I recently had coffee with a friend who is standing as a candidate for one of the smaller parties in her region. From the outset of our meeting, I braced myself against being influenced by her passionate and charismatic persuasions.
I had my own understanding of politics locked down. Politics and religion do not go together. The Government and the church must be kept separate. As long as I uphold God’s standards of morals and ethics in my life and my family, I am ok.
And of course I would still pray for our country. That our leaders will turn to God and govern us in a way that is void of corruption and full of love.
I am not big on politics at all, but I am seriously grieved by the state of our nation and even the world.
Usually, I do what most people do who have very little understanding but who still want their vote to count.
I put my mark alongside the greatest opposition party who seems to be less corrupt, even if I do not agree with their laws, moral and ethical beliefs.
And yes, there is logic in this strategy – if I am going on the wisdom of man.
But can I truly stand behind a party that does not align themselves with God’s purpose and plan for humanity?
Surely then, I would simply be supporting a different party with a different set of problems. We would still fall under a law that is immoral and ungodly even though it may hold a more attractive appearance.
During and after my catch-up with my friend, I could not shake the feeling that my stand (and understanding) was a bit off kilter. Is my strategy really in line with Gods will?
It’s ironic that I will pray for Gods guidance in almost every aspect of my life and yet I never think to pray for Him to guide me in who I should vote for in the elections. Surely this is one of the biggest decisions and influences I can have in the country in which I live.
So, with a tad hesitancy and a hint of skepticism, I prayed and asked God so show me His expectation of me with regards to this highly sensitive vote that I would soon have to take.
As usual, the Lords showed up and slowly and gently led me to a greater understanding of His purpose and plan for His people. Over the past few days, he has spoken to me through journaling, past experiences, revelations, reading the word, confirmations and correlations.
I believe that this is a message that God wants me to share.
Journaling
This has always been my most intimate way of hearing from God and is therefore my first port of call when I am looking for answers. These were the words that I received ….
“My child, I will navigate you through these things. I do have a plan and a will. I do not like compromise. It is important to absolutely stand for what you believe. I am the ultimate God and the ultimate law-maker and it is my desire that all man live according to my laws. It is my will that the world is filled with love and ruled out of love. It is good to live according to my will in your own life, but my picture is bigger than that. I want to see all people saved. All people given an opportunity to know me. It is not right for man to put his broken and warped rules and beliefs on a populace. That is not my will. My desire is to put Godly morals and standards in place. I am in charge of governments and galaxies. If all who know me stood up and became accountable and listened to my voice and my prompting, we would find peace and love and joy in our land.
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14
Past experiences and revelations
Several years ago, I was faced with a situation where I needed to complete a visa application form for a last minute government funded trip to Australia. I was completely floored when I came across the question ‘Have you ever been deported?’ My truthful answer would be in the affirmative because I had been deported from London about 10 years prior for working illegally, which most South Africans did do, but I got caught. I was advised by colleagues and Christians to just say ‘No’ because it was so long ago. Even the British embassy advised me to lie. Telling the truth will just open up a can of worms, they said.
But when I prayed about it I felt so convicted that I just could not lie. I could not sign my name with such intentional deceit. The morning on which the forms had to be submitted, the Lord reassured me of his faithfulness by giving me this scripture; ‘Ephesians 1:20-23 The Message (MSG). At that moment, I knew, that I knew, that I knew that I had to be honest and trust the Lord for a good result.
And there was a great result. I received my visa with no questions asked. That is power over governments and galaxies.
20-23 All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.’
And right at the end of the passage, we can see that believers, Christians, the church of Christ – we are the Lords focus. We are central! The world and everything in it, is peripheral to ‘Gods People’. He loves his people. He wants what is best for his people. He empowers his people. He works miracles through his people. He can bring about change through his people.
Do you know that 80% of the voters in SA declare themselves to be Christian. That means that they believe in God and have a basic understanding of what is good or bad in His eyes.
The bible tells us that ‘God works all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to His purpose’.
So we need to ask God what His purpose is?
And we need to be prepared to hear from him and follow His purpose and plan for our lives.
Reading the word;
A few days later, I opened my bible to read from 1 Samuel 4, which was where I left off before the school break. I wasn’t expecting to get any answers through this specific word, but as I read the passage, God opened my eyes to see that this story held so much truth for a time like ours.
The setting is a conflicted land, where Israel is at war with the Philistines. Eli was a priest and judge in Israel, but God was unhappy with his unruly sons who were rogues and had no respect for the Lord. Eli had also been warned by a man of God, that he gave his sons more honor than he gave the Lord.
Now Israel had been defeated by the Philistines so they decided that they must take the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord into battle with them and then they would surely be victorious. But despite the presence of the Ark, the Philistines were successful yet again, this time slaughtering 30 000 of the Israeli soldiers. And taking the Ark captive.
Why would this be? The Lord had led the Israelites to victory over their enemies so many times before. God’s power and presence was supposed to go with the Ark.
But in this case, the elders and Eli’s sons, decided to plan their own victory. They did not ask God for His wisdom or presence or protection. They did not pray. They were they living in obedience to God or even being mindful of God.
They just wanted to use the ‘Ark of the Covenant’ for their own gain.
They were listening to man rather than God. They were using the wisdom and logic of man rather than God. They went into battle on their own accord and came to a dreadful end.
We know that God has the power to bring about victory. And we know that it is Gods desire to see His people victorious.
When God called his people into battle, Gods power brought them victory every single time.
We need to ask God to shut out all the other voices and noises that we are hearing, that are cluttering our lives and leaving us feeling frenzied and disorientated. We need to find a place where we can hear Gods voice.
Then God can lead us in how to vote in these upcoming elections. He wants to walk with us, into and through this battle. He wants us to be victorious.
Confirmations and Correlations;
Our small Bible Study group has been doing a study on the book of Revelations and I have felt so compelled to write about how this teaching has impacted my life and awakened an understanding of God and his compassion for humanity. You may have thought that it is all about doom and gloom, but it is really about God trying to reach out to humanity in spite of their adamancy to ignore him and even declare that he does not exist.
But this is all in line with scripture which tells us that we are living in the 7th age which is the Last Age.
I am sure that you yourself have said that we are living in the end times.
It certainly feels like that to me.
This is the age of indifference. The 7th letter is written to the church of Laodicia which means ‘Power to the people’. If you look at our world today, people are completely self- absorbed, money hungry, self-promoting, stuck up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, course, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. That is a terrible list! It could leave one feeling quite hopeless.
But in God there is always hope. God’s character never changes. God’s love defines Him.
The author of the book of Revelations also wrote the gospel of John. He is my favorite apostle and if you are looking for an understanding of God’s love, the gospel of John is the best place to start.
John called himself ‘the disciple Jesus loved’
Some of the greatest statements about God’s loving nature were written by this man who experienced God’s love in the most unique way. In Johns gospel, JESUS LOVE is the central theme. Because Johns own experience of Jesus love was so strong and personal, he was most sensitive to those words and actions of Jesus that illustrated how the one who is love, loved others. Jesus knew John fully also loved him fully.
Jesus nicknamed John ‘the son of thunder’ – perhaps from an occasion when he and his brother James asked permission to ‘order fire down from heaven’ on a village that had refused to welcome Jesus and his disciples. Luke 9 51-54 (quite a different approach)
But John understood both God’s awesome love and God’s judgement and wrath.
John was the one apostle who was given the incredible vision of God’s overall power in the universe, his anger towards sin, and his promise of a better future for those who have remained faithful to him.
In John’s gospel and letters, we see the great love of God, while the thunder of God’s justice bursts from the pages of revelations.
As much as God is a God of Love, so he hates sin and injustice.
There is so much of this in the world today. There probably always has been, but surely as believers, we need to take a stand for God now more than ever before. We cannot blend anymore. We need to stand out and be counted.
IF WE STAND FIRM
IFWE STAND TOGETHER IN WHAT WE BELIEVE
WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Let us pray and ask God to open our eyes so that we can vote according to His will. ‘Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’
“Lord, we come before you and ask that you will lead us in our decisions that we need to make. Please forgive us for trying to figure things out on our own. We need you. We need your Holy Spirit to give us wisdom and direction. Amen”