The good way
You could call this post Watchin’ Stuff with Frankie Ann. I didn’t realize this at first, but the film, the documentary, the interview and the podcast that I’m recommending all have something in common. In the end—they’re all about good vs. evil. Hmmm. You might want to take out your favorite note pad and pen. This post is full of goodies—to watch, to read, to think about.
Last time, in part 6 of The Prayer, we dug into the last verse—the final essential—of The Lord’s Prayer: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (Matthew 6:13, NHEB).
Today, we’ll continue exploring how vital it is to reject evil. In part 2, we’ll look at The Armor of God.
Temptation
What is temptation’s role in evil? Temptation is evil calling. Evil wooing. Evil lying. Evil minimizing. Evil claiming, “This is what you really want. This is what you really need. This will take care of your problems.” The whisper….
Temptation calls us to slavery—masquerading as freedom.
Think of temptation like the bait or the lure. It looks so good. Then you bite it, and there’s a hook slicing your face open. And it hurts. A lot.
We’re at war with the darkness. With evil. With Satan.
Evil in society
One of the most horrific evils being orchestrated today by our United States government, public schools, social media, mainstream media and “health care professionals” tells our children that gender is fluid. “If you’re unhappy, it’s because you were born in the wrong body. We, the all-benevolent social scientists, will help you fix that.” (First, they had to convince people that God doesn’t exist and that we’re all here by some random fluke or accident.) Watch this Ben Shapiro interview of a lovely young woman who believed the gender fluidity lie as a teenager, transitioned to being a male, and later transitioned back. Guess who prescribed her male hormones? Planned Parenthood—Satan’s Sweetheart.
For the details of this institutionalized child abuse, read this excellent article by Dr. Michelle Cretella, Executive Director of the American College of Pediatricians. Top two takeaways:
1. “…taking puberty blockers at age 12 or younger, followed by cross-sex hormones, sterilizes a child.”
2. “…prior to the widespread promotion of transition affirmation, 75 to 95 percent of pre-pubertal children who were distressed by their biological sex eventually outgrew that distress.”
So, the new concentration camp model fills our country with Pediatric Gender Clinics, where they experiment on children and leave them sterile. And parents pay them for their catastrophically-abusive techniques. When will these philosophers and “health care professionals” be arrested and tried for their crimes against humanity? When?
Beware!
Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you
through an empty and deceptive philosophy, according to human tradition,
according to the elementary principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
Colossians 2:8, New Heart English Bible
For the official record, God did not put anyone in the wrong body.
Bewitched by the new thing
When we see a concept as new, different, “fresh,” we can mistakenly believe The New Thing to be A Good Thing, when it’s exactly the opposite. The word captivate in the verse above describes this reality. A synonym for captivate is enchant. And that, Peaceful Readers, is dangerous. Extremely dangerous. This primary definition of enchant from Dictionary.com says it all: “to subject to magical influence; bewitch.” Yikes.
Here’s a Frankie Ann retake on Colossians 2:8—
Beware. Do not allow new philosophies to bewitch you. They are snares of evil. (And they will tear you apart.)
The machine
Back in the 70s, and well before that, our world was bewitched by another untold evil. Read my story, The Machine. It’s different than my usual style. It’ll shock you, but in an important way. God gave me that story in late January, three years ago. (And exactly one year later—to the day—he reached down and gave me an incredible miracle.)
One day at work, as I stepped between the copier and my desk, the word Machine came into my head—and I knew immediately what the machine was. Then, a couple seconds later, these words came: food factories. I knew what those were too. And I said, “I’m on it.” The story poured out that week. After the story was basically done, these words came to me while I was driving: Once upon a time. And that’s how the story began. Sweetly, like Disney and their princesses. But the sweetness misleads. It lies. It steals. It kills. It destroys.
Learn the truth about The Machine.
The documentary
Are you ready to know the truth about Walt Disney and that empire, Hollywood, etc.? See Mike Smith’s amazing documentary, “Out of Shadows”—available for free on his website or Rumble. It will shock you and change you. (For adults only.)
I noticed The Armor of God on Mike’s original “Out of Shadows” website while I was writing this post and it made me smile. Yes, indeed. It’s a good vs. evil thing. Good vs. evil.
Ancient paths
What does God say about new things vs. old things?
Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is;
and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”
Jeremiah 6:16, RSV*
Ancient paths.
The good way.
Rest for your souls.
The good way
When I think about The Good Way, these are some of the concepts that come to mind.
Loving God. Loving and reading his word. Worshiping God. Praying to God. Trusting and loving Jesus above all others. Honoring God with our bodies. Faithful marriage. Children being raised by their parents. Men protecting and providing. Women loving and nurturing. Living with godly virtues—The Fruit of The Spirit. Honoring God and being a blessing.
The Good Way. Walk in it….
(I know that sometimes a spouse is abusive, and the marriage can’t be sustained for safety reasons. Sometimes a spouse is unfaithful and unrepentant. Sometimes a spouse walks away. Sometimes a spouse dies. I understand some of that personally. I really do.)
Alignment
If you’ve come to believe that marriage is bad, it’s time to heal your thinking. God made marriage. He created it for our good. For our flourishing. To show the world a picture of Jesus Christ and his sacrificial love for his bride, the church. Read The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy and Kathy Keller. The devil and his minions—I mean Hollywood, the government, etc.—want us to hate marriage. God wants us to love and respect and honor it. Yep. I said it and I meant it.
God wants us to love and respect and honor marriage.
We’ve attended two beautiful Christian weddings in recent months. Seeing the birth of a new family, witnessing the vows, reflecting during the message—all these things and more—bless us deeply and remind us of the mystery and the immense beauty of a godly marriage. The family of God came together to celebrate one of the greatest gifts of God. There’s nothing like it. Congratulations, precious newlyweds!
If you find marriage to be a difficult or a mixed-bag topic, now would be a good time to take out your journal and do some reflecting. If something in your life has soured your attitude toward marriage, will you work to fix that? Will you let God heal your thinking so your thoughts align with God’s thoughts? Will you? Will you read The Meaning of Marriage whether you’re married or not?
The soul shepherd
Do you know someone whose marriage is challenging or in trouble? Make sure you’re praying for their marriage to honor God and flourish—to bring God glory. If one or both of them need Jesus, send them this short film, “The Soul Shepherd.” It shows our need for Jesus in the most beautiful, simple, clear way. I’ve watched it seven times so far and I’ve shared it with many friends. If you haven’t seen it, watch it soon. It will grab your heart.
Two of my sweet Someone Cares sisters shared it with me on the same day. Thank you, Grace and Rose.
Walk in it
God, Our Father, tells us what to seek and why. “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls” ~ Jeremiah 6:16a-c, RSV*.
Continue in your journal. What is God calling you to do? To consider? The read? To change? To watch? To reject? To lay down? To stop doing?
What good thing does God have for you to lay hold of—
and what do you need to let go of so you can receive God’s goodness?
Do you have some unfinished business about a certain relationship? Read the section called Seeing Myself Rightly in this post. If you need help learning how to lay down a trauma or a loss, read The Trauma of Perfection posts from the last series, Grieving.
Battle prep
Let’s get down to business—preparing and arming ourselves to do battle with evil. Because we will face evil. We will.
And demons don’t warn us that they’re coming. They don’t send a Save-the-Date postcard. Evil slaps us upside the face and says, loud and proud, “Here I am! What are you gonna do about it?” They shock us to shut us up. (That reminds me of some of our long-lost relatives.) Don’t be silenced. Be prepared to declare—in your mind or out loud to the evil: “You are toast, in the name of Jesus! Get out, right now.” There are also times when we’ve got to vamoose away from wherever we are, pronto.
Summer workouts
This summer, our son Logan and two of his church friends are reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. They meet each Wednesday to discuss their reading for the week. I love that. If you haven’t read this gem, I recommend it. You’ll learn how the experienced demon, Screwtape, coaches his nephew, Wormwood, to distract his targeted Christian from God—making sure the target doesn’t even notice what’s happening. Very thought-provoking. Logan and his friends are strengthening themselves for battle. Praise the Lord for good Christian friends.
College campuses
The college campuses of America are dark spiritual battlegrounds, where June has become Pride Month, dangerous pharmaceuticals were pushed non-stop, and the liberal agenda is ever-on-the-rise. Pray for our college students—for Jesus to reign supreme and for the Kingdom of God to grow on those campuses—fighting back the forces of darkness. For a great commentary about how most people view Pride Month, see this short podcast by Candace Owens. She is in-your-face and straight-to-the-point. Go, Candace. (She uses a little language, so if that’s a no-go for you, I totally understand.)
Remember these words, from Jesus Christ, our Lord.
“The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.”
John 10:10, New Heart English Bible
A prayer
Lord, protect our children and students from evil. Vindicate the victimized. And punish the wicked.
Amen.
Coming next: We’ll dig into The Armor of God and we’ll learn how to put it on. You’ll also read about a Velvet Steamroller, a revealing dream and The Breastplate of Stupidity. I’m not kidding. There are some fun chuckles on the way. Until then, thanks for reading and for Choosing Peace.
Healing through truth and music
Peaceful Readers, I’ve found great healing in my life through the beauty and truth of God’s word and through music. I hope the truths and songs that I share at the end of each post will bless you too.
Truth from The Word: “But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.”
James 4:7b, 8a, 10, New Heart English Bible
Song for Healing: “Battle Belongs” by Phil Wickham
*Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.