We enjoyed some very lovely weather this week. It was in the mid to upper 70s for a few days which is rather unusual for us. Thankfully it is now falling back into the 50s for the next week. I’m not ready to give up my fireplace weather and turn on the air conditioning. Caroline is thrilled we have lots of rain in the forecast this weekend. She loves rainy days. I do, too, but not as much as she does! They feed her soul and make her very happy and peaceful.

I spent this week re-assessing my simple life. LOL! I’m somewhat joking, but that’s the truth of it. The problem was I missed the big picture for a few days. I was feeling frustrated and discouraged, but then the lightbulb went on. It was something I already knew from life experiences and had even discussed with Caroline this week. But I hadn’t put two and two together in this particular situation for myself. Thankfully the Lord reminded me.

When you are in battle, where do you get the most flak? When you are over the target, right? I can tell you right now that the enemy of our souls does not like me sharing Scripture and hymns with you all on a daily basis. He doesn’t like the other very positive things happening spiritually in our family right now. He doesn’t like the little community of truth seekers coming together in my forums. I finally realized why there was so much flak in my life this past week and it was very encouraging. It affirmed I was doing something right.

Something else he doesn’t like is when we disconnect from the systems that enslave us and choose to step out in faith in God as our Guide, Provider, and Defender.

I’ve apparently been shadow banned by Pinterest. I’ve gone from 500,000 views a month on there to 29,000. No views equals fewer click throughs to my site which equals fewer sales which equals lower income. I’ve submitted help requests multiple times the past few months to no avail. I can only conclude my name is on a Bad People List, probably because I’m a Trump-supporting conservative or a Christian. Who knows how these things work. I’m also pretty sure my site has been slammed by Google. We know Big Tech all talks and works together to blacklist the undesirables so I’m assuming I’m now on at least some of the lists.

So I’ve been assessing my situation. In the process, I discovered I felt very free. No more sucking up to platforms and companies who despise me. I made a short video several weeks ago about why we should stop giving our time, energy, and money to organizations and companies who hate us (Stop Giving Yourself to a Culture That Hates You). I’ve been working my way through my own personal to-do list regarding this. I’m not going to preach one thing here and not follow through myself. So I’m slowly doing what I’m advocating.

This week I also started doing something else. I began actively praying for the demise of specific companies and organizations that promote evil and engage in activities that are contrary to God’s Word. If they cannot be quickly reformed by Him moving in the situation, I am praying God will allow them to be destroyed so they can no longer lead others astray, promote evil, and bring about greater division in this country. I am praying He will bring about their destruction so other companies and organizations can arise and take their place.

I’m either actively promoting and advancing the Kingdom of God or I’m not. There is no middle ground right now.

Likewise, you are either deliberately advancing Christ’s Lordship over the earth or you are allowing the enemy to advance. That’s it.

You’re serving someone and you are teaching your children to serve someone. Do you serve the Lord or do you serve the culture? Look at where your time, money, and energy goes each day. Look at the content of your prayers. Where are your thoughts? What are you watching? What are you reading? Who are you sending God’s money to as you pay your bills?

Whose kingdom are you advancing as you go about your life each day?

Artist: “Apple Dumplings” by George Dunlop Leslie