6.1.2020

So I've been listening to Elevation's new album on repeat now for a while and one of my favorite songs on the album is "Never Lost". If you haven't listened to it, you should. It's so powerful when you listen to the words of the song and sing each word as though you truly mean it while you worship God. I love it when it says "You can do ALL things, but fail". Can I get an AMEN to that? It doesn't say God can do some things successfully, it says he can do ALL things but fail. Really think about that. How reassuring is it to serve a God who never fails no matter what the situation is. There is nothing that God cannot do or overcome. Another line of the song I really love is "You've never lost a battle, you never will." No matter what battles we are facing, when we turn them over to God and allow Him to face them with us, there will be no defeat or failure. There will be successes and wins. We are living in a time period where we need to start letting God face our battles with us instead of doing it alone. We are living in a time where Satan is doing ANYTHING and EVERYTHING he can to draw people further from God and closer to him. We are living in a world that is divided and fighting against one another instead of coming together and giving it to God and fighting in unity. We are living in a world that is only giving us a glimpse of the heartbreak, chaos, and madness that the end times will bring. We are living in a world that is broken, lost, and hurting. My heart hurts for the world we live in. My heart breaks for the things happening in our world right now. I'm hurt. I'm heartbroken. I'm angry. I'm confused. I'm not sure what I can do other than stand firm in my faith and give it to God. I'm not sure what I can do other than speak up about my God who is bigger than any battle we face. I'm not sure what I can do other than continue to spread the Word of God to those who are lost and hurting. I am not sure what I can do other than not remain silent. I am not sure what I can do other than preach the good news that there is a man who is bigger than any battle we face, and there is a man who overcomes EVERY battle he is placed into, and there is a man who NEVER fails, and that man's name is JESUS CHRIST. You see God didn't bring bad into this world. He created the world in His PERFECT image. It wasn't until we as humans decided to turn our backs on Him and sin against Him. We brought sin and evil into the world. We brought chaos. We brought heartache. We brought all the bad things into this world on our own when we as humans decided to give into the temptation of Satan. I think we sometimes forget we all are sinners at our core and we all fall short, including Christians. We all say things and act in a manner sometimes that isn't a reflection of God. We are sometimes quick to anger. We all say things we don't mean. We all let Satan draw us further from God from time to time. BUT HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS...Jesus came to this Earth and sacrificed His life so that we had a way out. So that we did not have to live in a world of constant heartbreak, brokenness, and pain. So that we are forgiven when falling short. He gave His life for us so that we had hope. Hope is Jesus Christ. Hope is knowing that "hold on pain ends" because we can give it to God who never loses a battle. Hope is "hold on pain ends" because we can give it to God who never fails. We as Christians need to spend less time arguing with people about politics and instead spread God's Word. We as Christians need to set an example and be a reflection of Jesus Christ. We need to be a reflection of the love of Jesus Christ. We need to start giving the good news and making new disciples. We need to be consistent and practice what we preach. Logging into Facebook this past week I have seen some heartbreaking and devastating things, things my eyes will never be able to unsee and that will forever be engraved into my memory, but I've also seen a lot of great things this week. I've seen lives saved by Jesus Christ. I've seen the Christian community step up and support the Black Lives Matters movement. I've seen churches reopen their doors. I've seen communities come together to help clean up the aftermath of the businesses that were destroyed. I've seen men and women of faith at protests preaching and praying over a world that is lost, broken, and hurting. I've seen people posting Bible verses about unity and equality all over my Facebook. I always keep it real with you guys here. That was the whole purpose of this blog, to preach the Word of God and share the Word as well as being vulnerable and honest with you, so that is what I'm going to do and continue to do. I am not going to get on here and say that I can relate to what my African American brothers and sisters are experiencing and have experienced for way too long, because I haven't. I don't know how they must feel waking up every single day and not knowing what racism they might face when they leave their homes or the uncertainty of knowing whether or not they will return home at night. I do not know what it feels like to fight for something time after time and feel unheard. I don't know the anger they must feel when they see another news headline or article where an innocent life was taken too soon. I don't know what it feels like to be profiled for the color of my skin. I don't know what it feels like to be called derogatory terms because my skin is not white. I don't know how they feel and I will not pretend to. But I will say this, just because my skin is white does not mean I am above you. It does not mean I am better than you. It does not mean that I deserve more than you. It does not mean I am loved more than you are by God. I want you to know from a young adult with white skin, I love you all. I support you. I will use my platform to stand with you. I will pray for you. I will provide you with God's Word. I will do my part to spread that THE COLOR OF YOUR SKIN DOES NOT DEFINE YOU, YOUR IDENTITY IN JESUS CHRIST DOES. I pray that we as Americans stop letting the Devil come into our lives and divide us. I pray that we as Americans stand together and bring about change peacefully. I pray for justice. I pray for equality. I pray for my African American brothers and sisters and for their safety. I pray that we remember we serve a God that has NEVER lost a battle and NEVER fails. We serve a God that NEVER will lose to the Devil. We serve a God who shows no partiality. We serve a God who does not breed confusion. We serve a God who loves each and every one of us equally no matter what the color of our skin is. We serve a God who will never stop fighting for us. We serve a God who reflects love and light. We serve a God that overcomes darkness every single time. We serve a God who calls us HIS CHILDREN. We serve a God who is the answer to the brokenness, heartache, and loss Americans are facing. We serve a God who one day we will stand in front of and will serve the ultimate judgment. We serve a God who forgives us when we don't deserve it. We serve a God who loves us for who we are, the good, bad, and ugly. We are living in the end times people. I believe that in my heart. If you don't, turn on your TV or log into social media or look around. It's evident all over. I just pray you get your heart right with God before it's too late. I pray you allow God to search your heart and mind and get rid of any evil and ungodly thoughts. I pray you allow God to help you fight your battles. I pray we start standing together in the name of Jesus instead of dividing ourselves from one another in the name of the Devil. I pray we start opening our Bibles as frequently as we open social media. I pray we fight this battle with God beside us, not alone. I love you guys. Stay safe this week. Stand strong in your faith and share the Word of God with someone this week. Stand up for our African American brothers and sisters. We need change. Change must first begin in our hearts, minds, and within. Start with a heart, mind, and body that serves God. Speak up. Use your Christian platform to show God's love and light and show that you care. Lastly, to my friends and family of color, just know I am supporting you. I am praying for your safety. I am praying for justice. My heart breaks it is 2020 and you are still battling this monster called racism. I care about you. I see you. I love you. I am here for you. And to my friends and family who work on the police force or in the military, stay safe. Stand firm in your faith. Help bring about change. Help set and show an example of the good men and women you are. I am praying for each and every one of you. Take care, God Bless.