness! Sorrow and sighing flee away. When you are living in sin and compromise, you no longer have those precious things. 

It is a a parallel highway that we are suppose to walk on as we sojourn to our eternal home. 

Righteousness matters! I explained it to my kids like this: Imagine God giving you his most beautiful robe (or wedding gown). The Bible says we are suppose to be "unspotted" (James 1:27). 

Pure religion is this... to keep himself 

UNSPOTTED from the world.

So here you are in your God-given robe (or wedding gown). The devil has a paintball gun, the world has a paint ball gun, and your flesh has a paint ball gun. You gotta learn how to BOB AND WEAVE (or shun as the Bible calls it!). So that when He appears you can stand before him "confident and unashamed" (1 John). It is His righteousness that gets us into heaven but we have been called to live holy lives and to be UNSPOTTED. 

Listen to what our heavenly Father expects of His sons and daughters:

"What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? 

For we are the temple of the living God. 

As God has said:

“I will live with them

and walk among them,

and I will be their God,

and they will be my people.” 

Therefore,

“Come out from them

and be separate, says the Lord.

Touch no unclean thing,

and I will receive you.” 

And, “I will be a Father to you,

and you will be my sons and daughters"

2 Cor 6

This is on my heart not because I want to condemn people. Jesus didn't come into the world to condemn but he did flip tables when people started selling diseased junk to His people and using His name to make money! Redeeming Love sure reminds me of that. This is not acceptable to the Lord, nor is it holy. But it is VERY profitable. 

So, what is our response? Shame and sorrow? Maybe. 

If you have been living in sin, there should be shame and sorrow. 

BUT- God says if you go to Him with godly sorrow, you will find mercy and salvation and A LIFE OF NO REGRET. (Wow, what a gift!)

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret

2 Cor 7:10

"Repent" is not a popular word but it can change the course of your whole life! And it is not a one time thing. We produce fruit in KEEPING WITH REPENTANCE. Acts 11 says repentance is a gift from God!

God has granted repentance that leads to life.

I know from Scripture there are two main responses to someone who preaches repentance. 

1. Beheading (John the Baptist)

People want to kill you (most of the prophets in Old Testament)

Crucifixion (Jesus)

OR

2. Salvation (Jonah)

Preaches repentance and an entire wicked nation falls to its knees. 

Salvation (Jesus)

A remnant responds. 

May that be us! Falling to our knees. Responding to Jesus and His call to holiness.

I am asking the Lord to show me areas I need to repent of and HE IS. He wants the best for us. He wants to give us ABUNDANT life. He doesn't want us walking around in chains and wounded by our chronic bad choices. :( 

 He wants us to walk in freedom. 

But we have to LOVE HIM MORE THAN OUR SIN and even our deceitful hearts that lead us astray. 

I am bracing myself for the attacks. Just don't use the "holier-than-thou" one. That's not what this is.  That dart is just a smoke screen.

I am BURDENED to see believers walking in the fullness of life and to bring God glory in the way they live. 

Ask God to give you HIS convictions. Not mine. Not your friends. HIS!!!

And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness

John 16:8

He chose you out of the world. Don't go back. It is empty. 

The enemy only wants to steal, kill, and destroy.

But Jesus came that you may have LIFE and have it the full. 

Guard your heart!

Guard your marriage (or your future marriage).

Be a gatekeeper in your home. 

Don't grieve the Spirit. If something makes your spirit get tied in knots, GET OUT OF THERE. The Holy Spirit always has your best in mind. 

If you are ready to repent and TURN from anything you know goes against God's Word, just spend some time in prayer. Confess your sin. He is faithful and just and will FORGIVE!

You will receive mercy and find salvation. 

Know this is from my heart and that I am FOR YOU.

If you will take the Word seriously, and take sin seriously, be prepared for a joy-filled life of no regret!

Be the Standard!

 When the going gets tough, the tough gets goin'! 

-Billy Ocean 1985 :) 

I was reminded of this in my quiet time when I read 2 Samuel 23. We get an inside look into the lives of 3 of David's mighty men. 

These 3 guys engaged in some very intimidating battles and miraculously WON. 

Check these three tough dudes out:

 These are the names of David’s mighty warriors:

Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was chief of the Three; he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter.

 Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty warriors, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim for battle. Then the Israelites retreated,  but Eleazar stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead.

 Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them.  But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the LORD brought about a great victory.

2 Sam 23

1. "The chief": He kills 800 men in one encounter. That's insane. 1:800.

2. Eleazar: Everybody chickens out and bails, except him. He stands his ground and kept fighting until his hand was so tired, it was literally stuck to his sword. The Lord brings a great victory and the chickens come back to get the goods after battle.

3. Shammah: Finds himself in a lentil soup war. :) He takes his stand. Defends and brings the heat on the Philistine soup brigade. The Lord brings a great victory!

Y'all! These guys are such an example for us today. We may be the only one fighting but that doesn't mean we will lose these intimidating battles. We are to STAND our ground. We are to continue fighting the Lord's battles even if everybody else bails out. These 3 mighty warriors did their part and watched God bring GREAT victories through their determination. 

"The Philistines" of 2021 seem to outnumber us. I am not sure that is reality but it is definitely the picture the enemy is painting so that we will cower in fear. 

A lot of Christians are retreating. And leaving the ones who remain to have a ration of 1:800. But that does not mean we will lose! Often times God wants the battle to be impossible so we will see His glory! Remember in Judges when there was a guy named Gideon? 

Often instead of building our army, God shrinks it. 

 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ Judges 7:2

That verse tells us why He does it. So we won't boast! So we won't think we won the battles in our own strength.

In 2021, we are seeing many Christians retreat. They are going home. I have to admit, that's what I want to do! Go big or go home? Go home! If it was up to me, I WOULD GO HOME TOO!!!

But what if these mighty men had gone home? God can win battles without any help at all... but I want to be God's mighty one who stays! I want to see His power!!!

I have been studying and meditating on Isaiah 59:19:

When the enemy comes in like a flood,

The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

What does this mean? What is a "standard"? 

One definition is- to fly (to the attack) on horseback

Another version says:

"For he will come like a rushing stream

Which the wind of the Lord drives."

I want to give God permission to use me as part of His standard against the enemy! The enemy is always intimidating. Because he will always be bigger/stronger than we are. But BIGGER is HE Who lives in us! We have to know that it is not going to be by our power or by our might, but by His Spirit that we win these battles! As we hold up our swords toward the enemy's overwhelming momentum, the wind of the Holy Spirit shifts the direction of the flood and drives it away from the people in danger.

It reminds me of the verse I have taught my kids:

Therefore SUBMIT to God, RESIST the devil, and he will flee from you. 

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. 

When we resist the devil, God uses us to redirect his flood of destruction. I believe the Holy Spirit actually redirects the enemy's fury back toward the enemy. Like that word "nus" that reminds me of a "noose". The enemy proudly builds the gallows. The Lord steps in and redirects his evil fury. He ultimately hangs himself. God has been outsmarting the enemy since his creation. The enemy is a created being who cannot thwart the plan of Almighty God.  That's one reason he is so angry. 

When we resist the devil, we flip the spiritual magnets so that the evil is repelled from us and pulled back toward the one who sent it.

As I was studying this, there is a name for it:

FLOOD MITIGATION.

flood mitigation involves the management and control of flood water movement, such as redirecting flood run-off through the use of floodwalls and flood gates, rather than trying to prevent floods altogether. It also involves the management of people, through measures such as evacuation and dry/wet proofing properties. 

When people ask you what you do, tell them you are involved in "flood mitigation":

When the enemy comes in like a flood,

The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

We are in the final battles, we need to ask God to raise us up as His standard. We have to redirect the flood back toward the enemy in order to protect the Church. As we deflect and resist the enemy's wicked flood, his evil becomes a boomerang.

"Their evil will boomerang on them."

2 Peter 2:13

What the enemy intends for evil, God REALLY does use for good. 

One of the names for God is Jehovah Nissi. It means The Lord is My Banner. 

Basically, He goes in, wins, and declares victory over the enemy. Then He presents us with the victory banner to hold up. 

Moses experienced this when Joshua won the battle over the Amalekites in Exodus 17. Moses went to the top of a mountain and held up his hands and gave Joshua the victory.  Aaron and Hur held his hands up steady the entire night! That is when Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. He said, 

"Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”

Hands are definitely being lifted up against the Lord in our day. The same hand that swore ON THE BIBLE, on the same day, signed a law to murder babies. 

That is declaring war with God. The same hand swearing on the Bible is taking the Lord's name in vain and pretty much breaking all 10 commandments in defiance of the Living God. 

Ask God to use you as His Standard against this flood. Ask Him to use you to redirect this evil back toward the enemy. The wind of the Holy Spirit will do it. 

God doesn't use the ABLE, He empowers the AVAILABLE.

You will see Jehovah Nissi win impossible battles and then hand you the banner. 

Don't shrink back. Grab your sword, get on your horse and GO into the battle.  Ask the Lord what that looks like practically. Maybe it is starting a Bible study for teens in your home. THEY NEED IT!!! They are getting beat up by the enemy. Maybe you need to speak into a friends life who is headed toward an affair in her marriage and believing lies. 

Maybe it is going to minister to an elderly person who is dying of loneliness. Get creative! Whatever your gifts are, use them! Mine is speaking forth the Word. That may not be yours. One of my best friends has a strong gift of mercy and is just showering everybody with beauty and love. 

You are commanded to use hospitality. I am not sure the Bible defines hospitality as a gift. He just tells us to do it without grumbling! I believe hospitality is one of the most effective things we can be doing right now. Just loving on people in our homes! Maybe getting on your horse looks like getting involved in political leadership- DO IT! We need godly leaders at the helm! Maybe you are older and you have the ministry of PRAYER AND INTERCESSION! You are on the frontlines. Please don't stop praying. You are moving mountains. Maybe you are a pastor's wife feeling the weight of the flood, keep resisting and encouraging your husband to keep going!

Do what God has called YOU to do! 

If you don't know, ask Him! He will show you and the Holy Spirit will compel you. 

Those are my thoughts for this morning. I just want to encourage you that there is a STANDARD being raised up. A remnant who refuses to back down even if it is 1 against 800. Where there is intimidation, condemnation, and false accusations, the enemy is moving. RESIST HIM. Draw near to God and rely on His power and KEEP STANDING. 

Go to God in prayer and tell Him you are available! 

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" 

And I said, 

"Here am I. Send me!"

Isaiah 6:8

May the Holy Spirit of God empower you and bless you!

Steph

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What are we SUPPOSE to do now?

 

As I watched President Trump say goodbye this morning, tears filled my eyes. Not because I worship a man or need to be de-programmed... but because I am so thankful for how God has used this man to protect us from evil. I read something that said, "why don't we recognize the 'good ole days' before they are over"? God was SO merciful to give us President Trump these last 4 years. He fought for life and freedom. He felt like an over-protective father figure.

As I watched Air Force One disappear in the distance, it felt like the man God had been using as a restrainer disappeared before our eyes. The floodgates of evil are now flying wide open. Christians have a bulls eye on their backs because wicked leaders are taking their seats. Their first laws being written are exposing our most vulnerable, our unborn and elderly. The enemy always attacks the most vulnerable first because he is cruel and has 3 simple goals: stealing, killing, & destroying. He always goes for the weakest ones first. 

"The wicked draw their swords and string their bows to kill the poor and the oppressed, to slaughter those who do right." 

Ps 37:14

But enough about what the enemy is doing. That is obvious, overwhelming, and heart-wrenching. 

What is God doing? and what does He want us to be doing?

I loved it when President Trump (my over-protective dad :) said, "I will never stop fighting for you". I love it because that is what God says.

"The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

Ex 14:14

The Lord has allowed the enemy to do what he is doing. I don't know why. Most people in the Bible were very confused because God's plan is so much higher than ours. Our thoughts can't understand what He is doing.  Job certainly couldn't understand. After every traumatic thing that happened to him, he finally says "some things are too wonderful for me to know/understand".  

But then Job goes on to say what he does know:

"For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth"

Job 19:25

So after all Job endured with no explanation, he sums it all up with that. Some things are too wonderful to understand but I KNOW MY REDEEMER LIVES. 

When we don't understand what is going on, we have to remember that our Redeemer lives. He is coming to make all things right. God has a plan in this chaos. It is unfolding before our eyes. America has lost it's power as a country because it rejected God and His Word. We have piled our sin all the way up to heaven. 

We are living in the days of Noah. Right is wrong and wrong is right. Evil is paraded and righteousness prosecuted. 

2 Peter 3 talks about how we are to live in the last days. (I am going to be memorizing it today if you would like to join me. )

The first verse of 2 Peter 3 says it was written to stimulate us to wholesome thinking! We need that now more than ever! Minds stimulated by the Word of God instead of the news or social media! 

So, drum roll please....

Number one thing to DO: 

1. Stimulate your minds to wholesome thinking. 

Guard what comes into your mind. Remind yourself of the truth of the Word! 

"I have written... them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking."

Stimulate means to agitate, to fully WAKE UP, to activate! We need our minds activated and fully awakened by the Word. "Wholesome thinking" means pure thoughts or "found pure when unfolded and examined by the sun's light". Our thought life needs to be pure right now. So holy that when  our thoughts come into the light, they are found 100% pure. That is so convicting and makes me pause this second to repent of an impure thought life. 

The passage goes on to say that scoffers are coming following their own evil desires. It tells us a day is like a thousand years to the Lord and that He is not being slow. He is being patient WITH YOU and because He doesn't want anyone to perish.

Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

When He does come, it will be like a thief. And it says that everything will disappear with a roar, the earth will be destroyed by fire and everything done on the earth will be laid bare. There will be no where to hide and no one to blame. We will all give an account for how we lived on this earth. 

Then it goes on to tell us what to do since everything is getting destroyed.

"Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? 

You ought to live holy and godly lives"

Number 2 thing we "ought" to be doing:

2. We are to be living Holy and Godly Lives!

So, as you make your daily decisions, ask yourself: Is this holy? Is this godly?

If you don't know what is holy and what is godly, ask God to show you through His Word.

We don't decide what is holy and godly, God already did and He has told us. 

as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.

drum roll for #3!!!!

3. Look FORWARD to what God is going to do and SPEED IT'S COMING!

Keep looking forward. The best days are truly yet to come. We have so much TO LOOK FORWARD to as believers. God has given us a FUTURE and a hope. No one can take that away. How do we speed it's coming? I believe by sharing the gospel. That is what God is waiting on. He desires that everyone hear the gospel and be saved! If you want to get out of this broken place faster, SHARE THE GOSPEL with someone today. :) 

It goes on to tell us what we are looking forward to:

But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

Can you imagine living in a place where only righteousness dwells!!?? 

We will!

Let's move on to the 4th things we need to be doing...

4. Bust your tail to be found spotless, blameless, and AT PEACE with Him.

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him.

How is God going to find us when He comes? Living in sin? Or serving Him? Bitter or at peace? 

Blameless or ashamed? How we are living right now matters. We could see Him face-to-face this afternoon. What condition will He find us in? Bust your tail... "so that when He appears, we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming." 1 John 2:28

Remember that God's patience means salvation for so many... if they hear and respond to the gospel. Tell them the way to heaven! 

2 Peter also tells us that when ignorant and unstable people distort Scripture, it is to their own destruction. We are already seeing people use the Word of God to promote their evil agendas. They won't get away with it in the long run. What they are doing is self-destructing. 

They have pulled a grenade and put it in their pocket. 

The last thing this tells us to do is...

5. Be on your guard so that you may not to get carried away by the error of evil people... but grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus!

be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I am grieving as I watch our country destroyed but I am determined not to get "carried away" by all the error of evil people. I am determined to grow in 2021.

I want Him to find me at peace. The wicked leaders in our country now were not my will or my vote. God has allowed this I know He will continue to empower us to know how He wants us to live. Jesus Christ cannot be de-platformed and the Word of God will never be silenced. The people trying to attack the Bride of Christ will one day be gnashing their teeth and bowing their knees as the Bride of Christ is revealed. 

So what are suppose to do now? Start with those 5 things. Or start with 1. Read 2 Peter 3 yourself and ask God to show you what you need to be doing. 

Do not give way to despair. Continue to KNOW that our Redeemer lives when you don't know anything else. The joy of the Lord will be our strength in 2021! I am grieving for our nation, for the unborn, for the elderly, for the Church, etc. But we do not grieve as those who have no hope. 

I am stockpiling on the Word of God and on Rice-A-Roni in order to be ready to help those in need :). We are considering growing a garden (as much as I despise the time that will take), not out of fear but out of preparation. We want to be able to continue to have food to share no matter what comes. 

"When God's people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality." Rom 12

Fix your eyes on Jesus. He is working. It is exciting to serve Him in these dark days. Yes, there is evil pouring in with destruction in it's wake. Without God in leadership, expect chaos and disorder. :( 

But, God uses what the enemy intends for evil for good and for the saving of many lives. It also says in 1 John that the reason that Jesus came was to DESTROY the devil's work. 

We are going to see miracles in 2021. We are going to see revival. And I believe we are going to hear the trumpet sound at any moment. 

Don't lose heart. Stay busy and keep building the Kingdom of God by sharing the gospel.

Let's work together to speed up the return of Christ!

 I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?

John 11:25-26

God will never stop fighting for you. 

Spend time with Him today.

Steph

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