Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. I set out to spend my time with the Master of all Creation this morning, but I didn’t last long outside because of the scorching sun. The heat wave in Virginia is taking its toll, so I’ve gotten serious about praying it out of here soon. In the meantime, I thank God for cooler places. From this photo, you can’t tell it’s scorching hot, and it looks so calm and quiet, but don’t always count on what you see with your eyes. A relentless crow was giving it all it had to give from a limb high up in the tree, and for a while, all I could think about was the noise. It cawed and cawed as if it was telling the world to sit up and take notice, that is, until a mockingbird – a fraction of the size of the crow – ran it off. One little attack from the much smaller bird, and that old crow ran off like a wussie. As I watched the exchange, I thought about the Journey of Faith and how the Enemy likes to make a lot of noise in an attempt to stake his claim too. But all it takes is the Courage of a mockingbird to send him running off like a wussie, just like the crow. Isn’t that the way you see the Battle too?

We are living in the state of “lawlessness” the Bible warns us about, and the Devil is raging. We’re living in the days “when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear”, and the Devil is raging. We are living in the days of Noah, where “man exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator”, and the Devil is raging. We’re experiencing the Written Warning, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”, and the Devil is raging. We’re living in the days where, “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law”, and the Devil is raging. There’s no end to the things we’ve been warned about that are playing out right before our very eyes, and there’s no doubt that the Devil is raging. It’s sad to see so many people wrongly believe that the Devil is gaining territory and that he has the ability to crush us at will…but that’s not true. He’s no different than the big black crow that parks itself in high places to threaten the world with its cawing. He’s big, and he makes a lot of noise, and to some, he even sounds scary. But all it ever takes is a Courageous “mockingbird” to chase him away and put him in his place. All it ever takes is a Fearless one who Understands that “Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world” and that the Devil DOESN’T have power or dominion over Creation, even when it LOOKS like he’s winning. All it ever takes is a Mockingbird who Knows the Word of God so well that it can repeat what it’s heard a million times before, and before you know it, the Devil runs off like the wussie he is. This is the Key to Victory.

God used a relentless crow and a (not so) sweet mockingbird to speak to my Heart this morning. The Battle is real. The Warnings are spot on. The Time is near. The King is coming…SOON. He won’t find me hiding when He comes calling for me. Instead, He’ll find me fighting the battle like the Courageous Mockingbird I am. I’ve been Trained for Battle. I’ve already Claimed my Victory. I Know the Word of God, and I use it often to send the Devil packing. He might rage…But he doesn’t win. He has NO dominion over me or my family, and I’ll be Fighting until the End to keep it that way.

It might be hot in Virginia today, but otherwise, it’s just another day in Paradise for me.

How about you?