Political Strategy?

Proverbs 22:8

Whoever sows injustice reaps calamity, and the rod they wield in fury will be broken.

Political leaders often have ulterior motives for getting into politics; they want to have power over the people. They don't care about the populace, only their own advancement and wealth. So we have seen often in history that this Proverb has spoken truth: Those who have made laws to promote lifestyles that are against the ways God has made this world to work, have resulted in calamities that enable the rulers to take control over the people.

This often takes away the citizens' freedoms to worship, to defend themselves, to live out the lifestyles they believe are right for them, and have even been punished for obeying the customs of their beliefs. This is wielding the rod in fury. But we know that God will see that this rod of fury will be broken, when it has fulfilled His purposes.

We as God's people need to pay attention to what our "rulers" are doing in passing laws, declaring edicts, writing legal letters, judging according to precedent and personal preference instead of law, and otherwise going around the processes set out in our founding documents, to change the way this Nation exists in the World. 

When we as a people followed our founders and leaders who were righteous men, we experienced much prosperity, more so than any other Nation since Solomon ruled in Israel so long ago. We hear talk of Progressiveness that has spread so widely across this land, but what has this Progress brought us so far? It would not be going backward would it, to look back at what brought us prosperity in the past, and follow those ways? To look for men and women to lead us who understand how the political climate affects the common person, and will lead us back into the righteous ways our Maker and Designer has told us how to live? Then we can again experience the true liberty and peace we knew in the past.

This World system is racing toward the One World Government that will usher in the Man of Sin, the Antichrist. As God's people, we need to do all we can to promote God's Kingdom and His righteousness to thwart this evil System, in our own Nation (for our own benefit) and in the World. We need to be in prayer for this and other Nations, to return to the Right way to live and rule, and reap the benefits God has programmed into this Earth, and He will receive the credit, the glory, because He planned it so. Let's bring this about, even if it will be a brief episode, before the End of the Ages.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Never Die?

John 11:25-26

Jesus said to her, "I am the Resurrection and the Life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

Lazarus has died and Jesus is talking with his sister Martha. She thinks that He is talking about the Last Days, but Jesus refers to Himself in the present tense. Those who put their trust in Him and have died physically are still living in the spirit, and in the Spirit. And those who are still alive and put their trust in Him will never taste of death, but will pass from physical life directly into eternal, Heavenly life because Jesus has already tasted the death for each of us. 

This is inscrutable; how are we to understand this concept? It is beyond us. We can only accept this, along with all the other Truth in His Word, as we trust Him to be faithful and consistent. 

I don't require to understand something in order to trust in its truth; even in this world, I don't understand electricity, but I trust that my lights will go on when I turn on the switch. It's not magic, it's just something I don't yet understand.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Our Kinsman-Redeemer

Ruth 2:10, 12 (1:16-17)

Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, "Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?"

And why should my LORD God find such favor in me, one who was so far from the Kingdom of God and His righteousness?!

"May the LORD reward your work, and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge."

(Also:) But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried...."

Boaz recognized that Ruth had given up her whole culture in Moab to embrace the lifestyle and religion of Israel. And especially that she had chosen to worship the LORD God over the Moabite god Chemosh. And her embracing the LORD enabled her to be good to her mother-in-law, even after her husband died (2:11).

When I decided to search for the Truth, regardless of what it might cost me, I didn't realize that Jesus is the Truth (and the Way and the Life). So when God led me to Himself, He showed me that Jesus is my Redeemer, even greater than the Kinsman-Redeemer Boaz was to Ruth.

O praise our God for His love that is so much greater than any other love we may encounter in this world. Greater even than the Mother-love given to shelter and protect to propagate our race of Mankind on this Earth.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Our Heart, Our Life

Proverbs 4:23

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

My "heart" is not only the seat of my emotions, but it also affects my thinking processes and my actions. So my life flows from my "heart," similar to how my physical life, my blood, flows from my heart into every part of my body. Just as I endeavor to keep my heart and body in good health, so also I seek to fill my "heart" with God's agape love, that unconditional caring for others regardless of the cost to me. His love is the "blood" that flows into every part of my living; my decisions, my words and my relationships. To love God and love my neighbor is the fulfillment of all "the Law and the Prophets," the whole program and plan God has plotted out for us. 

Therefore, I will "guard [my] heart," to put into it only what is positive and good (see I Corinthians 13) and turn away from anything that is not true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good reputation, excellent or worthy of praise (see Philippians 4:8). Then I will know that the peace of God will settle any upheavals in my emotions and comfort me in the hard times I may face.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

To Be Blessed In What We Do

James 1:25

But one who looks intently --

To examine closely, deeply, which takes time and effort.

at the perfect law, --

This "law" we are to study is the Way God has designed this world to work and our response to cooperate with it. This would include all the laws, instructions, testimonies, ways, precepts, orders, statutes, decrees, commandments, judgments, ordinances, promises, the Word, the Path and the Utterance of God.

the law of liberty, --

This will free us to enjoy the benefits that this world provides.

and abides by it, --

Continually and habitually living each day in harmony with how this world works.

not having become a forgetful hearer --

Not forgetting to think in the heat of the moment.

but an effectual doer, --

Remembering to apply what we've learned of God's ways, instead of reverting back to reacting out of our fallen nature, relying on God's Spirit from moment to moment.

this man shall be blessed in what he does. --

Then God will bless us not only with the worldly rewards that will come as the natural result of operating with instead of against the way this world works, but will also grant miraculous results in answer to prayer, far beyond anything that we could imagine or think of. And He will receive all the Glory, the credit for designing it to work so well.

Whenever we buy a machine, an appliance or a vehicle, it comes with a book of "manufacturer's instructions" so we can treat it and operate it in the way it was designed to work, and get the benefits of it. Our Maker also gave us His Book, and when we "look intently" at this "perfect law," then we will be able to "connect the dots" to see the whole picture. Then it will be evident how we are to respond to it, by "following the directions," obeying the precepts and laws; by loving one another the way God has loved us. Simple is not necessarily easy.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Understanding The Big Picture

Psalm 119:104

From Thy precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.

God is the Maker and Designer and Builder of everything in the whole Universe--everything that exists. And He has given us His "Manufacturer's Instructions" in His Word, the Bible. This Psalmist has studied all the rules and regulations for operating this world correctly and been able to "connect all the dots" to see the Picture. This is his understanding. As a result of this understanding of how things are to work, he is able to discern that what doesn't conform to this program will be detrimental to it and to us. That is why he "hates" every activity, thought or word that is not in obedience to the Truth, therefore is "false." Falsity throws a monkey-wrench into the works.

This is also why I love to study God's written Word; so that I will recognize anything that doesn't agree with God's ways and avoid it.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Light And Darkness

Matthew 5:15, 6:22-23

Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the bushel but on the lamp stand; and it gives light to all who are in the house. --

This is what light does: it shines out into the darkness and chases the darkness away, filling the place of darkness with light, giving light to the whole house. The light overcomes the darkness.

The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. --

The eye that sees God's Truth clearly will give "light" filling the whole "body" with the goodness of God.

But if your eye be bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.

If the eye cannot see God's Truth, it will "see" all the lies and deception the world, the flesh and the devil pour out to disguise and obscure the Truth.

If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

So if what you consider to be light (Truth) really is darkness (lies and deception), and the darkness is acting like light in you, then the darkness will be spreading extinguishing whatever pockets of Truth that were there, deepening and taking over the whole person. The darkness will overcome the light.

This sounds so seriously drastic. I want to continually question what I consider to be Truth in my life, to make sure it conforms to God's Truth in His Word, to stay in the Word to study and apply God's principles in my daily living and in my relationships with those God has placed in my life. I want His Light to overcome whatever darkness still lurks in my heart.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!