DALLAS VALO

Making Amens..
(Yes, I spelled it that way. Pronounce it ‘amends’)
The battle of the mind
Where two battles intertwine
One side is deserted
The other: columbined
Every day is a battle, I can’t seem to win
So hear my cries through the rattles
Of the whispering wind
The hatred of sin
Demons buried within
Cry out to their master
“Father, forgive us again…….
But the days are getting darker, as I get close to my end…….
So I’ll end this prayer,
By Making “Amens”.

Darkness, your hour is over.
The last few days have seemed rough to me. Wasn’t getting busy for work. It seemed I wasn’t going to be able to make enough for certain bills, etc.
I got frustrated alot, unfortunately, but I kept getting reminded of James 1.
James 1:19-20 says this: You know this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Now everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for a man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness of God.
I kept getting reminded of that verse. And I didn’t know why.
Sure, I was a bit frustrated and what not, alot lately, but I felt there was something much deeper God was trying to tell me but I couldn’t figure it out.
Today, I was riding around town with my girlfriend, and asked if I could play a song on Spotify. She said, yes.
I put on the song Jireh by Elevation Worship.
Then came the lyric: “and I will be content, in every circumstance.”
I lost it.
Full on overflow of tears…
I blamed it on allergies.
Silly me lmao
That line from the song gets me every time.
I cry a little. And then some more.
But this time it really hit me.
And I knew exactly what God was trying to speak to me the whole time.
God is more than enough for me.
Which means He is more than enough for you as well.
I was immediately reminded of this verse.:
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
2 Corinthians 12: 9,10
It’s hard to see at times, yet even harder to understand.
But just that simple verse:
“My grace is sufficient “
Is really the only answer any of us need.
Jesus is more than enough.
And if Jesus is all we need
Then: Darkness, You’re hour is over.

Things in life, I have come to believe that anything happening at an exact moment in your life, is exactly what’s supposed to be happening at that exact moment in time.

Which means that there are going to be moments that frustrate you, anger you, even upset you.

But there are also going to be moments that make you laugh, smile, and bring great joy into your life.

The ‘negative’ moments, I feel are like training exercises for the moments to come afterwards.

They build strength, character, and perseverance.

The willingness to endure through all of life’s troubles until we’re to the point nothing bothers us anymore.

Why?

Because we are stronger than anything we are going through.

Since we are created by God, in God’s image, we have Him on our side, and nothing is stronger than the creator.

He is bigger than your problems, bigger than your fears, bigger than the worries this life may bring.

Every negative thing you have been through, has made you stronger.

And guess what

You made it through each storm and trial of this life.

You are still here.

And since you’re still here,

God has a plan for you.

Maybe you meet someone down that road that grows stronger in their faith because of your testimony. Because of you’re strength to make it through each storm in a positive way.

You just may change a life one day.

Keep pushing through.

Keep enduring

Because you, are a life saver.

---

I know me, but who are you

Another interesting evening for me tonight. Well, not all night. But earlier in the evening I had one person really stuck on my mind, all because of something he said.

I was chatting with him, and a few of his friends. They were all a part of the order generation, and from the looks of it, they were still dressed in what I call, church attire. Very presentable.

Anyways, he asked me what my name was.

So I told him.

And what he asked next threw me off.

“What’s it mean?”

“What?” I replied.

I heard what he said. That was just like an automatic response.

Kind of like when people ask how you’re doing, the answer everyone gives is “I’m ok.”

“What does your name mean?”

My eyes quickly positioned themselves into a confused look.

I have a name that is just as common as a John, Jacob, Andrew, Mike, those common named men.

But,

No one has ever asked me what my name meant.

It’s MY name,

Yet, I don’t know what it means.

I always thought I was just named after someone. Idk who. But maybe there was a deeper meaning.

“I don’t know.” I replied.

He said “give me a few minutes and I’ll tell you.”

I come back a few minutes later. And before I got close to him, he throws his arms up and gives me the answer in a volume above whatever the current level was in the rest of the room.

“Christ-bearer”.

I didn’t have to ask what that time.

I heard that, and smiled.

“That actually just made my day” I reply, as I see him glance down at the crosses around my neck.

What a lovely thing to hear from a stranger!

And he had excitement in his voice.

Someone who doesn’t know Christ would not have been that excited to give me that answer.

It gave me confidence. Hope. And just an overall good feeling to hear that my name means “Christ-bearer”.

It gave me a faith boost.

And a reminder of who I am in Christ.

Not who I was.

Not who I’m going to be.

Who I Am.

And I,

Am a Christ-bearer.

I know me, but, who are you?

The devil spoke to me earlier…So did the Holy Spirit.But we shall start this with what the Holy Spirit spoke to me.It was a very simple verse the Holy Spirit reminded me of.”But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:14The moment I was spiritually reminded of that verse, the devil jumped in and said the following:”You. Can’t. Do. It. So, quit trying.”I laughed. To myself.I accept your challenge. Let me explain why.My whole life, I’ve been told, “you can’t do this because of.. (whatever reason they had.””You can’t get into college without a diploma or ged.”I did exactly that.”You’ll never be able to be a firefighter, because of your past.”I did just that.You can’t do this.You can’t do that.My whole life has been set out to prove people wrong. And I’ve succeeded almost every single time in proving them wrong.If there’s anything I absolutely love hearing in my life, it’s when someone tells me I can’t do something.So, for the devil to tell me, I can’t enter the narrow gate, because it’s very hard, and only a few get through.Well then,I take that as a challenge.Sure, few will find it.But, I’m determined to be a part of that.I shall fight off satan the same way Jesus did when He was tempted in the wilderness.IT. IS. WRITTEN.Here’s a few verses to remind you who are in Christ.I shall stand on God’s promises through scripture to combat the devil when he tells me I can’t do something.It is written:For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because He has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.-John 3:16-18But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.- John 1:12-13The devil whispered : you can’t do it.I replied:IT IS WRITTEN.

During an endless journey of Facebook scrolling earlier today, I casually watched a few short videos that didn’t stick out to me until now.One of them was a video of what appeared to be some sort of celebrity sighting.Nicholas Cage had just walked out of a building to a good amount of “fans”.People asking for a picture or an autograph as the “flash” of a camera went off hundreds of times in a matter of seconds.I forget what celebrities were in the other videos, but, it was all along the same lines.Fans, paparazzi, all, almost begging for the celebrity to look at them if even for just one second.Which now made me realize, in a way, those people are worshipping them.Why? Because they are good at acting? Or singing? Or your favorite player on whatever sports team?What exactly are they doing to make you so obsessed with them?I bet they love all that attention….But how’s it make you feel?If you are worshipping them based on their “popularity”, let me tell you something.Jesus.Is the most popular person in all of time.Whether you believe in Him or not.He’s the most popular person of all time.So shouldn’t He be worshipped instead?He created you.And whoever you seem to be obsessed with.So instead of worshiping a creation, how about you try worshipping the Creator?They didn’t have paparazzi and cameras back in Jesus’ day.And yet, they killed the most popular person of all time.So, again, what is your celebrity obsession really doing for you?Would they die for you?A person that doesn’t even have time to look at you for more than a second?Jesus did.And yet He’s the most hated, popular person ever.Which is extremely sad.Why not become obsessed with Him instead?Your call.I’m just here displaying a message I feel God is wanting me to write tonight.For you.

It’s 5:50 A.M. right now. I’ve been awake since 5:17 A.M. Why? Well, I randomly woke up. But almost immediately upon waking up, I felt God tell me to pick up the book I have been reading called “Follow Me”, and that was that.I didn’t understand why. So I read a little bit, went back to sleep for about 10 minutes. Then felt the need to open that book again. I was reading and reading and then BAM. I finally got to a section of the book that once I read it, I knew exactly why I felt God leading me to read so early in the morning. I am going to paste the section into here so you can read it as well. I feel like someone on here can benefit from this message as well.”We don’t try to see how far we can go or how much we can get away with before being considered “of the world.” That’s dangerous and when you do so, you are playing with fire. Proverbs 6:27 says, “Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?” It should not be natural for Christians to sin. We should not be using foul language, lying, cheating, or stealing. We shouldn’t be drinking and smoking. All these things should seem unnatural to us. It’s not our nature anymore. We have become a new creation and have been given the very nature of God. Galatians called this behavior “the works of the flesh.”Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery [drug use], hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissentions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I told you in the past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19–21) Then, in Colossians 3:8–9, it says, “But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with His deeds.” I’m not saying that if you commit one of these acts there is no place of repentance for you. Of-course there is. Yes, God forgives us when we mess up, but we aren’t to be habitually practicing any of these things. Jesus gave His life to set us free from sin.” Excerpt from Follow Me by Dion Dimola