These days are not ordinary days.

February 14, 2022: These days are not “ordinary days”. The absence of Nativity symbols or Christian references on last year’s “Peoples’ Capitol” Christ-mas tree was an unsung and virtually unnoticed symbol of the days we have endured….and are continuing to endure.

A Christmas with no mention of Christ…..and now, as the fraudulent Resident continues his reckless agenda of trying to destabilize and minimize the world’s greatest and free-est country, our return-to-freedom and return-to-God struggle in America is far from over. The installed head of country and his fellow globalists would like nothing more than for this beacon of God’s goodness and salvation to be permanently dimmed, then extinguished.

My Spring-Summer Journal and, now, Fall-Winter Journal, have had few entries because my concerns and focus have not varied since my last post many months ago: our nation is in trouble. An illegally-manipulated/impacted 2020 election has been allowed to stand and operate in America for over a year. This remains inconceivable to me, to my sense of justice and faith in our American structure of governance — in spite of the reality before my eyes. I intellectually understand the various factors, the misrepresentations, the misinformation, the soulless cowardice and deliberate inaction on the part of those elected to maintain a Constitutional Republic. Yet I remain in disbelief of its continued reality even as increasing days of illegitimate governance add up on a new-year calendar.

I remain in disbelief because of the firm conviction that God is in the midst of this turmoil and this is NOT the slow winding down of “the American story.” God founded our nation through our Founding Fathers, God sealed our nation unto Him as our forefathers covenanted with Him, and He has intervened at various points of our history to draw us back to Him and reset us on a steady path.

And He is in the process of doing it again.

I actually began this post back in December, then updated it in January. Yet I did not publish it in either month because it “felt incomplete.” For the very reason mentioned above, I think I now know why — God’s move of victory in this nerve-wracking saga also remains incomplete.

Yet I believe we are currently feeling the stirring of the waters around us being reversed, un-muddied, infused with the freshness of His Spirit in a river that flows to Him and from Him. My faith in the unwavering intention of God to intervene, to work through and bring about the just and right end to this nightmare remains unshaken.

In that well-known Ephesians scripture, Paul explained that our battle is “not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:12) I have never seen this principle play out on the world and national stage more clearly than watching the daily/weekly events of the last year.

Virtually every nation in what has been called “the free world” has been subjected to a tyranny of governmental control beneath the guise of a health-required “vaccine mandate”, and now the citizens of those nations continue to emerge in unified marches by the tens of thousands to resist the destruction of their liberty. Canada, Australia, Poland, Germany, Austria, France, Italy — we as American news consumers do not know the true extent of the number and scope of freedom marches across the globe because our mainstream sources of information — the supposed bastions of support for our First Amendment — choose not to reveal that particular truth as it unfolds.

And I sit back and ask why. Why would such worldwide movement result in virtually no mention among mainstream media outlets?

I have formed a bit of an hypothesis: to reveal such impassioned expressions demanding freedom would bring courage and hope to others, and it is hope that the enemy resists at all costs. Romans 5:5 proclaims that “hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

I believe we are seeing a manifestation of the march of God’s Spirit and the prayers of His elect, taking physical form; of His angelic hosts carrying on warfare in the unseen realm, His servants carrying on warfare in the visible world, all working together in unison — and in unison, re-taking ground that was unwittingly yielded and calculatingly stolen. God is claiming back what is His, as the psalmist states in Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who live in it.” (NASB)

The Lord has spoken recently through many prophets that “the harvest has begun.” His Glory is being released in greater and greater measure upon people, ethnic groups, nations. This epic era we are in is more than a painfully slow, worldwide political transformation; God-given freedoms are being rediscovered and fought for, but not within a carnal void. This position in time is ushering in great spiritual renewal as hopeless people find their only direction to seek guidance and deliverance is to look upwards, to seek the Creator of heaven and earth.

And this, in unison with the spiritual forces of righteousness calling out to each nation, “Lift up your heads, you gates, and be lifted up, you ancient (everlasting) doors, that the King of Glory may come in! Who is the King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle.” (Psa. 24:7-8, NASB

He is not leaving His world and people bereft of His action and intervention.

Stay the Course. Believe the Love I Have for You

September 18, 2021: Prophetic voice Gina Gholston is quoted by Dutch Sheets in mid-September as having had a word from the Lord that read, “I hear the Lord saying: ‘In the days ahead, I’m going to remove the covering where evil has been hiding. Up from that will rise a stench. But I say to My church, stay the course, for I am giving beauty for ashes. This is MY time. I will come, and I will make things right again, but you must stay the course.’”

Her accompanying vision included a fighter pilot flying his jet while being divinely protected from incoming missiles which hit an invisible barrier just before reaching him, exploding all around him. The repeated phrase she heard was “stay the course.”

Gina’s encounter occurred in February, 2020, just before the lockdowns began across our country and across the world. At first, I moved on after reading it – but God kept bringing it to my mind and her vision has really dug deeply into my thinking and perspective. And I find it helpful.

We are definitely living in a time when the stench of evil is nearly everywhere we look or listen. Corruption—corruption “on steroids”, to utilize a popular phrase—is being revealed from school boards to the illegitimate regime overseeing our American government; from clinical workers in local settings to the powerful heads of medical conglomerates and pharmaceutical mega-companies; from small, independent nonprofit organizations to powerful, over-arching and intertwined Foundations; from local government officials to the highest national political Conventions and Parties; from all these (and more-such as illegal censorship, oppressive taxation, unvetted non-citizens with no loyalty to American ideals imported by the thousands to undermine the strength of national unity) the stench of evil is daily in our sight, our nostrils, impacting our lives with a constant buffeting of fear, anxiety and confusion.

Our individual “fighter planes” are being assaulted and rocked endlessly.

Stay the course. Are you kidding, Lord? Have you taken a peek down here to see what that entails?

He is not kidding, for we are His hands and feet on this earth, His voice to proclaim. I read a 9-16-21 prophetic word from Johnny Enlow, who said he asked the Lord, ‘Why is this taking so long?’ The answer he reportedly heard in his spirit was lengthy, but centered around a central theme, “I am still interested in My Kingdom ways being demonstrated on earth as it is in heaven, I need My church awake and in agreement with My mandate. My message hasn’t changed, ‘You are the light of the world,” “you are the salt of the earth.” You must from now on TARGET darkness in your society. That is what an Ekklesia does. Enough with the doctrines which permit you to excuse yourself from My Kingdom Mandate. I did not say, ‘Speculate until I return,’ I said ‘Occupy until I return.’ “Occupy” is a military term. Doctrinally-induced sleep and escapism has made My church almost irrelevant compared to what I made her to be…I have held Myself back from your quick rescue at this difficult time as I am thinking of your children, and their children, and your children’s children. You will awaken, you will make the shift, you will arise and shine.”

Godless evil is not new. Adam and Eve faced it. Moses faced it. Noah faced it. King David faced it. Elijah and Daniel faced it. Jesus faced it. Each of the disciples faced it. And history since those centuries has had its own representatives of goodness and freedom facing the forces of evil and enslavement.

Just as the evil has had many names throughout ages, it is called by many names today. John correctly discerned in I John 2:18, “even now many antichrists have appeared” – even though we, as an American society, tend to think of ourselves as “too sophisticated” to boil down complex issues as being a conflict of good vs. evil. Yes, there are many antichrists in our midst, and it is a perspective we should, perhaps, relearn.

There is more to Gina Gholston’s word: “What is coming in the days ahead, will cause a great temptation to abort the mission. But the Lord says, believe the love I have for you. My love will carry you through unscathed if you STAY THE COURSE. The danger is when you get off the course, says the Lord. My peace is on this course. My mercy is on this course. My grave is on the course. Do not focus on what you see in front of you in these days.”

I was thinking about that phrase – My love will carry you through unscathed. “unscathed” is a tough word to process in today’s crisis-laden world. Forced chemical injections. Forced job losses. Forced compliance. Forced loss of different freedoms. Forced educational indoctrination. Forced financial parameters. Forced awareness of genuine dangers inside and outside our national borders. There is even a sense that we are being pressured into “forced faith.”

Paul described to those in Corinth, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Cor. 4:7-9, NASB) I like The Passion translation of the same scripture: “Though we experience every kind of pressure, we’re not crushed; at times we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option. We are persecuted by others, but God has not forsaken us. We may be knocked down, but not out. We continually share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus will be revealed through our humanity.” (TPT, 2 Cor. 4:7-10)

The Message translation of 2 Cor. 10:3-6 teaches, “The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way – never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.”

Stay the course. Seek Him as to what and where to occupy ground that the enemy has claimed, and TARGET that darkness. His love will carry us through.

The Switched Nativity

Jesus in the center.

I was carefully setting up this year’s Nativity display on the wooden shelf by the fireplace. I meticulously turned individual pieces in incremental degrees until each one faced Baby Jesus in a stance that reflected wonder and adoration.

With a sense of satisfaction, I stepped back to view the final arrangement.

I sort of chuckled at myself, knowing full well that Biblical timelines do not place Jesus’ birth, first shepherds, and traveling kings all arriving in Bethlehem at the same time. Still, I love creating a niche every year that displays that time-condensed version of the events as described.

Unexpectedly, I felt like the Spirit whispered, That’s not what it looks like today. After that statement, a clear image flashed into my mind. In that image, each of my Nativity pieces had been switched around and now stood in a completely different configuration.

Instead of all attention focused towards Jesus, I saw Joseph, Mary, all three kings and even the shepherd, all facing one another in a circle of earnest conversation. Their circle was closed and turned away from the Messiah. He and the manger had been positioned at the opposite end of the shelf…alone, except for the company of a glass donkey and lamb.

The redesigned arrangement was thought-provoking.

I mused regarding the role each character might represent in today’s world: the three kings would still represent leaders of nations, countries, and their respective political systems. Joseph – perhaps a representation of men stepping forward to mentor, to “father” others, to model godly masculinity and leadership to the next generation; Mary — carrying the concerns, responsibilities and unique callings of women? And the shepherd – would he represent a segment of the less fortunate in this world, or those who dedicate themselves to finding and winning lost hearts back to God?

In this Nativity’s switched layout, the people and those they stood for were not seeking wisdom or guidance from the Miracle Worker, the King of Kings who has government “rest on His shoulders,” the “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6) though He was very near to all of them.

Instead, they talk-talk-talked only amongst themselves, solidifying their own worldview in which each was a captive, both a victim and perpetrator of the worldly system’s injustices.

But God is never static and never distant. “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” (I John 3:8) One of my favorite Old Testament verses is Habakkuk 1:5 – “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! For I am doing something in your days – you would not believe it even if you were told!”

God is always “doing something” in whatever days we find ourselves.

Good days. Bad days. Days we anticipate with joy and even those days we face with dread and prayer. A “perfect Nativity” in this life has yet to be fully implemented or fully manifested in any area of our earthly walk, our sojourner’s path through both the marvelous and the horrific.

“The reason the Son of God was revealed was to undo and destroy the works of the devil.” (I John 3:8, The Passion Translation)

God is never without purpose.

The essence of “The Christmas Story” is not diminished even towards those nations whose cultures and calendars forbid its acknowledgement or celebration. God is always seeking His lost sheep, His captured children held deep inside satanic fortresses. As the grace of the Holy Spirit is poured out on those who seek it, so it is also poured out on those who are standing with their backs turned away from Him.

There is a resounding “Glory to God in the highest” that is constantly shed abroad, a sharing to step into the announcement “I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.”

Peaches in October

It’s passing the middle of October. Yet I am still attracted to the carefully-organized peaches on display at the grocery store.

My slow-walking-then-stop is accompanied by an internal conversation between common sense and my desire for yet one more delicious fruit….peaches in October? They’re not going to be any good…still, they don’t look too bad on the outside and I think I can smell a peach scent…what if these were late-harvested peaches, and they really aren’t so old?

Two peaches-in-October were carefully placed into the plastic produce bag and carted off to the brightly lit check-out stands.

The next morning, I discovered that the first peach gave me an “OK” eating experience. Not as juicy or peachy as I would have liked; but peachy-tasting enough, a decent texture, and not too bad…for mid-October. Then came Peach Number Two the following day: the odd-colored flesh around the seed gave me warning #1. The equally odd texture when I sliced it gave me warning #2. Still, I took a bite…and I don’t know what the flavor actually was, but it definitely was not peachy, and it flew speedily into the nearby open trashcan.

Yep—in my book, peach-buying season really had officially ended.

The reality, of course, is that “peach season” had truly ended at least a couple months earlier. I had hoped-against-hope that there were still a few “good ones” out there, although I knew the quality would be lacking, the flavor would have declined, and the texture would not be the same as an in-season, truly fresh peach. Even armed with all these facts, however, the peach still looked so good from the outside I decided to give it a try.

And I felt like the Lord whispered, that’s how compromise gets its traction. The enemy is a deceiver and what he offers is empty.

The seriousness of His statement gave me a jolt. It was a weighty and unexpected thought when contrasted with my simple pondering regarding out-of-season peaches.

Compromise. Superficial appeal. I could picture myself standing with Eve in the Garden of Eden, contemplating that fruit as “a delight to the eye.” (Gen. 3:6) The enemy always uses the same strategy — deception, misrepresentation.

Then Proverbs 25:26 came to my mind: “If a godly man compromises with the wicked, it is like polluting a fountain or muddying a spring.” (Living Bible)

That description provides a vividly graphic mental image. Although there is no moral consequence to unwisely betting on the quality of October peaches, with moral compromise does come consequence: to our soul. To our judgment and perceptions. To our freedom and honesty in our walk with Him. To our witness of Him to others.

The Message translates 2 Cor. 6:14-18 with Paul exhorting, “Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership, that’s war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives. God himself put it this way: ‘I’ll live in them, move into them; I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people. So leave the corruption and compromise; leave it for good,” says God. “Don’t link up with those who will pollute you. I want you all for Myself. I’ll be a Father to you; you’ll be sons and daughters to me.”

When I think of the phrase “gaining traction” I picture a car on the side of a road, slowly trying to enter the established lane. It’s a deliberate, strategic, well-timed act that requires some element of friction between surface and tire to enable momentum forward.

In our lives, situations and people that generate friction seem to be abundant. The momentum of the enemy to move forward into the lane of our lives is often easily achieved through simple and random interactions.

When Paul taught the Ephesians, “do not give the devil an opportunity,” (Eph. 4:27 NASB) it was preceded by several instructions, one which is phrased two different ways: “Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.” (Eph. 4:25)

Laying aside falsehood.

Speak truth each one of you.

Don’t pretend your October peaches were picked in June. Granted, that’s not scripture…but the principle is the same. Don’t deceive yourself or others about the nature of what you contemplate. Through forgiveness and truth, compassion and humility, keep your fountain clear, your spring of His life unclogged, and your lane of life cleaned of traction-enabling debris.

Shining On

Anyone who has ever watched or helped me decorate knows that one of my favorite things in the whole world is to position bright mini- lights that will shine in the darkness.

Any darkness.

Little white lights gleaming down a light-dimmed hallway or stage.

Little multi-colored lights glowing from the snow or tucked inside the boughs of a Christmas tree. Miniature lights peeking through swags or runners of fabric, mesh, netting, woven into flower arrangements and loose sprays.

Even red-white-and-blue lights tucked into tubs of flowers and draped, as is the case on Memorial Day or Fourth of July.

Lights in the darkness. Transforming the atmosphere in which they gleam.

I love the mental image and the Scripture that so often comes to my mind: the apostle Paul teaching that we are “children of God, above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights (luminaries, stars)* holding fast the word of life…” (Phil. 2:15-16, *NASB footnote)

Lights. Luminaries. Stars, all adding a dimension of hope and vibrancy to the dull black all around them. Demonstrating that darkness is not the kingdom that dominates wherever they are placed.

I think that both His Spirit and I share this delight — the pleasure and admiration resulting from the beauty and power created by dispelling the darkness. When our Father observes His worldly creation from a heavenly throne and sees us, He sees the Light blazing within us, the Light He saw blazing within His Son: “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:5) The Message translates that verse, “The Life-light blazed out of the darkness; and the darkness couldn’t put it out.”

I think my favorite translation of John 1:5 comes from the Amplified Bible: “The Light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it or overpower it or appropriate it or absorb it.”

Not understood. Not overpowered. Not appropriated. Not absorbed.

That is a truly marvelous life-testimony.

How quickly we envision ourselves as the merest of flickers, Continue reading “Shining On” →

The End of the World Has Slipped By Again

Concealing storm I was reading and deleting emails while waiting at the dentist’s office when I came across an email from Denison Forum dated April 23 that was titled, “Will the world end today? How Satan uses end time speculation.”

I paused for a minute and consulted my calendar. Today was indeed April 24. My husband’s second root canal was indeed in progress. The world indeed had not ended…and in the busyness of the previous day, I had totally forgotten its potential significance as an end-of-the-world date. I also could not recall the potential trigger for yesterday’s assumptive catastrophe. Jim Denison’s article rescued me by explaining it was another alignment-of-planets situation, plus unpredictable “Planet X” thrown into the mix.

Planet X — really? No sighting of Godzilla or King Kong, shortly after, though — right? Most folks had responded to this prediction with a dismissive shaking of the head, as I did. Others, perhaps aware of Jesus’ words in Luke 21:25, may have given at least minor consideration as to whether or not this star alignment addressed “signs in sun and moon and stars and on the earth dismay among nations,” indeed signaling a significant event ahead for Planet Earth. As I also did, for the briefest of moments.

My primary interest in the article, however, was to explore the second part of his heading: “How Satan uses end time speculation.” Denison shared and brought it around to “Satan will do whatever he can to distract us from considering our eternal destination.” Additionally he stated, “When the prophesied end of the world passes yet again, such fakery dulls our cultural consciousness to the real urgency of death and eternity.”

That statement caught my attention — but my thoughts were focused on an individual influence. I don’t believe it’s just a dulling of the “cultural consciousness” that occurs as repeated Henny-Penny warnings fizzle to naught. The fallout can have a much more personal impact, for our senses and intellect are always competing with faith as we search for a situation’s “truth” we can both believe and walk in. Continue reading “The End of the World Has Slipped By Again” →

What Mary Knew And We Often Forget

baby feet There are three passages in Luke 1 that are well-read and often shared. The first is Luke 1:38, in which Mary responds to Gabriel’s announcement that the Holy Spirit would come upon her, and she, a virgin, would conceive a child. Her response is, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38, NASB)

I prefer The Message translation of Mary’s answer: “Yes, I see it all now: I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve. Let it be with me just as you say.” (Luke 1:38)

Part of the reason I prefer The Message translation of this brief statement is the different perspective that is expressed: In the New American Standard translation (and many others), what comes across most clearly is that something is being “done” to Mary. In The Message, her willingness to serve is revealed more clearly, even dramatically. In The Message translation, you can almost hear an audible, “Ah-Ha!” as Mary receives a flash of divine revelation regarding the moment and time in history she is about to enter….Yes, I see it all now.

I find that…well…profound. And maybe even provocative. Encouraging. If God can reveal so amazing and outrageous a plan, this fulfillment of prophecy, in a brief second of time while Mary is in the midst of her mundane, daily activities…there is certainly hope and encouragement for us, Continue reading “What Mary Knew And We Often Forget” →