My Invisible War [Spiritual Sundays]

Sunday...Again? Where did the rest of the week go? But Spiritual Sundays is one of the best places to visit here in this blog world. Lots of encouragement, of reminders for the right way to live using Biblical principles, lots of sharing with talents when it comes to recipes, composing songs or poems. Best of all, lots of love circulates among those who participate. Because of the unity that comes from our good Savior's love. Please visit Spiritual Sundays and thank you sisters Charlotte and Ginger for hosting this cozy place.

“So, why do you do all these things if you are sending my arrestee for prejail check anyway?” queried an upset cop whose arrestee I didn’t want to accept to be booked in the jail yet because of obvious symptoms that he was “tweaking” from a daily dose of methamphetamine use.

His eyes were rolling upwards. Then, he would gaze at a blank space. Sometimes, able to answer my questions. Most of the time, he acted as if he was in his own world. I was taking his blood pressure which registered high, same with the pulse and he was running a low-grade fever. I told our Intake deputies that I wouldn’t admit him not until he was examined first in an ER. That was when the arresting cop heard me and got upset. Upset because of the impending hassle that he needed to take him to an ER and just couldn’t leave his arrestee.

I looked at the cop eye to eye. And with a soft answer, instead of being upset with him [as they knew the protocol of the booking process in the jail, that everyone gets screened first and cleared by nurses], I replied, “Sir, I took his vital signs so at least you could have a little information for whoever would treat this man that his blood pressure and pulse were high and that he was running a low grade fever. Those info’s would help them.”

He didn’t say anything and put the handcuffs back to the man’s wrists and put him in the back of his squad car. An hour or so later, the man was back. Calm but I had a feeling that he would still continue to show some signs of psychotic behavior. He was placed with other drunk bodies in a cell, all of them waiting to get sobered up. Few minutes later, some of them woke up, including this weird-acting man. He started a fight and he got pepper-sprayed on his face.

After being isolated, he started yelling profanities and started banging hard on the glass windows. I was on a break at that time and the deputies got a permission from the charge nurse to put this man on a safety chair, where he was restrained, to keep him from injuring himself. He couldn’t hit any windows or metal doors then. But the loud yelling continued. Any arriving cops couldn’t help but peeked through the window to see him as he attracted some attention.

Coming back from my break, the charge nurse told me what happened. So, I had to go and check up on him to make sure he was okay health-wise. As soon as I approached the big glass window, he stopped yelling. Instead, he looked at me like a lion waiting to pounce on a prey. He started mumbling instead. I softly mumbled too. With a prayer commanding for him to stop yelling and trying to scare me in Jesus’ Holy Name. He did stop. But every time I walked away, that was when he would continue to be so loud and screaming profanities at the top of his lungs. Every time I would go near him, he would stop and just stared at me with a piercing stare!

I was grateful for the unseen protective covering on me. The Armor of God that brings victory in this invisible war I was in. Every time. I knew he got quiet because it wasn’t me he was dealing with. I knew he saw the BELT OF TRUTH, THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, THE SANDALS OF PEACE, THE SHIELD OF FAITH, THE HELMET OF SALVATION and he heard when I uttered the sWORD, which was God’s Word. He was facing Christ.

I wasn’t alone in this invisible war. You were in it, too. The moment you gave your life to Christ. Let us be careful that we do not expose any part and make it vulnerable to the enemies’ attacks.

"3Buckle on your armor and advance into battle! 4 Harness the horses, and prepare to mount them. Put on your helmets, sharpen your spears, and prepare your armor" - Jeremiah 46:3-4.

Addendum: I was originally going to post this video "The Battle Belongs To The Lord" but being so tired from last night's work and sensing that it would make my post too long for you to read, I didn't. But after reading sister Charlotte's comment [thank you sister], I had a nudging that the Lord wants me to include this video. For whoever out there is facing a tough time in any kind of trial, the Lord wants to remind us that we can give all of our cares to Him. For the battle belongs to Him! Glory to God! Please silence my playlist on the side bar:

Like A Vapor...Here Now...Then, Gone Just Like That

“I tell ya, I have a feeling that he will start hitting his head again once he wakes up from being sedated,” confidently reported the outgoing Intake Nurse to me, the incoming night nurse.

He was talking about the suicidal man who earlier was so loud, crazy, and started hitting his head and punched the heavy metal door with his right hand. That there was no choice but to send him out to the county’s ER so he could be treated for a laceration he sustained on his left eyebrow and his knuckles that got swollen on his right hand. In ER, the doctor gave him a combo of medications to calm him down and make him sleep.

Confident as he was, my confidence was on my Guardian, Whom I sought before going to work that night. Knowing that I was always limited with things that were about to happen. While He already knew before hand. I remained hopeful that my pleas were answered even before things were about to occur.

I checked on the naked man. Naked, as he was very suicidal and not allowed to have anything to prevent him from using them as potential weapons to hurt himself. The wild man the PM nurse described was calm in front of me. He was answering appropriately. He was cooperative. He declined my offer of water. He was positive that he wasn’t thirsty at that time. He thanked me when I told him that I would monitor him all night long. The loud yelling was replaced with soft whisper-like answers through the slits of the metal door so I could hear his replies. The angry demeanor depicted from the report had a smile shown to me and even in the soft glow of the yellowish light inside the cell, his perfect teeth glistened.

“Sleep! Go get some rest,” I commanded.

“I can’t. But I’ll try, Ma’am. Thank you,” he softly uttered. I saw him get down on the cold floor. Turned to his left side and used his left arm as his pillow. Slowly, he closed his eyes. And he remained quiet all throughout the night. He never gave me any problem.

The PM nurse’s prediction did not happen. It was my answered prayer that prevailed.

There is nothing wrong with being confident in this life. But life is like a fog. Here now…Then…Poof!!! Gone just like that.

We easily forget that we don’t have a lot of time to live. We just don’t know everything that is about to happen. If we want to have a meaningful life, we must live each day for Christ! So that, no matter what happens, even if our lives end, then we will discover that we have fulfilled what His plan is for us.

“13 Look here, you people who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” 14 How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog --- it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. 15 What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” 16 Otherwise you will be boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.”
- James 4:13-16

So...now...what are you doing here still? Go tell your spouse, children, friends that you love them :) Give them a hug and a kiss. And spend each day as if it's the last. Lord, may we be aware of each passing minute. That every minute is so precious. May we not waste the time doing things that do not glorify you. Please give us the boldness to share Your gift of forgiveness to those who haven't known nor heard about it. May your will be done in my life, O Lord. Thank You for Your love and mercy. I love you Lord. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Empty Your Cups

“What’s the purpose of you asking that arrestee to lift up his shirt on the front and back and the pant legs?” asked a curious deputy working with me that night at the prison’s Intake. He was baffled that I did that though the man caught using marijuana denied any medical or mental history.

“It just became my habit,” I replied. “Most of them deny any vices. But from the past, when I asked some of them to do that, I usually found some needle tracks because some of them were using heroin.”

“That made sense,” replied the deputy with a smile. He started to walk away from my tiny clinic and never questioned me since. He just observed and trusted my ways of probing the newly-arrived arrestees, knowing that at times, I was using my instinct. [Spiritually, I call it ‘discernment’ from the Lord that I always ask for…].

And it wasn’t easy. Every time. To know that some of them were only telling half of the truth. To cover their crimes. Thinking that the cops would use their answers to press more charges.

“Tell me the truth,” I often uttered. “The cops who arrested you won’t use your answers against you. The info would be for the medical staff. So that if you ever go into withdrawal from using drugs or alcohol, we would know what to do right away to help you out,” I explained.

Some would obey. Some would remain hesitant because of fear. Some remained upset that they were being questioned in the first place. They would get up. Often with pride. And denial. Proud that they didn’t need to be caught. Because they claimed the use of “medical marijuana”. When they couldn’t even prove that they have severe health issues that required it. Denial - that it was still illegal.

“5 For I was born a sinner --yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. 6 But you desire honesty from my heart, so you can teach me to be wise in my inmost being.” - Psalm 51:5,6

God wants our hearts to be right with Him. No sin is too great to be forgiven! God can forgive any sin. That is…if our heart’s attitude is right…Our outward actions can never please God. For He requires a broken and repentant heart.

Psalm 51:17 - “The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise.”

Are you truly sorry for your sins and genuinely want to stop? That’s what God wants…I pray that you will empty your cups [hearts or your lives] and have them be filled with His love!

Do Not Just Strive For Excellence

I stepped out to the Intake yard to get some fresh air and get rid of the burning sensation irritating my throat and my lungs. The deputies just used the pepper spray to cease the fist fights that occurred in one of the sobering cells which contained 5 drunk bodies.

The big fan didn’t help to dissipate the choking smell. It had spread more. As I warned newly-arrived Highway Patrol troopers bringing in another drunk arrestee. That man hit himself with the handcuffs on his wrists, acting strangely as blood alcohol level was drawn by the nurse in a separate room, meant for that purpose. There was no injury but he etched a mild abrasion on his mid-forehead. As he was overcome with the stinging pepper spray smell, he started coughing. He became combative to our Intake deputies. He was dragged to another cell, as his screaming voice echoed in all the corners of the prison’s Intake.

“Nurse!” hollered the Intake deputy. “We need you to check that guy acting out! He’s bleeding!”

“Bleeding? What did he do?” I queried.

“I’m not sure,” answered the deputy.

I brought my equipment to check his vital signs, only to be surprised with the sight of scattered pools of blood on the floor. The inmate’s left face was covered with dripping bright red blood. Getting saline and gauzes to clean him up, I didn’t even notice that I accidentally stepped on one of the red puddles and the sole of my shoe was covered with that man’s blood.

I cleaned his face well. There was no open laceration. No swelling. The abrasion he caused to himself earlier became visible. I knew something happened but I couldn’t prove what was done to make him cooperate.

The man became sober after 2 hours. He never complained of any pain. When I rechecked his mouth when he was more cooperative, there was no active bleeding. All of his teeth were intact.

I knew there were 5 deputies in that cell when I got there. I wasn’t accusing any of them that someone or most of them did this injury to this man. Because it was also possible that the man did this to himself since he already hit himself with the handcuffs earlier. It would be hard to prove something when there was no clear evidence.

Those deputies might have done their best to pacify a combative man. But even if they did an excellent job of doing so, I wondered if someone or some truly followed the protocols given them in handling such things?



Not all of us are called to be missionaries.We may not be a missionary, true, but we are all called to be His ambassadors. We are asked to be obedient to what He wants us to do for His Holy Name.

When we start with the work Christ started in each of us, there is a fine line between doing an excellent work and being obedient. We must be careful that when we are opting for excellence, we are not doing the work for our own benefits. We are to glorify Christ in everything that we say or do. The truth about Him and in Him should not be suppressed just to protect our work or life-style. If we claim we are God’s people, let’s reflect the way God is like in everything. Let us not strive for excellence but aim for obedience instead. And that’s what truly honors Him. To me, that is excellence!

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” - John 14:15

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” - Luke 6:46