Seriously, a political post - from me?

Oh dear. 

I don't speak my views on FB or Twitter on politics very often, or at all.  I talk about Jesus, because I am deeply in love with Him.  I talk about God because He has always been Faithful to me.  He is good and everything He does is good.

I will not be sharing who I am voting for here.  So, if you are curious... well, you will just have to stay that way.  I will not be condemning you for how you vote either.  I will not stand before God for you, nor will you stand before God for me, so in those things, I say - you must vote your conscience.  If you have a clear conscience before God, then you should vote according to that - and I would caution - only according to the whole Word of God.

Here are the top three things I hear that I despise.  Truly, I despise these things when I hear them:

1.  "I am voting for the lesser of two evils."  What does God think about that?  Not that I know the mind of God - His ways are not my ways, and His thoughts are far above my own.  But, I don't think that He distinguishes the lesser of two... I think He just calls all evil, evil. 

2.  I don't want to "throw my vote away", so I have to vote for one of the two main candidates.  When you stand before the Lord, you will not give answer for who was elected.  You will give answer for who you voted for.  Did you choose God's man - based on the things you can't see on the outside, or did you choose the one that looked so good on the outside, but who had already been rejected by God?  Surely, my vote will not get the man elected President - but  when it was time to appoint a King, after Saul had grieved the Lord and lost His annointing, God had Samuel go to the House of Jesse.  He said that the new King would come from that family.  When Samuel asked Jesse to bring out all of his sons, David was not among those standing there.  For all practical purposes, he was a "throw away vote".  Samuel went down the whole line of sons - and God spoke very clearly that the one He had chosen was not present.  So, Samuel asked Jesse - do you have any more sons?  Jesse then sent for David and we know the rest.  God does not get swayed by the media.  Nor, does He go with the popular vote.  David was smelly, tending sheep in the pasture.  Likely, he needed a good scrubbing - and he did not appear to be a strong King.  Yet, God set His endorsement on David, even calling him a man after God's own heart.  Whew.  I'll take THAT endorsement ANY day over the endorsement of the media, or any other man.

3.  "I am just not going to vote."  The one thing I will tell you is that we are responsible to do that which we can to contribute to the fate of our nation.  I have but one vote, but I do believe it is my moral responsibility to use that vote and to the best of my ability cast it for God's man.  Not the man that professes with his own mouth to be a Christian... who will ultimately lead millions to Hell.  Nor the man that cares not for the sanctity of human life.   But, for the man upon whom God has given His approval.

Search it out for yourself.  Do the research and come to a place that you can stand confident in your decision.  There are not only two candidates - no matter what the media says.  Don't complicate something that God has made simple.  God does not hold us responsible for the fate of our nation and the result of the election.  He only wants our faithfulness for that which we possess - our vote.  

I know this topic can be "heated" - however, this blog is not the place to bite or devour one another based on your beliefs and opinions.  Please do not tear down a person or a candidate here.  I will remove that type of post.  This is not for us to judge one another.  Simply be concerned with your responsibility and leave it to the One who can judge fairly for everybody else.  And that is all I have to say about that!! :)

Love y'all... 
   

they will know we are Christians by our love...

Some days you know just what to expect. 

You wake up, get ready for work, hurry everyone out the door (with their shoes on, hopefully), and head off to start your day - just like normal.

Some days, you are caught off guard.

You wake up, get ready for work, hurry everyone out the door (shoes are all on) and when you get to work you find something you hadn’t expected.  An envelope of blessing.  An envelope with your name on it, with something that meets a deep need inside. 

I can’t imagine my life without God.  Honestly, I know it was HIS Spirit that laid it on someone’s heart to drop that precious envelope in the mail slot at my work.  No way for me to repay - or even thank.  Just an envelope, filled with a blessing for my family.  God is amazing - and His people who allow themselves to be used as His hands and feet with no way to be known, well that just is summed up like this.  “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  John 13:34-35.

A disciple is one that follows after and models the behavior of their teacher.  That is my definition.  But, you get what I mean. 

Jesus always saw the need - the broken place, the thing that other people didn’t see from looking at the outside.  He saw their deepest point of need, and He met people right there.  Today, Jesus is not walking on the Earth.  But, when He went to Heaven, He sent “The Counselor”  the Holy Spirit to guide and lead us.  Now, every Believer has that Spirit inside.   Every believer has access to “insider” information.  When we walk in step with the Spirit, He whispers things to us ~ and if we listen we can be a blessing to other people.  That is what happened in my day - first thing today.  Someone was listening, and God spoke to them a deep need in our family.   How cool is that? 

It is sometimes really difficult to remember that He sees it all.  God knows every cry of our heart.  And, He always wants our good.  In fact, Psalm 119:68 says “He is good and everything He does is good.”  There is nothing bad in His character.  Nothing.  He is good.  The thing is, He sees the things we cannot.  He knows four days from now, four years from now, forty years from now.  He knows.  We can only see today and that which is behind us.  When we focus on our situation, it distorts everything, much like a fun-house mirror.   But, when we focus on who HE is - even in the middle of our situation, it brings a truer image.  That is when we can trust, because He is altogether trustworthy.  Perfect love casts out all fear.  If we could understand that He loves us perfectly, we would not be afraid - ever.  We would remember that He never sleeps, He never slumbers.  He never stops seeing our deepest need. 

This was the second time this week that someone in my life - another believer (actually 2) - reached out and blessed my family in an extremely tangible way.  They had no idea how desperate the need was.  They couldn’t have.  But, my God knew - He saw  - and He acted on our behalf. 

I desperately want to be so in tune with the Holy Spirit, so in tune that I could be used in a tangible way every day to meet someone right at their point of need.  It is within the realm of possibilities - because Nothing is impossible with God. 

Today, ask God to give you insight into someone’s life - ask Him to reveal ways that you can be a blessing to others.  You were created for a purpose.  We all have a purpose - but if we focus on ourselves we will lose our destiny.  We will miss out on the opportunity to fulfill that purpose.  Live with a purpose.  Make decisions to ask the One who sees everything what He has that is good for you - even if you feel like it doesn’t make a lot of sense.  Tell a stranger that they are beautiful.  Pay for the person’s coffee that is coming behind you in the line if you are able to.  You won’t regret it.  And, don’t forget to give the reason for the Hope that you have.  :)

If, by some slim chance my friends who have blessed my family just this week read this... I want you to know that I am praying a blessing over you - a hundred fold.  God has seen- and He has your reward, a reward far greater than I could repay.  I praise Him for your obedience.  I praise Him for you.  He is altogether good to me.