SISTAS!!! 🌻
Man, you have been on my heart.
If you pay attention to the BBx3 Community Group page on Facebook, you may have heard me say recently that I continue to find myself needing a break from social media.
Are any of you experiencing that?
Weary or worn down from it. And is it really social media I’m weary of…
I wonder.
The kicker is that it’s the best way to market whatever you’re selling right now: a book, a product, a service. We need social media to stay in front of our audience. Gone are the days of print advertising. I mean, seriously, who is buying $15 magazines these days? Uhhh... no, thank you.
Even email can be exhausting. I get excited to see a Devo or newsletter in my inbox only to lose interest halfway through it. Truth. If it’s more than a 5-minute read, I’m out. And absolutely to no fault of the author or even the information. It’s just my brain’s desire for short, sweet, and brief.
Everything feels mentally heavy.
Are you weary?
The buzz for this next season is to “sell” rest and refreshment, restoration. Do those things seem like a distant dream to you? Like a long-passed season. Don’t get me wrong, they are important, even in battle.
You gals know my heart for self-care, meditation, focused breathing, and all those things. I stand by the need for them every single day. But, I’m also going to continue to tell you how important it is to move your body 30 minutes a day (yes, park at the back of the parking lot every time.) Drink half your body weight in water. Eliminate toxic foods from your diet. Etc. Etc.
Girl, you must!
Why?
Because here’s the deal. We ARE at war.
We are at war, and I’m not sure refreshing and rest are coming. Are we battle-ready?
I had time to go back and watch a speaker I missed last week. She was amazing and motivating. She talked about our identity in Christ being that of a warrior. If you know me, you know that I love the idea of being a bad ____, princess-type, warrior for the Kingdom. Sorry, but I do.
Like fully armored up, sword and shield, riding on a white horse on our way to annihilate evil and the enemy with Jesus. That is my fairytale. (Only it's not a fairytale, and you have to admit moving away from Cinderella was a big step.😉)
What's Your Fairytale?
Anyway, I hadn’t really thought about how we’re thrown into war the minute we become believers, when our faith is brand new.
Right? Doesn’t Satan do his best in those days to remind us of our pits and our past? It’s like every sin and temptation we struggle with is at the forefront. If you don’t have anyone disciplining you, it’s oh so easy to give up on pursuing Jesus. Slowly making our way back to the world.
I did it.
I also realized this morning that this is a season, the first in a very, very long time, that I feel secure and safe. I feel happy. Almost to the place where I’m not longing for heaven. I’m longing for more time in this space, feeling safe and loved.
While that should be a great thing (and it is), I was reminded that anytime I’m longing for more of the world than I am for heaven, I’m on shaky ground. As a result, my heart and passion for God can grow lukewarm.
And y’all know I hate lukewarm.
The more I thought about it, the more my weariness coupled with feeling safe made sense to me. Trust me when I say I know I’m blessed that COVID was a positive time for me. I found a lot happiness in my own home with my family. Instead of gaining weight while quarantining, I worked out and lost my menopause weight.
Wonderful things, but am I getting lured into a place of complacency, distanced from the world and the battle? That question got me.
The world feels scary to many of us, more so since COVID. It often feels mean and cold. Especially if you’re prone to watch too much news. It’s a tightrope paying attention yet detaching.
The hearts of many will grow cold.
Do any of you think about that verse these days? It’s certainly playing out right before our eyes.
We are at war, Beautiful Ones. And God needs us now more than ever to rise. To armor up. To stand firm in what we believe and know. To share HIM with the dying world around us. He needs us to shake off anything that’s entangling us or drawing us away from Him and our desire for Heaven.
He needs us to look like HIM. Not the sweet, demure Jesus in the photos we grew up with. The Jesus in Revelation 19. The Jesus John saw.
“I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of kings and Lord of lords.” – Revelation 19:11-16
Are you ready, friend?
Last year, I felt God telling me to get ready. I felt like He was telling me to train like an athlete, but just as much mentally and spiritually as physically.
Sisters, we have to be ready for battle.
Think navy seal. Training like an athlete - literally. All the things. Eating right, drinking water, moving our bodies. Not drinking or eating our feelings. Not walking around in a haze. Being sound of mind. Memorizing scripture.
Pretend for a minute that Bibles aren’t allowed in the U.S. Would you know enough scripture by heart to combat Satan’s lies? Could he deceive you like Eve by saying, “did God really say that?”
His Word is our weapon. Our sword. We have to KNOW it.
My challenge to you this last quarter of 2021 is to do all the things. Get strong spiritually, physically, and mentally. Ask God where you’re falling into apathy or desiring the world more than Heaven. Let’s set our eyes on Him. Let’s passionately pursue the woman He is calling us to be.
Can you imagine choosing anything else? I can’t.
For such a time as this, Beautiful.
For such a time as this.
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