Several weeks ago I was waiting by our coffee maker, waiting for my eyes to open and the last drop to drip into my mug when an odd looking alert came across my phone. I had been notified on this page app, a Facebook User had “reported” my page as … are you ready for this? Offensive.
Me? Offensive?
I was cleared of any “wrongdoing” as nothing offensive was found.
I’m not sure if it was my love for Jesus, my love for Terry, or my love food/wine that deemed me, “offensive,” but nevertheless, I had been flagged. Overnight, I lost over 100 followers to my page and every single FB message I had ever received, vanished. Completely erased and gone. One lady wrote to me she had an “alert” that asked if she wanted to mark my devotion as offensive. Her email was how we started putting two and two together.
I had no intention of sharing this publicly, because I think the person who reported me as offensive is a coward who desperately needs Jesus, and I truly pity them.
I also realized that morning, I must be doing something right, and Satan is ticked off. The enemy does not want us sharing hope. The enemy wants us sad, angry, afraid, miserable.
Tough patooties, I say.
I spoke to my literary agent and we decided I really should share this with y’all for a couple of reasons.
The first reason, I know I am not the only one under attack. It happens to each and every single one of us. When we live for Jesus, we are walking around with a big, fat target on our backs. The enemy wants to take us down. We are a threat to this dark world when we share His light.
Get excited!
The second reason, the algorithms seem to be wacky right now, and a lot of folks aren’t seeing my posts anymore. We are not sure how to explain the over 100 people gone overnight, or why that lady said she was asked if she wanted to flag my post as offensive. She went on to say she wakes up every morning to read my devotions, and noticed she no longer “liked” or “followed” my page, and this was not by her doing. So we decided to ask you to like and share the posts, if you feel led to do so, so others can see the posts, and like this page.
Why did I say get excited? Because I truly believe when we are under attack by the enemy, God is working in our favor. He is in the restoration business, you see. God restores what was lost/broken/stolen. He redeems the heartaches we endure.
You know what else? When we are pursuing a life lived for Jesus, we are going to be persecuted.
“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” - 2 Timothy 3:12-13 (NIV)
While I would never want to offend anyone, I’m quite proud to be “offensive” to the world if my love for Jesus is what offends. The numbers here are going down every single day, in spite of daily notifications of new likes. So go figure?
If the person who reported me “offensive” is reading this right now, I absolutely forgive you. I hope you will stick around and keep reading. Jesus is available for you, 24/7. There is nothing you have done in your life to keep you away from His grace. Absolutely nothing. He has pardoned murderers, liars, thieves, cheaters; you name it. His invitation is open to you.