How to Silence the Feed to Heal the Soul

 

Irritation, quick-temper, distracted mind, forgetfulness. These are a few signs I needed more than a social media detox. I was in need of soul healing.

I’ve been writing for years about the importance of removing ourselves from the grips of screens in order to reset our minds and souls. I’m six weeks into my current social media fast and continue to experience healing.

I wrote an article over at Bubbling Brook titled

MORE THAN A SOCIAL MEDIA DETOX: HOW SILENCING YOUR NEWS FEED CAN HEAL YOUR SOUL

In the article I share how I realized I desperately needed to silence the feed and the signs that my soul was healing when I followed God’s prompting for a break.

I hope you will find practical steps as well as encouragement to step into a time of healing with Jesus.

What the Christian Response Reveals in Tumultuous Times

“Stop your fighting–and know that I am God, exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.” Psalm 46:10

We win!

“We win!” These are the words I continue to hear from the mouths and fingertips of christians in this volatile political and social season.

What does that mean?

  • If your preferred candidate wins office who most closely represents Biblical values?
  • If justice prevails in the courts?
  • If corruption is exposed and justice meted?

I’ve been baffled by these statements. Haven’t christians already won? Was the cross not enough of a victory? Did we forget God showed us the ending? Or have we misapplied His words and promises to fit our desires?

Exposing Idols

We have an idolatry problem. We have placed our rights, our comforts, and our freedoms on the altar. We’ve decided we will do anything and everything to keep what we want. In our desperation to protect our idols, we attack, we fight, and we demand.

We’ve idolized understanding, believing it is our right to know and understand all that is taking place. “Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are His.” Job 12:13

Please don’t misunderstand me. I love my life, my rights, and my comforts. I desire to stay informed. But are we desiring these in the name of justice and righteousness to the point we stopped caring about the watching world observing our fight?

Have we bitten the apple which bites back? Eve bit the apple, which she believed would give her wisdom and understanding of good and evil. We follow in her footsteps desiring to know more than God has unveiled for us to know. As it turns out we live in an age of more information than a soul or mind can handle. May we consume with great caution.

Information is “uncovered” and shared, and believers claim God is unveiling. Friends, satan appears as an angel of light. (2 Cor. 11:14) A friend posted the most dangerous tool we’ve used in the last year is the share button. I tend to agree with her.

What have we won? We can be right and lose.

Steve’s words echo in my mind, “You can be right and still lose.” More than being right is communicating the message. God has tasked us as His ambassadors to tell the world about all the corruption and demand justice. Oh, wait. No He hasn’t.

We can be absolutely right about much going on in the world, but how we communicate to a hopeless world is the difference between life and death for eternity.

Here’s our actual assignments:

  • Go and make disciples“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” Matthew 28:19
    • In our fighting, demanding, and posting, we are losing disciples. We are absolutely pushing away those God desires come to Him.
  • Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. – “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” Matthew 5:44
    • The christian culture is slaying the enemies with words and posts and calls to rise up.
    • The American church doesn’t understand persecution, so when our fears become a potential threat, we fight. The majority of the world on the other side of the globe lives under true persecution.
    • We are different. We can love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)
  • Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly. “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8
    • I don’t interpret act justly as demand justice. Yes, God is a just God. He demands justice. But He brings it. Some of us are used in our vocations or callings to do just that. But others of us are taking scripture and modifying it to give us permission to act out of our idolatrous desires.
    • Act. Love. Walk. These are all what we do, not demand of those around us. We act justly to all. We love mercy and show it. We walk humbly, not as one who is right and knows all.

Don’t be surprised by trouble.

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

Our peace isn’t in this world. It’s in Him. Christians we’ve veered off course and it’s time to come back. The world needs peace. It’s not found in a political system. Doesn’t history reveal this?

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice in as much as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” 1 Peter 4:12

“So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” 1 Peter 4:19

Silence the world to hear God

God directed me off social media several weeks ago. He didn’t say why. He didn’t say it was temporary or permeant. I’ve stopped asking God to give me explanations and understanding and have found the freedom in simply saying yes to Him.

Everything has changed in my heart as it relates to what is happening in our country right now.

I’ve been sad, mad, and scared. I started 2020 quite vocal in my thoughts and opinions. Some of those may be right, but my love began to grow cold. I was becoming cynical, self-righteous, and prideful.

I began seeing people through the lens of social media posts, narrowing them down to judgements based on 100 words they shared.

God called me out of it into a time of resting in His embrace.

Expect persecution and prepare now. How should christians respond?

It’s only in America we feel surprised by persecution. In his book, The Blessing of Humility, Jerry Bridges writes, “I predict the various types of nonphysical persecution will become more widespread and intense.”

“So we need to be prepared to respond in ways that honor God.”

This is what is weighing down my heart. How are we responding to the idea or threat of coming persecution?

Bridges continues, “I suspect that our own court system will eventually fail us, as more and more judges are appointed who have been trained in law schools that at best are indifferent to biblical righteousness and at worst are openly hostile to it.”

“It is quite apparent that the Bible no longer has moral authority in society as a whole. So we should expect increasing marginalization of Christians, and in some instances curtailment of our religious freedom. How should we respond? Certainly not in a combative cultural-warfare attitude. Rather, it should be based on the principle Jesus taught in Matthew 5:44: “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

“As I observe the response of so many Christians to the eroding of what have been called “traditional values,” I am concerned that we are acting no differently than many nonbelievers who may care nothing about the Bible but who want to defend those values. Instead of loving those whose actions and lifestyles we oppose, we seem to engage in some form of action that is inconsistent with Jesus’ admonition to love our enemies.” 

Persecution brings blessing

In the following quote, Bridges sums up what has been stirring in my heart during my social media absence.

“Another important question is, How will we respond if our religious freedom is curtailed and our court protection fails us? Will we consider ourselves to be blessed because of being reviled or persecuted for righteousness’ sake? When push comes to shove, will we really believe that God is sovereign over all the affairs of humanity?”

“Will we believe that, despite many appearances to the contrary, Jesus is building His church and ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’ (Matthew 16:18)?”

Bridges states he asks these questions because he himself doesn’t know how he would respond when that day should come.

I’m realizing about myself that my eternal mindset needs to be sharpened. It’s time to live what we claim to believe. It’s time to smash our idols and be willing to love our enemies and pray for them. It’s time to see that it’s an honor to join Christ in His sufferings.

The American church, the American political system were never promised in the Bible. I love America. But we are not of this world. (John 17:16) Maybe we should live that way.

What do I want Jesus to say to me?

I don’t imagine Jesus will say to me, “Great political posts that incited your friends and enemies.” He likely won’t say, “Great job in turning the eyes of all who watched back onto world events and leading a crusade to protect your rights.” It’s unlikely He will say, “Great job using your wisdom to seek out all the mysteries I had hidden for your protection.”

You know what I want to hear Him say? Something along these lines:

  • “You joined in my sufferings well. Well done, faithful servant.”
  • “Well done, faithful servant, you kept your eyes fixed on me, what was unseen rather than seen.”
  • “Good job, child of Mine, you trusted in My righteousness and justice to prevail rather than fighting for your own.”
  • “Thank you for praying for those who persecuted my church. Many of them have joined you here today because of those prayers.”
  • “Well done waiting for my timing. It was but a mist. Here is your reward.”

Repent

Friends, I’m repenting. I’ve fought God in my heart as I claimed to fight for His ways. I’ve been wrong in many ways as I’ve navigated this unsettling season. But God is good, patient, and kind.

It’s our responsibility as the church to represent the truth of who He is. Jesus is the only answer. The only solution. The only way to true peace.

Peace will not be found here apart from Christ.

I encourage you to read Isaiah 41 as you ponder these words and seek God for your next steps in this season.

He will return for His church. We will stand in eternity and realize our time on earth was quite short. We have work to do to bring souls with us. Let’s be careful and wise as we move forward.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:10-12

 

A truly safe phone for kids – 24 hour deal

Once you open the door to smartphones, it’s hard to close it. Once the door is opened, you begin the process of continually learning no amount of restrictions and monitoring are effective in truly keeping our kids safe.

As I’ve shared before, we’ve tried dumbed down smartphones, flip phones, iPods, and have found none to be truly safe. When I found the Gabb phone, I knew I’d found a parent’s dream to a phone they can put into their kid’s hands with no worries.

For 24 hours only, you can get this phone for $49 using my promo code RENEEROBINSON49

Purchase Gabb phone here

(This link will begin working Monday November 23rd at midnight MT)

These phones are expected to sell out fast. Monday November 23 12:00 am-11:59pm MT.

My 15 year old told us a story recently about someone asking what kind of phone he had. His response made us laugh. “I have a ‘my mom loves me phone’.”

The Gabb phone utilizes phone, text, calculator, calendar, music, gps, and camera. No internet, no apps, no games, no social media. No danger. No worries. Truly a peace of mind phone at a perfect price point. I’m not big on putting a $1,000 phone in my kids’ hands anyway.

There’s a new movement of parents waking up to the effects and harms of smartphones and screens on our children. In an effort to do our part in keeping kids safe and saving their innocence and childhood, the Gabb phone is a step in the right direction.

 

 

 

A safer alternative to a smartphone but with the same look

For years I’ve been writing about screen addiction, digital detoxes, and electronic boundaries to protect our families and our children. The first post was a letter to my boys about why I limited their electronic usage. After watching that post go viral multiple times, I realized this was a topic important to millions of families just like us. I began exploring the topic more and sharing my findings and insights here with you all. You can find many of those posts here.

I’ve never been a fan of a smartphone in the hand of a kid or even a young teen.

When Zachary turned 13 we bought him his first phone. It was a flip phone. I thought that would be the safest option. As it turns out, it’s not much better than a smart phone. On the flip phone you are unable to disable internet access. Yes, the flip phone has internet access. But with little to no parental controls.

We have bought 2 flip phones. Each time we’ve gone to the store we’ve been told there was only 1 option, 1 flip phone. No choices. We have also been told there is no demand and soon we will have no flip phone options.

I disagree with the lack of demand. I talk to too many parents and listen to you all share your heart for wanting a safer option.

Now that Zachary is almost 15, a flip phone isn’t the coolest thing in the world. To text on a flip phone is not super easy. So he’s reached a point where he began asking for a smartphone, but we aren’t ready to open that world to him at this point. He has more than enough internet access via computers and iPads in our home, we really don’t want him carrying access to the world in his pocket. And let’s be honest, we adults struggle to manage the distractions, so expecting our kids and teens to filter through the mess online is a setup for frustration.

I’ve scoured the internet for safe phones for teens. I end up finding nothing. Then one day as I scrolled Facebook an ad popped up. This one instantly spoke to me because it advertised a phone with no internet access, the look of a smartphone, with all the major functions important to us.

The price was perfect, the monthly service was the exact amount I already paid, so I bought it right off the ad. I don’t think I’ve ever bought from a FB ad before!

Ya’ll! I’m in love with this phone.

Company mission:

Put really simply, our mission is to protect children, connect families and encourage life outside the screen.

This video explains the heart behind this company and their mission. Created by a dad who found himself in the same place I did, standing in a phone store realizing the market held nothing to give our kids what they wanted while protecting them the way we want to protect them.

Key features of this phone:

 

Phone, Text, Camera, Calendar, Calculator. Unlimited talk and text for $19.99 and month. And the coverage is excellent!!

No internet, no app store, no social media, no games, no ability to send and receive pictures (which is becoming a major problem with inappropriate images sent and received by kids).

I bought our phone when it was on sale for $69. Currently the Gabb phone is being offered for $49, plus I have a promo code for an additional $5 off. Just use promo code RENEEROBINSON when you check out.

 

*****This post contains affiliate links.*****

*****See About page for full affiliate disclosures. I only share what I absolutely love and believe in. I’d share this with no affiliate link. Affiliate links cover a small portion of the cost of maintaining my website, so I’m always grateful for your support when purchasing and sharing through the links I provide. I turn down nearly every company who asks me to partner with them. If I share it, I use it personally and want you to love it as well!*****

Defending the Truth, Offenses, Divisiveness, oh my!!!! And the coming day!

Here’s some posts over the past several days. Scripture I’ve pondered, books I’ve read, thoughts I’m taking to God. And at the end of the day, settling back on the only unchanging hope we have. He is good always.

The only power to help us


“The crisis of the age we live in is the abandonment of truth, inevitably in the decline of moral values.”“Most of the early twentieth-century sociological works I read claimed that crime was caused by environmental forces such as poverty and racism. But in 1977 psychiatrist Samuel Yockelson and psychologist Stanton Samenow published a landmark seventeen-year study called The Criminal Personality, which refutes that claim. The only adequate explanation for crime, they conclude, is individual moral choices. The solution to crime, therefore, is “the conversion of the wrongdoer to a more responsible lifestyle.”

“But in an age of relativism, this worldview has steadily lost its grip on American culture, largely because Christians themselves have failed to recognize how God’s truth applies to every aspect of life.”
Charles Colson quotes from Born Again.

I just finished book 46 of 2020. Born Again by Charles Colson. He was convicted of Watergate-related offenses and spent time in prison on those charges. Jesus Christ saved Him, made him a new man, and used him to shine a light in the dark prison world. He has a unique story from inside the White House and political system, inside the prison system, inside law and justice as an attorney, and finally as a converted man, saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

This book, again, was timely and powerful for me to read.


Let His Word settle you

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“We are not made for brilliant moments, but we have to walk in the light of them in ordinary ways.” Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest.

This inspirational #teatowel reminds us that the majority of our lives are filled with ordinary, mundane moments, but lived in the Spirit of God they are holy.

May we do all for His glory.

Image may contain: text that says 'Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Matthew 11:28,30'

 

Anyone weary? Our souls weren’t created to receive the load of information and news we take in each day. Is God asking you to come to Him and receive rest?

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“But avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning, knowing that such a person is perverted and sins, being self-condemned.” Titus 3:9-11


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“Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap.” Galatians 6:7


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Jesus told the crowd that it wasn’t what they ate that made them unclean, it was what was already inside them, residing in their own hearts. The disciples came to Jesus, talking about the religious Pharisees, and said, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard this statement?”

I love how Jesus responds in Matthew 15:13 “Every plant that my Heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. Leave them alone! They are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both fall into a pit.”

In the margin of my Bible I have written “it’s not worth arguing with the blind.”

Jesus spoke the truth and the truth offends. Period. The truth is offensive to the blind. Is it our job to make them not offended? Nope. We speak the truth in love. It may offend. Jesus didn’t go back to make sure they weren’t offended. He said “Leave them alone.” They are blind and my Father will deal with them.

Another thing worth noting, be careful we aren’t following the blind. Otherwise, we may find ourselves in a pit when they fall. Stay in step with Jesus and you never worry about being on the wrong side.
For the full account read Matthew 15:10-20.


There will come a day…

Imagine a day where millions of people simply disappear from the earth. You are driving down the freeway and cars start running off roads because drivers disappeared into thin air. Planes fall from the sky as some pilots are gone. You are at the checkout counter and the clerk is gone. Literally people vanish. Chaos is everywhere. And no one knows what has happened to all the people. Then lawlessness takes over. Evil has taken over. Sounds super freaky and far fetched right? Well, it’s not. It will happen. And I believe sooner than we realize.

Here’s some of my story.

I’d been resisting God for years in my life. I didn’t have all my questions answered, I thought my life would become stale and boring, and I didn’t think I could live to God’s standards. So I kept pushing Him away. But He chased me down. Everywhere I turned someone was telling me about Him or inviting me to something. Then my mom gave me the book Left Behind. I devoured the entire series. I read about what the Bible says will happen at the end of the world and I was stunned. I was terrified and realized I didn’t want to be left behind. The horrible things were coming to deal with evil. Yet I didn’t feel I fit on the side of God or of evil. I was just hanging in the middle, doing “good” on my own without repenting and surrendering to Jesus. I realized that by default put me on the side of evil. I had to make a choice now before it became too late which side I wanted to be found on.

I gave my life to Jesus and He made me a new person. The burden that lifted off me that day I didn’t even know I’d been carrying. I remember standing in an atrium feeling free. Like a prisoner who was just released from jail. I didn’t know I’d been living in chains.

That was almost 20 years ago. I’d been married for 4 months. Jesus saved my life and I have made the rest of my life about knowing Him and making Him known to the world.

I remember in Left Behind the main characters trying to figure out where their mom and brother had disappeared to. The mother and brother were Christ followers but the dad and sister were not. The beginning of the book became about survival.

When Jesus takes me and my family out of this world while He deals with evil once and for all, I know that strangers will be in our home taking all the things we left. I wrote a letter placed in a Bible explaining where we went and how they can join us there. How they too can still be saved.

My goal in the next few days is to make copies of that letter and place it in all our Bibles and all over our home. When evil comes in, I want to still leave the path that leads towards hope. To Jesus.

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.” 1 Thes 4:13-18

Is Silence Really a Bad Thing?

 

Catchy phrases that rhyme don’t make them true. I’ve seen this one quite a bit lately “Silence=Violence”. Well, that’s simply not true no matter how cute it sounds.

The word silence has drawn my attention the past few days. I’ve held close to my heart the scripture from Ecclesiastes 3:7 that tells us there’s a time to be silent and a time to speak.

I continue to let that be the prayer of my heart. Often I’m tempted, or even follow through, on speaking out of my emotions or my sin of pride. The Lord will reveal to me, often through the convicting word of another, and I have the opportunity to repent, remember, and choose wiser next time. God’s mercy is fresh daily. Praise God!

So I’ve been mulling over the word silent. When does God instruct us to be silent? Some circumstances demand we speak, but others request our silence.

First, we ask God. We seek Him. We find Him in prayer, in His Word, and later He will speak to us through others and our world as we move through our day seeking Him.

As I prayed asking God to direct me toward knowing when to be silent, He brought me to the book of Amos.

Verse 5:13 “Therefore the wise person will keep silent at such a time, for the days are evil.”

Friends, we are in fact living in evil days.

The study notes say that because the people with power were so hostile to anyone who told the truth in the courts of law, honest and decent people were being silenced. Now if that doesn’t make us pause and consider what we are seeing in the world today, I don’t know what will.

I read a further commentary on this verse that said it didn’t apply to the prophets who were called to reprove no matter the consequences, but the private person by speaking out would only bring on ill will and hear God blasphemed, which would hurt them deeply.

Remember last week God kept bringing me the word light especially connecting the light to the darkness? Well, here we are again.

Amos 5:20 Won’t the Day of the Lord be darkness rather than light, even gloom without any brightness in it?

Amos 5:8 The One who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night who summons the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the earth. Yahweh is His name. He brings destruction on the strong and it falls on the stronghold.

The Day of the Lord is near. God will deal. God won’t be silent. For a little while more, evil will remain, but its escalation is simply due to the fact that the demons at work know they are on borrowed time. I believe we are seeing events played out we’ve only read about. Now we are living them in real time. That means we better be living armored up, strengthening our faith, and shining light everywhere we go.

Seek God.

Ok, so there’s definitely times to be silent. But when do we speak?

Proverbs 28:23
“One who rebukes a person will later find more favor than one who flatters with His tongue.”

There’s a lot of flattery going on right now friends.

In my study Bible, the notes explain the exception to this is when rebuking a mocker with a cross reference to Proverbs 9:7 “The one who corrects a mocker will bring dishonor on himself; the one who rebukes a wicked man will get hurt.”

Looking at the study notes again it explains we are to avoid the unteachable.

Avoid the unteachable, the fool, the mocker. They will NOT receive your wisdom. They speak a different language. You will become distracted and dishonored in the process.

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Again looking at the study notes to help it make sense. “The wise are teachable BECAUSE they are humble and they fear the Lord.” They don’t fear man, they fear the Lord.

This is key. I’ve approached people with truth and love and received vastly different responses. But as believers we are SUPPOSED to be humble and teachable. So if we are rebuked, and a friend speaks truth into our lives, we should be humble enough to consider the words by taking them to the Lord. And if we see something false or needing correction in the life of our fellow believer, it’s loving to point them back to God’s Word.

James 5:19-20 “My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his life from death and cover a multitude of sins.”

Right now the world is filled with prideful spirits totally unteachable and believers wandering from the truth. I pray out loud a particular prayer with one of my boys every single night. “Lord, give him a soft heart and a teachable spirit.” The reason I pray that with one child is his bent is not towards teachability ?

Here’s where I landed as I wrestled this down with God yesterday. Each situation is unique for when we speak and when we are silent.

For our brothers and sisters in Christ, when we see them following a path of lies opposed to the truth of God’s Word, I believe we speak. But when the mob is speaking and we feel tempted to speak against it, it’s likely wiser to remain silent unless we speak the gospel and the gospel alone.

Until God captures the human heart, it lives in rebellion to Him. Right now more than ever we need to be praying for wisdom and discernment. Otherwise we may be carried away with the popular voice that echoes the world.

Lord, our prayer today is to give us a heart for you. Guide us by your Spirit, fill us with your wisdom, teach us when to speak and when to be silent. May we spend so much time with you that we overflow your love to those around us. This world is in desperate need of You and You’ve been here the entire time, but we’ve removed you from our schools, communities, and our lives. Forgive us. Heal our land. Send us out to make disciples of all nations. Protect your people, ready our hearts for the season we are living in. Amen.

Shine a light in the darkness

This is a series of posts I posted on social media the day many people muted themselves in order to listen and learn in response to the riots happening around the nation. When I began my series I didn’t realize it had been given a name “Black Out Tuesday”. The interesting thing is God began to show me over and over again ‘light’ and to call out the light.


Post #1 of I’m not sure how many….

Apparently the latest social media trend is to mute one’s self, go silent, darken the screen, and listen in order to solve sin and wounds that began thousands of years ago. Like a fast of sorts.

I’m baffled. 100% baffled. I sat with the Lord so speechless this morning and told Him I just have no words anymore. Covid seems to have disappeared overnight, and what took its place is worse. Not only is the world at war, but the responses have me with my jaw dragging the ground.

I’ve been asking God to direct me when to speak and when to be silent. Today the first verses He led me to were in Isaiah 58.

“”Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God.”

I think it’s about time we let God’s voice speak. All these posts saying we are going mute to allow other voices to be heard, what about God’s voice? Why aren’t we making space for His Word?

Honestly I’m wearied of man’s thoughts and opinions. I desperately need God right now. I need to hear His voice.

As He directs today I’ll be sharing from His Word. Maybe it’ll be only this post. Maybe it’ll be many. I don’t dare plan how God will move, but I’m asking Him to speak.


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Post 2 of ?

Jesus is the answer to every single social issue, every virus, every fight, every hurt, every fear.

Jesus is the light for our dark world.

Just Jesus. Jesus plus nothing. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.

John chapter 1

4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

Lord, we cry out to you. We realign our hearts to you. Forgive us. Heal us. For those who have salvation in You, lead us by your spirit. For those who are crying out for help and don’t know you as Savior, may today be a day of salvation. Light up their world by your love and supernatural reach.

Today, may God’s light shine.


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God lights the dark. He didn’t call us to sit in the darkness. He illuminates our darkness!! Only Jesus.

Psalm 18:28-36

28 Lord, You light my lamp;
my God illuminates my darkness.
29 With You I can attack a barrier,[f]
and with my God I can leap over a wall.
30 God—His way is perfect;
the word of the Lord is pure.
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
31 For who is God besides Yahweh?
And who is a rock? Only our God.
32 God—He clothes me with strength
and makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer
and sets me securely on the heights.[g]
34 He trains my hands for war;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your right hand upholds me,
and Your humility exalts me.
36 You widen a place beneath me for my steps,
and my ankles do not give way.


Post 4 of ?

Isaiah 58:6-12
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”


Post 5 of ?

This is why we don’t lose hope. This is why we don’t despair. This is coming!!!!

Revelation 21:23-27

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.


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Post 6 of ?

“You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lamp stand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16


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Post 7 of 7

“Everything exposed by the light is made clear, for what makes everything clear is light.”
All of Ephesians 5:6-14 is so good!

God has much to say about light. Shine a light, shine a light. That song is running through my head today. God takes me on interesting treks. Thanks for joining me on this one today!


 

God continues to bring me to scriptures pointing out the light. 1 Thessalonians 5 tells us that when Jesus returns, it will feel like a thief in the night for those who don’t believe. But for those of us who do believe, it won’t be a surprise because we are able to discern the seasons and times we are living in.

2020 has felt like a living nightmare. One thing after another, each event more intense than the one before, events closer together. As we draw closer to the return of Jesus, we will experience world events the Bible says will feel like labor pains.

I had no epidural with my last birth and I know that I thought I was dying near delivery as the pains were so intense and close together. So it will be for us here as we wait for Jesus to rapture us home.

Verse 4-5 “But you, brothers, are not in the dark, for this day to overtake you like a thief. For you are all sons of light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness.”

It’s time we move back into the light where we belong. Shine a light so bright for the world to see God’s glory and His intense love for this world.

It’s time to live ready to leave this temporary home at any moment. It’s time to stop living distracted by the chaos Satan creates around us. Time to stop focusing on the issues and get back to loving God and people with such intensity we change the world, one person at a time, until we meet Jesus in the air

 

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