Only you, Father, and what you're doing

Consistently yield to God all that is in your heart

August 15, 2024

August 15, 2024

Hi All,

Welcome to The Smart Edit newsletter!

This week … keep your little tail working, watching over our heart longings, the secret mystery at the Olympics, and more! First time reading? Join the mix. ✅ SIgn up here.

We’re living in fast-moving, dynamic times. You’re built for this in Christ. The Creator would not have placed you in history at this time if you weren’t. This newsletter is here to help and equip.

🌠 P.S. Out-of-this-world astronomy pics

Keep your little tail working!

No need to be shy about this, and definitely don’t cringe! 😨 

When your parents came together, YOU were the one who out-swam about 300 million other sperm cells.

Then, you were the first of about 200 cells that reached the egg to break through and initiate fertilization.

🏆️ You’re a natural-born breakthrough artist with a drive to succeed!

🏃‍♀️ You started strong, and you're built to finish strong in this race we call life!

😂 So, seriously, keep your little tail working and maintain momentum!

🎧️ Listen to the The Smart Edit!

We have a new audio feature for you! You can now listen on the go — walking, driving, chores, etc. Just click LISTEN ONLINE and enjoy the Audio Newsletter feature! (It may take 15 mins. from the email time stamp for the audio to be available.)

KINGDOM DYNAMIC
“Only you and what you’re doing”

John Eldredge of Wild at Heart says that our “Eden hearts” carry longings and desires. What do we do with them? Will we experience them?

Eldredge has a wonderful sort of Kingdom mantra he offers to Father God consistently (it may be a couple times each day) …

“Only you and what you’re doing.”

This takes trust, doesn’t it? We think, “What if God does not allow me to experience all that my heart seems to want and desire? Should I try to strike out on my own?”

We must consistently yield to God all that is in our heart.

David was a quintessential man of the heart. He wrote, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires” (Psalm 37.4 NLT).

We should note the next verse too … “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass” (verse 5, NKJV).

Here’s where the trust takes us … the Father knows what is best. And he may awaken desires within us that we don’t know we have. He’ll likely tune our desires to his heart for us.

But it’s what we’re truly designed for — it’s the real you. You don’t know the real you. But he’ll show you.

Jesus said if we lose our life for him, we will find our authentic life. Trust is a massive issue with God.

If we keep praying and moving on this Kingdom mantra — “Only you and what you’re doing” — the arc of our life will progressively align with Higher Design.

There will be adjustments we’ll make. I’m not saying it will be easy all the time.

But the overall arc of life will be desire fulfilled and infused with the gladness of the Lord.

Higher thoughts

10X your faith. Set prayer targets that are 10X what your think are necessary or even possible. This will elevate your belief set points. ➡️ Hebrews 11.1 

You’re in THE chair. You’re seated with Christ in heavenly places ➡️ Ephesians 2.6. Sit down. You have authority in Christ.

Future-proofing you. 1) Secure your place in the new earth and new heavens by being born again and following Christ the rest of your life. 2) Obey the voice of the Lord in the decisions of your life now to live by Higher Design. ➡️ John 3.3-8

STELLAR QUOTE
Forgetting God

In his 1978 Harvard commencement speech at Harvard, renowned Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn warned the audience of the horrors of the Russian Communist Revolution:

❝

If I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible what was the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: “Men had forgotten God; that is why all this has happened.”

Trending and noteworthy

❗️ U.K. suppression. U.K. cracking down on “misinformation” and speech. Incredibly, London’s Metropolitan Police Chief threatens to extradite and jail U.S. citizens over social media posts made about the riots in the U.K.

🤔 Openness to Jesus isn’t the problem. Americans like Jesus and his message (71%). Not so much his messengers, Christian leaders, and the institutional church. That left a little mark. (Barna)

⚠️ Pending attack. Israeli and US intelligence say that Iran could launch an attack on Israel as early as this week — a retaliation for the July 31 assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Iran is sworn to Israel's destruction and has engaged proxy conflicts against Israel for years including the October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel.

✝️ Iran's Jesus Revolution. Mosques close as 1 million Muslims accept Christ. Citizens are growing tired of the ayatollahs and a nation led by the empty promises of their Islamic theocracy.

🗳️ US election interference. A government intelligence report in July warned that China, Russia, and Iran are all running online influence campaigns in the US. Want to dive a little deeper? See footnotes below for details on these 3 nations from the report.1

WORLDVIEW
The secrete mystery(?) behind what you just saw at the Olympics

I loved watching the Olympics growing up. While I’m grateful for the strong Christian witness among Olympic athletes, and the sheer drama of some of the world-class competition, something has changed.

The Roman Emperor Theodosius, who ruled in the late 4th century A.D. as a Christian, ended the Olympics due to ties to pagan practices. The modern Olympics were resurrected in 1896.

It seems like an ancient lid is coming off and some ancient dark things are coming back into play on this ginormous global media platform.

See what you think of Jonathan Cahn’s perspective. You’ll be amazed at the spiritual history. Click the image to view.

Here’s the concept: we pray and reaffirm the founding covenants and prayers of America. There’s real, legal authority in that. To God, covenants and prayers never die.

Newsletter every Wednesday. ✅ Try it

Appreciate you …

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to hit reply and let us know. Thanks for reading! If you loved it, tell your friends to subscribe.

Best,
Brian Del Turco

Smart Edit newsletter

P.S. Astronomy Photographer of the Year shortlist revealed. Explore a selection of out-of-this-world images shortlisted in Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024, the world's biggest space photography competition

1  Russia remains the predominant threat to U.S. elections. Moscow continues to use a broad stable of influence actors and tactics and is working to better hide its hand, enhance its reach, and create content that resonates more with U.S. audiences. These actors are seeking to back a presidential candidate in addition to influencing congressional electoral outcomes, undermine public confidence in the electoral process, and exacerbate sociopolitical divisions.

China probably does not plan to influence the outcome of the US presidential election. The IC is monitoring the possibility, though, that actors linked to Beijing will seek to denigrate down-ballot candidates it sees as threatening its core interests, as they did in a handful of midterm races in 2022 involving members of both political parties. The IC is also aware that PRC influence actors are using social media to sow divisions in the United States and portray democracies as chaotic.

Iran is continuing efforts to fuel distrust in U.S. political institutions and increase social discord. Since our last update, the IC has observed Tehran working to influence the presidential election, probably because Iranian leaders want to avoid an outcome they perceive would increase tensions with the United States. Tehran relies on vast webs of online personas and propaganda mills to spread disinformation and have notably been active in exacerbating tensions over the Israel-Gaza conflict.

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