Hello everyone and God bless you all! I am finally coming up for air! Man, it’s been a long few weeks! Our family has been dealing with a lot of illness this winter and it has been hard. Sometimes life can feel like being stuck in the ocean suffering the onslaught of crashing waves. Waves of trouble come one after another and they just won’t stop. The enemy steps in and shoots his flaming arrows trying to knock you down. Things go wrong and discouragement sets in. Thank God for my shield of faith in Jesus and thank God He allows me to walk on water when I fix my eyes on Jesus!
My wife and kids are home today because of the big blizzard we are getting right now, so I have a chance to catch my breath. Our daughter had strep two weeks ago and she was on antibiotics for ten days. She took her last dose last Wednesday and she was feeling great, then she got sick again over the weekend. She had already missed several days of school and she missed Monday and Tuesday of this week too. I have been taking care of her. Many of you know that I am unemployed due to Celiac, so I am like Mr. Mom. I have been a stay at home Dad for many years now. The good news is that our daughter is feeling better today and it is a blessing to have a snow day!
In the midst of the illness with our daughter, I have also been dealing with health issues. I haven’t written a post since last Monday because of it. On top of that, my upper right rib popped out again yesterday. That happened to me a couple years ago while trying to lift some heavy boxes and now it is more susceptible to it. My rib went back into place pretty quick, but it is discouraging and it hurts. Celiac weakened my muscles and bones, so I have to be more careful now. Oh yeah, and the springs on our garage door broke and I had to get that fixed. We have had several rounds of bitter cold this winter and it cracked the springs. Just one crazy trouble after another.
So, needless to say, I have been praying over all of these things a lot. I have also been under attack spiritually while all of these troubles have been happening. I have been in this ancient spiritual battle a long time and the evil one always attacks during times like this. It’s just like a bully to kick someone while they are down. I am a soldier, I expect it, and I am ready to defend it and fight back with the Word of God!
In the last week I have had four different women follow me on Twitter who were either partially naked from inappropriate clothing or totally naked in their profile picture. They always say they are looking for a man and I blocked them all. Let me say this right now. I rebuke any such attack in the Name of Jesus! I have my eyes fixed on The King and I am not falling for that nonsense! If you follow me on Twitter and you are some kind of sexually immoral person, I am going to block you. I actually tell my wife, show her what I’m dealing with, then I block you. I will still pray for you, but a brother in Christ has to block garbage like that. Sinful filth is the better term.
When you act like that, you just become a flaming arrow of the evil one and I have to whip out my shield of faith to defend myself. I have been married for 17 years, I have two beautiful kids, and I am 40 years old. Don’t send naked photos to me! By the way, I looked at the list of people the last woman was following and it was almost all Christian men. It is a straight up attack from the evil one and those women are being used by him to tear Christian men down. Unfortunately, there were several of the men who followed her back. Brothers in Christ, do not flirt with satan! Run away from that sin! Flee! Run to the arms of Jesus every time and don’t look back!
Women, let me talk to you for a second. Your worth does not come from what your body looks like. If you are single and you post half naked or naked photos of yourself on the internet, you are going to attract men who are nothing but trouble. That is not a way to find a good man. That is a way to attract lustful men who will hurt and abuse you, then leave you in a broken mess of shame and regret. You could also end up dead. Your true worth is found in your Savior who loves you more than you can imagine.
It breaks my heart to see women so desperate for love that they are willing to prostitute themselves online to the world. What your heart really wants is to be cherished as God cherishes you, and you are not going to find that posting photos of your chest, thighs, and booty on Twitter. Jesus loves you. Jesus died for you. It is His love you need first. After you receive Jesus, then you can pray to find a man who loves Jesus with all of his heart and be sure the first time you show him your body is on your wedding night. Men who love Jesus are attracted to women who love Jesus and show their love for Jesus by dressing with purity and acting with purity. Your hearts desire is to be cherished and loved, not to be used for your body.
Okay, moving on. Through all of these troubles and attacks, the Lord has been speaking to me. He spoke an encouraging word to me yesterday as I was praying for my daughter. I was feeling dismayed and a bit distraught about a lot of things in my life and I was crying out. He quieted my heart and I heard Him speak these three things to me:
“Keep moving forward.”
“Rest in Me.”
“Don’t give up.”
The day before that I had asked God what I was supposed to do with this blog and with Twitter. I really wanted to shut down my Twitter account, but God showed me that would be like retreating in the face of battle and He is not calling me to retreat. I was going to take a much longer break from the blog, but the Lord was calling me back here too. I opened the Word and my eyes fell on 2 Timothy chapter 4. After I read these verses, I was filled with great joy from the encouraging confirmation and answer to my prayers!
“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”
2 Timothy 4:1-5
God’s answer couldn’t be anymore clear! Freely I have received, so freely I give. Just like Paul, the Lord fills us up and pours us out (2 Timothy 4:6), so that others can know the truth and be set free! So, after all the trouble and all the attacks, I am simply going to do exactly what the Lord said. I will preach the Word, I will be prepared, I will correct, rebuke, and encourage with prayers for wisdom to do so with great patience and careful instruction. I must keep my head in all situations, endure hardship like a good soldier, work hard for the Lord as His evangelist, and discharge all the duties of this ministry He has given me. I will keep moving forward, I will rest in Him, and I will not give up! Amen!
I even wrote down what the Lord said after He spoke to my heart:
Thank you all for your prayers and support while I have been gone! I appreciate the emails of encouragement! I look forward to reading all of your blogs again! Also, there were several new people that followed my blog while I was away. Thank you and it’s great to meet you all! I usually do a post just about every day. I started this blog on 8-10-18 and it’s all about helping people come to know Jesus. Sometimes I have to take breaks due to Celiac disease or other issues, but the Lord always lifts me up and keeps me writing for Him.
Thank You Jesus! It’s good to be back!
Grace and peace to you all!
