“For although we do live in the world, we do not wage war in a worldly way; because the weapons we use to wage war are not worldly. On the contrary, they have God’s power for demolishing strongholds. We demolish arguments and every arrogance that raises itself up against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey the Messiah.”
Just to kindly remind we should not fall headlong into the trap of solemn self-seriousness 🙂 Demolition by ridicule works like a charm the most of time! 🤸
I propose we all get to know to use rules well, and USE THEM OURSELVES to deconstruct, shame, neutralise, our adversaries as they attempt to use them to destroy civilisation.
This is not a coincidence...the Holy Spirit is guiding you which I know you know. It’s just the best when you can clearly see it.
In the early 2009, I had a white board in our kitchen and I decided to put up a verse each week on it (my boys were in 6th and 10th grade and I wanted to inspire them). I had already put a verse on the whiteboard for the week...it was the first day, Monday. Later that morning, I was working on my computer typing away and another verse kept popping in my head over and over, Romans 8:38-39*. So finally I said out loud, “ok I hear you haha and I will change the verse” and I did.
The very next morning a friend of my oldest son, committed suicide. It was a horrible week and we all felt so bereft. On Friday at his service, the program featured the same verse that was on our white board on the cover of the program. The minister preached a sermon using this verse and we all understood in our family this was a sign and message of hope and love. I wrote the mother a letter letting her know. She hangs on to this message to this very day.
*For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8: 38-39.
Interesting...yesterday I asked God for something, anything positive for the day. One of those things I asked for was to hear from our troubled daughter, whom we hadn't heard from in a while and for whom we gave some of our savings to help her...again. Thinking that she just took our money, we were frustrated. Then she called us! First time we'd heard from her directly in weeks. We caught up and put things together. I know that was of God. Hang on friends. And pray! You have nothing to lose there, I promise.
Happens to me all the time, except she is contacting me from the other side now, as we weren't able to get through to her. I ask God or her something all the time, and they always answer. So , never hesitate to ask.
My sister and my friend did not get through either to each of their precious children and I didn’t get through to my nephew as the aunt. I have a lot of guilt. But the signs that they are ok from beyond are amazing and lift us all up.
Today has been such an emotional day for me…reading all your comments on faith and your life experiences….lots of tears. We all have all endured so much are are all thus are bonded in a very unique way….the lone 25 percent. Jeff has been our lighthouse.
I wish everybody could understand that the closer you want to be to God, the more He reveals Himself. He knows our hearts and He knows what is best for us. I am posting a link about how a Great Blue Heron is a symbol to me from God that He knows, not only my heart and mind, but everybody's. I hope you enjoy it.
I just read your beautiful Substack. My nephew and friends son both passed away in the last few years from drugs and alcohol abuse. I am sending this to them. They also have had signs and they are so so wonderful.
I always say that, to those who believe in the Lord God and give their life into His hands, there are NO coincidences. We might not see it now, but the thread that binds events in the lives of believers will be revealed, whether in this life or the next. All those 'random' meetings? Yeah, not random.
AMEN! It's the ONLY forum that I read faithfully anymore. I deleted my Facepoop account in January of 2021 (after 12 years of sharing and caring and fighting off the "beastie" philosophers) and then got on MeWe until the end of 2022 (I found that forum to be very uncaring and anything but interesting). I still have a Twitter account which I post to occasionally--and Instagram which I have NEVER posted to until last year (to my oldest grandsugar, Sailor, who asked me to join it years ago).
Thank our Creator God for ATTY. JEFF and, most of all for His Precious Son and Holy Spirit!
I do a morning fb piece featuring a sunrise I take every morning I can, a scripture and my thoughts for the morning. This morning my scripture was John 20:19. I later went to a Bible Study group. The scripture at the top of the next lesson we were going to read was John 20:19. Over the past 3 years it has been the God whispers that have kept me going.
Wow and then you read my story. Again there are no coincidences...I am going to look up John 20:19:
John 20:19 It was the first day of the week, and that very evening, while the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. "Peace be with you!"
This is also amazing because Chris wrote about fear today and wanted us to have Peace. So many signs God is with us.
“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”
Along the lines of this amazing Scripture passage, I highly recommend the book, Live Not By Lies, by Rod Dreher. Could be easy to be overwhelmed by what the book reports but it is our choice how we respond. The 2nd half of the book - solid encouragement how to live to speak truth with daily choices and activities. We can do battle and WIN!
💬 Fear is the mind-killer. If we’re afraid, they win. Fear is a choice. Choose hope! Don’t be distracted and despondent. Stay focused and hopeful. Focus on the progress, not the problems.
💯🔥 Here we have some exemplary kinda mantra. Directions for use: twice a day and thrice on Sundays. Advised most strongly.
I’m reminded of CS Lewis, writing in 1948 “…This is the first point to be made:and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things-praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and game of darts-not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (A microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.”
I never cared what happened in D.C. until the post 9/11 flight laws intruded and gave the TSA unfettered power, then came the C-19 hysteria and I realized how the Fed wants control over every aspect of my life. I stand on the sovereignty of God. Our bloated government is pitiful when compared to the power of the Creator of the universe. Faith over fear. Always.
Not only do we not need to live in fear but doing so is sinful! The bible is clear on this, "trust God and fear not". It's not a polite request but a command. It's not an option we can choose to ignore.
People allow fear to take hold in their lives in direct defiance of God's word. Allowing fear to fester in one's heart is no different from sowing hatred or fantasizing illicit thoughts. It's all sin, God says don't do it and we ignore His commands at our own peril.
While I appreciate Jeff Childer's thoughts today, no one who calls themselves a Christian should need it. It's great for the secular folks and I hope it makes them feel better. We don't fear because we trust God. He is in control, either you believe it or you don't. If you are a fearful Christian then you may want to consider the strength of your faith. If you are fearful it means you aren't trusting Him.
Like Peter watching the waves and not Jesus. He was fine and could have walked on water forever if he’d have kept his eyes on Jesus and not given into fear.
Actually we do need it. Because, as a pastor friend of mine says, we are leaky vessels. We may have been taught to not fear and instead be in faith, but sometimes we forget and the enemy knows this. And we need reminding. I think many here have heeded the message. There did seem to be quite a bit of negativity in these threads of late, which is unfortunate because so much good comes from these threads at the same time --good links, good info, etc....
I think we are in agreement that we need to be reminded that God is in control. That's our pep talk, no matter what happens on Earth that he reigns.
Jeff's comments today were more in regards to that things aren't as bad as they look or that they will get better. I don't object to that and I hope it gives some people perspective. My concern was that if one calls themselves a Christian, than that's a side issue and not the real cause of negativity. The real cause is lack of faith. God bless.
I agree, but I am an imperfect being, caught in my mortal and physical being. Have you ever taught somebody a sport and time and time again you tell them something to do that would help them, but they don’t seem able to? Because they haven’t reached that point yet, where they can actually use the words that you’re telling them. Don’t be judgmental of other peoples fear. But continue to encourage them and lift them up to put their eyes on the One who truly is able to vanquish all fear.
Wow. You sound like a perfect Christian! Except there's no such thing (except for Jesus, of course). Why not add an encouragement instead of being so judgmental? Which in itself is a sin. A speck in someone's eye vs a log in your own, doncha know.
Thanks Max, made my day with your comment as I know it hit home. Hope you'll think about it.
Edit: Adding to my comment as I didn't want it to appear flippant. Max I'm a sinner just like everyone else. I'm simply quoting the bible in that fear comes from a lack of faith. If you disagree, please show me where the bible says otherwise. The bible says "do not fear" literally hundreds of times, it's vitally important. Look at what we've gone through for the last three years with the population whipped into a fearful frenzy by the government and media. Look at how incredibly destructive it was to people who bought into it. God doesn't want that for us.
Those of us that walk by faith don't fear because we know that no matter what happens it's part of God's perfect plan and He is in control. Fear is a sign that something is seriously amiss with one's walk with the Lord. I'm not making this up, go read what the bible says about fear. It's something we have to resist and ensure it doesn't fester and take hold in our lives. It's no different from obsessing about cheating on one's wife or plotting a crime. It's all sin and we have to resist it.
Unfortunately this is no longer taught in many churches (despite being 100% biblical) as it offends people (like it offended you). I would hope that if you went to your pastor with an ethical dilemma that he'd pull out a bible and tell you what God's word says and not try and rationalize away bad behavior. That's what pastors are supposed to do, not whitewash sin with "encouragement". But people like their fears for some strange reason and don't want to let go. So instead of confronting fear and calling it what it is (sin), many churches pandered to those fears and we all saw it particularly over the last few years. Closing their doors, forcing masks, not letting people hug each other, and even worshipping a medical product. Not only didn't they trust God but they behaved like terrified children and stoked fear among God's people, the exact opposite of what the Bible commands us to do.
As Christians we don't "encourage" people in sinful behavior but lovingly point them to God's word for correction. Should a Christian encourage a man who claims to be a Christian but is cheating on his wife? Or should he tell him what he's doing is sinful? That's the problem particularly today as people don't even think of fear as sin but it clearly is (along with bitterness and resentment for that matter). As to being judgmental, was I harsh or condemning in my initial comment? Did I tell people they were damned to Hell? No, but I did strike a nerve apparently in making the entirely biblical observation that the root cause of a fearful heart is a lack of faith.
I'm not a perfect Christian by a long shot as I fall short so many times a day I can't even keep track of them. But when the Bible says we are not to do something *hundreds* of times then I take it seriously. "Trust God and fear not" is a biblical command, not a suggestion. I'm not saying it's easy but it does get easier every day one lives by those words.
Yes. And as God through Jeremiah told the Israelites who'd been hauled into captivity in Babylon, live in the cities, plant gardens, raise your children. In other words, live life.
Dwell in God's sWord. It's our BEST defense! During the masking mandated when i refused, I walked everywhere whistling a hymn if nothing more than Jesus Loves Me. I can't help but think it may have brought cheer and courage to others but it certainly did to me. And then all the No FEAR talk in the years before and I think they say it's said 365x, or nearly, in the Bible.
Take up the sWord after you have put on the helmet of salvation, the BreastPlate of righteousness, which is Christ, the shoes of readiness for battle, and the Belt, girded with right doctrine, of truth.
One of my favorite C. S. Lewis’s quote. I remember reading that years ago and it gave me such a sense of calm and doing in the midst of turmoil. Thanks for sharing.
This is perfect - thank you!! I’d heard/read this before, in church I think (love CS Lewis!) but not for a very long time. Thank you for the smile and the reminder 🙏🏻♥️
I would too! Actually, it’s part of a longer article that I see pop up every once in a while & it has been so powerful for me the last three years. I’ll see if I can find more about it. To find the longer article, search “CS Lewis on the Atomic Bomb”
Jeff, well needed reassurance for some of our fellow C&Cer's.
We're in an ongoing psychological warfare operation that's world-wide. The enemy uses chaos to sew fear. They use patterns of chaos, calm, chaos and so on...All to destabilize people.
Al of the folks I knew from the great depression, while growing up shared 2-unique (unique to folks of the greatest generation) ideas with me: There's no free lunch and the sun will come out again, it always does.
Lastly if it wasn't for this assault on humanity (as God originally made us versus Klaus and the hard drive in the head version) I'd never would have come to know such a great group of folks and an outstanding attorney. Jeff has shared the simple and yet vast power of facts and evidence.
Yes, even those who came out of the great depression never forgot its lessons. They were forever changed. For the good: hard work and sacrifice meant great accomplishments. For the bad: many never got past the fear that it could all come crashing down again. My parents scrapped and saved and lived extremely modestly even when my dad made great money in the 80s and 90s. My mom has a healthy net worth and still uses cool whip containers for bowls and yells at me when I spend too much for jello.
Hey, I keep all those containers. When you give soup to sick people they don't have to remember who the tupperware has to be returned to. Donna's story gave me a good smile. I keep glass jars too. And vacuum parts. Scraps of fabric and batting. Some day they will probably find me buried under an avalanche of fabric. Gulp.
I have a tendency to keep things 'as you never know when they might come in handy" but my hubby helps me reign in some of that, since we are not moving to a bigger house, and we like keeping our cars IN the garage. But when a neighbor asks, 'by any chance do you have....' they know chances are good we probably do, LOL.
I once lived next door to a WW2 USMC vet who fought at Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal (and was later recalled to fight in Korea!) My G-d he was a tough old bastard! - I can still hear him telling me that whatever I was doing in the yard, "You're doing that wrong!" LOL
Jim had every tool ever known to mankind. After a damaging windstorm I once told him, "I don't suppose you have a woodchipper, do you?" The look he gave me in response was priceless. "Of COURSE I got a woodchipper. Whattya take me for?"
God have mercy on you, Jim, you tough old bastard. You'd be proud to know that Campion (our youngest son, whom Jim and Jean doted on) is a Devil Dog himself now.
Good to know there is another fabric hoarder on here - learned a new acronym the other day; sable - stash accumulated beyond life expectancy, kind of like that name 🥰
I love that. I have a little note for my SIL who is our executor. Who gets the fabric, who gets the machines, who gets the long arm... then who gets the jewelry. First things first. I have the craziest stash ever because I do art quilting and regular quilting. Nothing gets tossed. Poor hubby is trained: "Do you want the mesh from the avocado bag?"
Can't wait to tell friends about SABLE. Haha. We are sewing sisters Sharon.
Your Mom reminds me of my family. I still pass on all the lessons I learned from my German grandparents and depression era Mom. My Son is learning from me. Sometimes he scoffs but I see small changes, positive changes. Family is important.
Speaking of scoffing, my mom used to save bar soap slivers— not sure why— my ex laughed at it/her. Then his dad planted a grove of walnut trees and after the deer rubbed a good chunk out of existence, research showed bar soap would keep deer away from the trees… Mom’s slivers were not so ridiculous after all. ❤️
Mom would save them then tie them into the end of old pantyhose with a knot to make a bar of soap out of all those slivers, Which she actually learned from me as that is what they did at my Girl Scout camp I went to as a kid - they would tie the pantyhose to the shower head with the bar of soap in the foot since there were no soap dishes in the camp showers.
Many a concentration camp survivor couldn't resist hoarding food for the rest of life 😢 Trauma does this to our psyches, there's no switch to erase horrible experiences.
In the 1990s, I was deployed with a man who grew up in post-WWII Germany, with food being scarce. He eventually emigrated to the U.S. Though it is a time-honored tradition in the U.S. military to complain about conditions, every meal I ever shared with him was accompanied by his lavish praise of the food, no matter what it was. I heard "this is great" all the time. It was a good lesson for an indulged American.
My late father was born in 1914. When he graduated high school (at the top of his class) in 1932, the Great Depression was deep and no one had enough to eat.
So he and his older brother Fred(!) hopped a freight train to the Wyoming oil fields, where they both worked until Pearl Harbor was reported over the radio, and they left their heavy equipment right where it was, and found a way back home to enlist.
Can you imagine your average 18 year old doing something like this today?
My Dad was Dutch and in WW2 wrote an anti-Nazi play, on dress rehearsal night the Nazis marched in and arrested him (age 19), took him to prison. Light torture every night, then one day they woke him at dawn and said "come on, you're going to be shot". They marched him to the prison gates and let him go. He had no money, got on a bus, said he had just been released by the Nazis, and the whole bus started singing the national anthem. He stayed in the Underground, smuggling food, and said that the war was the hardest but also the best part of his life, the camaraderie, the sense of uniting with others championing Good over Evil. Don't need a reminder of which side won that battle. I'm with Jeff, we'll win this one too, but NOT by being silent
My grandmother, born in 1918, washed out her aluminum foil and reused it until it fell apart. She had it stacked up in a pile on the counter top for ease of use. 😂
Wish I could post a photo of my kitchen counter, with all the pieces of aluminum foil trying to hide behind the spice rack. Long after my grandmother, (born 1987), became well off, her daily mantra remained, "a penny saved is a penny earned." And I still can't help myself from picking up pennies, because my grandfather did.
Yes, I worked for a little lady who owned a restaurant and she would save the ziploc bags and rinse them and turn them inside out to dry. The Lord is laying on my heart now to "waste not, want not". Thankful for every day and every little thing these days, as it always should have been and will be from now on!
Yes! I always use the saving soap slivers as a barometer to my husbands outlook on how our finances are doing. The smaller sliver he presses into the new bar, the more we need to be financially conservative. And...there is a handy little bag sold by Wilder which holds the slivers all together into usable form. Ha!
Sadie--Just switch a couple of letters and you've got, "the smaller silver he presses into the new bar..." That could apply to your husbands outlook also and financial conservatism.
My grandmother would save a tablespoon or two of any leftovers from dinner. Eat it with lunch the next day. When I do that my husband makes fun of me 🤣
I do something similar. I eat a smaller portion for my dinner so I can save the extra for my lunch the next day. I buy everything organic, so I gotta make it stretch.😉
Hush up millenial!! LOL!! 😉 Boomer/Gen X cusper here - raised by tight *ss German dad and mexican mom who grew up very poor in Detroit (but she didn't know). God's blessed us with more than enough. But I still wash my plastic cup to re-use at work every day (people laugh at me), run around and turn off lights and TVs in the house when people leave a room for a minute, save and re-use take out food containers, also re-use tin foil when feasible (that stuff's expensive!!!), would never throw away a couple bites of food even if I'm in a restaurant where people SEE ME taking that food home (to my daughters' horror!!), store and eat later. My adult daughters and husband are the opposite and give me hell all the time telling me I'm not a pauper. Old habits die hard (or never die?!)
Oh me too. I am the leftover queen. Neither of my kids will ask for to-go boxes when they go out to eat with us so I am like OK give me one, I will eat it for lunch tomorrow. The fact that they are mortified by this adds to the fun. Not wasting food was beat into my head from birth, but they seem to have rebelled against us on that now that they are adults. There was a site, Yummly, where you could put in that odd leftover ingredient you bought for a recipe and had some left and they would give you recipe ideas for it but they scaled that back more common ingredients, sadly, so I guess not enough people used it.
I was one of those needing reassurance so thank you all. I love the virtual support including the Bible verses and everyone’s shared communion of what in the hec is and has been happening. I’m also intrigued with the solid info and analysis that you bring everyday. For me it helps to put all of these events in a conversation of relatively like minded people and share the outtakes. Grateful for this shared opportunity and especially the mindful support it brings. Like some of you I feel anxious and so impatient to know what and where the answers are. The truth. He is the truth and the light …
But gee whiz … you were in on a top secret briefing?Is looking back at that info amidst ever changing narratives incredibly insightful or more perplexing?
Fear exists on a spectrum. A healthy fear gets people to act to prevent risks they are concerned about. A fear that leads to helpless feelings and a frozen dejected state is harmful. We need to find something good we can do and do it.
Not all of them. I remember times in the 70's when my (late) dad was laid off and money was extremely tight and we were eating pancakes for dinner. Relatives and friends offered to help and or tried to point out government programs and he was adamant that there was NO WAY he would accept charity, especially not from the government. And he was a Democrat, although later in his life he was starting to question that.
Comparing what has happened in the past 3 years to a depression from 90 years ago seems like a misleading choice. No one like the depression and virtually everyone was eager to end it. What is happening now is not even close to that. Most of the people I know LIKE what's happening and hope it happens faster. They are not trying to stop or end anything except your existence(especially if you are white, heterosexual male).
The problem is that 'team reality' has lost this war and now given up. The rosy news each day of 'wins' against the tyranny have been delusional happy thoughts, and todays post is analogous to the end of the movie Brazil, the only happy things to think about are hallucinations, the reality is that they won, we lost, the war is over and singing to yourself is all you have left. We watched as humanity has gone down an evil path and did nothing to stop it, and now the suggestions to deal with it it is to hum, "Brazil, where hearts were entertaining June...."?
While I find myself in this mindset often, it's not over yet. So, there's always hope. And in the end, I know good will win. It's the between here and the end that worries me. The only way I can stand this world is my faith.
The problem is…. good may win but its only when Jesus Christ returns for his kingdom. While we should not fear, it is realistic things will get far worse before Jesus returns. Read revelationn!
Don't be too despondent. Christ is King already, and "He must reign until he has put every enemy under his feet". We're not yet at "every knee shall bow", but it will happen in time -- and remember too that "you will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but do not be afraid - the end is not yet".
I understand your perspective and it's not clear the right side is going to win, at least not anytime soon. Keep doing what good you can, though. Maybe all our collective efforts add up more than we know. Look for some small or big way you are suited to contribute and keep on even when it looks hopeless. This is what I tell myself.
This is my concern too. It's like swatting at gnats and forgetting about the rampaging elephant about to run you down. And yet, it's a non-performer to habitual live in fear and angst ... which I don't.
The Great Depression, as bad as it was, WAS NOT an existential threat on a mass scale. And no one was lockup, muzzled and cancelled out, and/or exterminated the way they were with this Fake-demic.
If we are only dealing with masks, mandates, mouth muzzling ... and so on, then we are dealing with the reality of Evil in a very superficial way. And we fall far short on the mark as to graphene, hydrogel, the transhumanist modification of wet-ware, electronic bio-control, and much, much more.
On the brighter side, the whole Walk-Away movement of three quarters of humanity from the diabolic Western control/coercion/terror model may be the game changer which compels destruction of much of the evil. Our greatest ally may well turn out to be The Rest of the World.
Some of us didn't watch. Most of our contributions may have been minuscule. But some like outing Agenda 21 were major. And the future is always built up pavers laid down in the past. In any event, this crape we are living under and having to endure, it won't last for ever. Something this mess up always falls down, just like the Soviet Empire unraveled. And now the Russian are in a much better place. So will it be with America.
And how did it end... With war or with Gov subsidies. Both spreading money one way or the other by taking away from one to give to others without mutual agreement.
After her 2-story home was flooded up to the attic, my grandmother pulled apart the feather bed, washed the feathers, and re-stuffed it. Mom learned her thrifty ways as taught during the Depression - not a morsel of food ever wasted - got at least three meals (family of 5) out of a chicken. Hole is the pantyhose? Sew it up!
We subscribe to Lamplighter book club. They had a podcast talking about how the founder started Lamplighter. He was in a conference and the speaker said, “You’ll be the same 5 years from now as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” It challenged me to seek good information and good people. Thank you for this wonderful newsletter, Jeff.
Well done sir. I went down the rabbit hole early on, and found myself gobbling up all kinds of fodder that fed the fear monster. I did a pretty good job of keeping things in their respective compartments: (things proven to be true, things that appeared true, things that made a great story but not proven, etc....) but I started losing my ability to see the sun come up the next day, and my social life suffered. My lovely wife was gracious enough to point it out to me. When she did I saw it immediately and began adding just two words to every scary story I read. "but God" and things began to change. The dark clouds began to move away and I saw things for what they really were. A few clever evil folks doing a pretty good job of herding a blinded population toward a cliff, but the bite they've taken is way too big for even their egos to chew. They've given it even better than the old college try I'd say, but the light is getting too bright for them to continue their charade.
I appreciate your words. I think your description fits the majority of the currently awake. I spent about 2 weeks falling, and then the logical mind kicked in and began asking questions. It was a great reminder for me personally, to always be vigilant, for the enemy is always prowling about, ready to chew us up!
I love your method of “but God”. Capturing every thought, especially the fearful thoughts, and placing them under the power of God - the vital importance of this cannot be overstated.
I would add that it is also helpful to find gratitude for the growth we have all experienced in the last 3 years, through the pruning and burning away of chaff. Jeff did a great job listing large visible positive changes, but we all have personal level growth to be grateful for!
I was feeding into the news about airlines, I’m in a flight path. I started to say a prayer every time I felt fear. Now when I see a plane fly over, I know God is protecting me and doesn’t want me to live in fear. I pray before I leave my driveway too, from Vaxxidents. & I have to trust Him with “shedding “issues . God moved me from upstate New York to central Florida just before lockdown. (I’d been praying for that for years. & it was unexpected)Now I’m here to help my elderly family, shedding issues or not.
Thank you Jeff for that breather. I have taken a step back from all the “news” lately. Been sick, have guests at the house with us, processing the sudden death of a dear friend (not vaxxed) and am just tired mentally from all the fear and bad news.
It’s not bad to step back and get a different perspective of life. Enjoy the sunshine, stop and smell the roses for a bit, breathe some fresh air, exercise, converse with friends and family about something else and stop commenting on everything once in a while.
Our minds need a break too. Our emotions need a break. We need to refocus where our hope is and who our hope is in. It’s not in DeSantis or Trump or RFK Jr. It’s not in actors or musicians or scientists or teachers. It’s not even in our own selves. Until we solidify who our hope is in, the rest won’t matter.
Take some time today fellow C&C friends and smell some roses and appreciate the beauty God has given us. If even just for one day.
PS - I was gifted with a bird nest right outside our living room window two weeks ago. It was a Cardinal. She laid 3 eggs and I watched her everyday guard those eggs. I watched them hatch. I watched the beautiful red male come and bring food to the new babies. It was an amazing display right in front of me of the birds of the air. For the first time in my life I became a bird nerd checking on mama throughout every day. I watched those babies fall out of the little nest and learn to fly. Literally within 5 feet of my view. So thankful God gave me a front seat into that breath of new life!
Going to travel next week to see our sons, daughters-in-law and our three grandchildren. If you can't be happy while around a delightful three year old, there's no hope. As he said at Easter, Jesus is wisen! A we wuya!
I plan to go out to my local conservation site and paint the bright yellow marsh marigolds clustered in the stream. Listen for birds. The Merlin Bird ID app identifies bird song. Just sit and let Gods creation wash over me. Best to all of you today.
Regarding birds, I've been a cat person my entire life but this last month, I've made friends with a couple birds who I believe have a nest inside my garden next to the front porch. They usually (not always) come fly and peck nearby when I call for them and it's been really fun and a new experience for me. The other day, I was in the front room and one of those birds came to the outside window and perched on a ledge there and was looking inside at me. It was so funny and yet touching. Really enjoying this.
Where I live in the mountains, there are ravens, which are fascinating birds and they are extremely smart. They almost always are in pairs, and beyond that they live in family groups and stick around a particular area, calling to each other a lot. When they are nearby and just chilling on a branch and making their noises, you can talk back to them by making a similar noise. Recently I could see one and we "talked" back and forth for quite a long time. I love that kind of thing.
That sounds fun! I've found since talking with my birds that I recognize their chirping now. I'm not a bird watcher and have zero experience with identifying birds and their calls but I guess once you've conversed a few times with certain birds, you likely recognize their "voices." I wish we knew what they were saying to us. I also wonder if it's like Gary Larson's cartoon in which all they hear of ours is "blah blah blah blah blah." 😁
I too, have been turned onto animals in a new way.I follow Blazen Animals on Telegram. I see the veil being lifted between species. I see wonderful,uplifting video shorts of humor, love, and amazement. It has really helped me get out of the doom and put my faith to the test! We are over comers and all will be revealed.
It is like counting blessings and counting revelations which would never have been exposed a few years ago.
Thank you, Jeff! You never fail to enlighten and warm my heart!💕
We have a robin's nest in our young human's play fort again this year. Not as easily observed as your cardinal nest, but it is a source of joy to check on it every few days and eventually to watch the babies mature once hatched.
I felt honored! The video I got was worthy of a professional publication (if I do say so myself 😂) as it was so close and vibrant! I’m going to write about it and share the video on my substack next week some time.
We have them in north Texas I grew up in CA so was absolutely fascinated by cardinals when we landed in Texas. My husband gets excited to see blue jays. Those we had in abundance growing up, and they were considered a nuisance. Sure are pretty though!
My son has a beautiful birds nest above his front porch light for a little brown wren. Four lovely eggs are growing within and we are both excited to watch them hatch and fly!
A Carolina wren makes a nest inside my Christmas wreath if I don't take it down right away. It's an amazing and beautiful sight, and Carolina wrens are such joyful singers! And on my lower deck, a phoebe comes back every year to make a nest underneath the rafters, close to my hottub. Usually the nest remains from the last year, and they just refurbish it. Of course, now I can't use my front door, and I hate to use the hottub because it disturbs the phoebe, but it's a small price to pay for the joy of helping out these two wonderful creatures.
Like others have mentioned, sleep has been elusive the last few nights. The tinnitus yes, even with the blasting fan going to attempt to drown it out... the sound is in my head so it’s difficult to mitigate.
Like the sustained high pitched hum in my ear, fear nags at me just as obnoxiously. Like many of your readers, I’m mostly worried about the future. I have grown children but also my youngest, is still a kid and very impressionable. Financial fears in addition to wars and rumors of wars... the list goes on.
At 3 am last night, I decided to get out of bed. I put on a podcast sermon while I quietly unloaded the dishwasher. The pastor was talking about the book of Revelations. (I’m a glutton for punishment)
He said in his message that many people admit all kinds of sin, but never include greed in that list. We can prepare for the future, but these things are ultimately, not going to produce happiness or even the security we believe that money will provide. It can evaporate in a minute.
He mentioned how John saw that the rulers of Babylon after it had been destroyed were so grieved over the loss of wealth and things but not over the condition of their souls. I pondered over that and the Holy Spirit reminded me of the verse that I needed to cling to at this very moment.
Matthew 6:19-21
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
I prayed, gave it all to my Lord, turned my fan on high and finally slept.
This is indeed the crux of the matter! One is either captured by materialism, or freed by the treasures of heaven instilled in the heart. Nonetheless, we will always be buffeted as long as we dwell in the flesh. Even so, we have a rock to stand on which cleanses ourselves from fear. Nice to read this.
“I’ll end with this. If it hadn’t been for that awful government-induced pandemic, you would never have found the community of all the other like-minded folks who just want to be free and let alone by the government, your new friends and your new extended family.”
How very accurate! Add that many people renewed their belief and trust in God.
I discovered the infiltration of my Church and turned back to Traditional Catholicism. I’ve never been so encouraged and happy in participating in Mass and finding fellow believers.
I’ve truly learn to give it to God, and let it go. My priest asked me if I believed and I said I did... he told me then to believe and actually let it go. Love Father John... changed my mindset with all the chaos going on the last 3 years.
By various accounts, the Bible says we should not be afraid more than 300 times, with some specifying “365 times”. It seems the Old Testament and New Testament generations had a whole lot to fear back in their times, so if they can heed this divine advice, so the heck should we. Be. Not.Afraid.
Exactly. It just presents itself in updated packages for the current times. Those living in the 60’s thought the world was out of control then. We still have hope. 🙏🏻
Although I am a regular reader, I have never commented before. I loved your post today. So true. Fear has the potential to cripple anyone and developing the ability to take one’s thoughts captive matters significantly to our personal wellbeing. It would be an interesting stat to understand how much the levels of anxiety for our society have risen over the last few years. Stay diligent. Focus on the “whatsoever” things. (Philippians 4:8). Blessings to you!
I'm reading through my Bible this year and am up to the OT prophets. They predicted doom by the ungodly for Israel because of her disobedience to God. (Sound familiar?) Yet, a remnant would be saved and then ultimately God will restore them.
Habakkuk 3: 17-19 sums it up:
For though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit appears on the vine, Though the yield of the olive fails and the terraces produce no nourishment, Though the flocks disappear from the fold
and there is no herd in the stalls, Yet I will rejoice in the LORD and exult in my saving God.
GOD, my Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet swift as those of deer and enables me to tread upon the heights.
Ps 77 I will cry unto God with my voice, Even unto God with my voice; and He will give ear unto me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: My hand was stretched out in the night, and slacked not; My soul refused to be comforted. I remember God, and am disquieted: I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. [Selah]
Thou holdest mine eyes watching: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, The years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart; And my spirit maketh diligent search. Will the Lord cast off for ever? And will he be favorable no more? Is His lovingkindness clean gone for ever? Doth His promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath He in anger shut up His tender mercies? [Selah]
And I said, This is my infirmity;
But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will make mention of the deeds of Jehovah; For I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also upon all Thy work, And muse on Thy doings.
Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: Who is a great god like unto God?
Thou art the God that doest wonders: Thou hast made known thy strength among the peoples. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. [Selah]
The waters saw thee, O God; The waters saw Thee, they were afraid: The depths also trembled. The clouds poured out water; The skies sent out a sound: Thine arrows also went abroad.
The voice of Thy thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lightened the world: The earth trembled and shook.
Thy way was in the sea, And Thy paths in the great waters, And Thy footsteps were not known. Thou leddest Thy people like a flock, By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Day 4 off FOX and I’ve already stripped the deck and got it ready for new stain. And…taking the little grands to feed the ducks today! The evil is still palpable but embracing a little good is highly rejuvenating! Thanks for the reminder Jeff! 👍👏
When we cut cable back in 2016, much to my husband's chagrin, we saved money and our house started to look good. Home improvements, more home cooked meals, walks and actual interactions with family and friends. We started to actually live. Not watch it through a screen. Kill the TV and social media and the mind games are gone.
Ditto Cari! The rest are just puppet masters like all the others trying to sell us junk and anxieties. Gotta keep us dancing and divided. Keeping one eye open and staying informed but not with mainstream thats a lost battle. Substack a little Rumble and C&C 😁👍 I cut social media free almost 3 years ago and I do NOT miss it. Ok off to feed the ducks…have a fab day! 😊🦆
As I read this I thought of my newest favorite words from the Bible, but God. I already saw it in the comments 💜 I didn’t have too much fear in 2020 but 2021 almost killed me. As the vax roll out began, I believe I had a mental breakdown. I cried all the time and couldn’t eat or sleep for months. I read the Bible, watched several sermons a day and prayed. I thought I would never smile or laugh again. My parents, in their 80’s, who I help a lot were so worried about me. I fought faith over fear every moment of the day. I live in a blue state which didn’t help and we remained locked down longer than any other state, I believe. Now I am almost normal. I can do things but I don’t like being away from my house. I believe the federal reserve has to crash and that is scary because no idea what will happen after but I don’t believe God turned his back on us to live in what we created, like I feared He might have done. My husband lost his job for refusing the jab and it never concerned me at all. I trusted God in that. He only went a couple months without work before getting a new job. I believe this bad stuff is happening to shine a light in the darkness and rid us of some of this evil. I wish I would have found you earlier but in the last year + I have appreciated your words and look forward to your thoughts every day. I spend more time in the comments than it takes to read your article 😄 it is a great group for sharing and encouragement. Thank you all!
I can really relate to this - thank goodness I live in a red state. But still, 2021 was by far more traumatizing to me than 2020 ever was. The virus was not nearly as scary as the out of control bullying government hell bent on pushing chemicals in our arms. I too have benefitted from finding like minded communities...Moms 4 Liberty really helps (with fighting the school issues), and my church community has been amazing (I started going as a result of all of this stress about 6 months ago, and now my daughters were just baptized at 6 and 10 years old). There is a lot of good that has come out of this, but it's been a rocky (and frightening) road. But maybe it's the fear and discomfort that has shaken us out of our comfort zones and brought us back to God?
Beautiful testimony ❤️ I think your words resonate with many here. We are to build each other up and always be encouraging! So grateful to Sir Jeff, for his encouraging post today, and to you, Susan, for your beautiful words 🙏🏻
"Trust me." Those words fell over me like a blanket at around 3am after several very restless nights. I'm sleeping better now. I don't need to ask for anything, I just need to trust.
“For although we do live in the world, we do not wage war in a worldly way; because the weapons we use to wage war are not worldly. On the contrary, they have God’s power for demolishing strongholds. We demolish arguments and every arrogance that raises itself up against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey the Messiah.”
— 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 CJB
I needed this. Much appreciated.
I agree! I needed this, too. Thank you, Jeff.
Just to kindly remind we should not fall headlong into the trap of solemn self-seriousness 🙂 Demolition by ridicule works like a charm the most of time! 🤸
Alinsky's Rules for Radicals Rule 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.”
The laughter of fools will soon be drowned out by the Messiah himself.
Psalm 2: 4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Works both ways. Truth sustains against man's weapons.
Ridicule short circuits leftist brains.
I propose we all get to know to use rules well, and USE THEM OURSELVES to deconstruct, shame, neutralise, our adversaries as they attempt to use them to destroy civilisation.
turnabout's fair, right?
Timely and appreciated!!
I was a little stunned but thankful when I saw Jeff’s post because I had the passage saved in my notes to share today before he posted. Amazing!
This is not a coincidence...the Holy Spirit is guiding you which I know you know. It’s just the best when you can clearly see it.
In the early 2009, I had a white board in our kitchen and I decided to put up a verse each week on it (my boys were in 6th and 10th grade and I wanted to inspire them). I had already put a verse on the whiteboard for the week...it was the first day, Monday. Later that morning, I was working on my computer typing away and another verse kept popping in my head over and over, Romans 8:38-39*. So finally I said out loud, “ok I hear you haha and I will change the verse” and I did.
The very next morning a friend of my oldest son, committed suicide. It was a horrible week and we all felt so bereft. On Friday at his service, the program featured the same verse that was on our white board on the cover of the program. The minister preached a sermon using this verse and we all understood in our family this was a sign and message of hope and love. I wrote the mother a letter letting her know. She hangs on to this message to this very day.
*For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8: 38-39.
Interesting...yesterday I asked God for something, anything positive for the day. One of those things I asked for was to hear from our troubled daughter, whom we hadn't heard from in a while and for whom we gave some of our savings to help her...again. Thinking that she just took our money, we were frustrated. Then she called us! First time we'd heard from her directly in weeks. We caught up and put things together. I know that was of God. Hang on friends. And pray! You have nothing to lose there, I promise.
Happens to me all the time, except she is contacting me from the other side now, as we weren't able to get through to her. I ask God or her something all the time, and they always answer. So , never hesitate to ask.
I am so sorry rolandttg, for your horrible loss. Prayers lifted for you and your family.
My sister and my friend did not get through either to each of their precious children and I didn’t get through to my nephew as the aunt. I have a lot of guilt. But the signs that they are ok from beyond are amazing and lift us all up.
Today has been such an emotional day for me…reading all your comments on faith and your life experiences….lots of tears. We all have all endured so much are are all thus are bonded in a very unique way….the lone 25 percent. Jeff has been our lighthouse.
Brings tears to my eyes...He is with us.
I wish everybody could understand that the closer you want to be to God, the more He reveals Himself. He knows our hearts and He knows what is best for us. I am posting a link about how a Great Blue Heron is a symbol to me from God that He knows, not only my heart and mind, but everybody's. I hope you enjoy it.
https://open.substack.com/pub/icantimagine/p/nightly-gathering-223?r=1ztszv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I just read your beautiful Substack. My nephew and friends son both passed away in the last few years from drugs and alcohol abuse. I am sending this to them. They also have had signs and they are so so wonderful.
Thank you. I hope they will benefit, and I'd love to hear their sign stories.
There, it seems, are no accidents in God's Kingdom. The Glory of God far surpasses the tinsel of the world.
I love that. Amazing God we have and He loves us and we will hear Him if we just listen. ♥
Amen!
Exactly what I stated in my comment a few seconds ago--spot on, Tonya.
We were just talking about such coincidences the other day. Christians have a sweet union.
Jeff probably had no idea CnC would be a witnessing tool. Surprise!!
The Holy Spirit is alive and well and powerful!
Reminds me on that Christian anthem...."There's a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place"!!!
"..And I know that its the presence of The Lord!"
AMEN to that!
I always say that, to those who believe in the Lord God and give their life into His hands, there are NO coincidences. We might not see it now, but the thread that binds events in the lives of believers will be revealed, whether in this life or the next. All those 'random' meetings? Yeah, not random.
Very well put SadieJay. So true.
Actually...it's AFFIRMING that the Holy Spirit is working within this tight-knit, freedom-loving C & C community!
YES! I love this community and his Spirit.
AMEN! It's the ONLY forum that I read faithfully anymore. I deleted my Facepoop account in January of 2021 (after 12 years of sharing and caring and fighting off the "beastie" philosophers) and then got on MeWe until the end of 2022 (I found that forum to be very uncaring and anything but interesting). I still have a Twitter account which I post to occasionally--and Instagram which I have NEVER posted to until last year (to my oldest grandsugar, Sailor, who asked me to join it years ago).
Thank our Creator God for ATTY. JEFF and, most of all for His Precious Son and Holy Spirit!
It's the best of social media.
I should clarify that I do that most of the time, but today, the passage and the title of his post leapt from the screen.
I do a morning fb piece featuring a sunrise I take every morning I can, a scripture and my thoughts for the morning. This morning my scripture was John 20:19. I later went to a Bible Study group. The scripture at the top of the next lesson we were going to read was John 20:19. Over the past 3 years it has been the God whispers that have kept me going.
Wow and then you read my story. Again there are no coincidences...I am going to look up John 20:19:
John 20:19 It was the first day of the week, and that very evening, while the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. "Peace be with you!"
This is also amazing because Chris wrote about fear today and wanted us to have Peace. So many signs God is with us.
💯 TRUTH!
Maranatha!
“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 ESV
Along the lines of this amazing Scripture passage, I highly recommend the book, Live Not By Lies, by Rod Dreher. Could be easy to be overwhelmed by what the book reports but it is our choice how we respond. The 2nd half of the book - solid encouragement how to live to speak truth with daily choices and activities. We can do battle and WIN!
Just the title make me “♥️” before I even read C&C this morning. Please never stop doing what you do Jeff . God bless you & your family. We ♥️ you.
Same reaction ❤️
💬 Fear is the mind-killer. If we’re afraid, they win. Fear is a choice. Choose hope! Don’t be distracted and despondent. Stay focused and hopeful. Focus on the progress, not the problems.
💯🔥 Here we have some exemplary kinda mantra. Directions for use: twice a day and thrice on Sundays. Advised most strongly.
I agree sissy!
Amen!
I’m reminded of CS Lewis, writing in 1948 “…This is the first point to be made:and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things-praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and game of darts-not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (A microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.”
Amen! We do not need to live in fear. We always press on and trust in God.
I never cared what happened in D.C. until the post 9/11 flight laws intruded and gave the TSA unfettered power, then came the C-19 hysteria and I realized how the Fed wants control over every aspect of my life. I stand on the sovereignty of God. Our bloated government is pitiful when compared to the power of the Creator of the universe. Faith over fear. Always.
Not only do we not need to live in fear but doing so is sinful! The bible is clear on this, "trust God and fear not". It's not a polite request but a command. It's not an option we can choose to ignore.
People allow fear to take hold in their lives in direct defiance of God's word. Allowing fear to fester in one's heart is no different from sowing hatred or fantasizing illicit thoughts. It's all sin, God says don't do it and we ignore His commands at our own peril.
While I appreciate Jeff Childer's thoughts today, no one who calls themselves a Christian should need it. It's great for the secular folks and I hope it makes them feel better. We don't fear because we trust God. He is in control, either you believe it or you don't. If you are a fearful Christian then you may want to consider the strength of your faith. If you are fearful it means you aren't trusting Him.
Like Peter watching the waves and not Jesus. He was fine and could have walked on water forever if he’d have kept his eyes on Jesus and not given into fear.
What an excellent point.
Actually we do need it. Because, as a pastor friend of mine says, we are leaky vessels. We may have been taught to not fear and instead be in faith, but sometimes we forget and the enemy knows this. And we need reminding. I think many here have heeded the message. There did seem to be quite a bit of negativity in these threads of late, which is unfortunate because so much good comes from these threads at the same time --good links, good info, etc....
I think we are in agreement that we need to be reminded that God is in control. That's our pep talk, no matter what happens on Earth that he reigns.
Jeff's comments today were more in regards to that things aren't as bad as they look or that they will get better. I don't object to that and I hope it gives some people perspective. My concern was that if one calls themselves a Christian, than that's a side issue and not the real cause of negativity. The real cause is lack of faith. God bless.
I agree, but I am an imperfect being, caught in my mortal and physical being. Have you ever taught somebody a sport and time and time again you tell them something to do that would help them, but they don’t seem able to? Because they haven’t reached that point yet, where they can actually use the words that you’re telling them. Don’t be judgmental of other peoples fear. But continue to encourage them and lift them up to put their eyes on the One who truly is able to vanquish all fear.
Wow. You sound like a perfect Christian! Except there's no such thing (except for Jesus, of course). Why not add an encouragement instead of being so judgmental? Which in itself is a sin. A speck in someone's eye vs a log in your own, doncha know.
Thanks Max, made my day with your comment as I know it hit home. Hope you'll think about it.
Edit: Adding to my comment as I didn't want it to appear flippant. Max I'm a sinner just like everyone else. I'm simply quoting the bible in that fear comes from a lack of faith. If you disagree, please show me where the bible says otherwise. The bible says "do not fear" literally hundreds of times, it's vitally important. Look at what we've gone through for the last three years with the population whipped into a fearful frenzy by the government and media. Look at how incredibly destructive it was to people who bought into it. God doesn't want that for us.
Those of us that walk by faith don't fear because we know that no matter what happens it's part of God's perfect plan and He is in control. Fear is a sign that something is seriously amiss with one's walk with the Lord. I'm not making this up, go read what the bible says about fear. It's something we have to resist and ensure it doesn't fester and take hold in our lives. It's no different from obsessing about cheating on one's wife or plotting a crime. It's all sin and we have to resist it.
Unfortunately this is no longer taught in many churches (despite being 100% biblical) as it offends people (like it offended you). I would hope that if you went to your pastor with an ethical dilemma that he'd pull out a bible and tell you what God's word says and not try and rationalize away bad behavior. That's what pastors are supposed to do, not whitewash sin with "encouragement". But people like their fears for some strange reason and don't want to let go. So instead of confronting fear and calling it what it is (sin), many churches pandered to those fears and we all saw it particularly over the last few years. Closing their doors, forcing masks, not letting people hug each other, and even worshipping a medical product. Not only didn't they trust God but they behaved like terrified children and stoked fear among God's people, the exact opposite of what the Bible commands us to do.
As Christians we don't "encourage" people in sinful behavior but lovingly point them to God's word for correction. Should a Christian encourage a man who claims to be a Christian but is cheating on his wife? Or should he tell him what he's doing is sinful? That's the problem particularly today as people don't even think of fear as sin but it clearly is (along with bitterness and resentment for that matter). As to being judgmental, was I harsh or condemning in my initial comment? Did I tell people they were damned to Hell? No, but I did strike a nerve apparently in making the entirely biblical observation that the root cause of a fearful heart is a lack of faith.
I'm not a perfect Christian by a long shot as I fall short so many times a day I can't even keep track of them. But when the Bible says we are not to do something *hundreds* of times then I take it seriously. "Trust God and fear not" is a biblical command, not a suggestion. I'm not saying it's easy but it does get easier every day one lives by those words.
Yes. And as God through Jeremiah told the Israelites who'd been hauled into captivity in Babylon, live in the cities, plant gardens, raise your children. In other words, live life.
Dwell in God's sWord. It's our BEST defense! During the masking mandated when i refused, I walked everywhere whistling a hymn if nothing more than Jesus Loves Me. I can't help but think it may have brought cheer and courage to others but it certainly did to me. And then all the No FEAR talk in the years before and I think they say it's said 365x, or nearly, in the Bible.
Take up the sWord after you have put on the helmet of salvation, the BreastPlate of righteousness, which is Christ, the shoes of readiness for battle, and the Belt, girded with right doctrine, of truth.
I used to tell folks ‘The righteous are bold as lions’ during the scamdemic. Got many a funny look!
I have referred to this often, the best part is that it was pointed out to me by my son...
CS Lewis had so many words of wisdom!
So good…thx Jeff for reframing.
I love this!
One of my favorite C. S. Lewis’s quote. I remember reading that years ago and it gave me such a sense of calm and doing in the midst of turmoil. Thanks for sharing.
This same exact passage was shared with me in the beginning of the Covid insanity. It gave my perspective a 360 degree turn!
Me too! I’ve got it posted where I can see it every day & focus on THINGS THAT MATTER!!!
Man, that quote would have come in handy during the covid shutdowns!
This is perfect - thank you!! I’d heard/read this before, in church I think (love CS Lewis!) but not for a very long time. Thank you for the smile and the reminder 🙏🏻♥️
Sunny - is this CS Lewis quote from one of his books? I'd love to read the full writing.
I would too! Actually, it’s part of a longer article that I see pop up every once in a while & it has been so powerful for me the last three years. I’ll see if I can find more about it. To find the longer article, search “CS Lewis on the Atomic Bomb”
Jeff, well needed reassurance for some of our fellow C&Cer's.
We're in an ongoing psychological warfare operation that's world-wide. The enemy uses chaos to sew fear. They use patterns of chaos, calm, chaos and so on...All to destabilize people.
Al of the folks I knew from the great depression, while growing up shared 2-unique (unique to folks of the greatest generation) ideas with me: There's no free lunch and the sun will come out again, it always does.
Lastly if it wasn't for this assault on humanity (as God originally made us versus Klaus and the hard drive in the head version) I'd never would have come to know such a great group of folks and an outstanding attorney. Jeff has shared the simple and yet vast power of facts and evidence.
Thanks and God Bless.
Yes, even those who came out of the great depression never forgot its lessons. They were forever changed. For the good: hard work and sacrifice meant great accomplishments. For the bad: many never got past the fear that it could all come crashing down again. My parents scrapped and saved and lived extremely modestly even when my dad made great money in the 80s and 90s. My mom has a healthy net worth and still uses cool whip containers for bowls and yells at me when I spend too much for jello.
Cool Whip containers, otherwise known as “redneck Tupperware” 😂
Hey, I keep all those containers. When you give soup to sick people they don't have to remember who the tupperware has to be returned to. Donna's story gave me a good smile. I keep glass jars too. And vacuum parts. Scraps of fabric and batting. Some day they will probably find me buried under an avalanche of fabric. Gulp.
I have a tendency to keep things 'as you never know when they might come in handy" but my hubby helps me reign in some of that, since we are not moving to a bigger house, and we like keeping our cars IN the garage. But when a neighbor asks, 'by any chance do you have....' they know chances are good we probably do, LOL.
I once lived next door to a WW2 USMC vet who fought at Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal (and was later recalled to fight in Korea!) My G-d he was a tough old bastard! - I can still hear him telling me that whatever I was doing in the yard, "You're doing that wrong!" LOL
Jim had every tool ever known to mankind. After a damaging windstorm I once told him, "I don't suppose you have a woodchipper, do you?" The look he gave me in response was priceless. "Of COURSE I got a woodchipper. Whattya take me for?"
God have mercy on you, Jim, you tough old bastard. You'd be proud to know that Campion (our youngest son, whom Jim and Jean doted on) is a Devil Dog himself now.
Great story. This country needs more Jims. We wouldn't be in the mess we are in now if we did.
People come to my house saying "Got any children's fabric? Blenders (fabric)? Silly silly formalities. Of course they know I do.
Good to know there is another fabric hoarder on here - learned a new acronym the other day; sable - stash accumulated beyond life expectancy, kind of like that name 🥰
I love that. I have a little note for my SIL who is our executor. Who gets the fabric, who gets the machines, who gets the long arm... then who gets the jewelry. First things first. I have the craziest stash ever because I do art quilting and regular quilting. Nothing gets tossed. Poor hubby is trained: "Do you want the mesh from the avocado bag?"
Can't wait to tell friends about SABLE. Haha. We are sewing sisters Sharon.
Love it, my 2 girls will probably get mine. Art quilting, amazing! Mine includes vintage fabric….my first love 💕
Lol
& margarine tubs
Who is still alive who uses margarine or cool whip (lol) but I do have cottage cheese and yogurt containers.
Your Mom reminds me of my family. I still pass on all the lessons I learned from my German grandparents and depression era Mom. My Son is learning from me. Sometimes he scoffs but I see small changes, positive changes. Family is important.
Speaking of scoffing, my mom used to save bar soap slivers— not sure why— my ex laughed at it/her. Then his dad planted a grove of walnut trees and after the deer rubbed a good chunk out of existence, research showed bar soap would keep deer away from the trees… Mom’s slivers were not so ridiculous after all. ❤️
Mom would save them then tie them into the end of old pantyhose with a knot to make a bar of soap out of all those slivers, Which she actually learned from me as that is what they did at my Girl Scout camp I went to as a kid - they would tie the pantyhose to the shower head with the bar of soap in the foot since there were no soap dishes in the camp showers.
Wait. I save bar soap slivers. If you soak a bunch of them and mash them together they make a new bar of soap.
Ruh roh. Soap slivers added to recycled plastic container (dish soap) with water - what better to clean the toilet with?!
Many a concentration camp survivor couldn't resist hoarding food for the rest of life 😢 Trauma does this to our psyches, there's no switch to erase horrible experiences.
In the 1990s, I was deployed with a man who grew up in post-WWII Germany, with food being scarce. He eventually emigrated to the U.S. Though it is a time-honored tradition in the U.S. military to complain about conditions, every meal I ever shared with him was accompanied by his lavish praise of the food, no matter what it was. I heard "this is great" all the time. It was a good lesson for an indulged American.
Pro tip: if you want some one to cook for you then praise the food otherwise do it yourself and be thankful!
My late father was born in 1914. When he graduated high school (at the top of his class) in 1932, the Great Depression was deep and no one had enough to eat.
So he and his older brother Fred(!) hopped a freight train to the Wyoming oil fields, where they both worked until Pearl Harbor was reported over the radio, and they left their heavy equipment right where it was, and found a way back home to enlist.
Can you imagine your average 18 year old doing something like this today?
Dad died in 1996 as I was in RCIA, about a month before we entered the Church.
He was legendary for his skinflint ways. "We might need that [plastic bag, etc., etc.] someday"
If he knew I actually *pay good money* for bottled water, he'd rise up outta that grave and come give me a sharp smack.
My Dad was Dutch and in WW2 wrote an anti-Nazi play, on dress rehearsal night the Nazis marched in and arrested him (age 19), took him to prison. Light torture every night, then one day they woke him at dawn and said "come on, you're going to be shot". They marched him to the prison gates and let him go. He had no money, got on a bus, said he had just been released by the Nazis, and the whole bus started singing the national anthem. He stayed in the Underground, smuggling food, and said that the war was the hardest but also the best part of his life, the camaraderie, the sense of uniting with others championing Good over Evil. Don't need a reminder of which side won that battle. I'm with Jeff, we'll win this one too, but NOT by being silent
My grandparents grew up during the depression and they also hoarded food.
My grandmother, born in 1918, washed out her aluminum foil and reused it until it fell apart. She had it stacked up in a pile on the counter top for ease of use. 😂
Wish I could post a photo of my kitchen counter, with all the pieces of aluminum foil trying to hide behind the spice rack. Long after my grandmother, (born 1987), became well off, her daily mantra remained, "a penny saved is a penny earned." And I still can't help myself from picking up pennies, because my grandfather did.
That would be 1887! I grew up on family stories of relatives coming home from the Civil War.
I always pick up pennies. In God We Trust!
I know people who still do this.
Yes, my parents and grandparents were the original recyclers!
Yes, I worked for a little lady who owned a restaurant and she would save the ziploc bags and rinse them and turn them inside out to dry. The Lord is laying on my heart now to "waste not, want not". Thankful for every day and every little thing these days, as it always should have been and will be from now on!
Um. I save zip lock bags and wash them and dry them. Hmmmm. First the soap slivers now this.
Yes! I always use the saving soap slivers as a barometer to my husbands outlook on how our finances are doing. The smaller sliver he presses into the new bar, the more we need to be financially conservative. And...there is a handy little bag sold by Wilder which holds the slivers all together into usable form. Ha!
Sadie--Just switch a couple of letters and you've got, "the smaller silver he presses into the new bar..." That could apply to your husbands outlook also and financial conservatism.
My mom did this with the ziploc bags.
Oh I definitely inherited SOME of that thriftiness although we do have regular bowls :-)
And never, ever, no matter what it looks like, throw away a cookie sheet!
My grandmother would save a tablespoon or two of any leftovers from dinner. Eat it with lunch the next day. When I do that my husband makes fun of me 🤣
I do something similar. I eat a smaller portion for my dinner so I can save the extra for my lunch the next day. I buy everything organic, so I gotta make it stretch.😉
That’s for sure, organic is hard to stomach sometimes, er, hard on the wallet.
Oh geez I do this too! You guys are killing me lol.
what gets me is: why save so many containers?
Hush up millenial!! LOL!! 😉 Boomer/Gen X cusper here - raised by tight *ss German dad and mexican mom who grew up very poor in Detroit (but she didn't know). God's blessed us with more than enough. But I still wash my plastic cup to re-use at work every day (people laugh at me), run around and turn off lights and TVs in the house when people leave a room for a minute, save and re-use take out food containers, also re-use tin foil when feasible (that stuff's expensive!!!), would never throw away a couple bites of food even if I'm in a restaurant where people SEE ME taking that food home (to my daughters' horror!!), store and eat later. My adult daughters and husband are the opposite and give me hell all the time telling me I'm not a pauper. Old habits die hard (or never die?!)
Regina S, apparently i hit a nerve.
perhaps your idea of too many stored containers is different than mine.
have you stored so many containers that you have to walk sideways to get to your bathroom?
because that is my idea of too many stored containers.
Aw, c'mon. What's a little sideways walking for sake of survival and good ol' recycling!? You're spoiled! Straight walking is overrated! 😜😂
😱
Oh me too. I am the leftover queen. Neither of my kids will ask for to-go boxes when they go out to eat with us so I am like OK give me one, I will eat it for lunch tomorrow. The fact that they are mortified by this adds to the fun. Not wasting food was beat into my head from birth, but they seem to have rebelled against us on that now that they are adults. There was a site, Yummly, where you could put in that odd leftover ingredient you bought for a recipe and had some left and they would give you recipe ideas for it but they scaled that back more common ingredients, sadly, so I guess not enough people used it.
Ppl in China....😑🤣
YEP! My parents said that. For my kids it was 'children in Africa'.
I think they multiply when the cabinet doors are closed!
And they trade tops with the neighbors (at night when they sneak out) so you never have any tops and bottoms that match.
My socks do that too.
Freezer meals.
I was one of those needing reassurance so thank you all. I love the virtual support including the Bible verses and everyone’s shared communion of what in the hec is and has been happening. I’m also intrigued with the solid info and analysis that you bring everyday. For me it helps to put all of these events in a conversation of relatively like minded people and share the outtakes. Grateful for this shared opportunity and especially the mindful support it brings. Like some of you I feel anxious and so impatient to know what and where the answers are. The truth. He is the truth and the light …
But gee whiz … you were in on a top secret briefing?Is looking back at that info amidst ever changing narratives incredibly insightful or more perplexing?
Fear exists on a spectrum. A healthy fear gets people to act to prevent risks they are concerned about. A fear that leads to helpless feelings and a frozen dejected state is harmful. We need to find something good we can do and do it.
There is actually one free lunch. The biggest, most bountiful never ending perfect lunch. : )
Great comment. So SOOO true. Eyes wide open.
No, that lunch isn't free. That lunch cost the death of Jesus on the cross. There is NO free lunch.
Free in that you have to do nothing but believe that He died for your sins. Unless of course you believe it is faith plus something?
To me It is a gift. If I did something, then it would be my works+Christ= eternal life.
I know others believe faith plus works. I do not.
Yes but the greatest generation became the ppl who trusted government to be their bedrock protectors. They or their children turned from red to blue.
Are you sure that's an accurate statement for all Americans?
Maybe remember Eisenhower and his prescient warnings...
The power of the state has gone too far.
The pendulum always swings both ways and we're caught in a time of correction.
I'm optimistic that liberty will again prevail.
We must be vigilant that we protect individual citizens' rights versus favoring über wealthy elitists that benefit from a confused public.
Not all of them. I remember times in the 70's when my (late) dad was laid off and money was extremely tight and we were eating pancakes for dinner. Relatives and friends offered to help and or tried to point out government programs and he was adamant that there was NO WAY he would accept charity, especially not from the government. And he was a Democrat, although later in his life he was starting to question that.
Not my parents! Nor their children or grandchildren or great-granchildren!
Just a quick illustration of the power of re-framing / change of perspective:
🗨 The culture has gone full Alice In Wonderland (h/t Chris Bray)
↑↑ has a perceivably more sanguine vibe than the usual dreary Orwellian & Huxleyan & Kafkaesque qualifiers 😇
Comparing what has happened in the past 3 years to a depression from 90 years ago seems like a misleading choice. No one like the depression and virtually everyone was eager to end it. What is happening now is not even close to that. Most of the people I know LIKE what's happening and hope it happens faster. They are not trying to stop or end anything except your existence(especially if you are white, heterosexual male).
The problem is that 'team reality' has lost this war and now given up. The rosy news each day of 'wins' against the tyranny have been delusional happy thoughts, and todays post is analogous to the end of the movie Brazil, the only happy things to think about are hallucinations, the reality is that they won, we lost, the war is over and singing to yourself is all you have left. We watched as humanity has gone down an evil path and did nothing to stop it, and now the suggestions to deal with it it is to hum, "Brazil, where hearts were entertaining June...."?
While I find myself in this mindset often, it's not over yet. So, there's always hope. And in the end, I know good will win. It's the between here and the end that worries me. The only way I can stand this world is my faith.
The problem is…. good may win but its only when Jesus Christ returns for his kingdom. While we should not fear, it is realistic things will get far worse before Jesus returns. Read revelationn!
Don't be too despondent. Christ is King already, and "He must reign until he has put every enemy under his feet". We're not yet at "every knee shall bow", but it will happen in time -- and remember too that "you will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but do not be afraid - the end is not yet".
That's why "between here and the end" worries me!
I hear you. If I’m not in his word I get too focused on it.
Wow Gary you sound like you need some reassurance that there's hope.
Remember that evil must rear it's head and darken the horizon for people to embrace God and and sally forth to so benevolent things in the world.
People are embracing God, religion and the truth. It's a slow process and have faith that right will make might and win this battle.
This has all happened before and will all happen again.
I understand your perspective and it's not clear the right side is going to win, at least not anytime soon. Keep doing what good you can, though. Maybe all our collective efforts add up more than we know. Look for some small or big way you are suited to contribute and keep on even when it looks hopeless. This is what I tell myself.
This is my concern too. It's like swatting at gnats and forgetting about the rampaging elephant about to run you down. And yet, it's a non-performer to habitual live in fear and angst ... which I don't.
The Great Depression, as bad as it was, WAS NOT an existential threat on a mass scale. And no one was lockup, muzzled and cancelled out, and/or exterminated the way they were with this Fake-demic.
If we are only dealing with masks, mandates, mouth muzzling ... and so on, then we are dealing with the reality of Evil in a very superficial way. And we fall far short on the mark as to graphene, hydrogel, the transhumanist modification of wet-ware, electronic bio-control, and much, much more.
On the brighter side, the whole Walk-Away movement of three quarters of humanity from the diabolic Western control/coercion/terror model may be the game changer which compels destruction of much of the evil. Our greatest ally may well turn out to be The Rest of the World.
Some of us didn't watch. Most of our contributions may have been minuscule. But some like outing Agenda 21 were major. And the future is always built up pavers laid down in the past. In any event, this crape we are living under and having to endure, it won't last for ever. Something this mess up always falls down, just like the Soviet Empire unraveled. And now the Russian are in a much better place. So will it be with America.
And how did it end... With war or with Gov subsidies. Both spreading money one way or the other by taking away from one to give to others without mutual agreement.
I hear you, but the fat lady has yet to sing.
After her 2-story home was flooded up to the attic, my grandmother pulled apart the feather bed, washed the feathers, and re-stuffed it. Mom learned her thrifty ways as taught during the Depression - not a morsel of food ever wasted - got at least three meals (family of 5) out of a chicken. Hole is the pantyhose? Sew it up!
Gratitude
When life gives you lemons make lemonade 🍋
We subscribe to Lamplighter book club. They had a podcast talking about how the founder started Lamplighter. He was in a conference and the speaker said, “You’ll be the same 5 years from now as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” It challenged me to seek good information and good people. Thank you for this wonderful newsletter, Jeff.
Well done sir. I went down the rabbit hole early on, and found myself gobbling up all kinds of fodder that fed the fear monster. I did a pretty good job of keeping things in their respective compartments: (things proven to be true, things that appeared true, things that made a great story but not proven, etc....) but I started losing my ability to see the sun come up the next day, and my social life suffered. My lovely wife was gracious enough to point it out to me. When she did I saw it immediately and began adding just two words to every scary story I read. "but God" and things began to change. The dark clouds began to move away and I saw things for what they really were. A few clever evil folks doing a pretty good job of herding a blinded population toward a cliff, but the bite they've taken is way too big for even their egos to chew. They've given it even better than the old college try I'd say, but the light is getting too bright for them to continue their charade.
Good words! But God, indeed!
I appreciate your words. I think your description fits the majority of the currently awake. I spent about 2 weeks falling, and then the logical mind kicked in and began asking questions. It was a great reminder for me personally, to always be vigilant, for the enemy is always prowling about, ready to chew us up!
I love your method of “but God”. Capturing every thought, especially the fearful thoughts, and placing them under the power of God - the vital importance of this cannot be overstated.
I would add that it is also helpful to find gratitude for the growth we have all experienced in the last 3 years, through the pruning and burning away of chaff. Jeff did a great job listing large visible positive changes, but we all have personal level growth to be grateful for!
but God !!!
Amen and Amen !! 🙌
I never fell for the fear. Too much Scarlet O'Hara in me I guess! 😅
I was feeding into the news about airlines, I’m in a flight path. I started to say a prayer every time I felt fear. Now when I see a plane fly over, I know God is protecting me and doesn’t want me to live in fear. I pray before I leave my driveway too, from Vaxxidents. & I have to trust Him with “shedding “issues . God moved me from upstate New York to central Florida just before lockdown. (I’d been praying for that for years. & it was unexpected)Now I’m here to help my elderly family, shedding issues or not.
Excellent! My motto is: “Don’t mess with Mother Nature!” She always wins!!
Amen! But God. I love ❤️ that!
“But God...” oh this brought tears to my eyes. YES!! And thank you!🙏🏻✝️
BUT GOD! Amen!
This is wonderfully expressed Gustav.
Thank you Jeff for that breather. I have taken a step back from all the “news” lately. Been sick, have guests at the house with us, processing the sudden death of a dear friend (not vaxxed) and am just tired mentally from all the fear and bad news.
It’s not bad to step back and get a different perspective of life. Enjoy the sunshine, stop and smell the roses for a bit, breathe some fresh air, exercise, converse with friends and family about something else and stop commenting on everything once in a while.
Our minds need a break too. Our emotions need a break. We need to refocus where our hope is and who our hope is in. It’s not in DeSantis or Trump or RFK Jr. It’s not in actors or musicians or scientists or teachers. It’s not even in our own selves. Until we solidify who our hope is in, the rest won’t matter.
Take some time today fellow C&C friends and smell some roses and appreciate the beauty God has given us. If even just for one day.
PS - I was gifted with a bird nest right outside our living room window two weeks ago. It was a Cardinal. She laid 3 eggs and I watched her everyday guard those eggs. I watched them hatch. I watched the beautiful red male come and bring food to the new babies. It was an amazing display right in front of me of the birds of the air. For the first time in my life I became a bird nerd checking on mama throughout every day. I watched those babies fall out of the little nest and learn to fly. Literally within 5 feet of my view. So thankful God gave me a front seat into that breath of new life!
Going to travel next week to see our sons, daughters-in-law and our three grandchildren. If you can't be happy while around a delightful three year old, there's no hope. As he said at Easter, Jesus is wisen! A we wuya!
I plan to go out to my local conservation site and paint the bright yellow marsh marigolds clustered in the stream. Listen for birds. The Merlin Bird ID app identifies bird song. Just sit and let Gods creation wash over me. Best to all of you today.
That sound refreshing and relaxing! Have a great day!
Janet
We’re camped way out in eastern Nevada and I’ve got the Merlin App going
Got one bar of cell......
suns up and mountains across the way have a bit of a snow cap
Off to have coffee next to the cedar and piñon
Have a wonderful day out there with those Marigolds ❤️
Heading to Wyoming this summer with our camper. I can’t wait!!!
(((Hugs))) Sorry for your rough time lately. You are right, we need to step back and enjoy the good in our lives and remember where our hope is.
Thank you for the Sunny Days you have brought us here in the comments! 💕
Aww. Thank you!
Regarding birds, I've been a cat person my entire life but this last month, I've made friends with a couple birds who I believe have a nest inside my garden next to the front porch. They usually (not always) come fly and peck nearby when I call for them and it's been really fun and a new experience for me. The other day, I was in the front room and one of those birds came to the outside window and perched on a ledge there and was looking inside at me. It was so funny and yet touching. Really enjoying this.
Where I live in the mountains, there are ravens, which are fascinating birds and they are extremely smart. They almost always are in pairs, and beyond that they live in family groups and stick around a particular area, calling to each other a lot. When they are nearby and just chilling on a branch and making their noises, you can talk back to them by making a similar noise. Recently I could see one and we "talked" back and forth for quite a long time. I love that kind of thing.
That sounds fun! I've found since talking with my birds that I recognize their chirping now. I'm not a bird watcher and have zero experience with identifying birds and their calls but I guess once you've conversed a few times with certain birds, you likely recognize their "voices." I wish we knew what they were saying to us. I also wonder if it's like Gary Larson's cartoon in which all they hear of ours is "blah blah blah blah blah." 😁
How cool. Do you know what kind of birds they are?
Junco.
I too, have been turned onto animals in a new way.I follow Blazen Animals on Telegram. I see the veil being lifted between species. I see wonderful,uplifting video shorts of humor, love, and amazement. It has really helped me get out of the doom and put my faith to the test! We are over comers and all will be revealed.
It is like counting blessings and counting revelations which would never have been exposed a few years ago.
Thank you, Jeff! You never fail to enlighten and warm my heart!💕
I’m going to check out that channel. Thanks!
We have a robin's nest in our young human's play fort again this year. Not as easily observed as your cardinal nest, but it is a source of joy to check on it every few days and eventually to watch the babies mature once hatched.
It is a source of joy! One that I have never experienced before. An amazing display of Gods creation for sure!
This^^^^^right here^^^^^all day
Agreed. But I want Tucker back
Oh, he's not gone.🤣
As a bird nerd, I have yet to see a cardinal, I better travel east 🥰
You are so lucky to have seen nature so close.
I felt honored! The video I got was worthy of a professional publication (if I do say so myself 😂) as it was so close and vibrant! I’m going to write about it and share the video on my substack next week some time.
I’d love to see it. What’s your substack name? I guess I didn’t realize you wrote one! 🙌🏻
I just started doing one. I think you can click my name Sunnydaze and it will take you to it. If not let ‘em know and I’ll try and figure it out more.
Ok, will do.
We have them in north Texas I grew up in CA so was absolutely fascinated by cardinals when we landed in Texas. My husband gets excited to see blue jays. Those we had in abundance growing up, and they were considered a nuisance. Sure are pretty though!
We have cardinals here too! They're my absolute favorite birds. I always see them flying when I'm driving down the country roads.
I get excited to see just one bluebird! I love them!
My son has a beautiful birds nest above his front porch light for a little brown wren. Four lovely eggs are growing within and we are both excited to watch them hatch and fly!
A Carolina wren makes a nest inside my Christmas wreath if I don't take it down right away. It's an amazing and beautiful sight, and Carolina wrens are such joyful singers! And on my lower deck, a phoebe comes back every year to make a nest underneath the rafters, close to my hottub. Usually the nest remains from the last year, and they just refurbish it. Of course, now I can't use my front door, and I hate to use the hottub because it disturbs the phoebe, but it's a small price to pay for the joy of helping out these two wonderful creatures.
It is so much fun!!! I had the best time checking in on them each day. Enjoy!
Love this Jeff! 🙏🏻
Like others have mentioned, sleep has been elusive the last few nights. The tinnitus yes, even with the blasting fan going to attempt to drown it out... the sound is in my head so it’s difficult to mitigate.
Like the sustained high pitched hum in my ear, fear nags at me just as obnoxiously. Like many of your readers, I’m mostly worried about the future. I have grown children but also my youngest, is still a kid and very impressionable. Financial fears in addition to wars and rumors of wars... the list goes on.
At 3 am last night, I decided to get out of bed. I put on a podcast sermon while I quietly unloaded the dishwasher. The pastor was talking about the book of Revelations. (I’m a glutton for punishment)
He said in his message that many people admit all kinds of sin, but never include greed in that list. We can prepare for the future, but these things are ultimately, not going to produce happiness or even the security we believe that money will provide. It can evaporate in a minute.
He mentioned how John saw that the rulers of Babylon after it had been destroyed were so grieved over the loss of wealth and things but not over the condition of their souls. I pondered over that and the Holy Spirit reminded me of the verse that I needed to cling to at this very moment.
Matthew 6:19-21
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
I prayed, gave it all to my Lord, turned my fan on high and finally slept.
Love this. God has been giving me the same verse.
This is indeed the crux of the matter! One is either captured by materialism, or freed by the treasures of heaven instilled in the heart. Nonetheless, we will always be buffeted as long as we dwell in the flesh. Even so, we have a rock to stand on which cleanses ourselves from fear. Nice to read this.
“I’ll end with this. If it hadn’t been for that awful government-induced pandemic, you would never have found the community of all the other like-minded folks who just want to be free and let alone by the government, your new friends and your new extended family.”
How very accurate! Add that many people renewed their belief and trust in God.
I discovered the infiltration of my Church and turned back to Traditional Catholicism. I’ve never been so encouraged and happy in participating in Mass and finding fellow believers.
Thanks, Jeff, for your positive segment today.
We are leaning more that way every day.
I’ve truly learn to give it to God, and let it go. My priest asked me if I believed and I said I did... he told me then to believe and actually let it go. Love Father John... changed my mindset with all the chaos going on the last 3 years.
Thank you. Yea tho I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil.
Why? For thou art with me.
Never forget who we have and who they have. Especially when fear rises in the throat. Thank you Nita.
And pray for those who follow the 👿.
I thought of this passage as I read today's C&C. So true.
By various accounts, the Bible says we should not be afraid more than 300 times, with some specifying “365 times”. It seems the Old Testament and New Testament generations had a whole lot to fear back in their times, so if they can heed this divine advice, so the heck should we. Be. Not.Afraid.
There's nothing new under the sun.
Exactly. It just presents itself in updated packages for the current times. Those living in the 60’s thought the world was out of control then. We still have hope. 🙏🏻
My favorite part of the morning is reading C&C. Thank you, Jeff.
Me too - I've cancelled almost all other forms of news and inspiration.
Me too!!!!
Me 3...Sincerest Thanks Jeff. 🙏🤗 Your daily dose of sanity sustains me...and I'm quite grateful❣️
I look forward to it every day!!
Although I am a regular reader, I have never commented before. I loved your post today. So true. Fear has the potential to cripple anyone and developing the ability to take one’s thoughts captive matters significantly to our personal wellbeing. It would be an interesting stat to understand how much the levels of anxiety for our society have risen over the last few years. Stay diligent. Focus on the “whatsoever” things. (Philippians 4:8). Blessings to you!
Welcome to the comments section! 😁 Perfectly said, focus on the good!! One of my favorite verses.
C&C family has been a major support for me. Keeps me sane and I usually learn something good. 🥰
I have learned so much from the comments!
This is quite a learned group of people in this comment section! There is always a wonderful nugget to glean from the many posts here.
So true! Literally learn something new/interesting every day! 😊
Inside the Bible :
Fear not (appears 302 times in 129 verses)
Do not be afraid (33 X in 7 vss)
Be anxious for nothing (1 vs)
Do not fear (66 X 20 vss)
Do not worry (24 X 7 vss)
I will not fear (3X 3 vss)
Whom shall I fear? (1 vs)
I will not be afraid (2 X 2 vss)
Do not be dismayed (99 X 16 vss)
It is the most repeated command in all of the Bible .
I'm reading through my Bible this year and am up to the OT prophets. They predicted doom by the ungodly for Israel because of her disobedience to God. (Sound familiar?) Yet, a remnant would be saved and then ultimately God will restore them.
Habakkuk 3: 17-19 sums it up:
For though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit appears on the vine, Though the yield of the olive fails and the terraces produce no nourishment, Though the flocks disappear from the fold
and there is no herd in the stalls, Yet I will rejoice in the LORD and exult in my saving God.
GOD, my Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet swift as those of deer and enables me to tread upon the heights.
He's our only hope no matter what happens!!
God does not tolerate the unfaithful or unholy for long. Get right with The Lord. ❤️
^^^ Life chapter! Believe. ♥️
Ps 77 I will cry unto God with my voice, Even unto God with my voice; and He will give ear unto me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: My hand was stretched out in the night, and slacked not; My soul refused to be comforted. I remember God, and am disquieted: I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. [Selah]
Thou holdest mine eyes watching: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, The years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart; And my spirit maketh diligent search. Will the Lord cast off for ever? And will he be favorable no more? Is His lovingkindness clean gone for ever? Doth His promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath He in anger shut up His tender mercies? [Selah]
And I said, This is my infirmity;
But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will make mention of the deeds of Jehovah; For I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also upon all Thy work, And muse on Thy doings.
Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: Who is a great god like unto God?
Thou art the God that doest wonders: Thou hast made known thy strength among the peoples. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. [Selah]
The waters saw thee, O God; The waters saw Thee, they were afraid: The depths also trembled. The clouds poured out water; The skies sent out a sound: Thine arrows also went abroad.
The voice of Thy thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lightened the world: The earth trembled and shook.
Thy way was in the sea, And Thy paths in the great waters, And Thy footsteps were not known. Thou leddest Thy people like a flock, By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
And they came true.
Day 4 off FOX and I’ve already stripped the deck and got it ready for new stain. And…taking the little grands to feed the ducks today! The evil is still palpable but embracing a little good is highly rejuvenating! Thanks for the reminder Jeff! 👍👏
When we cut cable back in 2016, much to my husband's chagrin, we saved money and our house started to look good. Home improvements, more home cooked meals, walks and actual interactions with family and friends. We started to actually live. Not watch it through a screen. Kill the TV and social media and the mind games are gone.
We would be wise to trust Musk as far as we can throw him
On earth or on the moon? Because I could throw him pretty far on the moon I think.
Good movie, the book is better. Make sure to read Ready Player Two though. Eye opening glimpse into what could someday transpire.
Ditto Cari! The rest are just puppet masters like all the others trying to sell us junk and anxieties. Gotta keep us dancing and divided. Keeping one eye open and staying informed but not with mainstream thats a lost battle. Substack a little Rumble and C&C 😁👍 I cut social media free almost 3 years ago and I do NOT miss it. Ok off to feed the ducks…have a fab day! 😊🦆
Same!
As I read this I thought of my newest favorite words from the Bible, but God. I already saw it in the comments 💜 I didn’t have too much fear in 2020 but 2021 almost killed me. As the vax roll out began, I believe I had a mental breakdown. I cried all the time and couldn’t eat or sleep for months. I read the Bible, watched several sermons a day and prayed. I thought I would never smile or laugh again. My parents, in their 80’s, who I help a lot were so worried about me. I fought faith over fear every moment of the day. I live in a blue state which didn’t help and we remained locked down longer than any other state, I believe. Now I am almost normal. I can do things but I don’t like being away from my house. I believe the federal reserve has to crash and that is scary because no idea what will happen after but I don’t believe God turned his back on us to live in what we created, like I feared He might have done. My husband lost his job for refusing the jab and it never concerned me at all. I trusted God in that. He only went a couple months without work before getting a new job. I believe this bad stuff is happening to shine a light in the darkness and rid us of some of this evil. I wish I would have found you earlier but in the last year + I have appreciated your words and look forward to your thoughts every day. I spend more time in the comments than it takes to read your article 😄 it is a great group for sharing and encouragement. Thank you all!
I can really relate to this - thank goodness I live in a red state. But still, 2021 was by far more traumatizing to me than 2020 ever was. The virus was not nearly as scary as the out of control bullying government hell bent on pushing chemicals in our arms. I too have benefitted from finding like minded communities...Moms 4 Liberty really helps (with fighting the school issues), and my church community has been amazing (I started going as a result of all of this stress about 6 months ago, and now my daughters were just baptized at 6 and 10 years old). There is a lot of good that has come out of this, but it's been a rocky (and frightening) road. But maybe it's the fear and discomfort that has shaken us out of our comfort zones and brought us back to God?
Beautiful testimony ❤️ I think your words resonate with many here. We are to build each other up and always be encouraging! So grateful to Sir Jeff, for his encouraging post today, and to you, Susan, for your beautiful words 🙏🏻
"Trust me." Those words fell over me like a blanket at around 3am after several very restless nights. I'm sleeping better now. I don't need to ask for anything, I just need to trust.
That, in fact, is the entire point. Of everything.