Together

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I have a mental exercise for you. Think of someone in government you despise. I chose government since we tend to have strong feelings these days, but you can choose anyone. What is the first adjective that pops into your mind to describe them? My most frequent word is idiot.

In me, an anger reaction quickly follows the adjective. This is not good. Allowing my mind to simmer and at time sauté in anger leads to more anger and a total loss of peace.

Philippians 4:8 has long been my

go-to verse to restore my mind.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 

But what happens if I can’t think of a single good thing about the person or situation? That is where I have been with the rioting and violence. Then something extraordinary happened.

My heart changed and my prayer changed.

Instead of scrolling past fiery news posts on Facebook, I began to stop and place a hand over the picture and simply ask God that His love for the people to flow into my heart for them.

Am I 100% perfect at this? No way. I’m not 100% perfect at anything, But God is and I am counting on him!

For King and Country have a song out titled, Together. It’s another of the songs with the voices recorded remotely. I am sharing two videos. The first is the back story of the video, the second, the actual performance. I always enjoy back stories, but if they are not your thing, skip to the second one

“Filmed in quarantine in our homes during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. ‘TOGETHER’ with Kirk Franklin + Tori Kelly. So grateful to all 2000 of you who lent us your stories and voices to make this music video possible.”

Since local churches shut down, I have been listening to various churches across the country. The July 5, 2020 message at a church in our Florida town was titled The Destruction of Discouragement. One of the speakers one line points was

“Where your brain dwells, it swells.”

If you are interested, here is the LINK for the message.

Tags: #For King and Country, Anger action, Kirk Franklin, You Tube