I’ve been looking at the movie ‘Seabiscuit’ every weekend. One of the main characters a jockey, was abandoned by his parents when he was about 14 years old. They promised to contact him again, but never did. His anger was obvious as he began to try to navigate his way around life. A person who cared for him finally asked, ‘what are you so mad about?’ And, obviously he had not taken the time to confront this issue. He became a heavy drinker and was quick to take up a fight. But, after this question was posed to him, one gets the impression that he took a trip to find his parents and get straight a lingering disappointment, a lingering hurt. After he returns, his peace comes forth and he becomes focused and starts to ride with purpose and begins to win race after race. What lingering disappointments or hurts are holding you back? With God’s help, confront them and leave the past behind. Then you’ll begin to go forward without baggage and without hurt. You’ll start to become who you were truly meant to be and do all that God has called you to!
Sitting at His Feet
It is Sunday morning and normally I would have gone to church today but I was feeling kind of rundown and tired and really wanted to have a ‘quiet’ day before the workweek starts. So, I’m around the house praying and listening to what God might have to say to me. For a long period, I had a government job in which I was paid decent money. (Not much faith needed in that area when I know I’ll have a really steady income every two weeks that will meet my needs. I left there partly to explore other things, to learn to live by faith even more and have more time. This is related to the final point I want to make in this post. And, some things didn’t work out the way I wanted them to. But, back to this morning as I was praying, I was walking around the house and tidying up a little bit. I needed $5.00 to pay a bill that is due on August 6th. Once before, I had read about an evangelist who never asked people for money, but always took his request before God, and God always met the need. I liked that. It takes away the stain of ‘preachers just want your money’ and causes you to realize that God really does answer prayer. So as I was cleaning, I had an old bill fold that I had dug out previously and thought I had looked through it thoroughly. But, for some reason, I just wanted to look through it again. And, in the first zipper, I discovered that there’s some money in here. Mind you, I thought I had looked through these compartments before. There was a $5.00 bill in there which is exactly what I needed. Now, that’s a little thing, but there’s a lesson in this. If we are quiet before God, ministering to Him, and waiting on Him, many times our answers are right before us. God wants us to sometime be more like Mary who was not too busy, and wanted to sit at Jesus’ feet and Jesus said, “Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.’ There’s no telling what kind of surprises are awaiting us as we sit at his feet…..
The Real Answer
Considering the way we discuss and dissect our political system and its’ lawmakers, we must surely believe that the answers to our nations problems are buried somewhere in the depths of its working – otherwise, why examine it so carefully? In order to have any healthy society, there must be laws, government and order. However, if the laws of the land do not have the Bible as its foundation, there will be no peace or healing in our land. Both of our major parties tout some basic policies which they believe are key in causing our country to become all that it can be. However, conservative values don’t necessarily equal a heart that is tender and yielded to God. Neither does a policy of helping everyone necessarily mean a heart that is tender and yielded to God. Many good works and/or ideologies are sometimes based on our own righteousness, our world views, the way we were raised, and these are not necessarily linked to a love of God and His order. Am I saying that there are no politicians who are truly not trying to honor God with their service? Absolutely not. However, I do believe that even well-intentioned people can get so caught up with what they think is right that they become rigid and not necessarily open to the will of God in an issue. And, sometimes their opinion can become an idol in their heart – it can hold supreme place even above the Bible. It seems that politicians who boldly declare scriptures and political beliefs based on the word of God are rarely elected. Mike Huckabee, for example, just didn’t declare conservative values, but he declared his love for God very openly and directly connected his campaign with his walk with God. He didn’t go very far. Sure, there are politicians who occasionally declare their trust in the Almighty or ask for His wisdom, but they don’t openly and frequently directly link their faith to their policy making. In one of our local elections, one of the candidates’ ads had very strong ‘Christian’ overtones to it – not just conservative values and some of the language eluded those who are not Christians. It shows you just how secular our country has become. I don’t think that we need politicians who are always preaching the Bible in public or quoting scriptures, after all, they are not preachers. But, we do need politicians who spend quality time with God, who seek the wisdom of God in fasting and praying, and who allow the spirit of God to deal with them in their personal lives. When Nehemiah in the Bible first heard the news of the conditions of the Jews at that time, he didn’t call a meeting; he didn’t even begin to ‘do’ anything; He ‘heard these words, and sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.’ That kind of brokenness before God is what we really need. Our own wisdom and learning can only take us so far. I’m sure that there are politicians who do those things, but the purpose of this paper is to shift our focus from dependence on government only to a total and complete dependence on God first. For those who believe that one can compartmentalize their lives – let’s look back at the story of David and Bathsheba. This story is a reminder that what you do in your personal life can and does affect policy making. Anyone familiar with the story knows that David had one of his chief officers killed to hide his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba. We’ve seen similar stories in our modern day politics. Proverbs 29:2 says that ‘when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.’ We need men and women who are more interested in pleasing the Lord first. I understand that when you are voted into office, you want to represent the ideals of the people who put you there. But, what if the people are asking you to vote for things that directly contradict the word of God? What will you do? Practice politics or uphold the standard of God? Just maybe politics and Christianity will never be able to mix. The nature of politics is compromise; but God’s word cannot be compromised. In politics, you seek to please people, which as I said before, may not necessarily be pleasing to God. In Christianity, you seek to please God first. Let’s look at just a little history of how this has evolved. In the history of Israel, there came a point in which the people no longer wanted God, the prophets and the judges to rule over them, but they desired a king like the other nations. God knew that it was a direct affront against Him and that is what he said in 1 Samuel 8:7 ‘ And the Lord said unto Samuel, hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto you: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” And, certainly we see this in our day – no prayer in school, no 10 commandments in state buildings, no more Merry Christmas, but happy holidays. You could not pay me enough to be a politician – too hard trying to please everybody, and if you’re pleasing everybody, you may or may not be pleasing God. We, politicians and their constituents, all need to refocus our trust from politics to the living God. John 15:5 says ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me , ye can do nothing.’ We as Christians, should do as 2 Chronicles 7:14 says ‘If my people, which are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.’ Let it not be said of the United States as it was said of Jerusalem by Jesus ‘ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee: how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!’ Behold, your house is left unto you desolate : and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.’
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