A thought that keeps recurring to me. The leader of a nation does not make the people what they are but the people make the leader.
Think about this, God didn’t want to give Israel, His people a King but they wanted one. (1 Samuel 8:10) God didn’t want to punish His people but they choose their rewards. “They shall eat the fruit of their doings”….(Isaiah 3:11-12) “Give to them according to their work and according to the evil of their deeds; give to them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward.” (Psalm 28:4)
We, the people, have heard from the mouths of two want to be leaders of the free world. We have heard very distinctly what each candidate stands for? Their ideals, ideology, principles, and moral beliefs are very well documented. We, the people will speak on November 8, 2016 and show the world what we as a nation stand for.
Let us do as Dr Ben Carson, the notably brain surgeon has suggested, “use our minds to think.” Do as Mr Pence, a VP running mate has suggested, “pray”. Do as both candidates have suggested, VOTE!
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The profound saying on the bench in the picture, Sara, to me is a great illustration of the scriptures you shared, “they choose their rewards. “They shall eat the fruit of their doings”. What I see from your connecting the two is that what is sown and grows in that ‘eternal garden’ depends on the choices we make today and tomorrow and on November 8.
Your thought regarding the leader of a nation above sure puts the ball back in the ‘we the people’ court. And, yes, “let us do” as you suggested above.
Thanks Debi for your thoughts and communication.
It is scary to think that the Lord gives the nation(s) the leaders they deserve. Only a gracious God full of mercy and compassion taking pity on His people would provide us a Word of Hope, a light in a very dismal place, in saying in His Word……”If My people who are called by My Name will humble themselves and pray, seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven forgive their sin and heal their land. Many believers in the past months, including some who have been repenting for the sins of this nation and the church, like Daniel did for his nation in Daniel 9: …has the Lord through His prophets given much encouragement to His people….those who would hear, anyway….that He would be willing to relent for a season and intervene in the affairs of men only because of Who He is….and not because of who we are, as Daniel prayed.
We can only seek the Lord, repent for our own sins and turn from them….and pray for the church and our nation…this, is in obedience to His Word, and trust Him with all our hearts. And then pray that we will not despoil the leader that He has chosen for us of any nobleness of character, proving to our God that ”His people” have truly ”turned from our wicked ways.” .
MG, seems you are swinging and praying…..
I love sitting on our swing and praying as the birds sing, the squirrels gather, the leaves fly and land in various spaces. Why not ask, ? I mumble to myself. You have not because you ask not I spout bodly in the air. I’m just overflowing with words and all kinds of sayings that makes my prayers a swinging tale.
And, the the wind brings the gentle answer to my request; “And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong–you want only what will give you pleasure.” James 4:3 NLT…Really, I quip to God of all the university; You, God have heard wrong because the gently breeze has taken my voice away. You know left out a word here and there. I heard a laugh. Who laughed, ? why yes, Satan himself must be amused with my foolishness of hiding my motives from God while my prayer words are floating in the waves of squander it on your own pleasures. I hear God addressing me, vs. 4) “You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.…’
Time to check out of this breezy swing and see why I’m loving the world friends so I can escape the awesome eye of God.
Yep, we might think our outward deeds obfuscate our inward motives and they do…..except to the Lord God of the Universes. And, after all, He’s the one Who really counts…..and keeps count, too! A big angel, hurriedly scribbles down in a huge book of Life…Mine!! [ I always wanted to write a book!] Little did I realize that I am writing one…. and every word, unrepentant, every non-working, vain, foolish, ineffective word I have spoken out harshly, or mumbled …or even thought in the privacy of my own mind….NEVER MIND! He’s heard it. There goes the angel with the golden gel-point pen. Yep! He’s got it. Can I repent? Yes! Will I remember? Hmmm Maybe! Will I do it again? I had better not or it stays in the book of my life. If so, I will be ashamed to stand before Him on ”that day.”
I had better get off your swing, Sara, and get on my knees. Say…is there any sawdust around that area? And a TENT???
Sara, I appreciate the way you wrote above because it really gets me thinking. I often hear/read scriptures about not being a friend of the ‘world’, but not in the context of being connected to motives. Reading what you wrote paints a picture for me…someone digging way down in the dark soil to examine where the plant lives, the condition of the roots (motives), which really tells the story of the health of the plant above ground.
Thanks, I think I see better how wrong motives or hiding motives can make me an enemy of God.
I read a few days ago from a devotional, ….So often we search the Word looking for things we can’t accept but Christians should reverse that and allow the Bible to examine us looking for things God can accept.
This brings me to a beloved scripture that gives all the high beam light we could any need; “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 119;105 NLT