“For what use is it to gain all the wealth and power of this world, with everything it could offer you, at the cost of your own life? And what could be more valuable to you than your own soul? If you are ashamed of me and my words while living among sinful and faithless people, then I, the Son of Man, will also be ashamed of you when I make my appearance with my holy messengers in the glorious splendor of my Father!” Mark 8:36-38 TPT

I’ve been renting out a room by the weekend, week or month for two years now. It’s been a great supplement to our income and I have to say that for the most part, I love hosting people. I’ve adopted a couple of young women as their Florida ‘mom’, met people from Germany, Chili, Puerto Rico and Singapore. From every walk of life, Christians and agnostics, gay and straight, it doesn’t matter, we welcome them into our home and treat them with respect and kindness.

This past weekend, we ran into a bit of an unusual situation. Our daughter, Shannon, was out in her courtyard area listening to worship music and spending time with God as she always does. Not being loud or obnoxious, but respectful of the noise level. All the sudden, this young woman begins to taunt her but asking why she believes in God, claiming that she is God and wrote the bible. She became very nasty, then went into her area and began chanting.

Shannon came in to to tell me of the situation and we began to pray as a family. We came against that spirit and every curse she tried to place on Shannon and our home. Walt couldn’t sleep that night, so he went out into the living room and felt prompted to pray protection over his home and family, praying in the Spirit most of the night. He spoke that every curse hurled on us would be stopped before it could ever start.

Shannon could have just gone back into the house and ignored her, but she chose to stand up, to speak the truth in love and not be ashamed of her God, her healer and provider. There are times to be a peacemaker, and there are times to stand for truth and righteousness, even if it means a bad review or an angry guest.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Everyone has the right to choose, even if their choices lead them down a slippery slide to hell. God will not be a dictator, He is a loving Father who allows us to come to Him or run away.

So my prayer today is for this young lady who left a day early because she couldn’t stand the presence of God in our home. Makes me sad, but I’m sure it grieves the heart of God even more.

What will you do when you are asked what you believe?

Sandy G