{"id":2633,"date":"2025-12-01T05:54:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T10:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/?p=2633"},"modified":"2025-12-01T06:20:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T11:20:02","slug":"what-does-turning-swords-into-plowshares-look-like-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/2025\/12\/01\/what-does-turning-swords-into-plowshares-look-like-today\/","title":{"rendered":"What does \u201cturning swords into plowshares\u201d look like today?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Many people shall come and say,
\u201cCome, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.\u201d
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.

Isaiah 2:3-4 <\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Attending church on the first day of Advent was a true blessing! Fun fact: Advent means season of waiting (the return of Christ. <\/em>The Sunday school lesson was entitled Swords into Plowshares. We always have a great Sunday school lesson with lots of heartfelt dialogue but today\u2019s lesson was not only thought provoking but it really motivated us to think about how we could use the gifts and talents that God gave us to do \u201cour Fathers business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a part of the discussion, we talked about some events that happened last week and over the course of the weekend. There were several house fires, various shootings, and other traumatic events that took place. Outside of these horrific incidents, there were also some positive things that happened that are worth mentioning in today\u2019s blog. By having this round table discussion, we saw how our youth are really soaking up the teaching not only from church but from what starts at home and how they take beyond the walls of home or church and into their community and the school house. Believe it or not there is a monumental shift going on in our communities and the initiative is being led by our young people, prayed for by our adult leaders, and being supported in organizations like CBF of South Carolina. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A family consisting of 3 generations had a game plan to support the \u201cunseen population.\u201d If you have ever been to Soda City in downtown Columbia, I\u2019m sure you know that it is jammed packed with people. Amongst the vendors, shoppers, animals, missionaries, you have a growing population of unhomed persons or persons in transition. Often times these people are ignored, overlooked, or simply forgotten. By the grace of God, it was the mission of this precious family to not only allow these folks to know they were seen but that they were loved, children of God, and they too had a bright future! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not only did they provide physical nourishment but they met other needs as well like providing jackets, blankets, hand written notes of encouragement but they had a time of fellowship and worship. It\u2019s one of the most beautiful things I\u2019ve ever seen done as a family. It wasn\u2019t for the glitz and glam, the hopes of going viral by demeaning the very population they wished to help, or to get a bunch likes on FB\u2026no it was about seeing a need, meeting the need, and using their \u201csword\u201d to break down negative stereotypes, barriers, and more. I encourage you to look at the featured picture of the day as an example of what this precious did out of pure love. If you take the time to read the handwritten card, you will see the love, compassion, and kindness shown from these young people (simply amazing)!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Or I think about the young man who was so excited to celebrate his birthday with friends at a local trampoline park but due to an unforeseen situation, he found himself on the side of the road in a deserted area looking for help. He could have easily showed his natural brown skinned butt out of frustration for this situation messing up his plans but instead he prayed and trusted God. In the end, the family stumbled upon a park where the young man was able to go fishing. He didn\u2019t have a fishing rod, bait or anything\u2026he walked on the pier with nothing in his hand but he was determined to make the best of the situation. He was content knowing that despite the change of events, he was still going to have a blessed birthday. And so he did! He could have used his \u201csword\u201d to mock his mom or blame his mom for his misfortune but instead he lightened her load by being content and grateful for the experience God allowed him to have. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
My Sunday School book says: Isaiah says God promises not only to instrict humanity in peace and justice but also to redeem all the tools of war and even the knowledge of war. It goes on to say that the tools should be used to growing and harvesting which represents abundance and regeneration verses pain and toil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are both perfect examples of how we must turn our weapons into tools that build and not destroy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we know or may have experienced, there are folks who have great intentions but don\u2019t feel empowered, they are distracted, or lack the confidence necessary to be set apart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
God designed us to walk on our Christian journey with others. You ever heard that saying,\u201d you can\u2019t do life alone?\u201d Well just like you can\u2019t do life alone, we are not designed to walk alone in our faith. He places people in our lives like Malachi, Elijah, Kami, Jacob, James, and others who allow God\u2019s spirit to flow through them so beautifully. Their servant hearts are courageous. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m sure we have all had enough of politics- God wants us to shift our focus on how we can help our sisters and brothers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are so many ways we could think of turning our weapons into peaceful tools, could you think of any to share or some type of feedback that will benefit those of us who are wish to cancel out negativity, hate, etc.?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Many people shall come and say,\u201cCome, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,To the house of the God of Jacob;He will teach us His ways,And we shall walk in His paths.\u201dFor out of Zion shall go… Read moreWhat does \u201cturning swords into plowshares\u201d look like today?<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"What does \u201cturning swords into plowshares\u201d look like today?","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27],"tags":[54],"class_list":["post-2633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-getting-rid-of-the-extra-baggage","tag-godknowsitall","content-layout-excerpt-thumb"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2638,"url":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/2025\/12\/08\/navigating-through-the-impassible\/","url_meta":{"origin":2633,"position":0},"title":"Navigating through the impassible.","author":"Whitnee","date":"December 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Insert from my Sunday school study guide Yesterday at church we had our Christmas Cantata. The narration was done eloquently by Mrs. Sharon and the musical selection Mr. Joe selected was absolutely brilliant! I thoroughly enjoyed the medleys, solos, and Christmas songs that point us all back to Jesus. With\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Finding Peace"","block_context":{"text":"Finding Peace","link":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/category\/peace\/finding-peace\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/the-nursing-child-dhall-play-by-the-cobras-hole-and-the-weaned-child-shall-put-his-hand-in-the-vipers-den.-they-shall-not-hurt-or-destroy-in-all-my-holy-mountain.png?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/the-nursing-child-dhall-play-by-the-cobras-hole-and-the-weaned-child-shall-put-his-hand-in-the-vipers-den.-they-shall-not-hurt-or-destroy-in-all-my-holy-mountain.png?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/the-nursing-child-dhall-play-by-the-cobras-hole-and-the-weaned-child-shall-put-his-hand-in-the-vipers-den.-they-shall-not-hurt-or-destroy-in-all-my-holy-mountain.png?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/the-nursing-child-dhall-play-by-the-cobras-hole-and-the-weaned-child-shall-put-his-hand-in-the-vipers-den.-they-shall-not-hurt-or-destroy-in-all-my-holy-mountain.png?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2423,"url":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/2024\/06\/13\/what-is-your-word\/","url_meta":{"origin":2633,"position":1},"title":"What is your word?","author":"Whitnee","date":"June 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"1 Samuel 8Israel Asks for a KingWhen Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel\u2019s leaders.[a] 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Strength"","block_context":{"text":"Strength","link":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/category\/strength\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2411,"url":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/2023\/12\/05\/words-of-encouragement-for-the-hopeless-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":2633,"position":2},"title":"Words of encouragement for the hopeless one.","author":"Whitnee","date":"December 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I got up shortly after 2am to start my day as I have for the past several weeks. After the fresh, brisk air hits me and I re-enter the house, a sense of tiredness normally comes over me. But not this morning. 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It\u2019s kind of an oxymoron when the medical staff tell you to rest. I mean how can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"#TrustGod\"","block_context":{"text":"#TrustGod","link":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/tag\/trustgod\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/img_0910.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/img_0910.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/img_0910.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/img_0910.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/img_0910.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2070,"url":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/2022\/08\/29\/have-i-truly-slowed-down-to-listen-to-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":2633,"position":4},"title":"Have I truly slowed down to listen to God?","author":"Whitnee","date":"August 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"After the Praise & Worship team had blessed us all on yesterday with Madison singing the lead on \u201cGod of possible\u201d, the man of God blessed us with a wonderful message entitled \u201cA Call to Listen.\u201d If you haven\u2019t gotten a chance to listen to Madison sing her little heart\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Listening to God"","block_context":{"text":"Listening to God","link":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/category\/listening-to-god\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/bd2130ff-77e7-4882-bca2-7d27f7d99e8e.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/bd2130ff-77e7-4882-bca2-7d27f7d99e8e.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/bd2130ff-77e7-4882-bca2-7d27f7d99e8e.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/bd2130ff-77e7-4882-bca2-7d27f7d99e8e.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/bd2130ff-77e7-4882-bca2-7d27f7d99e8e.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":526,"url":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/2020\/01\/20\/we-shall-overcome-1-20-2020\/","url_meta":{"origin":2633,"position":5},"title":"WE SHALL OVERCOME. 1.20.2020","author":"Whitnee","date":"January 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. would you please join me in singing We Shall Overcome by Louis Armstrong. The lyrics can be found here. There is still a great work to be done and thanks to people like Martin Luther King Jr. who have traveled the path to\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbfCFX-Gt","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2633"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2635,"href":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633\/revisions\/2635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}