2 Timothy 2:22-26 Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. Again I say, don’t get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.
This is how I would have you live. Focused on Me. On My Word. On sharing Truth. You are surrounded by people who have been trapped by the enemy. They are held hostage by lies and manipulation and darkness and evil and most don’t know it. But you see. You know Me. You know Truth. You study My Word. You have eyes to see and ears to hear – you can pierce the darkness that surrounds you. Use that. See beyond what everyone else sees. See Truth. Then share it. Denounce the lies. Expose the enemy and all his ways. Some will hear, many will not. But is not saving even one worth the energy? Worth the fight? Watch yourselves, however. Be patient. Be kind. Be loving. Exposing lies does not have to be done with malice or anger or hatred. It does not have to be a dirty fight. Remember, this is not personal. You know that the enemy is not the person you are speaking to, it is not the person you are trying to help see the Truth. That person has been taken captive. The enemy is the same each and every time – no matter what minions he uses to do his will, no matter how much it seems as if the person you speak to is the enemy. And, as well, remember that it is I in you that is being rejected. This is not personal against you – it is personal against Me in you. Pare it down, Child. It is the battle that has been waged since the beginning of time – the same two main players – the fallen one against Me. The current battlefield is your world – in all of its iterations. Your minds, your hearts, your spirits, your allegiances, your families, your bodies, your politics, your ethnicities, truth, reality, objectivity, morality…… any and everywhere possible, your enemy wages war through you against Me. You are the target because you were made in My image. Because I love you. Because I have made salvation and eternal life available to you. Because harming you harms Me.
Amanuensis 