From Woodstock up: The Journey

On Sept 20 Isaiah 41:10 was my guiding light:

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Add to it 1 John 4:18 “there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear!” I love to remember that verse when I am assaulted with hateful lies. Its so easy to fall into criticism and bitterness. Instead I must choose to find Gods love in my heart and tell my mind and emotions to line up, stay in order with the Fathers desire to love all of humanity.

Perfectionistic thinkers get caught up in that word “Perfect” and in their self awareness that humans are imperfect, try to rationalize that being human means they cannot attain such perfect love. You know what? That is true. We humans fall way short of attaining such perfection. But we have a savior who is willing and wants to give us His power of perfect love. We need to turn to him, look him in the eye, face to face and ask for that gift always but especially when we face hatred!

When haters hate in the public forum…

When friends and family privately silence us with cold stares or loud rebukes for our faith…

When we turn hateful glances on one another within our family of faith.

We must remember there is a better way to have open and honest discourse. The Way and Truth and the Light, if it is in us then let it shine brightly in order to bravely share our differences and make room in our scope of influence to let others be “other”.

Sept 19 Important Instructions:

2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)was my guiding word “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (NIV says Sound Mind)

2 Corinthians 10:5 tells me “take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ”. How these instructions work hand in hand is important. This is what I do in order to have a sound mind, because my Creator wanted me to be able to live through the worse of the worse circumstances that would occur, be it hatred, murder, war or persecution. I need to take every thought captive, especially when I do not, and must not react to fear inducing hatred.

Having been delivered from anxiety that was severe, like “bipolar”mania, I was gifted by excellent mentors to not only get the secular teaching of Rational Emotive therapy but the Christ centered faith based back bone of truth. I learned it is a battle and the enemy of our soul uses our minds to destroy our faith, soundness and hope and when we take those thoughts captive we do so using every bit of the armor of God (Eph 6) and reminding them that we have been given the authority to do so.  No I do not blame the devil for every stray thought, but I have learned to recognize his signature, especially the one called fear for example. When his uncanny ability to resist me if, in my flesh alone, I try to change those thoughts, I know to put on that armor. Trust me, No trust Paul’s written instructions, one word from you in the power of His Name will send those little minions running. And you never have to sit long in the spirit of fear. There is nothing better than walking eternally in the peace that passes all understanding.

Sept 11 The day we remember the darkness and the day after:

Today is a very somber day. I find myself recalling the times past when the darkness overtook good individuals who spoke the truth as they could with their strong desire to positively impact the world. Since our nation began, people of faith and great integrity, have been victimized, as we see by the assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King, RFK, and Abraham Lincoln. The recent loss of Charlie Kirk, a man devoted to his God, his nation and his family, who sought to inspire youth as he shared his wise counsel, serves as a powerful reminder of the risks inherent in honest discourse. It was this that made him influential with those who hungered for just such rational intelligent discussions. Charlie Kirk like our Lord, sought to divide the darkness and shine his light. He is a reminder that the Lord is with us despite our most difficult encounters.

Prayer:

Father we need you in our lives every second of the day. Your kingdom come, Your will be done! Give us courage to confess our desire to hate, to make retribution. Instead help us walk in Truth and Your Love toward humanity, despite our differences. In Jesus name Amen

Sept 10 A Day of Trauma

Be still first! In my mind and heart I must “ Be still and Know that I am God”. God is light and love and He is focused on sending His kingdom to us when our will lines up with His , It comes at the speed of light. I receive it and speak it over and over to myself or over others. Usually it is a scripture. Coincidentally, Last night it was John 14:27.

 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Faith is Light, is Hope, is Peace