Darkness creeps in, steeps in, stalks in and settles all around. We all know it's trying to take over. We've seen his advances in the news.
Darkness languidly stretches to the ends of the earth because he's trying to take us all down. He's sly, sneaky and snide. He doesn't care one whit for you or I, he just wants to take everyone down. He gets us to lie to one another, to criticize, to hate, to spread slander about each other and then, while he snickers to himself, he sits back and watches us tear each other apart.
We seem to do that so well, don't we?
But, what if - instead - we raised high the banner of Jesus?
A banner of love and unity.
A banner that sees past unimportant differences and sees instead an army in need of one another.
Divided we falter, fall down, and fall apart.
But together, together we STAND.
I'm a woman with forthright views on femininity but I don't raise high a banner of Feminism.
I'm a homeschooler whose been home-educating for years now, but I don't raise high a banner of Homeschooling.
I'm a Christian who belongs to a certain group, but I don't raise high a banner of Denomination.
I have time, space, and energy to raise up one banner and I'm gonna raise it high. A bright, glorious, hope-filled banner that diffuses this world with Light.
I'm raising high the banner of Jesus.
(**"raising high the banner of Jesus" is a phrase adopted from a lecture by Heidi St. John)
