Scott R. Sullivan

We are in the end times. That’s a hard thing to consider and think about, isn’t it? We all have dreams, hopes, and desires for our lives, but when we see such darkness all over it can make us want to quit on all of those things. I know I’ve been tempted to think that way many times recently. 

It can get downright depressing if you watch the news and listen to all that is happening in the world. You already know the list of calamities and troubles, so no sense having me tell you them again. Darkness is growing in people’s hearts and the enemy’s influence is expanding.

Don’t take a bite of the fruit of depression, the Lord has something to say…

““That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your Heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to Him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

  After our surprise miracle little girl, our life truly changed. After years of contending for a promise God gave, standing solely on His Word and His Word alone. Our faith was rewarded and God got the Glory for this amazing creative miracle. I won’t retell the story here, you can read the whole story in The Gate Eternity Beckons, but I will touch on one point here that is valid in our daily lives.

  We don’t have to look far or wide to see the chaus that is hitting this fallen world. Wars, pestilence, famines, deceptions, lies, crooked leaders, moral failures, the list goes on and on. The reality is sin, and sin has a high price in each of our lives if it goes unchecked and unrepented of. It always leads to more destruction and the death of something. The enemy is a liar and he lies to see our destruction. He wants to steal your peace, your dreams, your relationships, your promises, and if possible, your eternity. Temptation is his way and he is the father of lies.

Ever since I decided to write a series of blogs dealing with spiritual warfare, ironically and yet not, spiritual warfare has stepped up to a new level. Every night I lay down to go to bed, I get slammed with awful thoughts and dreams. This is a lot how the enemy likes to attack. He will come at us when we are weak and not in full combat readiness. That being said, this also excites me because I know that the enemy of our souls is not happy and that means God’s Great Kingdom is going forth.

The only thing I like two scoops of is vanilla ice cream, on a waffle cone, with sprinkles. Yes, I am adult enough to say it and carry a sprinkle dipped cone like a boss. Delicious! Haha! This week brought a double dip in my life, but not of an ice cream variety.

The first double dip came in Heaven. My trips to Heaven have really been happening frequently again. I am super excited to share them all with you soon again! New book coming this year ????

My face felt like it was going to crack and fall off.  -11 degrees outside and the crisp snow cracked under ever footstep. The sun had stretched its beams and was out the gate to run its race for the day. The air was brittle as snow slowly cascaded down tree branches and silently touched the ground. No one was out but me, and I needed to get some early morning shoveling done so we could get out of our neighborhood and off to our daily duties.

Even though I really enjoyed the silence today felt like a great day to listen to some music. When nature is so peaceful, I really like to listen to worship music and draw my heart close to the Lord’s.  To truly have power flow through you, it starts with worship, then moves to leaning into His Prescence all without trying to get something from Him. Sometimes, we need to just “be” then we will discover more of Who God Is and what is on His heart and mind for our lives.

Welcome back! After much prayer and closet time with the Holy Ghost He has laid a new series of blogs on my heart that will focus directly on angels and demons. These will be unfiltered accounts with graphic descriptions. I tell you this ahead of time so you are prepared. Darkness will be exposed and also God’s goodness revealed. There will be great teaching moments in all of these and you will definitely give insight into how the spiritual world works and what our role is in it.  This has the potential to shake things up in your life and could cause a stir. I wanted to warn ahead of time, so you are prayerful and leaning into Him and His Word. Alright, here we go…

“Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.”—Genesis 1:3 NKJV

In a moment, wavelengths, photons, electromagnetic radiation, and pure energy erupted forth as their very existence was commanded into being! 

The Creator had spoken.

With each new day, brand new creations leapt forth in jubilant celebration, as the very essence of Life commanded it to be. 

Blue was the first one to speak: “I will paint the Creator’s many waters with the depth of my palette, then I will embrace the whole sky!”

Quickly, Green proclaimed: “I will rush over all plants and grasses with my warmth and comfort!”

Yellow then shouted: “I will dazzle the sky with my palette as I embrace the Creator’s great sun.”

Orange winked at yellow and blue, while proclaiming: “I will partner with you each evening yellow and blue. Each evening I will wash the sky with brilliance, as the Creator’s mighty sun finishes its daily run, celebrating another successful day of life.

You’re in the penalty box! You’re in the penalty box! I am going to enjoy walking in front of you, back and forth, so I can emphasize my freedom and your captivity. I see dad is still tying that leash thing around you, just so you can get your smells in. Pitiful. I on the other hand can fully prance around with no control over my scheduled events for the day.  Ahh, being an independent thinker is the life. Another perfect day for me. 5 hours of activity, balanced with a healthy 19 hours of sleep. Glorious!

I’ve scheduled dad to be in the kitchen promptly at 8:00am for my morning feeding. Then I will sharpen my weapons of marvelous destruction and gladly show them off to bark boy. How I loath his chasing, but I play along. Must keep up the charade, I know dad loves that stinky beast. Considering that dad is my tuna train, I certainly do not want a derail there.

I love grass! I love dirt! Oh, what’s that smell? Sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff. It smells so good, I think I will roll in it. Back and forth, back and forth wiggling on my back feels so good. Yup, that’s the best. Wait, what is that little brown thing carrying some sort of nut? I MUST CHASE!! They sure are fast, but I know I can catch him one day. Oh well, I still have those chubby fur balls inside that I can’t wait to chase. I’ll wait right until they start doing that scratchy thing on that post, then I’ll get them moving. 

Who’s that I hear coming? Is it dad? What’s in his hand? Oh, oh, oh, it's my leash!! I am so excited! I am so excited! Where are we going? What new things do I get to smell? I can’t stop jumping! My leash is on, I am so excited to see where we are going today! 

Wait, dad is taking me to that big thing that goes fast. I know I need to sit, wait before I jump, then we get to go for a RIDE. I love rides!

Faith, faith, faith…

Why is it so hard sometimes? Do you find it that way? 

God challenges us in several direct ways through the requirement of faith:

1. Do you trust I AM Who I say I AM? 
2. Do you believe Me above and beyond your own understanding?
3. Will you surrender your will and trust that My Way is better? 
4. Do you want My supernatural encounters and My Kingdom? 

We ALL want our own way sometimes. Our heart position determines so much of what we will hear from and receive from God. If our hearts are hardened in certain areas, we can miss the beautiful fruit God wants to bring forth. 

Last week I chatted about the abundance of fruit that comes from winter seasons in our lives. God loves to conceal things in the deep recesses of our hearts, that we can only discover by searching Him out in faith. If you know Christ you are seated with Him and grafted into His royal bloodline, so consider this verse:

It had been an unexpectedly busy summer, in a good way. I had certain plans for relaxation, but those plans got interrupted in the most unexpected way. My relaxing summer was soon to be filled with plenty of activity for a powerful spiritual lesson I needed to learn. Nothing wrong with making plans, but it’s always important that we hold them loosely. Not all plans or busyness is of God, so it is very important we discern which type of busyness we are involved in.

As I was mentioning, there is a good busy and a bad busy. Bad busy: brings anxiety, stress, worry, exhaustion, and even sometimes fear. Bad busy takes away our time from God and hearing His heart. Bad busy fills our schedules with all kinds of activities, that don’t necessarily build relationships. Bad busy, always makes us feel like we don’t have the time for His Word, for fellowship, for worship, or for just being still. Bad busy, takes our eyes off Eternity.

One of my best memories growing up, was going to a mall in Erie, PA. I lived in a tiny, tiny town, so Erie was huge and the had a huge mall. So many stores, so much to look at, but there was one thing that was my absolute favorite.

The smell…

I know what you are thinking already. The smell?! What’s the matter with this guy?

Please don’t run away! Give me a minute, ok?

We lived about 45 minutes from Erie at that time, and sometimes we would travel over in the dead of winter. Winter was deep, cold, and heavily snowed most years. Driving could be sketchy at best, but sometimes you just got to get out and go places. Driving 45 minutes is not that long now as an adult, but as a kid, sometimes that drive seemed to take forever. I would just sit in the back seat watching the trees whip on by, counting the moments until we got there.