"Fight On!"

I was contemplating our nation's last presidential election, and thinking about how we elected a man who is against quite a few of the things that are good and godly.  He is for abortion and gay marriages, he seems to be against Israel, and his ideas for our economy are totally "out-there."  I know that I need to exercise my right to vote, but more importantly, I need to pray!  For all of our country's faults and ungodliness, we still are blessed to live in a nation that allows us the freedom to worship and to serve our God.  I was reminded to be thankful to the Lord for being a US citizen, but also to remember that I am to speak the truth at all times. The battle that is being waged against godly values will continue until the day that Lord comes to take us home, But I am not to ever give up fighting for those values; therefore I must be about the Lord's work, I must be watchful in my prayers, and I must look for every opportunity to share with others how blessed I am to serve and be loved by Jesus.

Psalm 149:6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand.

A Time Like This

I was reading in chapter four of Esther this morning, the part where Mordecai is encouraging Esther to take a stand for her people.  Esther was afraid and rightly so.  If she chose to take a stand for her people, it would mean that she would need to tell the king that she was Jewish too.  Therefore, not only was she was putting her own life on the line by going to see the king uninvited, but the decree to exterminate the Jewish people would include her too!  Being the queen would not save her life!  As I read how Mordecai encouraged Esther to choose to save her people, I was reminded that I need to be this kind of help and encouragement to those around me.  Many times when a loved one is going through a difficult situation, or is faced with a life-changing decision to make, I will have a tendency to ask God for a quick and easy solution to their problem.  I forget that God is glorified as His servants go through difficult times.  It is so easy to allow myself to forget that I am to pray that they are strengthened for the trial, that God would show Himself strong to them; and not to just pray that the trial goes away.
There will be times that a loved one will need to decide if they are going to obey God or not.  So often in these times there are "extenuating circumstances" that make the correct choice hard to see, and even more difficult to make.  I can sympathize with this, for often this choice is mine to make too.  Still, God requires us to speak the truth, He asks us to be willing to make the hard choices, to be willing to obey no matter what.  God asks of us to encourage our loved ones to make the choice to choose the call that is placed on their life.
Mordecai told Esther that she alone needed to decide what she was going to do, Mordecai could not make the decision for her! Just as Mordecai encouraged Esther, I am to point others to Jesus!  He alone can give them the courage to say, "Yes, LORD."
I will close with a sentence that I have written in my Bible next to this passage in Esther.....
"Let us not weaken those whom we love by weak sympathy, but let us love them enough to detach them from ourselves and strengthen their hands in God."

Waiting on God

Do you ever wonder why God waits to answer you?  Are there times that a reply to a prayer seems long in coming?  Does it seem that the heavens are bronzed over, and that silence reigns?  I have found that unanswered prayers, are just that, unanswered prayers.  So, I need to keep on asking!  The Bible teaches me that God hears every word, every thought of mine.  Jesus Himself taught us that when we ask anything according to His will, we have what we ask for.  Prayer is to be something that I do without ceasing.  It is the way that God set up for us to communicate with Him.  God knows all things, and yet He asks us to talk to Him. It is for our benefit that we are to be in constant communication with our Heavenly Father.  I know, from past experiences, that I tend to try to live my life without God's help.  I was reading this morning in Job and Isaiah, and the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart about this.  I so often think that I know what is best for me, I tend to think that I can do it on my own.  But, God is faithful to use my everyday life to show me that I should not be doing so. 

Job 35:10–14 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night,Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, And makes us wiser than the birds of heaven?’ There they cry out, but He does not answer, Because of the pride of evil men. Surely God will not listen to empty talk, Nor will the Almighty regard it. Although you say you do not see Him, Yet justice is before Him, and you must wait for Him.

Pride in my heart keeps me from going to the Lord, I think that others can help me, I think I know how too solve my problems; these things keep me from going to God.  So often the answer to my prayers tarry, because God is teaching me just that!!  Gos alone knows what I need, God alone knows what is best for me, God alone can change my world.