In these perilous times, it is easy to fall backwards into a place of timidity, cowardice or fear. It would be so natural to shrink back or withdraw into a place of isolation because of confusion swarming our minds. There are new seasons that we have never experienced before and each day the chaos seems to increase in various ways. Some days I can wake up and feel like rising up and being everything God has called me to be and other days it feels all so overwhelming and saddening to see the state that the world is in today. I must admit that it is shocking that we are where we are at in 2020.

I bet you are also feeling these swarming emotions of highs and lows as well. It is so much to process and we all wish things were not in the place they are in in America. However, we are not alone. We have the Waymaker, Miracle Worker and Promise Keeper on our side. We have the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Maker of Heaven and Earth on our side. He is ready to Roar as the Lion of Judah over the earth. We have the Most High God Almighty, the Great I AM on our side. Therefore, we have hope!! We have answers and solutions because of the creative work of the Holy Spirit that is leading us in our everyday lives.

As a mom and wife, I have realized that I am the thermostat of my household. I am the one that can sense the temperature in my home and make a decision to change the temperature intentionally in my home. I have the ability to choose what the atmosphere will be in my home. I have to ask myself, am I allowing the circumstances in the world set the temperature in my home or am I looking to Jesus to set the temperature in my home?

I am going to share with you today a couple of keys to rise up and intentionally set the temperature of my home. You may even want to print these out and put them next to your Bible to see every morning so you can set your mind in the direction you are going each day! Read it out loud for yourself each morning.

1) I have a choice everyday to examine my own heart before the Lord and surrender my own fears, confusion or disappointments and release the burden to Him. After I surrender my emotions to the authority of Jesus Christ, I get to exchange confusion and doubt for peace that passes all understanding. I get to put on love and readjust my thinking to what I want the atmosphere in my home to look like. I want to see an atmosphere of unselfish love, kindness, joy bubbling up inside of my family, peace ruling in my home and hope swirling in the atmosphere of my home.

Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing (through the experience of your faith) that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.”

2) I am awakened and alert to what is needed in my home today. I am not asleep or sleep walking but rather fully awake and intentionally moving forward in my thinking and actions today. I am determined to have a growth mindset. I am not satisfied to sit back and let life happen to me but to choose my thoughts, attitudes and actions today. I will choose to fix my thoughts on the good things God is doing in my life and family today. I will choose to partner with the Holy Spirit to develop character in my children and train them in Godliness and righteousness. I will ask the Lord for what He would have me do this very day to plant seeds of righteousness and truth in my children, in

myself and in my husband and in my sphere of influence. Show me Lord Jesus what I need to do today that will change the temperature of my home.

3) I will speak life today!!! I will put a guard over my tongue and only speak life into the atmosphere. I realize that God has given me the authority to change atmospheres with my words. I can either speak life or death because the power of life and death is in the tongue. Proverbs 18:21 “Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

We can speak what we see in the natural or we can speak what we want to see in the future. I will use my words to DECLARE and DECREE LIFE OVER MY SITUATIONS AND FAMILY!!!!

Job 22:28 says “You will also declare a thing, And it will be established for you; So light will shine on your ways.” I will be a vessel of solutions and answers because I am willing to listen to the voice of God and set the temperature in my home.

4) I will rise up and be bold as a lion! I will recognize the times and the seasons and that God has positioned me right now to lead my family. I will intentionally lead them into the ways and thinking of God by helping them renewing their mind with the Truth of God’s Word daily. I will fix my eyes on Jesus and He will keep my mind in perfect peace. He is the answer. Jesus is the solution to every issue I have. He is the only one that can bring me victory. In my own flesh, I can do nothing, but in Him I can do all things He calls me to do. Philippians 4:13

NOW IS THE TIME TO RISE UP AND BE AS BOLD AS A LION!! GOD HAS ENTRUSTED YOU TO LIVE AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME AND TO BE LIGHT IN THE DARKENESS!!! HE HAS ENTRUSTED YOU TO BRING TRUTH TO CHAOS AND TO SHOW THE PATH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS TO YOUR CHILDREN. HE IS CALLING YOU TODAY TO TAKE A STAND AND NOT BACK DOWN. IN THE DAY OF EVIL, WE HAVE WEAPONS OF WARFARE WHICH ARE CALLED THE ARMOR OF GOD. WHEN WE USE OUR WEAPONS OF WARFARE AND TAKE A STAND AGAINST THE ENEMY, WE THEN CONTINUE TO STAND WHEN WE HAVE DONE EVERYTHING, WE STAND. TODAY TAKE A STAND AND BECOME AS BOLD AS A LION AND STEP INTO YOUR GOD GIVEN DESTINY TODAY AS A WARRIOR.

Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the whole armor of God, that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.”