by Tonya Woodridge-Jarvis
We are not in a race war, we are in spiritual warfare with the enemy, and some of you are playing right into his hands. Let’s pray for more God-sent, holy-ghost filled, on-fire for the Lord, not conforming to the way of the world, determined, non-wavering, non-power regulated, level-headed, kind, patient, intelligent leaders to rise up and do what God intended. The Bible tells us that history shall repeat itself. We can learn from the past – violence didn’t work then and it isn’t working now.
In the midst of this I began to pray, “With calamity all around us, what must we do Heavenly Father?” He answered saying, “Keep your eyes and hearts focused on me, the author and finisher of all. The enemy has come to distract believers. I am God almighty, and I will take care of my people. Please keep your eyes focused on me. Don’t allow the enemy to detour your faith and strength. It may look like I’m silent through the test, but I am omnipresent as I have always been. Please don’t focus on the events, focus on me. I promise I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Do you know what it means to be a living epistle? 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 says, “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” A living epistle is your heart-felt, living letter of Christ and how His light shines within your life. Your heart, feet and hands are symbolic of a journey; the more wear and tear on them, the more detailed the journey. As we walk down the street looking to the left and right of us, we see turmoil and hellish acts. But I’ve come to remind all of you to look forward. When you look forward you can see God’s footsteps in front of you leading the way.
As one body of Christ, I challenge all of us to have compassion for all of God’s people; to carry forth His messages of prayer, healing, helping and the Holy Spirit. Stand with me and make this declaration today:
I declare to be a living epistle for my family and in my community. I declare that I will carry God’s message to others. I declare war on the enemy to take back our city through spiritual warfare. I declare to help guide God’s lost into the kingdom. I declare to live a blessed and highly favored life. I declare to have compassion for all people. I declare that my faith will not waver because of current events. I declare a prominent attitude toward the kingdom and others. I declare that I won’t lean unto my own understanding, but I will lean onto the Lord. I declare that no weapon formed against me and my household shall prosper. I declare that we are the head and not the tail, we are above and not beneath. I declare that the report of the Lord is true, and His word will not return void. I declare that I will stand in the gap and pray for those who are not strong enough to pray for themselves. I declare peace within my heart and to follow the Lord until the day I die, and no devil in hell is going to stop me.
If you’ve made this declaration, you‘ve decided to be a living epistle. As we pick up the pieces and explain the current events to our children, teach them how to be a living epistle; to love and let love. But most importantly, teach them how to pray, heal, help others, and about the anointing that the Holy Spirit brings.
