Thursday, May 8, 2025

Welcome!

Friend, the Spirit is always working. Lots of opportunity for us right now to enter new spaces. We can “live into” the Lord’s potential for us.

This issue … how unresolved anger and relational fractures can give the enemy an opening—and how to shut the door before he gets in.

P.S. ⬇️ — Top 10 Ways to Boost Mitochondrial Health for All-Day Energy

Signals & shifts

Quick hits from around the world and under the radar—where faith, culture, and global currents intersect. Curated to help you see, pray, and act with Kingdom clarity.

🔥 Commitment to Jesus reaches decades-high levels
Barna research uncovers an unexpected (and significant!) trend: a growing number of people are making personal commitments to follow Jesus.

🌍 Signs of revival: Christianity in Britain 'died…and has risen again'
The British author G.K. Chesterton once wrote that "Christianity has died many times and risen again."

◼️ Black smoke: No Roman Catholic pope selected on first ballot. White smoke is probably not far off. Most modern conclaves have typically lasted two or three days.

💸 Debt is the biggest thief of your financial future: It’s impossible to build wealth when you’re in a cycle of never-ending debt. See solutions (Dave Ramsey).

🔭 Watchword
"O the power of private prayer! I hath a kind of omnipotency in it.” — Thomas Brooks (1608-1680), English non-conformist Puritan preacher and author.

🏃‍♀️ Limes: the tart fruit that supports Immunity and helps prevent kidney stones
Prevent kidney and gallbladder stones, supports brain and nervous system, and more.

Footholds and fault lines

At The Smart Edit, we’re passionate about exploring the ways of Jesus—discovering what it really means to know Him and grow as His Kingdom apprentices. A key in Jesus’ teaching is our relational life.

“Don’t give the devil a foothold” (Eph. 4:27). The Greek word topos means place—territory. And in this passage, the context is relationships, especially unresolved anger.

When we let that stuff simmer, we crack open a door—and the enemy doesn’t need much space to operate.

Peter warns us to stay sober and alert—clear-headed and watchful—because the devil prowls like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8).

He looks for the vulnerable, and busted relationships often give him the opening.

In Genesis 4, Cain is seething. God warns him: “Sin is crouching at your door.”

In the Hebrew, it’s a vivid word picture—a wild, crazed animal lying in wait, ready to pounce. All Cain had to do was open the door—and he did, killing his brother.

This is one of the earliest windows into post-Fall sin, and again, it’s about relationships.

Jesus said if you’re offering something to God but remember someone has something against you, go make it right first (Matt. 5:23–24).

Even Job’s healing came when he prayed for his friends who had wronged him (Job 42:10).

Do a relational audit. It’s possible you could be dealing with stuff that got in because of sin and irreconciliation with others.

Forgiveness and humility shut down enemy access and expand the space for God’s Kingdom.

Say it: Jesus, you are Lord of my life. I choose to guard my heart and relationships with your intelligence and grace. Strengthen me to shut every door to the enemy through forgiveness, humility, and love—and fill every space with your peace and Kingdom rule. Amen.

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