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Stop Listening to the Enemy

I heard a testimony that has stuck with me for many reasons. Here is a tiny portion. “My grandson was too still in his little bed, so I went to check on him. He quickly sat up, and I thought, oh, no. He said, ‘YaYa, my stomach hurts. Will you lay down with me?’ I thought I don’t want to be up all night, but then I said, he did not say stay up all night. He said, will you lay down with me. So I did.” There is much more to the story, but this is what I want to emphasize. How many times do we add to what God is saying to us?
For example, God may ask you to have lunch with an unsaved acquaintance, but you hear, be their best friend. It is funny, but seriously, most of us need some help when it comes to actually understanding what was requested by God. Just last night, I was trying to clarify from God a message spoken. I won’t exactly say what was communicated to me, but here is the gist. “That is man’s timeline, Lori. I never said a timeline; man did.”
Prayer journals are the best way to keep your thoughts straight. Are you angry, sad, or frustrated with God because what you thought was to happen did not? I have been married thirty-four years this year, and eighty percent of our fights are caused by miscommunication. Please take my advice concerning this issue; if you feel God did not live up to some sort of bargain or message, talk to Him about it. I did all day long yesterday, and when He answered me, I felt stupid—relieved and stupid.
Stupid because I know my God, and what I was questioning, if it were true would mean God was playing games or reneging. If you are on a faith walk with God, then make sure you do not allow doubt of any sort to disrupt that walk. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, “For such men are false apostle, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.” At this very moment, there are many so-called followers encouraging others to go along to get along. The moment you go into an agreement (not taking a stand) with evil, e.g., lying, theft, abortion, according to God’s word, you are guilty. If you discourage anyone from seeking God concerning any matter, you are then going against God. The discouragement could be mocking or judging what they are requesting from God.
I am flippant here, but I bet old man Abraham looked stupid, thinking his old wife would have a baby. How about what’s a boat, Noah? Did you ever look at the instructions for the destruction of Jericho? My dear faithful sister and brothers, if God called you for such a time as this, then hold the line till He says otherwise. Know your God and know your enemy!
I won’t lie that I went in and out of my faith yesterday till I cleared up the communication lines with God, and now I am solid again. My falter happened because I allowed somewhere along my thought process a false claim or arbitrary timeline to be placed on God. Then to make things worse, I let words enter my eye gate from “followers” proclaiming defeat and surrender.
If your faith gets shaken, praise and worship is the best remedy. I recommend Psalms 145-150. No loyal follower-of Christ can read those and not get pumped up. Stop listening to the enemy and start proclaiming God’s abilities.
Photo by Alex Grodkiewicz on Unsplash



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