Week 22

Matthew 11:12 reads, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”

This is one of my favorite scriptures, and my pastor used it in his sermon yesterday. It seemed appropriate to use it as my devotional today.

Since I am home, I was able to do a study on the scripture. Apparently, there are three different common views of what this scripture means. I will focus on the view that relates to me, right now.

According to the study text in my Bible, “…entering God’s Kingdom takes courage, unwavering faith, determination and endurance…” Contextually, there was growing opposition to the followers of Christ.

1 Peter 5:8 tells us, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”

Lately, the fight has been out of me, and I haven’t felt like fighting. The problem with that is that I have been in a spiritual battle since I entered into the Kingdom of Heaven. There is a war coming at me regardless of whether I engage in battle or not. So, I must fight the good fight of faith. The alternative is to sit here and die, and that is not an alternative.

My prayers have continued to be a bit muddled. The good thing about being a writer is that I can’t ever deny what I am feeling. The bad thing about being a writer is that I can’t ever deny what I am feeling. It comes out. My dreams, well, they also tell the story. So, alas, I find comfort if the fact that some issues I can only hand over to God in prayer. I can’t change anyone other than myself, and that is what I need to work on.

This has actual been a great weekend. I took Friday off so I have had a four-day weekend, which is quickly coming to a close. I will also look forward to PTO-driven, four-day weekends the Fourth of July and Labor Day.

Also, yesterday was my pastor and his wife’s 40th wedding anniversary! They are such an amazing example of a solid, stable marriage. So, happy anniversary to them!