It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted a message on my blog. Honestly, I just didn’t know what to say. I didn’t feel like God had given me a word. But, maybe it’s just that I had been overwhelmed like most of us. About a month ago, however, God woke me up extremely early in the morning and my thoughts came together with a message. I made some notes but unfortunately, I procrastinated. Again, early this morning, God woke me up and this message was on my mind.  I believe now is the time He wants me to share it. This may end up being a long message and if so, I pray you will hang in there with me until the end. Here goes…

I think those who know me would say I have been naïve most of my life. I grew up pretty sheltered from bad things in the world. I am the oldest of three girls and while our Dad was protective over all of us, I’m sure he was even more so with the first – me. I just never expected that people might be lying, cheating, or breaking the law. The thought never occurred to me. A couple of things come to mind. When I was a young adult I was in Burger Chef (some of you may be old enough to remember this fast food restaurant) with my Mom. We were in line waiting to order. I smelled something really strange and bad. I mentioned to my Mom, “What is that smell”?! She said, “Leslie, don’t you know what that is? It’s marijuana.” Obviously I didn’t know what it was and asked how she knew. She said she had heard on the news what is smelled like. Seriously? My Mom knew more about marijuana than I did? Another time, several years later, my husband and I were in New York City. We walked around the streets (it was not what I expected) site-seeing. It was very different from the small town where I grew up. Anyway, afterwards my husband and another man were talking about how they were selling drugs on the streets, out loud calling out their drugs and prices. I said, “where was that”? They both looked at me like I was crazy. It was happening all around me and I didn’t even notice.

Sad, isn’t it? How can I effectively fight the enemy if I don’t even realize he’s there? For many years after that I was still living in my own little world. Married, working, raising kids – never paid any attention to news or current events, not even that the school system had changed what our kids were being taught. When did they change our history books? When did they take God out of the schools? Was I asleep? I think I was simply sleep walking. I was oblivious to what was going on around me. I was so focused on what I had “to do” each day, just going through motions of my responsibilities (but neglecting maybe the most important responsibilities as a human and parent – to KNOW what is happening and stand up for right over wrong. Thankfully I have repented of that and God has forgiven me, but I had to turn from that behavior and make sure I was aware of what was happening around me.

For many months now (maybe a few years) I have been praying these things for our nation. That…

• Truth would be revealed
• Eyes would be opened to the truth
• Pride would not keep us from turning from sin
• Humble hearts would be turned from evil to God
• Those plotting and committing evil would be exposed and held accountable
• God would not give us over to our own evil desires but would grant us grace in our repentance

Many in our nation are deceived – their eyes need to be opened. What I didn’t realize is that God had to open my eyes! He opened them to what I talked about in the previous paragraph, how I had lived in “darkness” to the evil around me. Thank you God for opening my eyes.

I must admit that even as recent as a week ago, I was resisting listening to prophetic messages. I was so afraid that I would be listening to a false prophet that I missed listening to what God had to say. He (God) reminded me that He is still the same today as He was yesterday and will be tomorrow. He speaks through prophets. Even though He speaks to us directly, He still uses prophets to get His message to us. If we abide in Him, His spirit will confirm with ours whether the word we hear is true or not. I need not be afraid. So, I have listened to some and God is so good – they all had the same message. I felt at peace more than I have in the past few years. God is working on our behalf. He always gives warnings to His people in hopes that they will return to Him. He wants all to come to a saving knowledge of Him through Jesus Christ. Sometimes we want Him to act now – but His grace and mercy are great. We must remember that He wants all to turn to Him. However, there comes a time when enough is enough and God acts. I believe now is that time. It is my whole-hearted belief that God is not going to give our nation over to our evil desires, but He will restore our nation back to “We the People”.  The “world” will lie to us, but God never will. My eyes are wide open now and my hope is in the Lord. I am committed to keeping my eyes open and focused on Him, never again to keep my head buried in the sand but to stand up for righteousness. God gives His Children what we need to fight the spiritual battle of good versus evil. We have the full armor of God available to us. We just need to use it.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:10-17)

Don’t believe everything you see and hear. Don’t be afraid. Trust in God. He will lead and guide you to truth. But, we have to seek truth in order to find it. Keep your eyes wide open. God can and will do amazing things we can’t even imagine. To Him be all glory and honor and praise!