Word for 2021

At the beginning of last year, the Lord gave us Joshua 1:9. - Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  When we began looking at this scripture, we had no idea what lay ahead.  After that, the Lord told us that He was preparing our hands for war.  That was a message that did not, at the time, seem very encouraging.  However, as time passed, we realized that we cannot follow Jesus and escape the battle between the light and the darkness.  Next, the Lord took us to His prayer to the Father in John 17.  He tells us that He did not pray for the Father to take us out of this world.  He prayed for the Father to protect us when we went into the world.  Why would we need the Father's protection against the evil one?  Because we are in a battle.

This year has seen a divide in this nation that all can see.  It is not a fight between the left and the right, Democrat and Republican, liberal or conservation.  It is between the light and the darkness.  In this fight, we are to align with Jesus and His Word and not with any movement in the world.  This is our time.  Now, the messages the Lord began to give us a year ago make sense.  We are not to fear or be discouraged.  We have been trained for war and how to use the spiritual weapons the Lord has provided.  We do not fight with the weapons of the world or with its methods.  We fight the good fight of faith according to the ways of our Lord and King, Jesus using HIs Word as our weapon.  That Word is not to be changed, modified, reinterpreted, or misused.  We are to put on the spiritual armor of God and stand on that Word.  We use that Word to combat the lies and deceptions of the enemy.  Anything that does not align with God's word is to be countered with the Word itself.  This responsibility belongs to each one of us.