Let’s Build A Fortress of Fortitude and Gratitude Together

August 23, 2026

I saw Jesus in the garden again. He grabbed my hand, pulled me in close to sit down, then He tightly embraced me. I just love Jesus’ embraces, guys. He has the best embrace.

I had been anxious with so much on my heart and feeling a bit weak from my self-denial. As soon as He embraced me, I just let go into His embrace.

And Jesus began:

“Much will be revealed to you and your beloved during this fast. Thank Me now for hidden revelations and understanding of many things being given to you.”

And as aside, family, I know we’re all called to do the 21-day call to prayer for America and fasting. But as I shared with you, guys, I got sick with malaria and another infection. And both medications took me all the way actually up until I think about 21 days. So I wasn’t able to fast and pray with you guys. I was able to pray but not fast. So I decided I’m going to just do a 21-day fast after this to really press into the Lord, and again to pray for our nation and to pray for mercy with this escalation of the Iran war.

So this morning when I came to see Jesus, I literally was shaking, my body was just craving for food. I was like, “God, help me please. Flesh, I am not going to give in.” and that’s when Jesus embraced me and everything changed and He began to speak to me. So I said, “Thank you, Lord, so much.”

Jesus continued,

“Thanks and praise is another weapon you can use to form against the attacks of the enemy. It’s a gateway to My heart, beloved. So many don’t thank Me enough for what I have done. That is human nature, so fickle, so easily moved and selfish. Being God, I am rather hated by much of My creation. And in My humanity, I rather long for the sincere love, adoration and gratitude from them instead, especially My intimate friends. You cannot imagine what your worship, love, your gaze does to Me. It heals the wounds of My heart. Love cannot be true love unless it can be wounded. So praise Me, My beloved brides, and thank Me. Continue on with the gratitude list you started.”

And as aside, family, it’s true for the past couple of days, I’ve been feeling just a surge of thanksgiving and gratitude and rather than soaking or being self-pity, complaining, immediately I just started praising God for what He’s done, what He’s doing, even for the trial, the situation. I’m like, “this is new, Lord, my flesh has never done this and I love it.” Because I’ve been praying and asking God for such a grace of gratitude, because I can be so ungrateful, guys, and God has done so much.

And I was before Him in the night adoration and I took my old journal, and I just decided to get a Rhema, opened up and at the top, it said, ‘gratitude list’. And I was just speaking to a sister in Christ, giving her counsel as a penance that she should also make a gratitude list and that even in the mission house, the Lord said that we should do a gratitude box where we can write down answered prayers, write down things that He’s done what we’re grateful for that day, and it’s just a grateful gratitude box for anyone who enters the mission house. So that in the moments of discouragement, despair, in the moments of what we can’t see ahead of us, we can just open the box and remember what God has done. And I just said that to her the day before and then I opened my journal and I forget I did a gratitude list in 2025. It was up to 24 things I was grateful for.

And as I was reading them, I realized, “Wow, God, You’ve answered all of these. Thank You so much, Jesus.” And so the Lord is asking me to add on to the gratitude list that I began.

And He continued, “Now looking back, you can clearly see My faithfulness from just one year. Continue on with this exercise and continue to teach others as you have done.  This is a written testimony that you can pass on even to your children and the next generation as you document the smallest answered prayer and being very grateful for the smallest change you see. A war is not won by one blow but many battles, one at a time.

Fasting is another way to do violence to the flesh and to take the kingdom of heaven by force. Your flesh dies when you fast and pray. Quite literally, toxins in your body which were once prevalent come out. And so will the demons that come with them. Preserver in this, beloved, no matter how difficult it gets. This pleases Me very much. And you are contending for many things I will be given to you.”

“And Jesus, sorry I was unable to come back to You.” So guys, I got cut off here. Disruptions and distractions happened. So I had to come back to the Lord a bit later. And so I came back to Him to finish the message.

And I said, “Jesus, I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to come back You right away, but I’m here now.”

And Jesus responded,

“Can you feel the grace working through you?”

And I was like, “Wow, Lord, I really can.” And as an aside, family, I just pulled the rhema that said, If you work with the grace that I am giving you right now at this moment you will be able to build on a new foundation right now, wishing you and all My brides who will cooperate with My grace moment by moment.”

“I would like to finish the message I started in giving you and share with My brides a power of gratitude. You have been thanking Me a lot lately.”

“Yes, Lord, because I feel different. I’m so sorry. Also help me to thank You when I am also feeling down. Is that the new foundation You’re building in me?”

“Yes, Beloved, fortitude and gratitude. They work hand in hand. When a soul is fortified in Me, they are simply fortified. I become their fortress, their stronghold, and strong tower. Not just a refuge when things get difficult, but I become the place in which they dwell, and that means whatever may come their way, they are not moved because they are secure, hidden in Me. Though the storms may come, the waves may crash, the wind may blow, the fire may rage, they know they cannot be harmed to destruction. They are steadfast with a will like iron, submitted to Me, not easily bended, swayed or even dismayed. But it’s a gratitude that builds up the fortress which becomes fortified in a soul.”

And all of a sudden, guys, the passage of ten lepers flashed in my mind. And I realized, wait, I got that reading in my Lord’s supper a few days ago, it was one of the many readings in the pages that I opened up in the Bible. And I just picked a different passage or a different scripture, but I realized maybe that’s what the Lord actually was trying to show me at that time. And it was Jesus heals 10 men with leprosy.

Luke 17:11-19

Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

“Yeah, Lord, I always wondered about the ten lepers, 10 got healed but only one came back to thank You, it was never mentioned what happened to the other 9. Did they lose their healing because of the lack of gratitude? Or what was the moral of that story for us besides just being grateful for You healing us or touching us?

Jesus responded, “They didn’t lose their healing at that time, but they all went back into sin and vices, which led them to get the leprosy. So they became eventually sick again because of those vices.”

And I meditated on the Scripture again, reading the passage. I see it says they were all cleansed as they went to do what Jesus instructed. So on their way to see the priest, they were healed right away. Praise God. It would make sense for you to turn back if that was you, right? Having leprosy on the way to do what Jesus instructs, you’re healed. However when the Samaritan came back to thank Jesus, Jesus not only said he was clean but that his faith had made him well.  So that stuck out to me like, okay, well, the others had got clean, so what was the difference? But Jesus said he was made well. And I looked it up, ‘to be clean’ means your body, surroundings are free from dirt, germs and mess. But ‘to be well’ means you feel healthy and strong, balanced in your body and mind. So the Samaritan’s soul was transformed, not only his body. That’s why Jesus said he was made well.

Jesus continued,

“The one who came back to praise Me and show forth gratitude for the healing, he was transformed. His gratitude, led him to always be reminded about God’s great mercy towards him and God’s great love. That revelation and knowing in his heart kept him fortified from falling into more sin and vices. He continually praised God afterward throughout his life for what had been done that day and taught others to also praise and worship Me through gratitude for the littlest of things.

Gratitude builds up so much in a soul. It rest on the faithfulness of God the Father, on His kindness, goodness and mercy. Gratitude gives a soul strength in all their undertakings and is transformational. It births songs, praise, hymns, and declarations and from your mouth. And whatever comes out doesn’t return void. So when a soul complains, from the lips comes forth a negative declaration and the demons feed on that. They know how to make you more miserable, so they heap on more assaults and torments which causes a soul not yielded to Me, to complain even more. Then before you know it, the soul is in a prison of ingratitude and bitterness. But when you praise Me and are grateful even for the hardships and the blessings you have, you built a throne of praise in which I sit, having dominion over all your enemies, in which I am truly and deeply consoled by the love, worship and gratitude of just one soul. Returning their love back to Me, admit what they are going through and what they are feeling.”

Psalm 22:3 Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.

“Finish the gratitude list, beloved. And for all My brides, I encourage you to make your own gratitude box or list, whichever suits you. Write down the times I have been faithful, when I have answered your prayers and what you are grateful for, it will bring a paradigm shift upon you all, which many of My brides need. You will see the power of gratitude work in your life and your faith grow and your confidence in My faithfulness, that you can trust Me and I am a good Father, a good spouse, and a very good God.”

That was the end of Jesus message.

Amen, praise God. Family, may the Lord continue to give us the grace of gratitude and to keep it. “Please help us, Lord, to keep it, especially in trials.”

And as an aside, family, we’re headed towards the end of the month, and our donations are just a bit low, just to provide for a few things that we need to cover before we go into the next month. So any amount that you’re able to give or donations you can give would be such a blessing to us. God bless you, family, until the next message.

And family, I want to share a passage from Mother Angelica’s book of life lessons about the gift of the Holy Spirit, fortitude. As Jesus is speaking that gratitude builds the gift of fortitude in all of us. And I think you guys will really be blessed by this passage.

So she says here the third gift of the Holy Spirit given to us at baptism is a gift of fortitude. It is very powerful.

To have fortitude is to have courage. But courage for what? Fortitude to my mind is very akin to faith. Because I must sincerely believe that Jesus is Lord before I have the guts to do what a Christian must when everyone is doing something else. I must have the courage to stand alone, to be willing to be called a fanatic or to leave my family and all my possessions for the sake of the kingdom. Not everybody is called to that. For some, the greatest penance is staying where you are. But it takes a lot of courage to stay and still be what God wants you to be.

The fortitude that the Spirit grants us is much greater than a conviction. It’s a drive. Our Lord had it in spades. When He was travelling one day with the apostles, He said, “I have a baptism by which I must be baptized.” And how I am constrained until it is accomplished.

Luke 12:50. Meaning He could hardly wait for that moment. He would redeem us. That is fortitude. A Christian’s never really afraid of persecution. He’s constrained until it occurs.

You know, our Lord said some very odd things. The beatitudes are the wildest things in the whole wide world. He said, “Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calamity against you on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.” Matthew 5:11&12.

Now we come to the thing that keeps most of us from sharing this gift of fortitude, human respect. I know what God wants me to do or say at this moment, but I’m afraid of so and so. Now, some say we have to be prudent, but one thing we have too much of today is prudence. We are all so careful. I don’t think people have to worry about prudence. Do you notice how you are hemmed in by human respect? You’re so afraid of what other people will say or think or feel that you deny God His will. With the gift of fortitude, you could care less. There’s only one thing in your mind, to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him at this moment.

Look at Peter in the courtyard. He was terribly concerned about what those people in the courtyard thought of him. He didn’t want them to know that he was a follower of that man. What a perfect example of human respect. In order to prove to these people that he did not know the man, he swore and cursed. He became what they were so they would not think of him as one of the 12. He descended to their level out of human respect. What a magnificent example of change. Peter had very weak faith. But after Pentecost, he is the one who goes out and preaches the word without fear. The cord that held him down all his life was broken, thanks to the gift of fortitude.

The mission given to him by Jesus was everything. The gift of fortitude makes us persevere in holiness. It gives us the strength to forge ahead in the face of opposition and weakness. It gives us supernatural endurance and a spiritual daring.

St. Paul in 2 Corinthians describes it this way: we prove we are servants of God by great fortitude in times of suffering, in times of hardship and distress. When we are flogged or sent to prison or mobbed, laboring, sleepless, starving, we prove we are God’s servants by our purity, knowledge, patience, and kindness, by the spirit of holiness, by love free from affection. 2 Corinthians 6:4 and 6.

Fortitude is not only accepting the cross that God gives you, it is to empty yourself and to be unashamed that you love Jesus. This is a gift we must pray for every day. For when we lack fortitude, we lack hope, faith, and love. We need to tell the Holy Spirit, “let me know the Father as He is. Let me love Him as a child. Let me love my neighbor in the same way You love me. That let me be strong no matter what anyone says or thinks or does. Let me persevere. Let me be unashamed that I’m a Christian.” Amen.