I wrote Rulers of Darkness to share the truth that God is always in pursuit of us. Wooing us. Loving us. People are opting out of His love because they believe they are no good, and then they continue to pursue those things that are self-destructive leaving a path of ruin in the wake of their choices.
However, God’s love is not dependent on our worthiness, it is despite our unworthiness. It is the definition of authentic love, which is something our society no longer understands. To the people around us, love is transactional. But that is a lie from the enemy himself. Remember, this is spiritual warfare.
The enemy is bold. He’s not mincing His words. He’s not remaining quiet.
So what should we do?
1 – We should always talk about hope.
It feels awful out there. If we listen to the totally bias, almost reality TV news stations, we would believe it is the end times. (IT might be folks!) But God was clear that our focus is not on when the end is, but instead to assume it is at any moment and live like our lives are on fire for Jesus.
It’s so hard to be positive. No. Hope is not false positivity. That reads as fake to everyone. Positivity is a lie as well. No one “feels” positive all the time. Hope is stronger than a feeling. It’s a belief that God’s got this, and He won’t let you fall.
Because He won’t.
2- We should always be ready to talk about God’s love.
This is the premise of Rulers of Darkness. It’s the struggle of the faithful to help those who are difficult to help, and to share with them that God loves them not because they deserve it, but in spite of what they deserve.
We need to be courageous in the world today. We need to be open about and authentic with our relationship with Christ. Life is too hard to be spouting haughty pious quotes. People need to see that in the thick of cancer, covid, loss, upheavel, and fear that there is a group of people out there standing strong.
Am I afraid. Yes. I think everyone faces that feeling. If we focus on the world, it is easy to fall into anxiety and depression. But if we focus on the promises God has given to us, then we have nothing to fear. I’ve been working on keeping a Heaven mindset. It’s hard. It was never promised to be easy. But it is our calling. And we need to be vocal about it.
3- We should always be ready to talk about God’s promises.
Why are we free from fear?
Because of God’s promises to us. If we don’t know them, how can our hearts fight against what the world is coming at us with? So we need to study His word and know those promises.
If we have these three things ready to share, then we are fulfilling the calling God has placed on each of our lives. To go and make disciples of all nations.
PS. That’s your backyard!
Blessings,
J. L. Burrows
Maria Henriksen