Daily Devotional: 11/4/2018 - SCRIPTURE SERIES PT. I (LS)

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." Genesis 50:20

This is a new series that I started back out towards the end of July, The Scripture Series. I was inspired after going on an encouragement date with a sister from Long Island and one with from our region. Usually at the end of these dates like the next day later or whenever they have the chance the sisters will write a card. And because I am me and I feel if someone gets me something I have to get them something in return, so I decided to combine the love for art and Scripture into one. But then I was like "BRAIN BLAST" why not make one for all the sisters in our campus for an encouragement for the upcoming semester and year. That was how The Scripture Series was created and this is only Part One with hopefully many more parts to come so we can encourage and give sisters hope all across the world.

• Women have it hard no matter where they go or what they do. They lack equality in every aspect. They are constantly objectified and are constantly being taken advantage of. It is our job as men and as human beings to treat all these women with respect, love and the dignity they deserve.
• I am going to try and keep these relatively short, but if God leads long we go long. Going to throw some fun facts and some scripture and call it a day.

Here are a couple fun facts for you, the first being that Roses can survive extremely long periods of time. The Thousand-year Rose grows on a wall of the Hildesheim Cathedral, a Catholic cathedral in Hildesheim, Germany, that is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. It is believed to be the oldest rose in the world. The second fun fact being, the color pink has been used on prison walls in order to reduce erratic behavior of inmates. The last being, yellow is the color of hope (and is the color of the rebellion and the escape of DEMA. The Bishops cannot see it). Do not worry, I am about to explain.

Twenty One Pilots, my favorite band, have a story line behind the last two albums (Blurryface and Trench). It is based off of a community-like establishment (think Divergent, The Giver, utopia type stuff). In DEMA there are nine Bishops, where the main one is Nico/Blurryface. In this story there is a guy named Clancy (which means "the red-haired soldier's son; ruddy warrior" - red being the color theme of the last era).

The whole Blurryface album takes place in DEMA which is holding Clancy and Tyler prisoner, where they are making Tyler release music to their liking (but Tyler, because he is the GOAT is giving us subliminal hints about life and the escape all along). Where the new album, Trench, takes place during the escape of DEMA and the start of the rebellion.

In the Blurryface era we see Tyler having this black paint around his throat and his hands (the two things he uses to make and play music). In the song Jumpsuit, he goes on to say, "You'll have to grab my throat and lift me in the air… But you'll have to tie me down and break both my hands".

• In the video Tyler no longer has the black paint around his neck or his hands. But when Blurryface touches Tyler's neck, the paint reappears and he is following Blurryface's lead. Then on the mountain side, the clique starts to throw yellow flower petals off the cliff which then freaks out the Blurryface and his horse and where Tyler is broken from the control and is able to run away.
• This is all the info I think you need on that. Do not want to bore you with stuff I love to hear about, but if you want to learn more (the concept in sooooo freaking cool) the clique has several informative posts and videos all over the interweb.

Now to connect all that info I just threw at you to the verse and life…

We live in a day and age where the devil in prowling (1 Peter 5:8). He is always grabbing at us, at our weakest and at weaknesses.

• He knows us better than we do. He takes every advantage that he can take.
• He will himself and he will send people with the intention to harm us and to trip us, but the one who knows us the best (God) will use it for his advantage. With every loss there is a lesson (Blessings by Lecrae).

We are able to learn how to guard our heart and our mind against the devil. He has some good tricks and he is smart, but he is not that smart. He is not that smart, because he will use the same tricks over and over again. Unlike God, the devil's ways are limited, he will repeat, repeat and repeat.

DEMA and the devil are one and in the same in a sense. We are only trapped if we let them trap us, there is always a way out. If people can escape from Alcatraz and survive, we can escape from the clutches of evil.

Roses are flowers with several different meanings. They like anything can easily die, but they tend to defy the odds of age, with some dating back to about a thousand years. Pink is a color known to sooth the soul and the mind and yellow is a color of hope.

Dig out that yellow duck tape and slap it on that yellow jumpsuit, for DEMA is right on our heels. This is a revolution, open your Bibles and study the playbook. We have to know the plays frontwards and backwards. The war has only just begun, but we serve the ultimate General and he will take all things for his advantage, for his good.

"DEMA has no controla, DEMA no controlla." -Twenty One Pilots, Nico and the Niners

Lord, thank you for all you do. May you bless us and our journey. Help us see and rely on you, for every day is a struggle. May you guide us to be the men and women you want us to be. I pray you continually give us hope and wisdom to allow us to trust in you. You have the ultimate plan and know what is best for us and good for you. Our life is in your hands, our hope is in you and that scares the others. I pray all this in your son's name, Amen.

#LetsBeAMovement