08/05/2020
Our family left a bunch of at our local school since this is the first week teachers go back into their classrooms to do COVID-Cautious prep work and in-service. As we chalked, we prayed for them and for all the Viking families.💟⚓️
So many of us have been treating our fellow humans with disrespect or disdain because we disagree. My personal prayer was that God clean up my heart. Like Quarantine-time Tide + Bleach Water it. Find all the little seeds of bitterness lurking within and pluck them out. Powerwash it good, God. Replace them with love and your patience and your wisdom and grace and kindness and lots of forgiveness.
Bitterness is often said to grieve the Spirit of God. It’s like a slow poison or a deadly virus that starts in the heart, gives room for the enemy to work and causes us to fall short of God's grace and His will for our lives. I know another virus that is doing this work too. I don’t want to double up; things are hard enough as it is. I’ll wash my hands if you will help me clean my heart. I’ll wear my mask if you will help me watch my mouth. Help me to trust you too, Lord, to believe the best of people and forgive all the rest! Remind me continually that we are all doing the best we can and that it’s YOU who can right the wrongs, straighten the crooked paths, and pluck out all seeds of bitterness that try to take root. 🌱
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We write these verses and draw these pretty pictures on the sidewalks not just to encourage people or spark a smile, but also because it’s the best way our family knows to successfully fight real battles. We believe Ephesians 6:17 is true in that the word of God is the sword of the Spirit, an offensive weapon against enemies. So often the Bible and it’s message is used as a weapon against those who are made in His image. God’s word is not meant to be a weapon against the people He made! The enemy is Satan, not our fellow humans. The wicked efforts made by the evil one to distract, divide, destroy and cause doubt in believers are the attacks of a spiritual war. Like, a real battle is happening. Always has and still is. So because Hebrews 4:12 says “the word of God is alive and active and sharper than any double-edged sword” our family armors up and goes on the attack with simple chalk messages on sidewalks that we believe actually acts as a force field or a barrier to ward off evil. If it also helps to remind people how much they are loved by God, then that’s just an added bonus.⚔️📖
