my best friend

hello dearest-y lovies.
i hope you are all doing well!

i have gotten a lot of feedback about my last post, and i appreciate all of your concerns and prayers! it means alot! please continue to pray! God is doing great things!

i just wanted to say a little something about one of my very bestest friends: my Bible.
i'm very serious.

you guys, this book is marvelous. it's got all the answers! it's an open door to the Father through the Spirit. I've been spending alot of time in it lately.
Here's something God has used to encourage me greatly:

 ¹⁹The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah. ²⁰ The Israelites went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah. ²¹ The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day. ²² But the Israelites encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day. ²³ The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and they inquired of the LORD. They said, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites?”
The LORD answered, “Go up against them.”
²⁴ Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day. ²⁵ This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed with swords.
²⁶ Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD. ²⁷ And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, ²⁸ with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites, or not?”
The LORD responded, “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.”
²⁹ Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah. ³⁰ They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before. ³¹ The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads—the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah. ³² While the Benjamites were saying, “We are defeating them as before,” the Israelites were saying, “Let’s retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads.”


I know, it's pretty long. And, read out of context, it seems pretty pointless. It was just a really ugly battle, right??

Well, I feel like i'm in a battle right now. So, I immediately identified with Israel in this situation.
Pretty much, the tribe of Benny was responsible for murders that had taken place, and Israel was fighting them for their punishment. But every time they went up against them, the Israelites got beaten down. Their people got killed. They were suffering.
They wept before God, and asked if they should continue fighting the battle. It appeared they were losing and they were losing many soldiers.
But God said to keep fighting.

I'm in a place where I'm fighting satan and sin, and God is saying to keep fighting, even though it's hurting me.

The Israelites did win against the Benjamites.

And we will win against satan and sin. We will.


Something else I loved, was the first time the Israelites were set back. It says "But the Israelites encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day."

I'm praying that that can be my attitude for every set-back I encounter.


Just some thoughts. I hope you all haven't been near as busy as me! ;)

i love you all!


p.s.-- I'm thankful for:

O- Operation Christmas Child

P- prayer.prayer.prayer.prayer.prayer.

Q- quiet times. with God. it's my drug.