Author: Faith

“Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.”-Isaiah 60:1-2

The Light is the Holy Spirit!

As we await the final outcome of our presidential election in America, many of us are waiting for the outcome, instead of acting now.  But while we are waiting, evil is not.  Evil never sleeps. 

For example there are efforts to shut down the light occurring in Europe now!  On WND’s website, there is an article “Brits consider criminalizing dinner-table talk”’ it’s an important read for every Christian. 

So important that I wrote to them to see if this is true.  And it is.  And while they now appear to be allowing a defense to dinner table-talk (since it is not intended to be heard by anyone else), it well may, if enacted restrict Preachers who preach the Bible.  And if that happens there, there is a good chance it will happen here.

And so, we must arise and shine for our Lord-Now.  While we can.  No matter who wins the election, a time of great darkness is coming.  However, we who truly follow Jesus will still walk in the Light. 

The Great Awakening is Coming.  Don’t Wait. Let’s bring as many as we can-into the Light! God’s Light 🙂

The stories about Gideon were always some of my very favorites in the Bible.  They could have said about Gideon, “he was scared, but did it anyway”.  That could probably be said about many of us, including me 🙂

For example, one of his first tasks was to destroy his dad’s alter to baal, because he was afraid, he did so in the dark ?

For Israel’s sake, Gideon also was called to defeat the Midianites.  God wanted the people of Israel to realize that it was God who saved them.  So God ensured that Gideon only had three hundred men with which to fight thousands!  Gideon was afraid.  Very afraid.  But with God’s help and direction, Gideon won!

There is something else that is important in Gideon’s story.  God is clearly sympathetic to Gideon’s fears.  God even tells’ Gideon how he might relieve some of his fears.  So often, when we are worried or afraid, we beat ourselves up and feel that if we just had more faith we would not ever worry.  That’s just not true.  God clearly loved Gideon, and He called him a “Mighty man of Valor”.  Courage is not the absence of fear-it’s the facing of it.  God understands that, just as He understands and loves us

So we need not let fear keep us from serving God.  At some time in our lives, we are all afraid of something.  And that’s okay, we just need to not let our fear stop us ?

Be the Light ?

From Judges 7:

Gideon Defeats the Midianites

7 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. ² The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ ³ Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

⁴ But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

⁵ So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” ⁶ Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

⁷ The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” ⁸ So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.

Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. ⁹ During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. ¹⁰ If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah ¹¹ and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. ¹² The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.

¹³ Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”

¹⁴ His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”

¹⁵ When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.” ¹⁶ Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.

¹⁷ “Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. ¹⁸ When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”

¹⁹ Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. ²⁰ The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹ While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.

²² When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. ²³ Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. ²⁴ Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters -of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah.”-Judges 7: 1-24

And I am grateful for mine!

There are so many Bible verses that speak of Angels in our midst, and yet how often do we forget them?  But they are there, sent by God Himself to help us.

They are here to minister to us, because God loves us so.  Many believe that we can talk to our Guardian Angel.  I think this is true.  And we can thank them.  And we can pray for them.  And we can ask God to send them a special Blessing 🙂

They are here for you.  And they will never leave you.  If an angel appeared to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and strengthened Him, then I definitely want our Angels to strengthen us!

There are many Bible verses that speak of the Angels of the Lord, below are but a few 🙂

“Coming out, He (Jesus) went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”  And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.”-Luke 22:39-43

“For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee”-Luke 4:10-11

“The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary; God has shown you his grace.”-Luke 1:30

“And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.”-Judges 6:12 (An angel talks to Gideon)

So thank you Guardian Angel.  Thank you to all Angels.  For your comfort and strength, and for protecting us.  We are so grateful and we pray that God sends you a very special Blessing ?

With the election not yet resolved, the world has become a scarier place. 

Yesterday, the Attorney General announced that there would be investigations.  And who knows, those investigations may turn into criminal ones.  But will it be enough to set aside the media’s choice of Biden as winner? No one really knows.  America appears to be crumbling, and that frightens a lot of us.

But although our beloved country may be in trouble, we are not!

God was in charge then and He is now!

A wise friend sent me a great message after the media declared for Biden:

“Sometimes when life seems SO hard, it is easy to forget that God’s answers to our prayers impact many others and involve many different things, WAY BEYOND our immediate requests. Truly, God needs first to save His Children and expand His Kingdom. In Jesus’ Name. Thy Will be done. Amen.”

It would be really great if every human being would accept Christ as their Savior and put God first, when life was easy. But one has only to look around to know that this was not happening.

However, God uses “all things to the good of His people”, and He will use this election as well.  In the end, because of this election, more people will choose Christ. 

And really, isn’t that the mission?  Bring as many as we can to Heaven with us ?