It really takes spine to stay aligned with God and stand firm during these testing times. God doesn’t work with mollusks. The last chapter of the Bible has a statement where cowards are the first God assigned to remain far away from Him.
[Free Resource/ Gift included]—> There are events during the year that we or other people planned, created or caused. Whether impactful or insignificant, these could have not happened after all. But I’m talking about those other events that come as if a specific year was their “appointed time”, as if they would still happen regardless of anything or anyone. Those, in perspective, are why I changed the way I now approach the beginning of a year and the end of it.
That’s basically what was going on for me in the dark and cozy atmosphere of the bus, when I started feeling something like fingers furtively searching in one of my pockets. The girl next to me (she looked older than me), a total stranger, obviously thought that I was deeply sleeping, so she was low-key doing her thing…
“Love your neighbor as yourself”. What if you don’t love yourself? Well my friend, then your neighbors happen to have terrible luck! and I know someone who wouldn’t want to be in their shoes 👀! This command sounds to me like Jesus already expects us to be treating ourselves well, and that’s why He can ask us to love the next person the same way. Well, Lord you were wondering if there would still be faith upon your return… basic self-love has taken a strike too. Indeed faith and love are so closely knit: if we don’t trust, we won’t be able to receive anything from God, not even His fully given love. When the cisterns are broken (families, communities, societies), we need to go back to the Source: our Father God. It’s time to fill our love tank…
I am and will be “God-daughtering” in Christ 24/7. The only fight I’ll partake in is the battle of the faith. Fighting not only to protect and keep my faith in God through all life’s vicissitudes, but also to encourage and strengthen, to the extent that I can, that same faith all around me. That’s the real fight that sticks us with Him here and gets us on the other side with Him. And that’s the fight, that I believe we should all do together, both inside the structures and outside them, so that no one among us is missing. That focus is sharp, so no matter what the narratives are, the real fight and where the enemy tackles us is: keeping our faith in Him (for real, for real, and for all matters) and keeping His love in us for one another.
[Free Resource/ Gift included]—> I was not good. Smh… At all. It was also clear to me that these evil things were bright open doors flashing the demons to access me. I was afraid and very sorry when I realized how I had put my soul in such a vulnerable position. I was suddenly conscious of all that. So I was confessing them as they kept coming one after the other. I needed God’s forgiveness and rescue; otherwise, it would be just a matter of time, I kind of knew that. So there I was, confessing and calling on Jesus, in my heart, to save me, when suddenly, OUT OF NOWHERE…
If you ever see a bird flying without a tail, that could be our little guy! Well, probably not… But at least you might think of that fearful and stubborn bird who left me with something worth remembering. (No, not its tail, but a valuable lesson).