The Next Step...

The 2008 presidential election has now been decided and Barack Obama has been chosen to be the next president of the United States.  For some, there are many "why's" or "why did God let this happen?" or even other thoughts and questions along this line.  The answer (or at least part) to these questions may be found in history.

First, let me say that I do not personally believe that the collective decision made was God's best, but I do believe that it was a decision made by a people whose eyes were blinded or who refused to see.  And as I was leaving school and even afterwards, I was reminded of various examples given to us in the Old and New Testament.

Do you remember when God brought the people out of Egypt?  What was HIS plan?  It was to bring a people, the Israelites, out of bondage and slavery into a land flowing with milk and honey - the promised land.  But did the perfection of that plan come to pass?  No.  Was it because God failed at His plan?  Not at all.  It was because the people, of their own free will, made various choices that prevented them from walking in the perfect plan of God and receiving all that God had for them.

I then thought of how, later on, Israel again made some choices that were not really God's best.  In 1 Samuel 8 we see a situation where the people decided (collectively) that they wanted a king - they wanted to be like the other nations, and they voiced this desire to Samuel.  Their request did not set well with Samuel, so he went before God and God told Samuel in verse 7, "...Hearken to the voice of the people in all they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not be King over them."  Again we see an example where the people of a nation had a choice to make, but the choice they made was not God's best.

Another example that I thought of was that of Jesus Christ.  He grew up and at around age 30, began to walk in the manifest plan that God had for His life.  For three years He went about doing good - preaching the Gospel to the poor, healing the brokenhearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, setting at liberty those who were oppressed and proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord (Luke 4:17 - 19).  And what was the response of the people (those in a majority) to Jesus and the good works that He did?  Based on the great things that He did and the love and compassion that He showed, one might think that He would have been embraced and that the people would be for Him.  But this did not happen.  Instead, the "people" said to crucify Him, and they did.

I have shared three different stories (examples) of the results of people's choices.  And I believe that in all three examples we see that the collective decisions made were by people who did not give regard to God and made carnal choices.  I also see another side of all the stories - what I would like to call, "But God..."

In the first story where Israel was brought out of Egypt, there was a "But God..." moment when those led by Joshua and Caleb were led into the promised land - to the land flowing with milk and honey.  And what happened after the Israelites received a king?  Well, it did not start out too well, "But God..." - God raised up King David, who was a man after God's own heart.  And in the last example the people appeared to have put an end to God's plan, or so it seemed to our enemy, satan.  "But God!"  You see, even then, at that place where it seemed as if satan himself had finally defeated God and His plan, God had a greater plan called Redemption and this plan was fulfilled in the resurrection of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We even learn in 1 Corinthians 2:8, that if they would have known, "...they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."

I know that this is a little longer blog, but I want to encourage you by saying that we all have been given free wills - the ability to make our own choices and decisions.  And sometimes there are collective decisions made that seem to defy what God may want or even go against His Word.  Even so, God has not fallen off the throne and is not panicking over the decision made (and in this case, I am speaking of the presidential election).  I believe there is a "But God!" moment around the corner.  No, to many it may not seem that way and yes, there is a great possibility that in the natural we will see the world seemingly grow darker and darker.  (Actually, the book of Revelation says that this will happen)  But as the world does grow darker, we, God's children (the true Body of Christ) will grow brighter and brighter and a great harvest of souls will be brought in.

Yes, we can easily become discouraged by the collective decision that the people of the United States has made, or we can choose to embrace the "But God!" and walk in obedience to the plan that He has for each of our lives.  This is a choice that we each have to make.

One last thing... OK, so it's really four...  :-)

As born-again believers and children of God...

1) Remain in and act upon the peace that God has put inside of you

2) Remain in and walk in the love that God has put inside of you

3) Pray for our President (both for President Bush now and for upcoming President Obama) - pray for our leaders and their salvation (if they are not already born again)

4) Pray for our nation

We cannot afford, especially at this time, to walk in anything but God's love.  Jesus even told us in John 13:35, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."  Let His love shine and let His light shine, because when people see Jesus, the Jesus inside of us, they will be drawn to Him and be saved.  Remember, the fields are white unto harvest...

In Christ's love,

konya

Dirty Laundry

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood.

The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.

'That laundry is not very clean', she said.  'She doesn't know how to wash correctly.  Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.'

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash out to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband, 'Look, she has learned how to wash correctly.  I wonder who taught her this?'

The husband said, 'I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.'

And so it is with life.  What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look.

The Jesus Inside of Us

Yesterday I took a little hike at Garden of our God (had to change the name to this) and went in an area that I had not previously explored.  It was a great time of meditation and hanging out with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

During this time, I also worked on an assignment that we have for one of my classes.  We are studying prayer and each day we will take one hour of the day and divide it into 12, 15-minutes segments (a prayer wheel).  Each of these segments is a separate entity of prayer and we begin and end with the same one - Praise.

As I was going around the wheel, I found it difficult to stay on track with the "5 minutes" and so my hour was more like two hours, but this is a good thing.  When I arrived at "Thanksgiving", there was so much to be thankful for - for provision, salvation, the air we breath, the birds that were singing in the nearby tree, the trees for the birds, the rocks and the boulder that I was seated on... on and on the list could go.  Then I started thinking about the various people that God had placed in not only my life, but the lives of others.  I started specifically naming the persons that I believe the Holy Ghost was bringing to my remembrance and thanking God for those qualities and attributes that made them who they are.

At one point I stopped and tears started to roll down my cheek.  The Holy Spirit was showing me the face of one particular person whom God has used to show me the truth, that when we are born again (come to personally know Jesus as our Lord and Savior), Jesus resides in us and we in Him.  I know this may sound "foreign" to some, but it is the Truth.  If you read the book of Ephesians, you see that there are a lot of "in Christ" or "in Him" Scriptures.  This is describing our position - in Jesus.

How does this relate to this person?  Well, a couple of weeks ago during one of our classes, I went to thank them for something they had done for me.  When I did, I looked into their eyes, but I did not see them - I saw Jesus - His compassion, love, kindness, goodness, warmth, beauty, etc.  I felt kind of strange because I did not want them to think that I was starring at them, but it seemed that I could not stop starring at the Jesus inside of them.  I really appreciate seeing the attribute of humility and the strength that it affords.

This is challenging me.  Do the people around me see Jesus in my life and in my eyes?  Can they see His love, His beauty, His passion, His compassion, His gentleness, His humility, His strength, etc.?  What do people see when they see me?  Or instead of seeing me, do they see past the external and see Jesus?

I believe that as we better understand that we, when we are born again, are changed and given the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22 - 23 - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  These are not attributes that we are trying to obtain, but attributes (qualities) that we already have.  So I am not trying to get love, but I am (and do) release the love of God that is already inside of me.  And it's great to know that I am not lacking in what God gave me, but have all of the love that I will ever need because He already put it all inside of me.

Remember... when people see Jesus, they get saved.

Matthew 5:13 - 16, "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality), how can its saltness be restored?  It is not good for anything any longer  but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men.  You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a peck measure, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.  let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven."

Have a wonderful week!

I love you,

konya