Same song as yesterday. Second verse.
I think it's important for me to tell you, right here at the start, that the guy I voted for (Mitt Romney) did not win, assuming there's no Dewey-vs-Truman-like reversal overnight. It's important for me to tell you that because I'm sticking to God's word from 1 Timothy 2:1-6 that tells me to pray for those with authority in government.
I was going to stick to God's word and ask you all to do the same, whether my guy won or not.
It's a call for us to recognize that, while we walk in faith, we have one foot in the earthly realm and two feet in the spiritual realm. Yes, I realize that's three feet. It's a paradox, of sorts, that reminds us that earthly government is just that, earthly government, with an earthly President, who needs our prayers.
None of us can fathom the pressure the President of the United States must be under day after day. Ultimately, every President counts on every able-bodied person to get up out of bed and go to work and produce something that contributes to our economy.
Even moreso, every U.S. President probably doesn't realize how much he counts on us Christians holding the line of the spiritual realm which totally works on principles of authority. And every Christian has a direct line to the One who said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:18).
The morale of this country is radically dependent on every Christian being Christian and, therefore, doing what Christians do, namely, believing. That means believing that, whether it's Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Kennedy, Reagan, Obama, or whoever as the name on the mailbox at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, that President is powerless unless God imparts the power.
Ultimately the God who sent His Son to our cross for our sin, and in so doing displayed his might and power over all creation, that God is calling the shots. Remember Psalm 127:1, "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain."
President Obama needs our prayers, not because he didn't get the vote of many people, including me. President Obama needs our prayers because he's the President of a country that on many counts is fractured and divided and has lost its soul by chasing after wind.
God help us.
God help the President.
And ya know what?
Throughout history, God has shown that He's ready to do just that--to help us and our President and any country for that matter. But God's made it clear in His Word that His help is tapped into through faith in that God, through prayer that really believes in the sovereignty of the God who's being prayed to, and through people who dignify those prayers by stopping their griping about the President and instead put all that energy into those prayers, into a good day's work, and into faithfully loving their family, their neighbors, and their fellow man like the LORD, Jesus Christ showed us how to do in the strength of the Holy Spirit of the Sovereign God.
So, here's ten truths to believe before and after breakfast, as we start today to restore this nation to its greatness--one God-fearing, Jesus-believing, Holy Spirit-praying, hard-working, family-and-neighbor-loving citizen at a time.
1. God is still on His throne.
2. Jesus is still The King of all kings and The Lord of all lords.
3. The Bible still has all the answers to every problem because God speaks through it to the heart of every matter, which is the condition of the heart of every man and woman!
4. The tomb is still empty.
5. Jesus is still The Only Way to Heaven.
6. Prayer still works and still makes a difference and is still answered by God if people will just pray!
7. The cross, not the government, is still our salvation as Jesus' cross sets us free to love our neighbor with the same sacrifice, persistence, and grace that Jesus loved us with on that cross.
8. There is still room at the cross for people to visit God and lay their griping sin at the feet of Jesus and ask Him both to forgive us and also to give us a new heart to joyfully conquer whatever comes our way today.
9. Jesus, who was raised up to new life, still saves anyone for new life (and saves anyone from the old life of despair and hopelessness and meaninglessness), who places their faith and trust in Him.
10. God will still be with us always - He will never leave us or forsake us - so we know that if God is for us, then who can be against us and prevail?
"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time." - 1 Timothy 2:1-6
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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