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Your mind is precious. Yet, when left off-guard and unprotected, the landscape of your mind can turn into an all-out war zone. And it doesn’t take much – all it takes is one, small creeping thought…

“What if it doesn’t happen the way I expect it to?” “What will people think?” “Did God really say that?” “How can God love me after all that I have done?”

STOP. My friend, these slithering, creeping thoughts do not belong to you, nor are they from God. They are from the enemy (Satan), the accuser of the brethren.

Allow me to interject here for a moment and talk about Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 3:1-5, NKJV

Have you ever paused to look at how the serpent approached Eve? All it took was one question leading with, “Has God indeed said…” It was enough to sow a seed of uncertainty, and doubt that would soon lead her and Adam to disobey God.

Why is this important? Because the enemy knows our frailties and weaknesses, and he attacks our mind to lead us away from God. The enemy will use any and everything he can to get us to think or act contrary to what God said.

One of the enemy’s favorite tactics is deception. He wants his lies to sound so good to the point that they actually appear to be the truth. I will say that again – they appear to be the truth. The only way you can detect a lie is to know the truth (God’s Word). This is why we must be rooted and grounded in the Word, one of our greatest weapons.

My friend, it is time for you to stand up in your God-given authority. Stop entertaining the lies from the enemy. Stop allowing doubt, fear, and anxiety to cripple and paralyze your dreams and your movement.

Dismiss the hiss from that ol’ serpent. (He’s already defeated anyway).

Apply pressure against the enemy with your weapons – the Word of God, prayer, and worship. Stand on God’s truth and His promises. It is time for you to go forward and conquer, because God has given you the grace to do so. He has so much in store for you.

But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man then things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’

1st Corinthians 2:9, NKJV

Two more months…

Just two more months until the end of 2020. Can you believe it?! Yeah, me neither. A recent conversation with a friend of mine left me wondering: What will 2020 be a record of in my life? Will I be able to say I finished strong? Or will I place the blame on COVID-19 for how much I wasn’t able to accomplish?

Do you remember that old phone commercial, where the guy would walk around testing his cell phone signal. “Can you hear me now? Good.” That was the famous line. 

He was so confident in his cell phone service and reception. He could be outside on the porch, in the mountains, on a boat in the middle of the ocean – it really didn’t matter. Because he knew regardless of his location, he would always be able to pick up a signal. “Can you hear me now? Good.”  

Last week, I turned 33 years old. Yesssss!! (Excuse me while I give Him a mighty praise!) 

In recent years, God has given me something to reflect on leading up to my birthday. Did you know the number 33 is associated with promise? So I just came by to share what God placed on my heart – I want to talk about resting in His promises. 

Have you ever seen or heard something that just made you feel like, “There’s more there. I’m not sure what, but there is.”

For the past couple weeks, I have seen the number 5 in a sequence of 3. Random moments when I look at the clock, I have seen “5:55”. The second time I saw it, I stopped to think for a bit, but eventually shrugged it off and went about my merry way. However, the third and fourth time – well, it did more than get my attention. And now here I am, writing this very random blog post…

Today, the world as we know it is in quarantine, which by definition is a restriction on the movement of people or goods, or a period of isolation, to prevent the spread of disease. 

Most of us had an outline of plans for 2020. Of course, I can speak for myself better than anyone else can. So let me deal with me for a moment — I had things planned that I wanted to do, places I wanted to go. 

Yet here we are, almost in the month of May. It seems as if the earth’s orbit around the sun has slowed to a snail’s pace. To the point where all the time I made excuses of not having prior to quarantine, (because you know, I was oh so busy), I now have in abundance. 

There is something about the hours leading to the culmination of a new year…tangible excitement, reflections, and hope of what is to come. As evening quickly fades, we keep an eye on the clock. Because we can’t miss it. We can’t miss the countdown, the very moments leading to the crossover. And when the clock strikes midnight, it’s as if time stands still…

In the days and moments leading up to 2020, a new year and decade, I found myself in grateful anticipation and reflection. I thought about how much God has done for me over the past decade, and how different my life would have been if I hadn’t chosen to surrender my all to Him. The single, greatest lesson that I learned from 2009 through 2019 — JESUS is the ONLY way. Period.