It's Time to Say "No More"

What do you love the most in this world? Is it your children? Your spouse? Are you surprised at all then… that the enemy has gone after your children and their relationship with you? With God? Is it any surprise that he continually pecks at your marital relationship?

Satan is not talked about enough. He is not a flattering subject. And when we go through difficulties - people don’t like to hear that it’s a spiritual battle, or that satan is attacking them.

No.

It’s much easier to tilt our heads heavenward and go, “Why God?” Or to look outward and blame other people.

But it’s NOT GOD. It’s not always, others.

It’s Satan.

He is evil. Ruthless. Disguised as good. Persistent. Cunning. Heartless.

HE. IS. REAL.

He is out to attack and destroy YOU. 

If he can get you to struggle with your health, your relationships, your faith - he laughs. He delights. And he is fueled to do more.

God wants to give us HOPE and LIFE!  But we so easily fall into the struggles and traps that satan has for us.

It’s easy to fall victim to our own minds. To let fear, anxiety, and depression so overtake our lives that we don’t know how to function as a normal human being.

It’s easy to write off relationships that have become HARD. To cut ourselves off from anyone who might challenge us.

It’s almost energizing to think about unleashing our anger. Rebelling against society. 

Yet, none of those things are of the Lord. None are GOOD.

Satan is out to STEAL (our mind, our heart, our souls), KILL (our relationships, our loves, our dreams) and DESTROY (our jobs, our self-worth, our families, our communities). 

How do you think he’s doing?

We will only gain ground if we decide we’ve had enough. Had enough of the tears, the fears, the anger, the struggle…..

We will only gain ground and start becoming victorious if we call upon the Lord and claim who we are in Him.

We CAN be strong.

We CAN be wise.

We CAN overcome.

It just takes faith. Belief. Trust. Sacrifice of our own will and pride, at times. And it will take obedience. Obedience to the ONE who tried to spare us from it all in the first place.

It’s time to rise up. Claim who you are and who you were meant to be. Say, “No more” to Satan and call him out. Don’t let him hide in the shadows, lurking and toying with your life and mind.

Victory is only gained through the Lord. 

No more compromising. No more excuses. No more hiding (because what good has that really done?) 

Step forward. 

You are already in a battle. So you might as well grab your armor and battle with your head up, instead of down.

I believe it’s time we start gaining some ground in our lives. 

Let’s be fighters, instead of victims.

Enough is enough.

Satan is real, and he’s out to get you, your children, and your love. 

Don’t let him.

They Are Different From You. And That's Not Bad.

Sometimes we get frustrated with one another.  We expect those ‘others’ in our lives, to be like us.

And they’re not. They are SO not.

And that frustrates us.

We try to comprehend how someone we care about, doesn’t appreciate the fact that we don’t want to be busy every weekend. Or, we don’t “get” how our beloved is so content not trying new things.

Some of us are introverts. Some are extroverts. Some of us - are somewhere in the middle.

Some of us thrive on adrenaline and we get antsy living life working “normally” like the rest of society.  Some of us…. Feel like we will be strangled if we have to try anything that is risky, fast, or slightly “out of the ordinary.” 

None of it is bad. We need to see that.

None of it is wrong. (Unless you jeopardize marital or familial relationships in the process - or become unwise with money, or your desires become addictions, etc.)

But for most of us - we just need to see that others are different than us. We don’t HAVE to understand why someone is the way they are. We just need to accept that they ARE.

We all fill a void here in life. We all fill spots that no one else can fill.

When we are in leadership, we can forget to teach to the introvert and not just the extrovert. 

When we are married, we can push and pull on our spouse to do things that God has not gifted in their very nature - to do.

Because we think everyone should think and feel… like we do.

I don’t think we do it in a mean way. I don’t even think we often realize we are doing it, at all. But we do. Everything we do, comes from our own prism of seeing life the way WE see and feel it. And in that very fact, oftentimes, comes the misunderstanding that someone else doesn’t see or feel things, as we do.

So what do we do? 

We start in just realizing. Realizing that others are different than us, and it’s not bad. 

They are meant to be different.

We compromise for the love of the relationship we have with them - to come to middle ground in the things we choose to do with them, and the things we ask of them.

We learn to enjoy to live life a little bit differently at times. Even if it’s only for an hour - or a week or two. Because we love the people in our life.

And in the process, we enjoy our relationships more. We relax more. We learn that it’s not life-altering, to learn how to accept a different way of going about things. It’s not going to kill us, if we don’t do things OUR way once in awhile.

And we grow. We love more. We LIVE more. And someone else loves us more, because of the lack of feeling pressured to be something they were never meant to be.

Someone can change to be with you - but they won’t enjoy it. And they won’t feel loved by us because they will feel like they aren’t good enough, just… the… way…. they… are.

So for the sake of the loved ones in your life - see and love people right where they stand. In their slowness or their frenzy. In their quietness or their joyful noise. But love them for who they are. 

And you will find your enjoyment of the relationship, will rise up to a new level. 

It’s ok that you are different than others, and that others are different from you. That’s what makes people so beautiful. So learn from each other. Love on each other. Grow from what each other has to give and offer.

That’s the secret to happy relationships.