Yesterday, our family went to a park in Columbus and we were just getting some fresh air after a rough week of not feeling the best. We were sitting on the swings enjoying the sun and a lady and her two grandkids walked over, I smiled at them (and had the thought that her grandbabies were so cute!) and a few minutes later we went to sit in the shade to catch a break from the sun.
Not long after, the woman asked "Did you move away from us because we 'look different'"? I was taken back and grieved at the question because it had absolutely nothing to do with why we left. I walked up to her, shook her hand and we exchanged names. My husband and I talked with her for a long time and it was a really lovely, enlightening conversation. We learned that she had a family member shot for his appearance back when she was a younger girl (she's now 78). She had experienced a lot of pain through her life.
I wasn't offended at her question, didn't get defensive, I wanted to learn why she felt that way and I got to share the love of Jesus with her instead. We left hugging one another. Moral of the story, we can often "THINK" people think a certain way about us that is totally untrue.. grace, listening, and replacing lies with Truth goes a long way.. talk WITH the person you think you have beef with, not others.. a lot of people have pain you have no idea about. What if we gave grace and spoke with them like they're made in the image of God rather than an offensive obstacle in our path?
You bless your enemy yet today?
In lieu of recent (and on going) conflict, hate, polarization in the world... I'm telling you, genuinely praying for your "enemies" is the key to sanity and ongoing peace. All the while the rest of the world bites and devours each other, wouldn't it just be better to sit under a tree with Jesus and pray and bless the world. I think there is a lot more power and freedom in that ๐ Prayer is powerful. His Love and kindness is what CHANGES us.
"Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good." (Romans 12:9). We must hate evil.. Come against it. But let us never forget and implement lest our hearts get cold:
"But I say to you, LOVE your enemies, BLESS those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and PRAY for those who spitefully use you and persecute you" (Matthew 5:44)
"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for ALL people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires ALL people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man[a] Christ JESUS ๐ฅ, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth." (1 Timothy 2:1-7)
"not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing." (1 Peter 3:9)
ALL beautiful, life giving Truth must be spoken and stood for including:
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." (1 Corinthians 13)
We must also grieve for those who don't know the Truth and pray for a change of heart. Jesus, Himself, wept over Jerusalem for missing His message. If our hearts don't break and weep for people who are in stark opposition to the Gospel and pray for their salvation something is off.. our love has grown cold. We need to pray our hearts stay soft to His love yet set like flint to the Truth.
This is a problem:
Everyday, Iโm bombarded on X about how to make more money.
Hereโs why itโs scary:
This isnโt just marketing, itโs propaganda.
They arenโt selling financial freedom, they are selling a narrative around what we should value.
This makes it feel like financial prosperity is the path to the good life.
We think, โUnless I have it, I wonโt ever have the life I want.โ
This creates a longing in us, so we give ourselves over to produce wealth.
Now, money isnโt evil.
But the narrative that money is what you need is.
Itโs idolatry.
Jesus warned us that wealth is deceitful.
And if youโre deceived, it means you arenโt aware that you are believing a lie.
So consider this your wake up call:
Money cannot save you.
Money cannot make you happy.
Money cannot give you the good life.
But money does force you to worship it and poisons you with a never ending desire for more.
It enslaves you.
Our minds should not be full of โhow to finally get to 7 figures.โ
It should be full of โhow to get more of Christ.โ
Donโt be fooled.
Only Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
Everything else is a false God.
I believe the Bible, love Jesus, have fantastic sex with my husband and believe sex and our bodies were for meant for our spouses enjoyment not to display provocatively for the rest of the world. Women (including myself at one point) love attention from other men and now I find it an empty, dead end of desires... Not sacred, not fulfilling.
My marriage has flourished since leaving that behind. God is good and there's a reason why He encourages and discourages behaviors and empty pursuits.
Praying for this dear woman ๐ I have experienced similar torment that lasted for a years. I let it make me desperate for Jesus... Praying for her heart to find a flicker of hope, that the enemy's lies would be exposed for what they are and that she would have faith as a child!
I remember waking up from a tormenting dream that brought about shame, hopelessness, fear, anxiety and as clear as day I heard the Lord say, "That's not my voice.. that never was." And that was the breakthrough in realizing those thoughts and beliefs were from the pit of Hell and never from my Savior.
Praying she recognizes the enemy's lies, takes authority over her thoughts and makes them OBEDIENT to Christ! He is SO good!
You know your husband's training for a marathon when you find this on your dresser as the remains of his bedtime snack the next morning ๐๐โโ๏ธ@cevans5512
When walking by Victoria's Secret store at the mall yesterday, Charles (my 7 yr old son) noticed the posters of minimally dressed models plastered on the windows and held his hand up to block his eyes and emphatically said "Ewww! That's so creepy!". I chuckled at the innocent and honest assessment of my young son and realized his feelings might change at some point ๐
It got me thinking about how to walk beside my kid(s) in a world full of things that I wish I could shield them from but, realistically, can't. Sex is everywhere. How does our response to sex and worldly seduction (not the same thing in the right context) affect our families.
To be honest, I've KNOWN the gift of sex in the context of marriage, but still felt threatened by the outside forces of the world's obsession and projection of sex that leaks out everywhere (from ads, to content on phones, to fashion stores, to movies, to musicians and entertainers). It's not hard to look around and see our culture has a fascination with it, so much so, people pin their identity on it.
Feeling "threatened" by it or even fearful (in desiring purity, or to protect your marriage or kids, or perhaps it's been a deep struggle) can lead to, as my son did, put your hand up in disgust and even trying to convince yourself it's "creepy and disgusting".. we can start to demonize things without even realizing it. Interestingly, when I've tried approaching it from that angle, it's only led me to be spiteful, jealous, fearful and feeling overwhelmed that, maybe, those things aren't getting better in our culture, but even more prevalent.
But what IF, the Lord could give you a new set of eyes to see people as people, sex as a beautiful gift in the confines in marriage, the body as a beautiful creation (to appreciate as beautiful but not to worship), to see HIM as the Creator of beauty and give worship and glory to Him. I think if we placed our confidence in HIS absolute amazing beauty and power and grace, we could be honest with ourselves that certain things are beautiful (and He made them as good) but they aren't the Ultimate.
To remember that every knee, on heaven and earth, will bow before Him in His glory someday. My spiritual eyes are awakening to the absolute beauty of who HE is and allowing everything else in this life to shrink in it's proper proportion. Suddenly, this "big monster" is a small fly that feels distracting at times but pales in comparison of who He is. Recalibrate on His goodness. Suddenly, seduction and worldly displays of sex aren't powerful and a "big, scary" undefeatable battle.. it's just a sad twisted display of what God had originally intended for good and His glory.. which we can and should redeem in our own marriage. People are people.. bodies are bodies (changing, aging and dying)... Sex isn't a big, scary monster we're trying to protect our marriages and kids from, our brains just need rewired by the goodness of God.
Chuck and I talk about this all the time because we've been on both sides of it before experiencing His freedom.
Maybe seeing things as they really are (beautiful, but not the ultimate) will allow us to breathe in Who really is the Ultimate and to see the world with a totally new lens. It's freedom. It allows you to pray in confidence, intercede with love and hope and allows you to have compassion on a broken world attempting to use and abuse everything good He created to fill a void only He was meant to fill. Church, let's stop living in fear and fix our eyes on Jesus, the King of Kings who came to free captives and give sight to the blind. He is so good!
@Lady_Broski@abarefootmomma I used steroid creams for years since childhood. I felt I wasn't dealing with the root issues and just masking the symptoms and discovered I had a sensitivity to certain fabrics. Using tallow balm instead of lotion also helped tremendously! I haven't had it on my limbs for 2 yrs
To be honest, my husband is the one who depicts better self control in this area than I do. He is 14 years free of porn and truly says he doesn't "need" sex, but it's an incredible gift. I think the goal (which is biblical) is that neither spouse should deprive the other unless it's mutual. Anyways, just throwing out a personal example that men CAN make that choice - I believe they have the Spirit of God too, just sayin'.