I WILL NOT BE SILENT
- Jul 4
- 8 min read
Updated: Jul 24
Thoughts and Word from June 8, 2025 | Released on Independence Day, July 4, 2025
Happy Independence Day!
Today, as we jump into the first day of the 250th year of our great republic’s existence, I want to share with you a proclamation, or code, of sorts, which I will also be placing in a prominent place on our website. The Father placed it into my heart while listening to an interview with a true patriot, John Kiriakou. My next release will be a follow up to this one, so you can be looking for that soon.
May you all be blessed this weekend as we celebrate FREEDOM!
I WILL NOT BE SILENT
Word from Sunday June 8, 2025 – Evening
My husband and I were watching an interview by Tucker Carlson with John Kiriakou. Since it was long, we thought we’d just preview a few parts, but then we both ended up getting so engrossed that, before we knew it, the whole 2 hours and 23 minutes had gone by! It just rang so true to me, sadly. So many, including Mr. Kiriakou, have suffered immensely for just saying and doing the right thing.
For those who are unfamiliar with the name, John Kiriakou was a former high-level CIA agent who revealed (truthfully) in a 2007 ABC interview that torture was being used as an interrogation tactic by the U.S. government and that our president had lied about it. For making this admission, years of FBI surveillance and attempts at entrapment ensued. He didn’t take the bait and just kept going about his life honorably. That didn’t matter. They still found a way to slap him with a charge of “espionage” and put him in federal prison. Espionage, by the way, is a crime punishable by death. This was a man’s reward for being a stellar servant to his country. Thankfully, the sentencing did not go to the full extent, and he has since been released from prison.
As many of you know, I’ve had my own share of being watched. I’m not involved in any federal agency (not even close) and have no military background. You won’t find politics or journalism on my résumé, and I don’t have a big platform or funding. I’m just a homemaker who used to spend my days doing retail floor sets as a brand rep, and my evenings writing worship songs as a lover of Jesus. Before that, I was a full-time mom who liked to serve at the church whenever the doors were open. My only real qualification for what I do now is simply having learned to sit quietly at the feet of Jesus and glean from Him.
I was a meticulous rule-follower and people-pleaser as a child. I’d do anything and everything possible to stay out of trouble so the grownups would like me. When other kids would squabble, I was the negotiator and peacemaker… because I hated drama.
Nevertheless, here we are.
It might be nice to occasionally have my phone behave… you know… normally. You know how you can just do a quick check of your email… or maybe even order something online… without jumping through a bunch of hoops? (Heh, heh, heh. Yeah, right.) And, I’ll bet most of you can call your hubby or wife from the grocery store without a ton of interference on the line (because, you know… me asking him about whether he can have the GREEN Jello while fasting for his medical procedure is definitely something that risks our national security, I guess). Or, maybe you even have GPS that actually works when you’re out of town and need directions to your destination (sigh).
I’m really pretty sure that whomever is watching me must think that one of these days my husband and I are just going to screw up and lead them right to our secret meeting with Putin or something. Oh, but wait… I already posted about Putin last week! And, they’d probably already read all about it a month ago, anyway… since they’re in my laptop (sigh again). I can say with 100% honesty that the only secret meeting on that one was with the Holy Spirit.
So, getting back to that interview with Mr. Kiriakou. As we continued to listen to his story, the Father posed this to me:
“Think about the people and things I’ve told you to write about.”
I began to quietly list out a few names, which included presidents, world leaders, royals, elites, world systems, businesses…
“Oh… Umm… Yeah…”
The realization that these were probably considered to be “off-limits” subjects seemed to dawn on me a little more clearly. I mean, why don’t I just go poke a stick in ten hornets’ nests and set up camp there! Just why should I think I could write about such things? Well, I don’t know… maybe it has something to do with the fact that I grew up believing that…
America is the LAND of the FREE.
Then the Lord interrupted my thoughts as He said:
“You have a target on your back.”
I should know that. He’s told me before. And, I certainly do know it on a spiritual level! The enemy doesn’t like believers much, so when we speak up for truth, we’d better also have our armor on, because arrows are gonna fly. Shields up, everyone! But for some reason it still feels strange or pretentious to acknowledge the political arrows. I don’t know why. It’s all around us and on full display throughout our Land of the Free, and we need to call it out for what it is.
America is also the HOME of the BRAVE.
In fact, I’m sure you’ve heard it said many times before that we ARE the Land of the Free BECAUSE of the Brave. Bravery is much more effective when we have a true understanding of who, or better yet, Whose we are. Who is your backing? Standing up for your rights as a citizen—in both the Kingdom of Heaven and as an American—will send your enemies into a tizzy, because that makes manipulating you with their lies a lot more difficult. Confronting those lies and freedom-pilferers head-on, regardless of the risk, is the only way to stay free.
I’ve never served in our armed services, but I have a high level of gratitude, respect, and admiration for those who have. I am SO very thankful for those who have given so much of themselves to keep our beautiful country free, and I don’t ever want to take it for granted.
Thank you, Lord, for the
UNITED STATES of AMERICA!
And, I also never want to dismiss the fact that the Father paid the ultimate price through the death of His precious Son Jesus so that we could be free from that cruel taskmaster of sin which leads to eternal darkness. JESUS is my backing – my Rock and sure foundation. Because I have trusted in His finished work upon the Cross and glorious resurrection from the grave, I have eternal life with Him, and no one can ever take that away.
Thank you, Jesus, for
SALVATION!!!
So, as I sat there watching the TV interview while having this quiet discussion with the Father in the background, I once again resolved in my heart that if I can serve my Lord and my country—even in some small way—by simply writing what He tells me to write, I will do my part. That’s when I began to feel the following creed welling up in my spirit. It became clearer, and bolder, and louder until it took the full stage of my heart:
“I Will NOT Be Silent.
I Will NOT Back Down.
I WILL Speak the Truth.
I Will NOT Be Coerced Out of My Calling.
I Will NOT Fear What Man Can Do to Me…
But I WILL Fear God and God Alone.
I WILL Worship Him Alone.
I WILL Love, I WILL Serve, and I WILL Speak…
For as Long as I Have Breath.
To the Glory of God the Father…
For the Magnification of the Great Name of Jesus…
And by the Unmatched and Amazing Power of the Holy Spirit.
His Kingdom Will Never End.
His Rule and Reign Will Never Cease.
And He Will Be Glorified both Now and Forever.
AMEN.”
I’m still the negotiator and peacemaker. I’ve had a life-long calling to be an ambassador for Christ and a minister of reconciliation. But I’ve since been set free from that people-pleasing prison that would very often tempt me to just plaster a band-aid over a festering wound to give off a pretense of peace. We all know how long that kind of peace lasts (hint: it doesn’t). In fact, it usually only makes things worse in the long run.
Often, true peace can only be had after all of the junk has been brought to the surface, laid bare, and cleansed. That process of exposure is sometimes painful and ugly, much like the process of digging out a splinter or lancing a boil is really no fun at all, but will ultimately bring relief.
That means that peacemaking in its purified form suddenly doesn’t always look quite as nicey-nice as my former tainted, pacifist version. But I have since surrendered that overwhelmingly skewed need for man’s affirmation to the Father. HE is the One I aim to please, and I have determined in my heart to ride that train wherever it leads. I hope you will do the same, because He is worthy, and He is so worth it.
So, let me say this again, and I hope you’ll say it with me:
“I. WILL. NOT. BE. SILENT.”
20”Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, ‘Be reconciled to God.’ 21He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
-II Corinthians 5:20-21, CSB
13”For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
-Colossians 1:13-14, NASB
11”This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
-Acts 4:11-12, BSB
22For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave. 23You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
-I Corinthians 7:22-23, NKJV
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Who, or what is your backing?
Are you standing under the banner of the Name which is above every other Name?
Are you planted upon the unshakeable Rock of our Salvation?
Are you protected by the King of all kings, who conquers every foe, including death, hell, and the grave?
Have you aligned yourself with the infallible Word of God, which stands forever?
Are you walking in the Way, the Truth, and the Life?
Have you placed your full hope for eternal life in the perfect and sinless Lamb of God, whose blood takes away the sin of the world?
Have you acknowledged that Jesus alone is the only one who is worthy to be Lord and ruler of your life?
Or, are you backed by false and worthless gods? A false god is any thing, any one, or any way of thinking that is more important to you than Jesus Christ… including your own strength, your own reason, and your own will. Making Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, heart, and mind is the only sure backing!
The Bible says in Romans 10 that, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
The same passage later goes on to say, "Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame" and "For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:9,11, and 13, NKJV)
It's really that simple. If you’d like to find out more about a relationship with Him, I encourage you to reach out to me or to any other Christ-follower or Gospel-preaching church to talk about it.
Blessings, Lana
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