We are commanded to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, and mind. We must do so in order to live a life fully surrendered to the Lord. The word of God, his plans, and purposes will change the way we live. Our heart is essential in our faith and when it comes to our salvation. We are made righteous through our faith, through a believing heart. That’s why the enemy is working to take ground in our heart, to deceive or mislead us to harden our heart, to hurt our heart, to break our heart so that he can have our heart for his purposes.

Many of us may feel like we’ve been in exile this year. We may have thought we’d be in a better place by October 2020, just like the children of Israel who felt discouraged in this scripture. Psalm 85 was likely written after the Israelites returned from exile back to Jerusalem after 70 years. They thought that they could return to a pre-exilic state, but there was no going back. Nothing was going to be normal. Similar to the Israelites, we too may be facing disappointment.

Ephesians 6 tells us to be spiritually strong and put on the full armor of God because our struggle is against the authorities of darkness and not of this world. If we are to be victorious, we have to put on this armor. In Ephesians 6, Paul provides wisdom about how we can be spiritually strong.

If we can stay together and stay committed to the faith and to our spiritual practices, then what the enemy has meant for evil, God will turn around for good. We can come out on the other side of this pandemic, this trial, this year, spiritually strong. There is nothing our God can’t do. Let’s be spiritually strong and do what God has asked us to do: let’s walk in obedience, speak words of faith and stay in a place where our hearts are drawing near to God, then we will become spiritually strong.

We never asked for a difficult season, a pandemic, political turmoil, or racial issues, but, when these things happen, Jesus wants us to do more than survive; we need a season “surthrival” guide.

Sometimes we are successful at doing the wrong things, for example, living like a victim of circumstances. It can be comfortable because it’s familiar, but courage can bring about change that transforms a victim's life into victory. We often like what we are familiar with and are hesitant to follow God to a place of discomfort. In order for us to shift into the new person and the new season that God is trying to produce, here’s what we need to know…

2020 is a test in our lives and so we need wisdom and how to move through it. Last week we talked about the “Whose Voice” test, and how to gain wisdom and understanding in how to navigate whose voice is speaking. The next test is the “What’s Real?” test: using wise judgment to determine truth from lies, fact from fiction, and opinion from reality.

Listen to the people who have fruit. Do not listen to the people who have no fruit of success in ministry, leadership, or building anything. Do not listen to the people in isolation because they will always rob you of your destiny. Ask God for his wisdom to listen to the right voices and discern right from wrong. Let’s all conquer the “Whose Voice” Test together.