Monday, October 24, 2016
Pray Strategically For Specific Individuals In High Places
Here is a note I wrote on my Facebook Page, 'Pray for the church and Pray for the country'. Someone recommended that I put it into a blog, so here you go!
We need to be praying for our nation, obviously, but, how can we pray more specifically, and even more, how can we pray in detail for people/situations without being 'judgmental'. This is something I have struggled with for years, and I know others do as well.
There is a network of people who plan to expand our government and ultimately take away the freedoms of the people. This is how communism always started as well as other tyrannical governments. The people were entertained with other things and didn't pay attention to what was going on in the political world. Now, many are paying attention but it seems like it is too late or too hard for any change to come about.
We can pray for everyone to come to know the Lord. But even better than that, we can pray specifically for people we know to come to know the Lord. I think this applies to the political world as well. We can pray for peace in our nation, and that our leaders will make wise decisions, but, if we have a chaotic leadership, can that happen?
Maybe if we pray prayers like those in the Psalms, that would be effective. Perhaps if we prayed for specific people, God would work either to redeem those people or to stop them in their evil agenda.
So, let's pray for people by name, and situations as well, that God will intervene and show His mighty power. Our futures are at stake as well as the futures of our children, grandchildren, and other descendants.
Put in the comment box any names that come to mind and if you have any prayer leadings for these people, please put those as well.
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Which Is More Important; Politics Or My Relationship With God
Somehow, during this particular election season, I am finding it easy to become distracted. It is way too easy to get wrapped up in politics and forget about the things that are important.
I am an analytical type of person and I try to make everything fit into a logical equation. I find myself studying what the politicians are saying, what the media is saying, and how everyone is thinking on the issues of the day, yet, these issues are becoming more important to me than studying Scriptures.
We can spend hours analyzing the whole political realm in every way possible, yet, miss the whole point of why we are here.
I think it is time to go back to spending time with God and listening to what He says about life. I am not saying we should ignore what is going on in the elections or in politics, but I think we need to be careful to not become wrapped up in it.
In life, something will always captivate us. God wants us to be captivated by Him. He wants us to build our relationship with Him, and not lose sight of who He is. I know for me, I need to pull back on the time I spend watching or listening to the news and concentrate on the things that are important.
We can't do anything now about the elections. We have two candidates running and one of them will be elected to the office of president. We need to be praying for our country, and especially for our local churches. We need to be praying for the body of Christ in this country.
If you are one to share the Gospel message with people, you will quickly see that there are other Gospels out there that are not the right one. They might not be blatantly wrong either. With the philosophy of our culture mixed with a weak Gospel, we have many confused on what God is saying to the church in this country.
If our churches are healthy and the people are growing spiritually, it will be reflected in our society. But when there are people who will argue with you about how God is all loving and all forgiving while they sleep around or have an abortion, the church is not healthy. We need help. We need to turn to the true and living God on His terms, not on ours.
This is why we need to be praying for our churches and for our country. God changes things when we pray. He will either change circumstances or He will change us, and we will become conformed to the image of Christ, which is beautiful in His sight.
I am an analytical type of person and I try to make everything fit into a logical equation. I find myself studying what the politicians are saying, what the media is saying, and how everyone is thinking on the issues of the day, yet, these issues are becoming more important to me than studying Scriptures.
We can spend hours analyzing the whole political realm in every way possible, yet, miss the whole point of why we are here.
I think it is time to go back to spending time with God and listening to what He says about life. I am not saying we should ignore what is going on in the elections or in politics, but I think we need to be careful to not become wrapped up in it.
In life, something will always captivate us. God wants us to be captivated by Him. He wants us to build our relationship with Him, and not lose sight of who He is. I know for me, I need to pull back on the time I spend watching or listening to the news and concentrate on the things that are important.
We can't do anything now about the elections. We have two candidates running and one of them will be elected to the office of president. We need to be praying for our country, and especially for our local churches. We need to be praying for the body of Christ in this country.
If you are one to share the Gospel message with people, you will quickly see that there are other Gospels out there that are not the right one. They might not be blatantly wrong either. With the philosophy of our culture mixed with a weak Gospel, we have many confused on what God is saying to the church in this country.
If our churches are healthy and the people are growing spiritually, it will be reflected in our society. But when there are people who will argue with you about how God is all loving and all forgiving while they sleep around or have an abortion, the church is not healthy. We need help. We need to turn to the true and living God on His terms, not on ours.
This is why we need to be praying for our churches and for our country. God changes things when we pray. He will either change circumstances or He will change us, and we will become conformed to the image of Christ, which is beautiful in His sight.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Why We Are Having A Civil War In America Today
"The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ThereforeGod sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 ESV
Why is there so much chaos in our country today? More puzzling, why is our country moving at great speed toward destruction? I think the answer can be found in passages of Scripture, such as the one above.
We live in a time where evil is promoted as good, and good is promoted as evil. Good appears to be too restraining to those who live in darkness.
I ask myself questions like, how can a presidential candidate who is running for office get away with the criminal activity she has committed and, at the same time, be the one who has the highest vote count from those who are likely to vote. Don't people know that this woman is untrustworthy to be our next president?
It is like we live in two different countries, but in the same land. There are those who are older and learned History fairly accurately, and who know the difference between good and evil, light and darkness, and truth and error. But there are those who seem to think that these people are foreign. They have a way of thinking that leads to the belief of entitlement. They would think that those who have convictions of what is wrong are simply being intolerable. Yet, this is the same group of people who claim that people should not be intolerant. Go figure.
So, we have a woman out there who has done actions that would clearly deem her as unfit for a president of the United States. Yet, we have people who want her in. We don't even know for sure, but, there may even be cheating in the voting system that will help her to win the election.
On the other hand, we have a man who has been viciously accused of similar crimes, yet, there is no clear evidence of his actually doing these crimes. For example, he is accused of being a bigot. For the life of me, I could not figure this one out, until I realized that he is being accused of bigotry because he wants to keep illegal immigrants out of the country, and he wants to build a wall so that criminal immigrants can't come in. One of the more recent things I heard him being accused of is that he was wrong to use the word 'bomb' in a New York explosion. It really was a bomb, and the female presidential candidate also used the word 'bomb' as she discussed the issue. But no accusations were sent her way because of using the word 'bomb'. Interesting.
According to society, we can't have boundaries. But those who don't want others to have boundaries, have their own boundaries. If you have boundaries, chances are, they don't think you should. Because your boundaries are crossing over to their boundaries (creating a rule that you shouldn't have boundaries is violating their boundaries!). So, if I know the Bible says that a man cannot be married to another man, and that marriage is made up of one man and one woman, I am crossing over the boundaries of others if I hold to that conviction (even if I do not do anything to harm the gay couple).
You and I can't have boundaries. But those who make up that rule can and do have boundaries. Another perversion that comes from perverted people (perversion is simply saying that what is good is really evil, and what is evil is really good. It is the result of people being turned over by God to their own wickedness).
What is interesting about this is that the woman presidential candidate wants these illegal immigrants to come in and will make laws to enable them to be here. This is another boundary issue that today's culture does not understand, unless, of course, their boundaries are being violated.
If this woman is elected into office, it will help pave the way for those who believe that abortion is acceptable, and that men and women can live together outside of a marriage relationship, and that a man can live with another man and call it a marriage, and that whatever we deem to be inconvenient, we can get rid of, no matter who it hurts or how destructive it is to another person. But, on the other hand, if a person has convictions based upon Scripture, that is a different story. They will need to be done away with, according to those who support this woman presidential candidate.
I am also amazed at how a man who is running against this evil woman is condemned as a criminal and deemed unfit as a potential president of the United States of America. But, on the other hand, why should I be surprised. The media has power and they are part of society that has turned their backs on God and God has turned them over to their wickedness. They can enjoy it now, but they will ultimately perish because of their wickedness unless they repent.
Talking to these people is unproductive. Unless, of course, God is working in any of their hearts. You could say to them, 'the sun is shining' (if it is a sunny day) and they will insist that it is raining. Society has taught them to believe whatever they want to believe, and that is their truth. So, if they want to believe that a marriage made up of two women is good, then you cannot come against what they want to believe in, not even if it is in the Bible. (Did you know that in some states, you cannot counsel a person who is a homosexual from the Bible?)
If our country continues to go in this direction, we can look forward to losing our freedoms. There was an act passed in the 1950's that limits the political activity of churches. It is called the 'Johnson Act'*. The presidential candidate who is being slandered and called by many names unfairly, is going to repeal this act, should he become president. The act was a piece of legislation championed by President Johnson, probably because of the perceived threat from his opponent who was supported by groups such as churches. It was designed to prevent churches and other groups from having the ability to endorse people who are running for whatever political role they are running for.
"For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen." Romans 1:21-25 ESV
So, are we hopeless? We will be hopeless if all we do is complain about how bad things are. Praying sounds so trite. It sound too simple. There must be a more complicated answer than this, many people think.
Praying and fasting are spiritual weapons that we use against the devil and the world. God can do wonderful things if we trust Him for them. We all know that the Bible says that God can move mountains. When we think of those verses though, the Enemy comes in and reminds us of the prayers that God did not seem to answer. Then he says to us, 'if God didn't answer those prayers, how could you expect Him to move mountains?' The devil always lies to us to try to get us to not trust God.
The word of God also is a spiritual weapon against the Enemy. The more we feed upon the word, the more we will know God. The more we know Him, the more we will trust Him. The word of God brings faith to us. Faith is a shield that protects us from the Enemy's darts.
If we look at the Bible, all throughout the Bible, we see God doing wonderful, unbelievable things. But again, we reason within ourselves that God was doing such and such during certain periods of time. He is not doing those things today. The supernatural left us when the Bible was finished, or when the last Apostle died. But does this make sense? All throughout Bible History, God did great exploits for those who believed. In the future, God will be seen in His majesty and those who know Him will be involved as well. But during this time that we call the 'church age', God is silent? Why would God be so powerful for thousands of years, and continue to be powerful throughout eternity, but skip this period of being powerful and majestic that we live in?
Could it be that we have been duped by the devil? Remember, he is crafty and will shoot us with arrows that are specifically designed to destroy us and our faith and trust in God. We need to go back to the word of God and be praying for our country, for our families, for our churches and pastors, for our neighbors and co workers, for our relatives and friends, for those who are being held hostage, and for the lost who are continuing to go to their destruction.
It's time to 'pray for the church and pray for the country'. No more listening to the lies of the Enemy, whatever they are that he wants us to believe.
* http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jul/22/donald-trump/donald-trump-correct-lyndon-johnson-passed-legisla/
What is interesting about this is that the woman presidential candidate wants these illegal immigrants to come in and will make laws to enable them to be here. This is another boundary issue that today's culture does not understand, unless, of course, their boundaries are being violated.
If this woman is elected into office, it will help pave the way for those who believe that abortion is acceptable, and that men and women can live together outside of a marriage relationship, and that a man can live with another man and call it a marriage, and that whatever we deem to be inconvenient, we can get rid of, no matter who it hurts or how destructive it is to another person. But, on the other hand, if a person has convictions based upon Scripture, that is a different story. They will need to be done away with, according to those who support this woman presidential candidate.
I am also amazed at how a man who is running against this evil woman is condemned as a criminal and deemed unfit as a potential president of the United States of America. But, on the other hand, why should I be surprised. The media has power and they are part of society that has turned their backs on God and God has turned them over to their wickedness. They can enjoy it now, but they will ultimately perish because of their wickedness unless they repent.
Talking to these people is unproductive. Unless, of course, God is working in any of their hearts. You could say to them, 'the sun is shining' (if it is a sunny day) and they will insist that it is raining. Society has taught them to believe whatever they want to believe, and that is their truth. So, if they want to believe that a marriage made up of two women is good, then you cannot come against what they want to believe in, not even if it is in the Bible. (Did you know that in some states, you cannot counsel a person who is a homosexual from the Bible?)
If our country continues to go in this direction, we can look forward to losing our freedoms. There was an act passed in the 1950's that limits the political activity of churches. It is called the 'Johnson Act'*. The presidential candidate who is being slandered and called by many names unfairly, is going to repeal this act, should he become president. The act was a piece of legislation championed by President Johnson, probably because of the perceived threat from his opponent who was supported by groups such as churches. It was designed to prevent churches and other groups from having the ability to endorse people who are running for whatever political role they are running for.
"For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen." Romans 1:21-25 ESV
So, are we hopeless? We will be hopeless if all we do is complain about how bad things are. Praying sounds so trite. It sound too simple. There must be a more complicated answer than this, many people think.
Praying and fasting are spiritual weapons that we use against the devil and the world. God can do wonderful things if we trust Him for them. We all know that the Bible says that God can move mountains. When we think of those verses though, the Enemy comes in and reminds us of the prayers that God did not seem to answer. Then he says to us, 'if God didn't answer those prayers, how could you expect Him to move mountains?' The devil always lies to us to try to get us to not trust God.
The word of God also is a spiritual weapon against the Enemy. The more we feed upon the word, the more we will know God. The more we know Him, the more we will trust Him. The word of God brings faith to us. Faith is a shield that protects us from the Enemy's darts.
If we look at the Bible, all throughout the Bible, we see God doing wonderful, unbelievable things. But again, we reason within ourselves that God was doing such and such during certain periods of time. He is not doing those things today. The supernatural left us when the Bible was finished, or when the last Apostle died. But does this make sense? All throughout Bible History, God did great exploits for those who believed. In the future, God will be seen in His majesty and those who know Him will be involved as well. But during this time that we call the 'church age', God is silent? Why would God be so powerful for thousands of years, and continue to be powerful throughout eternity, but skip this period of being powerful and majestic that we live in?
Could it be that we have been duped by the devil? Remember, he is crafty and will shoot us with arrows that are specifically designed to destroy us and our faith and trust in God. We need to go back to the word of God and be praying for our country, for our families, for our churches and pastors, for our neighbors and co workers, for our relatives and friends, for those who are being held hostage, and for the lost who are continuing to go to their destruction.
It's time to 'pray for the church and pray for the country'. No more listening to the lies of the Enemy, whatever they are that he wants us to believe.
* http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jul/22/donald-trump/donald-trump-correct-lyndon-johnson-passed-legisla/
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