I will not flip her off… I will not flip her off!
MOST AMERICANS probably know what this means… I don’t care to discuss it. It is wonderful to serve the living God and hate what He hates!
Selah.
TRULY, THIS IS SOMETHING I HAVE NEVER DONE… even as a godless teenager and woman I have never done it. It is filthy to me, always has been.
But what I do love about this story is the fact that when I told my family I wanted to flip someone off, I got just the reaction I had wanted! And what was that?! They laughed very loudly. Even guffawed! It was better than a very good (and clean!) joke! I love it! They loved it!
Why?
Because: they know my character. They know that I know what filthy language is! I don’t do it. Settle that, friends. The Bible is replete with instructions for life. Plus,
see: God has written His laws upon our hearts; unbelievers included.
Romans 2:12-16
All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
2 Corinthians 3:1-3
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Hebrews 8:10-12
This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Beloved, Satan speaks to you! I absolutely guarantee you that he was the one wanting me to do evil… He was the one (or one of his cohorts, because unlike God, Satan is not omnipresent) who wants me to speak hate speech; not love speech. And yes, this does include rebuking wrong behavior. Helping people be on the right path is a great delight to God!
Selah.
Yes, Satan has had many attacks put on me: you as well. This one I turned into heavenly humor! I loved telling my family about that father of lies wanting me to flip certain people off; people we all know, people we know are hateful, vindictive. I am more than just a little thankful to never want – I said never want – to return evil with evil. It is possible to be able to have that godly and peaceful response! If you have not, you should try it, do it.
My God provides all of my needs; peace is right near the top! Amen! And, as I’ve said before, there will be no peace until The Prince of Peace is worshipped and loved by all in His sight, and those who reject Him are cast out of His presence. This entails total peace after the final judgement. It will happen.
My pray for you today (and always) is that you are in Christ Jesus, grow in Christ Jesus, and forever stay in Christ Jesus. And then, like me, you will never want to return evil with evil; you will laugh when the devil tells you, “Flip her off!” Laugh at him, not with him…
He is desperate and he does know his time is short!
Selah.
Revelation 12:10-12
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”
Growing up in a home without the love for God, an invalid father, heavy financial hardships, and tremendous (sometimes dangerous) discord is always difficult. Add on to that extreme shyness, a feeling of inferiority, and some may think this girl was rejected. But God’s hand was on her and His heart was for her. Today, Ann Marie Turner has performed many great services in Jesus’ name for the love of God and man; and for herself! She has ministered in the male correctional for over ten years. Along with this website, Ann is the author of Joy Stories, Volume One and The Free Incarcerated Man. Writing about the joy of the Lord and the victory that is available for a willing soul is one of Ann’s now greatest joys! Ann’s prayer for you is to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony. Celebrate the God of the Bible and your personal victories in Christ unceasingly! Revelation 12:11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.