Lori Sharp Elliott, Ministries of Loving People with the Love Of Christ

Lori Sharp Elliott, Ministries of Loving People with the Love Of Christ Helping people find comfort, hope, wisdom, and purpose by drawing closer to Christ. Doing real life together.

Christian fellowship, Faith, Hope, Grace, Mercy, Love, and Jesus.

09/04/2026

THE BATTLE WE CANNOT SEE

I recently went back and read some words I believe the Holy Spirit gave me about God, Jesus Christ, spiritual warfare, and the life we are called to live as Christians.

One sentence especially stayed with me:

“Do not lay down your sword in fear.”

I believe the Holy Spirit was reminding me that the sword is not a physical weapon. Scripture tells us exactly what it is:

“The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17

There are battles in this life that cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Ephesians 6:12 tells us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood. That is important because people are not our enemy. We are called to love people, pray for people, forgive people, serve people, and share Christ with people.

Our battle is spiritual.

It is the battle between truth and deception.

Faith and fear.

Righteousness and sin.

Hope and despair.

Obedience and temptation.

The things of God and the things that try to pull our hearts away from Him.

One of the things I wrote was:

“Read the Word of God daily. Meditate on His teachings. When the time is right, the Lord God will teach you words of wisdom to fight the good fight for the Kingdom of God.”

The more I have thought about those words, the more I understand why God’s Word matters so much.

You cannot recognize a counterfeit if you have never studied what is real.

God’s Word teaches us what is true. It corrects us when we’re wrong. It gives us wisdom when we’re confused. It reminds us who Jesus is when the world tries to distract us from Him.

And God’s Word also tells us to test what we hear and hold fast to what is good.

That matters to me.

I don’t want to follow emotion simply because something feels powerful. I want everything brought back to Scripture and ultimately back to Jesus Christ.

Another thing I wrote was:

“The body of Christ where you belong.”

We weren’t created to fight spiritual battles alone.

Christians need one another. We need encouragement, prayer, correction, fellowship, wisdom, and love. God did not create the Church to be a building filled with strangers. Scripture describes believers as the body of Christ.

Different people. Different gifts. Different stories.

One Lord.

One Savior.

Jesus Christ.

I also wrote about Acts 7:37 and the promise Moses spoke about, that God would raise up a prophet like him.

That promised One points us to Jesus Christ.

And that may be the most important part of everything I wrote.

The Christian message isn’t ultimately about how strong we can become.

It is about Christ.

Jesus is our Savior.

Jesus is our hope.

Jesus is the One who conquered sin and death.

Jesus is the One who offers eternal life.

Jesus is the One we follow.

We fight by standing in truth. We fight through prayer. We resist temptation. We choose righteousness. We forgive when bitterness would be easier. We love when hatred would be easier. We remain faithful when fear tells us to run.

That is Christian courage.

There was another sentence I wrote that still moves me:

“This is no cause, it’s for life, eternal life with Christ Jesus our Savior, who goes before us, who fights our spiritual battles.”

That is what I want people to understand.

It isn’t about being afraid of the world.

It is about Jesus Christ and eternal life with Him.

So if you’re weary today, don’t lay down your sword in fear.

Open your Bible.

Pray.

Ask God for wisdom.

Stay close to the body of Christ.

Put on the whole armor of God.

And above everything else, keep your eyes on Jesus.

Because the greatest Christian warrior isn’t the person who fights the most people.

It is the person who remains faithful to Christ.

Truth is our defense.

God’s Word is our sword.

Christ is our Savior.

And must always be our witness.

“Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” Ephesians 6:10

❤️ What Scripture has helped you stand firm when you were going through a battle no one else could see?

09/03/2026

Jesus describes His followers as “the light of the world” in Matthew 5:14–16 and tells them to let their light shine so that others ultimately glorify the Father.

Be a “beacon of hope” so God will use you to point people toward Christ, beautiful.

Christ is the source. We reflect His light.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about discernment and what it really means to be led by the Holy Spirit.I believe God st...
09/03/2026

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about discernment and what it really means to be led by the Holy Spirit.

I believe God still speaks to our hearts. He can convict us, redirect us, bring Scripture to our remembrance, give wisdom when we don’t know what to do, and impress something upon our hearts so strongly that we know we need to pay attention.

But God never asks us to leave our Bible behind in order to hear Him.

In fact, Scripture gives us a beautiful instruction:

“Do not quench the Spirit… test everything; hold fast what is good.”
1 Thessalonians 5:19–21

Think about that.

God tells us not to quench the Spirit, but in almost the same breath He tells us to test everything.

Those two things belong together.

We can be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit while keeping our Bible open too.

Jesus said the Holy Spirit would teach us and bring His words to our remembrance (John 14:26). James tells us that if we lack wisdom, we should ask God for it (James 1:5). Paul tells us not to grow weary in doing good (Galatians 6:9) and to stand firm in our faith (1 Corinthians 16:13).

And when life becomes confusing, there is something else I find deeply comforting:

Christ is the faithful witness.

That isn’t just a beautiful thought. It is Scripture.

“Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness…”
Revelation 1:5

There will be times when other people don’t understand what God is doing in your life. There may even be times when you don’t completely understand it yet.

You don’t have to force understanding.

Take it to God.
Take it to Scripture.
Pray for discernment.
Give it time.
And watch the fruit.

Jesus said, “You will recognize them by their fruits.” Matthew 7:16.

I think sometimes we want God to give us the entire map when He is simply giving us enough light for the next few steps.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105.

A lamp doesn’t illuminate the entire road. It gives you enough light to keep walking.

So that is where my heart is today.

Remember what God has already done.
Stay in the River and follow where He leads.
And when the Harvest comes, look carefully at the fruit.

09/03/2026

Lord, give me discernment without pride, faith without foolishness, courage without fear, and a heart humble enough to be corrected by Your Word. If something is from You, establish it. If it is not, remove it. Above everything else, keep my eyes on Jesus Christ, the faithful and true witness. Amen. 🙏

07/27/2026

Be discerning about people who are always bragging about themselves, showing pictures of what they’ve done for charities. If it’s all about them it doesn’t glorify the Kingdom of God, it glorifies them on earth. The Lord doesn’t honor when people boastfully praise themselves on Social Media or any other platform. Because it should always glorify the Lord. The lord sees what is done in silence and he honors you for being humble when giving.

07/27/2026

The best way to heal is to focus your energy on others and off yourself. Help friends in need, be there to support family, and let Christ’s light shine through your goodness to children in Christ.

07/27/2026

How have you helped someone for Christ?

07/27/2026

Why Lies Can Sometimes Feel More Welcome

People often prefer messages that protect their comfort, confirm what they already believe, or give them the approval they desire. Flattery asks little of us. Truth may require examination, responsibility, confession, or change.

Scripture warns about the human desire to hear only what is pleasing:

“They will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”
2 Timothy 4:3

But we should also examine ourselves. It is easy to accuse others of wanting comfortable lies while assuming that every opinion we hold is truth. Humility requires us to test our conclusions.

“The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him.”
Proverbs 18:17

07/13/2026

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23

I have been thinking deeply about what it really means to guard our heart.

It does not mean becoming cold, suspicious, or closed off from people. Biblically, the heart is the center of our thoughts, desires, affections, motives, and will. In many ways, Solomon is telling us to pay very close attention to what is shaping the person we are becoming.

We are all being shaped by something.

The words we repeatedly listen to can plant fear, bitterness, lust, envy, pride, or truth. The things we watch do not always disappear when the screen goes dark. Some images settle into our imagination and stay there. Even our own thoughts can begin leading us in the wrong direction if we never stop to examine them through the truth of God’s Word.

Not every thought deserves our agreement.

We also have to guard our hearts against bitterness. Pain is real, and I would never tell someone to pretend they were not hurt. But when we continually rehearse the hurt, return to it, feed it, and allow it to become part of our identity, eventually the pain can begin shaping our heart.

We need wisdom in our relationships too. We are called to love people, but that does not mean everyone should have equal access to the deepest places of our lives. Jesus loved perfectly, yet He still walked in wisdom and discernment.

We should also pay attention to our desires. What am I beginning to crave? What do I believe I need to feel loved, secure, important, or valuable? Sometimes our desires quietly reveal what has begun taking too much space in our heart.

Guarding our heart is not only about keeping harmful things out. It is also about intentionally putting truth in.

God’s Word.

Prayer.

Worship.

Wisdom.

Truth.

David prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart… See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23–24

What a prayer.

Lord, show me what I cannot see in myself.

I think one of the deepest ways we guard our heart is simply by paying attention to what is changing us.

Is this making me more loving or more bitter? Am I becoming more truthful or more comfortable hiding things? Am I growing in peace or becoming consumed? Am I becoming more humble or more prideful? Is this drawing me closer to Christ, or am I slowly becoming comfortable living without seeking Him?

These are not always easy questions, but they are important ones.

Because what we allow to live in our heart long enough will eventually find its way into our words, our choices, our relationships, our habits, and ultimately our character.

Maybe that is why Solomon said, “Above all else.”

Guard the source.

Because eventually, what is in the heart flows into everything.

Lori Sharp Elliott

07/13/2026

A betrayal may have happened years ago, but if it still determines who we trust, how we love, how quickly we become defensive, or how we see ourselves, then emotionally, we may still be living under its authority.

A season of rejection may be behind us, but we may still spend our lives trying to prove our worth.

A person may no longer be in our life, yet their words still speak in our mind.

A failure may have been forgiven, but we continue punishing ourselves for it.

A painful season may have ended, but fear still makes decisions as though the danger is present.

This is emotional authority

Whatever has authority influences our thoughts, our reactions, our choices, and sometimes even our identity. So the deeper spiritual question is not simply, “Did I survive what happened to me?” It is, “Is what happened to me still discipling me?”

Because something is always shaping the way we think.

Paul wrote:

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2

God may already be teaching us truth, but sometimes our emotional responses are still living according to an old reality. God says we are loved, but rejection taught us to expect abandonment. God says we can forgive, but bitterness tells us anger keeps us safe. God says He is with us, but fear continues preparing for disaster.

This does not mean healing happens instantly or that pain is evidence of weak faith. Joseph remembered what happened to him. Scripture never presents him as a man with amnesia. Healing is not forgetting the prison. It is reaching the place where the prison no longer governs you.

Joseph could stand before the brothers who betrayed him and see his life through a larger truth:

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” Genesis 50:20

Notice that Joseph did not rewrite the past. He called their intentions what they were. But he refused to give their actions the authority to define the meaning of his entire life.

That is profound spiritual maturity.

Sometimes God has already begun teaching us to walk in wisdom, but we are still making decisions from fear. He is teaching us forgiveness, but we keep rehearsing the offense. He is teaching us our identity in Christ, but we keep introducing ourselves emotionally by our wounds.

We survived the prison, but part of us is still asking the prison for permission to live.

That is why the question matters:

Are we still living emotionally under the authority of something God has already begun teaching us to walk through?

Because freedom in Christ is not pretending something never hurt us.

It is learning, through truth, grace, and the renewing of our minds, that what wounded us does not get to become our master.

Address

Lake Ozark, MO
65020

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Lori Sharp Elliott, Ministries of Loving People with the Love Of Christ posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share