The 2012 elections are coming up and the believers in my church are pressing in and praying urgently about the upcoming elections: who we should vote for, for God to raise up Godly representation in all areas of government, that the body of Christ would humble themselves and pray for the future of our great nation. We pray for city officials, state officials, and national officials. Our agenda? We want, we hope, we proclaim the Christian Foundation that our nation was founded on. We want the God of Heaven and Earth to be the very core of our existence in this great nation. We want to bring back the Godly morals and principles that this nation was formed upon. We want our Christian values and heritage to stand--not to be stripped away from us one amendment to the constitution at a time.
I am studying the book of Daniel. Daniel 2:21 says, "God removes kings and raises up kings." Daniel 1:1-2 states that God delivered the King of Judah into the hand of the King of Babylon. And Jeremiah 27:5-6 says, "By My power and by My outstretched arms, I give to whom it seems proper to Me. I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon, My servant." God used a gentile King to deal with the sin of the Israelites by raising him up to conquer and suppress the Iraelites. God was looking forward to the day when the Israelites would recognize their blatant sins, repent and turn back to the God who had delivered them into the promised land. He was waiting for the day when they would recognize that the God of the Israelites was not one God among many other Gods, but to recognize that He alone was God and there was no other. He was waiting for the day when they would recognize not only their need of Him, but their love for Him as well.
I am thinking that God still uses Kings, or Presidents, to bring a sinful nation into repentance. To bring a nation to an understanding that this life we are living is not all about us, but is instead all about a life in relationship with the Creator God of the Universe. God is calling us to humble ourselves and pray for this nation. To recognize that this nation did not reach the situation it is in overnight. We have been complacent when laws were changed; when we did not step forward and fight because that particular law did not affect us; when we allowed our freedoms and rights to be stripped away because we were only paying attention to our own little world.
Now is the time to rise up: to pray and intercede for our nation. Now is the time to stand firm: to do what is right no matter the consequences. Now is the time to return to God: repent, and live a life fully committed to Christ.
God loves us and wants only the best for us. I am reminded that God corrects His children because of his great love for them (Proverbs 3:11). Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, "I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me, and you will find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."
Friday, May 4, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Walking with God
While in prayer the other day, God brought to my attention the passage in Genesis 3 where God walked in the garden in the cool of the day. (Gen 3:8) When I looked it up, it said that Adam and Eve heard the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid themselves from God because they were naked. They hid from God because they were naked, not because they feared God or because He startled them, but because of the shame of their sin. They must have been accustomed to seeing Him in the garden; they were not afraid because they saw God, or because He was unknown to them.
I am reminded of other people who walked with God in Genesis: 5:24 Enoch walked with God. 6:9 Noah walked with God. 17:1 Abram walked with God. 24:40 Abraham walked with God. 48:15 Abraham and Isaac walked with God.
What does that mean that they walked with God? Adam and Eve physically walked with God in the garden, the other men spiritually walked with God. Enoch was so close to God that God took him to be with Himself, not waiting for Enoch to physically die.
I have spent the past month walking with a friend 3 days/week. We usually spend an hour together, sometimes a little more. What I have learned by walking is that you can not just walk. It is a natural extension of the walk to talk, to share concerns, to share frustrations, to share dreams, to share memories, and to share your life. I am forming a bond and a friendship with my friend that will be very difficult to break. As we share our lives, I can't help but leave our time together thinking about the things we have discussed. These thoughts lead me to pray for her, to encourage her, and to long for more time to spend with her. Walking with her allows me to know her in a way that would have otherwise been impossible.
I think walking with God as these men and women did describes their personal relationship and commitment to Him. They could not wait for more time to be spent with God. God was not some far off deity, but a real person whom they could talk to: to share their concerns, frustrations, dreams, memories, their thankfulness, and their praise.
As I grow in my walk with Christ, I find that I too cannot wait another day, another hour, another minute, or even a moment to be with Him. I find myself talking to Him, pondering things with Him, and eager to read His word and find out more about Him. I am not claiming to be "walking with Jesus" just as the men and women in Genesis. My walk is my own. But, I will claim that as I pray, and read, and understand the word of God the more time I want to spend with Him; I cannot be satisfied with a once a week bit of ceremony that takes place in the church. I want to walk with God every day and I won't settle for less.
I am reminded of other people who walked with God in Genesis: 5:24 Enoch walked with God. 6:9 Noah walked with God. 17:1 Abram walked with God. 24:40 Abraham walked with God. 48:15 Abraham and Isaac walked with God.
What does that mean that they walked with God? Adam and Eve physically walked with God in the garden, the other men spiritually walked with God. Enoch was so close to God that God took him to be with Himself, not waiting for Enoch to physically die.
I have spent the past month walking with a friend 3 days/week. We usually spend an hour together, sometimes a little more. What I have learned by walking is that you can not just walk. It is a natural extension of the walk to talk, to share concerns, to share frustrations, to share dreams, to share memories, and to share your life. I am forming a bond and a friendship with my friend that will be very difficult to break. As we share our lives, I can't help but leave our time together thinking about the things we have discussed. These thoughts lead me to pray for her, to encourage her, and to long for more time to spend with her. Walking with her allows me to know her in a way that would have otherwise been impossible.
I think walking with God as these men and women did describes their personal relationship and commitment to Him. They could not wait for more time to be spent with God. God was not some far off deity, but a real person whom they could talk to: to share their concerns, frustrations, dreams, memories, their thankfulness, and their praise.
As I grow in my walk with Christ, I find that I too cannot wait another day, another hour, another minute, or even a moment to be with Him. I find myself talking to Him, pondering things with Him, and eager to read His word and find out more about Him. I am not claiming to be "walking with Jesus" just as the men and women in Genesis. My walk is my own. But, I will claim that as I pray, and read, and understand the word of God the more time I want to spend with Him; I cannot be satisfied with a once a week bit of ceremony that takes place in the church. I want to walk with God every day and I won't settle for less.
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