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A Quick Focus to get your started, then:

1) Heritage of holiness

2) Kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight

3) Got a penny?

A Quick Focus

No matter how your day has gone so far, no matter how hectic it is, no matter your state of mind right now - Christ is with you.

Allow yourself to know that He is present with you. Let yourself know that He loves you, is there with you because He wants to be, and that He has a plan for not only this day but all your days.

If you find something in the way then clear it up with Him right now. If that leaves no time to read the rest of this then don't read it. Your relationship with Christ is THE most important thing in your life.

When you feel at peace - not that everything in your life is perfect - just that you know He is with you, then I invite you now to the rest of the ezine.

Heritage of holiness

As a child I didn’t see my grandmother very much but when I did she always talked to me about the Lord. Every birthday card had an invitation to accept Him as my savior, every Christmas card the same. It was not for many years that I came to know the Lord and only then recognized that my grandmother had prayed for this all those years.

In my office is one of two things I received from her before she went to be with the Lord. It is an old, framed quote of Philippians 4:8-9. It was my grandmother’s way of encouraging me to be holy in my thoughts and godly in my actions. I look at it often and over the years it has come to be a foundational truth that guides my thinking and reminds me of her.

Also in my office is a book she had given me and for over a decade it waited for me to notice it. Written in 1904, it is a book on prayer. As I scanned the yellowed pages my heart leapt. I see the places where grandmother had underlined a particularly impactful statement, I see the wear from her fingers turning the pages many times, I understand that this had been her life – conversations with God – and this is what she wanted for me. It is now a treasured friend guiding me in talking with my God.

Grandmother had also prayed for my father who came to know the Lord before I did. He dedicated the rest of his life to pursuing Christ and is with Him now. She prayed for my brother who came to know the Lord the day before he found out he was terminally ill. She prayed for my mother who wanted only to be with God on her deathbed. Her prayers impact life today long after she has gone.

As I look at the generations I see the mercy, grace and blessing of God on my family. And this legacy of prayer is passed to me. The Lord intervened in my grandmother’s life and this started a heritage of holiness. I prayed for my children to know Christ and now I pray over my young grandchildren that they would know Christ too.

Lord, I lift to you every person that reads this little ezine. Let them know You intimately, deeply, in power and in a way that effects their generations to come. Bring to us all a desire to talk with You and to intercede for those you place in our life.

Kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight

I read this phrase and loved it. “Kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight.” It has a rowdy, don’t mess with me, I’m not gonna give up feel to it. Why should we allow ourselves to be pushed around or into cowering before the darkness? Fight back until it gives in and light returns.

Darkness is always trying to take over and, at times, it can gain a lot of ground. But don’t give up for the Lord has defeated the darkness. The war IS won there are just a few battles left to fight before darkness is gone forever.

Scripture tells us to, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Yup, he will run fearfully from you when you stand against him in Christ. Don’t have a lot of energy for a good right hook? Then give a kick and then another and another. Satan is counting on us giving up - don’t.

So, just how do you kick at the darkness? Know your God and refuse to believe lies about Him. Know who you are in Christ and refuse to live out what is not true. Know God’s plan for salvation and sanctification. Walk worthy. Pray always. Worship.

Our weapons are spiritual against a spiritual enemy. Worship at the top of your lungs – kick. Pray for wisdom and power – kick. Be holy in your thinking – kick. Be godly in your actions – kick. See the daylight starting to come? Refuse to curse God when thinks are hard – kick. Have faith that He is Sovereign when the world seems to be going crazy – kick. Kick and kick and kick again.

I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:12

Follow Jesus and you have the light and the darkness cannot prevail against you. Resist the darkness in your life until it shines out Christ.

Got a penny?

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- know God

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- determine the direction of your future with Christ

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