Last night I was exhausted from pre-operation bloodwork and tests.  I had to go to the hospital, and I cannot even pretend it was good, other than the fact that it is over.  Up to this point, I’ve avoided the whole mask thing.  The store, church, the library, the list goes on, and on of places refusing service to anyone who doesn’t conform.

I can’t breath in the mask.  The mask covers up who I am.  The mask is not for me!  Being in the hospital felt like a prison.  I walked into the hospital without a mask knowing that if I wanted to get my test done, I would have to comply.  There was an armed guard next to the lady who promised me that I would only have to wear a mask to get to where I was going.

The only people I saw while walking through the halls looked like police officers.  The message was clear, you will wear your mask, or else!  A foreign woman did my EKG.  She explained to me that people in America are spoiled.  She explained to me that everyone must wear the masks.  There is no choice!  So I laid there, and by God’s grace, I stayed calm.  When it was all over, I thanked her for helping me.  Then I told her that perhaps she might consider that a mask is hard for some people to wear.  I told her it’s difficult for me because my breathing is already labored.  I also asked her to consider that she could perhaps run into other people like me, who were once victims of domestic violence.

I have been gagged, tied up, and whipped.  Sorry, but the mask doesn’t work for me.  Yes, God helped me through yesterday.  But if I’m honest, I was upset to be in a hospital that proclaims Christ, yet lacked compassion.  This is a red flag!

Before I drifted off to sleep, I checked into social media and I started seeing chatter about how people were fed up about being censored, and many are moving to other platforms.   I went to message one of my friends on Facebook, but I couldn’t find him. He was already gone.  I called him up, and he told me he is done with Facebook. People are being censored. Do you see there is a storm coming?

The wind is whipping around my neighborhood today.  I love the sound of it!  It reminds me of John 3:5-8, Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

God spoke to Noah and he listened. The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. Genesis 7:1.   Do you see Noah’s Ark as a warning, or a fairy-tail?  You do realize that Jesus is coming back, right?  Are you ready? 

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.  For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Matthew 24:36-39

Jesus is calling. Do you hear him? My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:27-28

I was outside making a short video and I ran into my neighbor.  We had a quick chat and as I was walking away he asked what the back of my hat said.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

Crazy stuff is going on in our world right now.  I was reminded recently that truth, must come with grace.  Truth, without grace lead to rebellion.  Rules and religion, without relationship lead to rebellion.  Are you seeing any red flags these days? Grace is the undeserved favor of God.  We all need grace!  Church should be a safe place to belong, before people believe.  Twenty years ago, when I was trying to come to the LORD, I was told that I wasn’t dressed appropriately for church.  I was considered a stumbling block.  My stiletto heals and revealing clothes, made people feel uncomfortable.

I understand that iron sharpens iron.  I was raised in the church, but I didn’t know Jesus back then.  It is so important to learn to recognize brokenness. I was lost, and broken.  Jesus came to me when the rest of the world walked away.  Truth isn’t restrictive. Truth is freeing, and life giving.  You don’t have to change your clothes, or your behavior to come to Jesus.  Jesus saved me while I was dead in my transgressions, then he started to refine me.  Do you see that truth is a person?  JESUS is, THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE.

I woke up with the song “We’re Not Gonna Take It” playing in my head.  Do you think perhaps people are feeling fed up? Put on a mask! Stand six feet apart! Conform to the patterns of this world, or else we’ll have to put you back on lockdown!  Do you see any red flags?

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:8-9