"Are You For Us...?"
Hear ye! Hear ye!
November 3 is coming! Are you ready?!
November 3, 2020, promises to be a significant day in my life … and in the life of our great, but acutely, divided nation.
My newest book, “Vibrant!” will be released on November 3 … and … honestly … the message of “Vibrant!” is what I should be talking about today. Any author in his or her right mind should be telling friends about the excitement … the encouragement … and the hope contained between the covers of the brand-new book.
I will do that next week … even though I am risking losing the joyful punch that early focus might bring.
Books come and go … but prayers for our nation should remain strong and constant in every season … through every election … and in spite of fierce division.
So today … in preparation for November 3, 2020 … my desire is to encourage you to love America completely and to pray for her passionately.
The Bible continues to be my true source of strength and wisdom. As we approach this tumultuous election, I believe that the Bible can stir us to righteousness, to hope and to Godly thinking.
Let’s eavesdrop on a conversation between Joshua and a messenger sent from heaven. (Honestly … don’t you wish that God would send you a messenger straight from heaven to help you deal with these contentious times?! Perhaps the messenger that interrupted Joshua’s life is the messenger that you have been hoping for!)
“Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?”
He said, “No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?”
The captain of the LORD’S host said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.”
– Joshua 5:13-15
An election is a holy moment in a nation’s history.
It is a sacred privilege to be given the responsibility and the privilege of voting for those who will lead our nation over the next four years. It is not a freedom that should be taken lightly nor should it be ignored.
Election Day is holy ground.
You, as an American and as a believer in Christ, must vote. You simply must.
But let’s back up in this story just a bit … Joshua wanted the Captain of the Lord’s host to take sides.
“Are you for us or for our adversaries?”, was Joshua’s desperate question as he perused the great and intimidating city.
This would be equivalent to you or I asking God, “Are you voting for Trump or for Biden?”
“God … are You a Democrat or a Republican?”
“Jesus … do you prefer Donkeys or Elephants?”
“Holy Spirit … is Your favorite color Red or Blue?”
Now … before you get your political preferences in a knot and become frustrated with my perspective … let me just remind you that Joshua’s enemies were not nice guys.
Jericho was a cursed city and was the center for pagan worship.
Surely God was on the side of Joshua!
But the Captain of the Lord’s Host responded to Joshua’s question in this manner, “No, but rather I come now as the captain of the host of the Lord.”
Joshua had not asked a “yes” or “no” question … he had posed an “either – or” question that desired a solid response.
But God replied by saying, “No.”
“I come now as captain of the host of the Lord.”
Perhaps our prayer this week should be, “Father … would You be Lord in America? Would You represent us as the Captain? Would You be in charge?”
God will never surrender His authority to any man … to any woman … to any people group … to any political party … at anytime in history.
Now, I will temper my words by saying that I strongly believe that the blessing of God is upon the righteous.
“By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.” – Proverbs 11:11
“But to those who rebuke the wicked will be delight, and a good blessing will come upon them.” – Proverbs 24:25
“Just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.” – Romans 4:6
There is no perfect political candidate nor will there ever be one!
There will never be a perfect pastor … a perfect parent … or a perfect friend.
So, as believers in Christ, our call is to vote for the candidate who mostly closely aligns with our ideology and preferences.
This is where the friction begins.
In a world gone mad that has created a void of righteous living and Biblical thinking … which candidate deserves my one important vote?!
Although I can’t … and won’t … tell you who to vote for … this is what I can say …
Your vote matters … your voice is important … and your prayers may sway an election.
God is with you … He is the Captain.
Our Father has all authority and He is still speaking to His children today.
My advice to you is to spend some time on your knees this all-important week in our nation’s history.
Perhaps it would be wise to turn off the TV and then to turn your heart and mind to heaven’s frequency.
(By the way … this is just my two cents … but I have discovered that I can research candidates and extract valuable information more effectively by reading printed articles rather than by listening to the bias of the media.)
When Jesus came to earth, He didn’t change the political system but He changed people’s hearts.
What we still need, after the 2,000 years since Jesus walked and talked among us, is a people whose hearts have been changed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our only hope is the saving power of Jesus … and the power of the Holy Spirit!
I am praying for you this week … and I am praying for America.
Thanks for listening to my heart this week. As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me. And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is!