When I created this blog + my agency’s website, the spam emails came in so fast it felt unreal. Anyone who has ever built a website knows this all too well. Fake inquiries, odd links, suspicious messages, all from bots scanning the internet for an open door.

I had no choice but to learn how to install reCAPTCHA properly (the little "I'm not a robot" verification thingy). The process took me so long and it was frustrating, but leaving these sites unprotected was not an option.

I immediately saw the spiritual connection in the way darkness roams about, patient yet quick to pounce. It waits for tiredness, distraction, or whatever we forget to reinforce. Always scanning and ready to slip in through a small gap.

The bots continue to evolve, so reinforcements are not just a one-and-done deal. Just like how Scripture calls us to pray without ceasing.

There are many days when prayer feels just as tedious as these reCAPTCHA / firewall setups. A discipline my flesh would rather postpone. But every time I lean into it, everything shifts. The noise settles. I can tell what is from God and what arrived simply because I left a door open.

Eden itself had a boundary. God did not create life and let it be, He placed it within order, care, and protection. Adam was instructed to "work it and keep it". In the Scriptures, the word keep is translated to the Hebrew word: Shamar.‍

Shamar means to hold something close to the chest. To cherish, treasure and protect at all cost and without hesitation. A deep and committed "keeping", as deep and committed as God's love for God's children. (שָׁמַר): It implies watching over, guarding, protecting, tending, and exercising great care.

What you've been gifted by God cannot grow in an unprotected place. Reinforce the gate, & guard the garden. Work it and Keep it well.

When the spiritual spam appears, press into Christ. He becomes the verification that filters everything else out😉. There is a firewall God places around those who belong to Him. Prayer strengthens it. Obedience reinforces it. Discernment keeps you alert.

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Related Scripture
Genesis 2:15
1 Peter 5:8
Proverbs 4:23
Ephesians 6:18
Nehemiah 4:9