After spending the night looking at the Super Bowl it made me think about winners and losers. In the Bible, Jonathan became a close friend of David. The Bible describes their friendship as becoming “one in spirit”, and “Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself”.
As the son of King Saul, Jonathan had every right to oppose his father’s warrior. Yet maybe Jonathan had seen things in his father that he did not want to imitate. Jonathan saw David as someone who had the same human hopes, dreams, and aspirations that he had. Jonathan did not dehumanize David as an enemy. Instead of looking with wary eyes of jealousy and suspicion against the young warrior, Jonathan extended generosity of heart, openness of mind, and a spirit of charity.
Today, as we consider winners and losers – David was a winner. He rose through the ranks like a stunning rookie rushing through the NFL. Soon people were not praising King Saul anymore; they were raving about the young sensation who was breaking records left and right. David changed the game. His victories went viral in Israel. All of this made Saul boil with jealousy. All he could see was that David was a threat to his throne. Saul dehumanised David and tried to kill him (the characteristics of a loser). But God had other plans, and if Saul tried to oppose them, he simply could not win.
Saul was very angry. . . . And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David. (1 Samuel 18:8-9).
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank you for making me a friend when I was your enemy. Father, please make me a winner for your sake. God help me to care about and love people who seem to be my enemies. Help me to live like you. In Christ’s name, Amen.
I’m all alone in this world. I don’t know what I am doing. I always make bad choices. People say I’m ugly. My face is long, and my nose is big. So is my butt. I’ll never finish school. I can’t afford cute clothes. I had an abortion. I don’t deserve to live. My kids deserve better. Nobody loves me. My parents kicked me out. My dad is on drugs. My mom is a drug addict. I’m an alcoholic. I used to sell my body. I have a lot of tattoos. I am a single parent. All my friends are fake.
If I really listened to everything people told me, I’d already be dead. But I chose a new life. I decided to take my old life and kill it. I choose to be an optimist and know that God has a plan for me. Amen.
Most people seem selfish and self-absorbed, so why should their opinion matter? I choose to surround myself with people who like me for me. Even if it is only one or two people. One true friend is worth more than many fake ones. The many who surround themselves around me for my beauty, my talent, my self-worth, or just to be in my entourage. I’m glad God showed me the way. I’m thankful for second chances. I accept myself and give second chances to the people around me. I will accept the positive and shield against the negative. Now I know I have a purpose and my talents will not be wasted. I plead with you today, for you to never give up on yourself or your dreams. Things change, and people can change physically and emotionally. Money does not rule the world, God does.
Today, it is difficult to believe in things that seem so unreal and impossible, but that is what faith is. It is believing in the presence of doubt. So, take this step of faith, tell God that you are hopeless and helpless without Him. Tell God how afraid you are, how angry and frustrated you are with life, how worried you are about the future. Just close your eyes and start pouring out to God, until you feel the weight on your shoulder is lighter. Let the tears, all the hurts and pain pour out from your heart. It is between you and God, no one else. There’s no pretence, no hiding, no holding back. Be transparent in front of Jesus, lay all your junk and burden at His feet, for it is not for us to carry all these burdens in life. It was never meant to be ours to bear. Our bondage has been broken. Today, we bind ourselves to chains, when the key to these chains is in our hands. Let’s make Jesus’ death worthwhile. Go back to basics, go back to your first love, and go back to the roots of why you call yourself a Christian. Going back to basics is always the best move to make when you find yourself lost.
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank you for your unconditional love. Father, it is because of your great love that I live in the freedom that Jesus has given me. Thank you for opening my eyes to the truth that is found in your Word. Mighty Saviour, thank you for rescuing me from the kingdom of darkness into your kingdom of light. God, I am so heartbroken because some of my family and friends have not accepted Christ, as their Lord and saviour. Please Lord, use me as your vessel to go and tell them the gospel so that they can become part of your family. In Christ’s name, I believe and pray, Amen.
Did you know that you have a superpower? Yes! Jesus has proclaimed us all to be Super Heroes! We can move mountains with our mind! We can cause seas to part! We can kill fig trees….? Ok, that last one doesn’t seem so glamorous but you get the point right?
Jesus says “when you pray believe and you shall receive” Wow that’s so crazy, But let’s not get carried away here! We must remember that Jesus surrendered his will to his Heavenly Father “…not my will, but thine be done” His will and his Father’s will were one. So when we claim the promise or when we use our superpower of faith, believing that God will truly bless us with that nice car or fancy job or great apartment, we must ask ourselves ‘Is this the Father’s will or will it enhance the Kingdom”
The bible clearly states that anything we ask and I mean ANYTHING we ask, believing in faith that it will happen according to His will. God will grant it unto us. That is the power of faith! God desires the best for his children. He wants to see us happy; however, with great faith comes great responsibility. Many times we pray and believe in faith that something will happen that isn’t in accordance with God’s will. As Christians we must first ask “God, is this what you want for me?” and then pray in faith “If it is your will, I trust and believe that it will happen.”
Today consider the fig tree in scripture as an example Jesus uses to prove His point, that when we believe, pray and have great faith we can trust that God will do everything that we ask of him, once it is in accordance with this will. So go out there today and crush mountains with your bare hands! Break down barriers with your mind! And face the enemy with the power of faith! Super Christians Faith!
“Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and shall ye shall have them.” Mark 11:24
Let’s Pray Yahweh, thank you for your promises. Father I believe and trust in your promises. Lord, Show me your will, that I may walk only in your will by faith. God, please help me to trust you more each day in Christ’s name Amen.
As a boy I remember my mother reading bible stories to us, one that made an impression on me was the story of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham was pictured raising a knife over the altar to kill his son, and Isaac’s words have stuck with me “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Our focus this Christmas is on Isaac’s question.
Even though God graciously provided a ram in place of Isaac, it was not “The Lamb.” Hundreds of lambs were sacrificed on the night of the Passover to deliver God’s people. Thousands more were sacrificed in the temple in obedience to God’s commands for offerings. Yet Isaac’s question remained: “Where is the Lamb?” Isaiah prophesied that the people’s true salvation and deliverance would come through a Lamb who would pour out His blood and bear the sins of many. 700 years after Isaiah prophesied, an angel proclaimed that Mary would have a Son and He will save the mankind from their sins. The Lamb had finally come.
Today, we are in the Advent season, Christmas Day is coming. We know our Saviour was not born on that day, but let us joyfully celebrate on the 25th and every day the birth of God’s only Son, Jesus Christ, the Lamb, who died and rose again to take away our sins and give us new life forever! Hallelujah!
“The fire and wood are here,” said Isaac, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” — Genesis 22:7
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, we sing this Advent with the angels of 2000 years ago, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive us and deliver us, honour and glory and praise!” God, we eagerly look for that day when Christ will return and there shall be no more pain, no more suffering, no more death, and praise God no more satan or sin, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
A week ago today, satan thought he had won. Christ was in the grave, the disciple’s were hiding, and many followers of Christ had quit. It’s the same today, during our trials and hopeless situations he wants us to give up and quit so he can have the victory in our lives. But, just like Christ we can overcome him through the almighty power of God!
Today, remember we still have resurrection miracle working power, which always confuses the enemy. Christ’s power today is the same yesterday, today and forever. No matter what weapon the enemy may throw at you, it cannot penetrate the blood defence that Christ has put around you! Guard your hope, your joy and your victory in Christ, because they are God-given blessings that He wants you to enjoy each day. Hallelujah!
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10, ESV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank You for hope, resurrection power and the blood defence of Calvary. Father, please do not allow the enemy to overcome me. Help me to guard my joy, my hope and my victories in Christ, which are gifts from You, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
When that guy cat-calls you just to get a reaction, what do you do? You ignore him and keep walking.
When that bully pushes all of your buttons just to make you mad, what do you do? you tune them out and move on.
When somebody tries to convince you of something you know 100% isn’t true, you don’t even give it a second thought before you dismiss the argument.
So why don’t we use this tactic against the father of all lies, a.k.a the enemy that is out to destroy your life? Just don’t engage. As soon as you do, he wins. He is cunning, crafty, and manipulative, and he’s only after your heart. He wants to crush it and mutate it and trample it underfoot until there’s nothing left for God to use.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…” John 10:10a
I know this isn’t easy. Trust me, I’m a thinker. Overthinking is my second nature, if not my first nature. I have to think through everything, especially when faced with a conflict. If somebody challenges my opinion, my first reaction is to analyze the entire argument…
What are they saying?
Do I agree or disagree? Why?
What do I think?
How does that compare to what they think?
What is true?
What evidence affirms/denies my argument?
Is there any way there is truth in both arguments?
Why do they think what they think?
Why do I think what I think?
And it goes on …
and on …
and on.
I think you get the idea. By the way, all of that overthinking happens in about 2 seconds. It’s an intense self-interrogation until I think my way into a solution that makes sense to me, so I can feel at peace with what I believe and move on.
Sometimes this is a really useful skill, but the enemy knows exactly how to use it for my deepest undoing. The problem with using the “overthinking tactic” against Satan is that he doesn’t care about logic. His goal is not to convince me that his argument makes more sense. In fact, he doesn’t even care about what he says. He doesn’t even believe the lies himself.
“You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.”
James 2:19
Satan knows God. He knows scripture. He knows what the truth is, and his goal is to keep you as far away from it as possible. He knows the power that God’s word can have in your life and that terrifies him. He will say whatever it takes to get you to question God and doubt His goodness, and the moment you try to reason with him, you’ve fallen into his trap.
I say all of this because I fall into the trap far too often. The devil uses people near and dear to me to convince me of his lies because he knows it works with almost 100% accuracy. Because their opinion matters so much to me, I will over-analyze their every word and body language to my own demise. Something they say – or don’t say – pricks one of my insecurities (unbeknownst to that person), and the trap has been set. Suddenly, I’m hit with an avalanche of thoughts like these:
“They just don’t care enough about you to ask about your day.”
“You’re stupid for thinking ______ would happen.”
“You’re too dramatic, emotional, etc.”
“It’s your fault that you can’t handle this feeling.”
The first step is to recognize the lie. Now, to do this, you have to know the Truth. No, that’s not a typo. I meant Truth with a capital “T” because you have to know God’s Word, and His word is Truth. Once you start to bury His word in your heart, and begin to recognize his voice, you can more easily discern truth from lies.
“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
But it doesn’t stop there! That’s where I made my mistake. I thought, “If I recognize the lie, it will become invalid and it won’t sting anymore.”
False.
Satan is more crafty than that, and he was already one step ahead of me. See, he recognized how I use my interrogation process to reconcile a contradicting thought, so he used it against me. He used it to blur the lines between lie and Truth. So he takes me down this rabbit hole to confuse me and muddle the words of God until I feel so lost, confused, and heartbroken that I can’t even remember what lie got the whole thing started to begin with. He knows how I look for the middle ground to make sense of things, but there is no middle ground between what the devil says and what God says.
So no, it CANNOT end with recognizing the lie. You have to take the next step and make the choice not to engage with the lie. Now, if you’re a thinker like me, this will be hard. Like really, really hard. But you have to choose to look the other way. Change your posture to look toward your loving, protective, jealous, Heavenly Father. Tell the enemy you don’t have time for his games. Don’t try to argue with him and tell him why his lie is a lie and why God’s Truth wins, because he already knows it, and he doesn’t care. He’ll just twist everything around until you find yourself lost in a muddy mess of nothing that makes any sense whatsoever.
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:18
To sum it up…
Study Truth, that is, the Word of God.
Recognize the lie, which is not the Word of God.
Don’t Engage. Choose to meditate on and dwell in the Word of God.
“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
Joshua 1:8
This is not something that my genius, overthinking brain came up with one day. This is something that the Holy Spirit whispered to me, and by God’s grace alone, I heard it. I was on the brink of yet another panic attack and fearful of going back down that dark road. I was on the brink of forming another unsuccessful argument for why the lie was a lie and trying to figure out a way to outsmart the devil this time, and the Holy Spirit simply said, “don’t engage with the lie.” Of course I tried to overthink and analyze again, but He didn’t relent. He just kept telling me, “Don’t engage with the lie. It’s not worth it. Just keep looking at Me. Lean on the love of your Father instead of your own knowledge for once.” Hey, that sounds familiar, right?
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
So go ahead. Give the enemy the cold shoulder. Hit him with the silent treatment. Then you will taste freedom. Remember the second half of John 10:10…
“…I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10b
Go live in the abundant life Christ bought for you. The enemy’s lies are not worth your time, precious child of God.
Anytime we speak something, either good or bad, we are giving life to what we are saying. Too many people go around saying negative things about themselves, their family and their future. Things like, “I’ll never be successful. This sickness is going to kill me. Business is so slow I will have to close it. Flu season is coming. I’ll probably get it, I always get it.”
They don’t realise we are prophesying our future. The Scripture says, “we will eat the fruit of our words.” That means we’re going to get exactly what we’ve been saying.
Today, send your words out in the direction you want your life to go. You cannot speak defeat and expect to have victory. You can’t talk about lack and expect to have abundance. You will produce what you’ve been saying. With your words, you either bless or curse your future. Make sure your words are what God says about you, so you can move forward in the life of blessing He has in store for you!
“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21, NIV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank You for the ability to change my future with my words. Father, I choose to use my words to bless others, and to receive Your blessing in my own life in return. God, help me to be more positive with what comes out of my mouth, in Christ’ name! Amen.
A man called Aranda approached the little boy’s mom at a group at the mall on the 12 of April 2019. Landen mom asked him if they were in his way and should move. Without hesitation or warning the stranger picked up Landen and threw him from the balcony at the Mall of America.
Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time 24-year-old has committed crimes at the mall. Aranda has two prior assault convictions from 2015 and was apparently banned from the the Mall of America for a period of time. He was also instructed to undergo psychological evaluation following those earlier attacks.
Later that day Aranda admitted to throwing the boy off the balcony to Police after they captured on a light rail train leaving the mall. He also told the police that he had attempted to kill somebody the day before (preferably an adult), but it didn’t “work out.”
He is being held in Hennepin County Jail in lieu of $2million bail and is scheduled to appear in court on May 14.
The suspect’s uncle, Francis Aranda, told KSTP that his nephew had displayed violent tendencies since childhood.
‘He has a serious mental problem, he was diagnosed as a child,’ the relative said.
He added: ‘We are going to pray for that baby [Landen] because what happened is so unfortunate, but it’s going to bring light to mental illness, I hope he [Aranda] doesn’t go to jail, he needs help.’
Pastor Mac Hammond (above) at the church Landen Hoffmann’s family attends in Woodbury, Minnesota, updated the congregation on the five-year-old’s condition on Sunday, nine days after he was thrown off a third-story balcony at the Mall of America on April 12
In spite of being thrown off a balcony that could have killed him, doctors have reported that Landen is thankfully doing much better than expected to the point where even the medical staff are chalking it up to nothing but a “miracle.”
This is truly a miracle. It’s like he fell off a bicycle instead of off the third floor of the mall.”
Mac Hammon, the pastor of the family’s church, was contacted by Landen’s grandpa on Sunday during the Easter sermon.
The results were obtained after a 5-hour MRI. “Doctors said they found no brain damage – not even any swelling,” Hammond told church congregants on Easter. “No spinal damage, no nerve damage ”¦ doctors are saying it is truly a miracle.”
Mac Hammon, shared that the boy did suffer many broken bones, including fractures on his arm, leg, and face. He will also need to have his spleen removed.
The GoFundMe page set up for Landen posted this encouraging update a week after the incident:
“The power of prayer is simply amazing. We all have been extremely humbled by the outpouring of support and prayers from everyone. Thank you for showing us there is so much good not only in our community but across the globe. Condition is again similar to previous days, another peaceful night of sleep — small steps towards the healing process. Each new day is a good day. Landen’s recovery is expected to be ongoing for a long time, while it’s hard to estimate costs, this will change everything for their family and require much of their time and focus.”
Over 27,000 people have donated to a GoFundMe campaign that has raised more than $961,000 as of Tuesday morning.
Mental Health Facts, Stats, and Data
Over 44 million American adults have a mental health condition. Since the release of the first State of Mental Health in America report (2015), there has only been a slight decrease in the number of adults who have a mental health condition (from 18.19% to 18.07%)
Rate of youth experiencing a mental health condition continues to rise. Therate of youth with Major Depressive Episode (MDE) increased from 11.93% to 12.63%. There was only a 1.5% decrease in the rate of youth with MDE who did receive treatment. Data showed that 62% of youth with MDE received no treatment.
More Americans are insured and accessing care. We can continue to see the effects of healthcare reform on the rate of Adults who are uninsured. This year there was a 2.5% reduction in the number of Adults with a mental health condition who were uninsured.
…But many Americans experiencing a mental health condition still report having an unmet need. 1 in 5, or 9 million adults reported having an unmet need.
Mental health workforce shortage remains. Many states saw some improvement in their individual to mental health provider ratio. But in states with the lowest workforce there was almost 4 times the number individuals to only 1 mental health provider.
The world went from
calling a ‘clump of cells’ nonhuman, to allowing abortions when the clump of
cells begins to ‘look human’, accepting third-trimester abortions, and now
pushing for the termination of babies moments before birth, or in some cases,
just after birth. It seems that what they are seeking is an all-inclusive
licence to kill.
Just the other day,
a cousin wanted help with writing up an argument for a school debate. The
debate? Whether you agree with abortion or not, and why. She took the pro-life
route, but not without some backlash for it. Another pro-choice family member
said that the world did not need any more unwanted children and that women who
were not ready to have children and take care of them must abort their babies
to save the rest of the world some trouble. I sat there for a moment, merely
listening to the debate going back and forth. The pro-choice side was quite
strong and appeared to be winning, but I decided to speak up and deliver one
line: you will answer to GOD for what you have done, I hope you’re ready for
it. Everyone sort of looked away, looking for something to say, but as they
were supposed professing Christians, they had nothing to say. Murder is murder,
no matter the stage of life. The excuse that a woman should have a right over
her own body at the expense of the growing baby in her stomach is weak. No
amount of getting angry or violent will change that fact.
I believe that most
people reading this are aware of what the Scriptures say about murder, life,
and being known by GOD before even conception has taken place. The most
beautiful verse about growing life is Psalm 139: 13-18, verses that I take
comfort in during times of uncertainty concerning my purpose and worth. As
Believers, we know that we can turn to GOD’S Word and find the words that we
need to overcome whatever challenges we are facing, but the rest of the world
does not. They are hellbent on living their lives as they will, not accepting
the consequences for their choices. Every problem must be looked at in context,
but sin does not need a framework to be considered sin, it just is because GOD
has said it is, and murder is a sin. For example, a young cousin of mine has
recently fallen pregnant due to her promiscuous lifestyle. She is 18 this year,
and instead of being in her last year of school, she is only beginning her high
school year as she has failed several times. This can be blamed on her lack of
school attendance. You dig deeper, and you’ll find that she was not disciplined
as a child growing up, in fact, she was primarily left to live her life as she
wished. Both her parents have now passed away due to AIDS, and she lives with
family members but does not respect them. Most of my family wanted her to get
an abortion because her baby would mean one more mouth to feed as she is not
working. According to the world, this context for abortion would be acceptable,
but to GOD it is not. What they are saying is that a life should be
extinguished due to the mistakes of the mother. So, if I was to use their
reasoning then the family of a murder victim should be allowed to kill the
murderer’s mother, father, siblings, or child to atone for what the murderer
has done. It doesn’t sound so acceptable when used in another situation, does
it?
Another family
member had a botched abortion, by botched I mean that the baby lived. She is
also living with HIV, and the father of the child is also HIV positive. We all
(or should) know that HIV can be avoided being passed down to the foetus;
however, her situation led her to take the abortion route. She already has
three children by three different men, does not have a stable job, and is an
alcoholic. She does not take care of her children, in fact, two are now
considered adults and can mostly defend for themselves. The last born is taken
care of by family members. The local clinic told her to have an abortion due to
these circumstances, but she waited until she was five months to do so. Off to
the hospital she went to remove the child from her womb, thinking that she
would not have to deal with another baby in her life. They removed the baby,
put it in a black bag, and tossed it on the cold floor of the morgue. A nurse
entered the morgue several hours later only to find mewling noises coming from
the bag. She opened it and realised that the aborted baby was alive! This sent
the hospital into a panic. They quickly got the baby into an incubator and
informed the mother that the baby was alive. Could you imagine the shock? For
the next five months, the baby was kept in an incubator, damaging her eyesight
in the process. When she was finally allowed to be taken home, the mother was
told that her baby would never be able to walk, talk, and would likely die as a
toddler. To top it all off, the baby was HIV positive. Ten years later, the
little girl is walking, and though she cannot speak, she uses sign language.
She is the sweetest little girl with a cheeky attitude of her own and is well
aware of all that goes on around her. She goes to a special school, is learning
how to write more clearly, and loves anything to do with drawing and colours.
In short, she is a girl like any other, even with her special needs.
Abortions can bring
about emotional trauma that may not be experienced immediately after, but let
me tell you that when it comes to bite your rear end, it takes a chunk. I know
of an old woman who is riddled with guilt for the two abortions she had as a
young woman. It gets so bad that she becomes gravely ill and has to be admitted
into hospital and put under observation. Her mind comes and goes, sometimes not
recognising her living children and calling out for those who have died. Her
reasons for abortion were tied to the hard times of the country when Apartheid
was still in effect. She is a black woman who had had relations with white men
(I do not know if it was rape) resulting in two pregnancies. She managed to
abort two of those pregnancies for fear of being found with a mixed-race child,
but she was not able to do so with her third pregnancy. Now as an old woman,
those abortions have come back to haunt her and do not give her peace.
Of course, the
argument of high-risk pregnancies also comes up. Let me stress here that I may
speak frankly, but I do not feel disgust for the people but for the sin. People
will say that a medical reason to abort the baby is acceptable, especially if
it puts the mother at risk. Also, if the baby is to be born with a deformity,
then it would be better to abort the baby before he/she is born. I hear what
the argument is, but my stand does not change. Abortion is wrong because it is
murder. People would sooner laugh in my face when I say that Jesus is the Great
Physician than listen, but it is true. Do you not think that He would be able
to save both mother and child? Do you not believe that He can help that child
with the deformity? The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is within us
today if indeed we are His. Nothing is impossible for GOD, but only if we
believe. To doubt is to tell Him that we do not believe that He can do anything
for us. He created the world, for goodness sake, will He not help a mother in
need? But the world chooses to reject Him still, and even His own people doubt
His power to heal. People would sooner find an excuse for their sin than humble
themselves and fall to their knees before Him to seek grace and mercy. Or,
worse yet, His own people deny that He still performs miracles and wonders in
the world today.
Forgiveness is
available to those who have had abortions in the past but regret having done
so. If you serve our Sovereign LORD, then you should know that He will forgive
you for there is no condemnation for those who believe. He scatters your sins
away and makes you clean. Do not miss this opportunity due to your guilt. He
loves you in spite of your sin, but you need forgiveness from Him and yourself
to be set free.
All I know is that
the GOD we serve does not change, neither is He cold to the plight of people.
He loves us all, but not all of us are His. He loves the downtrodden, the
deformed, the unwanted- all of them! The world may reject them, but Jesus
stands with open arms to accept them. What He did back then He can do today,
and what He considers sin is a sin no matter the reasons the world may give. At
the end of the day, you need to understand that there are consequences to
everything, and perhaps you will not experience those consequences now and go
about your life as you want to. But when you stand before the Ancient of Days
and give an account of your life, do not say that you were not warned.
Evil never rests, it only regroups and develops a new strategy to bring about as much death, destruction, and pain as it can. It seems that the dust has hardly settled over the last suicide inducing game (The Blue Whale Challenge) that a new one has cropped up: The “Momo Challenge”.
A twelve-year-old girl from Argentina has reported having committed suicide, a suicide linked to the Momo Challenge. There are other suicides that have been linked to the challenge but have yet to be verified. Police officers all over the world are warning parents to be on the lookout for this deadly social media game and to be aware of the signs associated with it.
The way that this challenge works is by sending a number to a person’s phone and asking them to contact a Momo Whatsapp profile. Once a connection has been established, Momo will begin to send challenges/objectives to the users that escalate in self-harm as it progresses. Failure to do so will result in threats such as promising to curse the user, kill their family and appearing at night to them. Graphic and disturbing pictures are also sent to the user to further terrify them into complying with the demands of the Momo.
A father from Cutral Co has claimed that the game threatened his fifteen-year-old daughter with certain death. A Momo-connected profile sent the girl a picture of a dead person and threatened her home, family, and friends if she didn’t respond to the challenge.
The Momo is a terrifying-looking half woman/half bird creature that is weird enough to strike fear into any child (or adult for that matter) when coupled with threats of harm and promised death. The creators of the now-dubbed suicide game are using the cropped image of a bird-woman sculpture that was created by Link Factory, a Japenese special effects company. The Momo challenge has no connection to the Link Factory.
Children remain at risk for games like this because their concept of reality and fantasy can become easily blurred. Parents should keep an eye on their children and their mobile use, but take care not to appear overly controlling because that can create much frustration and distance their children from them. If a child is spending an unhealthy amount of time on their mobile, parents need to promote playing outdoor games. If parents themselves spend a considerable amount of time playing games on their mobiles, all efforts to stop or reduce the time spent doing so should result in your child having less of an interest to engage in mobile games. Having good communication with your child/ren is also vital.
The most important thing that we can do for our children is to pray for them. There is only so much that we can do in the physical realm to protect our kids, therefore prayer is the only form of action that we can take to counter all that takes place in the spiritual realm. I believe that all events that take place in the physical realm first originate in the spiritual realm, and as we do not have constant access to that realm (and should not unless by the Holy Spirit at appointed times and by the will of GOD) we need to put our faith in the Almighty to hear our prayers and petitions to keep our children safe.
