Appearance is everything to the fickle;
Like they are thriving, competing, comparing
Like they are better, deceiving, luring the gullible
Into thorn bush, who for want of more are choked.
No wheat thrives outside the Father’s farm.
If any seems to, beware of enemy plantations.
When a plant appears to thrive, envy it not:
You know not how, you know not why.
Your duty is to stand, rooted to the Father.
Not budge an inch to greedy thorns
And though they thrive, round and about
Don’t compete and don’t compare
Don’t build on impressions or swallow assumptions
Test, prove before you approve. Don’t compare
Don’t fight with thorns, they don’t fight fair.
Fear not, let not darkness quench your light
Stand your ground, glowing till it fades away. 
Rise and shine, test before you trust
Like a city on a hill, shine for all to see.

Food for Thought: There are many spirits in camouflage such that it is becoming harder to tell one from the other. Like chameleon, they adapt to every weather and fit every situation. If you are faithful, or dogged as it is often labelled, you begin to wonder what is wrong with you that you just can’t adjust. Yet, adjustment is one thing, compromise is another: the driver determines the destination. The Spirit of God cannot lead contrary to the Word and ways of God. Every spirit that influences us to tamper with what God has said, to make it fitting for our circumstances, instead of adjusting our lives to fit into and be transformed by the Word, in God’s way, is not of God. Our responsibility as ambassadors of God’s Kingdom is not to twist and turn the Word. It is to test every spirit that comes in the name of our King and His Kingdom. To not throw our trust around or cast off our confidence in the face of disappointments since we are bound to fail and be failed sometimes. Like wisdom is profitable for direction, discernment aids our deliverance and ability to escape the snares of contrary spirits. At the end of the day, it is not about the invading and deceptive spirits we must contend with, it is about the choices we make. Whoever we give our attention to, enters the door of our hearts to take the chief place and run our lives.

Scripture: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4: 1.

Prayer: Dear Lord, the strangeness of the times we live in can be scary; preserve me from evil, order my steps to ordained help that will fortify the good work You are doing in me and through me, amen.