A STEADFAST LIFE

Well, good morning to all! It's about 2:15 AM, Tuesday, August 1st, and I just awoke from a nap. I am watching a greatly contested women's world cup soccer match between Portugal and the USA. Both teams are playing tenaciously, and quite frankly, the Portuguese women are simply outplaying the US women. They are currently tied zero-zero at the half.

On the other hand, the half-time announcers are focused on the negative and how poorly the US women are playing. This is an excellent segue into the worldly knack of focusing more on the negative than the positive. This is a similar tactic to how the world constantly tries to break us down and attack us along our respective journeys.

I'm going to finish watching these two amazingly talented teams finish this match, as a tie for the US takes them to the next round and eliminates Portugal from the tournament. Three minutes in regulation and still tied. These ladies are steadfast in their determination to achieve their respective goals. Okay… on to eight minutes of extra time to determine the outcome. Dang! Portugal hits the right post on a breakaway that would have given them the win and the biggest upset in world cup history! Five minutes to go, and bodies are flying. Two minutes to go, and now the US will simply attempt to kill the clock and take a tie to the next round? Yup… Portugal is attacking, and WOW! It is over. What a great match. Quite honestly, the Portuguese ladies were the better team this morning but did not get the win needed to advance. Hats off to all. And the post-game announcer once again focuses on the negative performance of the US rather than the incredible performance of the Portuguese women in their first-ever world cup appearance.

Sorry about that detour, but this journey is going exactly how it should, and just as these athletes all focused on victory in this match, we must remain steadfast in our victory over the enemy. And as we know, the enemy comes only "to steal, and to kill, and to destroy" (John 10:10). I had no intent to include world cup commentary in this article, but this is where we are in this perfectly orchestrated moment in my life, and it is one I am very grateful for.

My goal was to focus on the importance of remaining steadfast in our walk with the Lord. In other words, remain firm and unwavering in our faith and love in Christ. In the original Hebrew word, "chesed" (kheh-sed) refers to God's devout mercy, faithfulness, and loving-kindness. This again reminds me to "be blessable" and welcome the Holy Spirit to fill me up daily. And to make the ask through prayer every day (Luke 18:1). Then we have a shot at victory over the enemy, allowing us to fight the right fight; stand firm; be obedient; and constantly trust God in the name of Jesus while we "put in work" and read the Bible that is the truth of God, so that through the word, the word of God will abide in all. "Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one." (1 John 2:14)

In closing, please check out some great defense and offense against the enemy and all the spiritual warfare we will all encounter along the way. We all must put on God's armor every day; Ephesians (6:10-18). I may unpack this scripture next month. But time will tell. I will pray for guidance on this, and I will pray for all my readers to remain steadfast. All 10 of you, haha!

Until next time,

Much love and be blessable,

Larry