A wise man's heart inclines him to the right,
but a fool's heart to the left.
Ecclesiastes 10:02
I worry about America and the road upon which we are now traveling. I know God is in control, but when the Children of Israel (His chosen people) were in bondage to Egypt, when they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, and when they were lead away into captivity in Babylon for 70 years, He was in control then, as well, but those things happened because of the disobedience of His people.
America is being mighty disobedient these days.
I am asking Christians to begin earnestly praying for this election. It hurts my heart…and frankly, it scares me a little, when I see Christians brazenly brag about voting for Trump, a man full of pride and haughtiness (things God hates), a sarcastic man who threatens new lawsuits every week, and calls people who disagree with him “idiots,” I cannot believe he would be God’s choice. I wonder how diplomatic he will be when dealing with other country leaders (some of whom are not so nice). Do we want a war in his first six months? Is Mexico now setting aside money to build that wall?
I am not certain Trump could beat Hillary. Not that Trump doesn’t say some sensational things…things people want to hear. So did Obama. So does Hillary. I fear if we elect Trump or Clinton, it will be God’s punishment on us.
If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
We can’t expect the non-believers to pray and seek His face; that is left up us to us, the true believers…those willing to offer the sacrifice of praise…those willing to repent and pray, and really, truly, earnestly seek Him first and His righteousness.
Pray, Christians. It’s a dark, dark world in which we live.
He is our light; we are His remnant.
Be one of the Ten
I understand that you mean it symbolically when you say "be one of the ten". I know many who prayed when Obama ran the first time, once we found out his agenda. Yet he won. I know many more who prayed the second time he ran. Yet he won again.
ReplyDeleteJust this morning my husband were talking about the SuperTuesday results. So ghastly to think it could come down to Clinton vs Trump. We've been blessed to live in this country, with a right to vote. One vote. And we don't want to waste that one vote.
So we pray. For wisdom, discernment. For people not to be duped by "reality tv politics." For people to hunger for decency and uprightness. For honesty, compassionate leadership and goodness.
One article by the Christian Post said it is not a matte of who is a "real Christian" or not. It is who does God want us to vote for. Who will be good for our country, for all the people, not just a party or one side. A good and honorable man.
Honestly, I am stumped. So... I ask God "what to do??" Who to vote for??
And I pray for our people. I used to say our "nation". Yet I found I was impersonal, and not caring about individuals that way. Now, I need to remind myself about the hurting and needy PEOPLE. Helps me not get frustrated and hard. I pray for mercy for us all.
Sorry to ramble on... your post touched me.
Not a ramble...good input. I left work on Tuesday during a storm to go vote. I didn't realize it was such a bad storm, but about a mile from the parking lot, I watched a huge oak fall ahead of me, opposite direction of me, thankfully, and big branches were falling into the street stopping cars. No one was hurt, but it was just kind of symbolic of the mess we are currently in. When I got to my voting place I jumped out of the car and started in, but turned around and went back to my car, grabbed my Bible and asked God for some direction on who to vote for. I got nothing.
DeleteInside, I sat at a table with my ballot, having marked my votes for all the local and state candidates. I sat staring at the candidates for president, not knowing what to do. I finally marked my choice and left, feeling as if I'd picked the wrong one.
Today, while in my car at lunch time, talking to God and reading my Bible, it occurred to me that Trump will be the Republican nominee...and I will vote for him because I cannot vote for Hillary. He may be elected, and if he is, I will pray. I will pray for his salvation, for Godly wisdom for him, for him to be surrounded with Godly people. More than I have ever prayed for a leader before, I will pray. (If Hillary is elected, I will pray...all of the same things.)
So, yeah, we are in some mighty unsettling times. I believe our choices are to keep trusting Him...whether we live or we die...trust Him. He really is in control.
I was reading in Psalm 103 today, verses 9 and 10:
He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
Psalm 103 is a really good Psalm!
Anyway, since I wrote this post, I have decided that instead of bashing Trump, I'll start praying for him. Even when it looks like prayer is going no further than the four walls of the room I am praying in, I will pray, because God hears all of our prayers. All "ten" of us. (There are a lot of good people praying, and He is listening! He is abounding in mercy. I'll continue learning to trust Him.
I'm so relieved to read this post. I have been distressed and bewildered as "evangelicals" come out for Trump. I just can't understand it. The other four candidates currently running, and several who have dropped out, were all men who seem much more like-minded to our values and faith.
ReplyDeleteIf Trump wins the primary, I just don't know what I'm going to do in the general election.
As far as the ten goes--As you know, the righteous were rescued, but the municipality was destroyed. I'm praying that will not be the case with our country.
In fact, here is exactly what I am praying--With the fact that I think we are in the end times. In fact I think the tribulation is at the brink. We are the far off lands,; the Middle East is the center of the action. It will take a bit for the backwash to get to us...and we, our country, will have the opportunity to join with God...or not. I'm praying that if the U.S.A. still has the opportunity, as a nation, to side with God, God will enable us to elect the president that will make the decisions that need to be made for our nation to do that...that we will have the people in power who will choose for God befoe it's too late.
God knows the end from the beginning. He knows what needs to happen to align us with Him. From my eye and with my limited knowledge, I don't see how that person could be Trump or Hilary. So, I paray and trust God.
And be bewildered and distressed. that's the truth.
Thanks for this, TBR.
Deb
Hey Deb! I hope you are learning your computer a little better. New systems can be pretty frustrating.
DeleteIf Trump wins the primary, I'll vote for him and I'll continue to pray. Not voting for him is a vote for Hillary. I can't even begin to type about the possibility of Hillary Clinton ruining, eh, I mean running our country. If she is elected, I will pray....in the meantime I will pray that she doesn't win.
I don't know if we are in the end times or not. Everything sure seems to point that way, but times have been really, really bad in the past, too. I like your prayer about our nation siding with God. I do not believe it is too late, even if we are in the end times. I wrote a sermonette to Retta's comment above. I think more Bible time, more prayer time, more learning to trust Him is the way to beat the distressing bewildering fear. That...and not thinking about it too much.
It is so easy to get bewildered and distressed...and plain scared. I think those feelings are very far from where God wants us.
You know, I don't think those feelings are far from what God wants at all. God's people OUGHT to be distressed and bewildered when we see those who are in positions of Christian leadership support someone who is clearly vulgar and ..well, just fill in the blanks here...and even go so far as to say that Christian values don't really matter when choosing a president. Really? If that is what Christian leaders think...well, it seems to me that distressed and bewildered is just about the right response. :} Beats complacency and acceptance for sure.
DeleteIf you recall, the prophets of the OT got pretty distressed and bewildered over the sinfulness of God's leaders and people. It caused them to fall on their knees before God and to cry out for their land and for His will.
So. Said all of that to say--don't feel unspiritual for your less than happy feelings about the way things are going. God's not happy with it, either.
I am convinced that a spirit of deception has crossed this country and even the elect will be deceived if they are not alert to it. As you know, the Bible warns of exactly that in the end times. All these years of reading that and I had never pictured it to manifest in this way... (I know it manifests in other ways, too.)
So, stay alert, Dear Friend. Don't let yourself be convinced that you should be all happy about this turn of events. We don't need to be afraid; we do need to trust God; and we do need to be aware of just what is happening here.
And my own sermonette ends.
My computer> Ugh. My magnification software is fighting with the new system. Makes navigating email and blogs...and everything...difficult.
Hopefully, Billy will be able to fix it Saturday.
Deb
Yours is a thoughtful reminder ... thank you.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm a Trump supporter, only because his competition just doesn't do it for me. Sure, what comes out of his mouth is often offensive ... but I wonder if it isn't for shock value.
Surely, were he to win the White House, he's intelligent enough to use his wits and not his vocal chords! (God willing, lol!)
I'm not sure if you read my comments above...but since I wrote this about Trump, I have decided that bashing him (even if I felt I was saying truth) is not the thing to do. Praying, that is what I need to be doing! Yes...surely if he wins the White House, he will be smart enough to surround himself with good people. Again, prayer!
DeleteI've been praying a lot for this election, more so than any other. I fear that America has finally gotten themselves out of God's good graces and he is giving us (collectively) what we want. I prayed about the voting yesterday and asked for God's candidate to be made known, which is interesting how the final tally came in; no one clinched it, so maybe that's a sign that God is working on this and we need to continue to just keep praying. Probably need to throw in some fasting too (I'm not making light of it, its just super important to keep praying). I would vote for Trump over Clinton. I hope we don't get to the lesser of two evils when it comes to November voting.
ReplyDeletebetty
I hope, too, we will have a clear better choice come November. I remember that God works in mysterious ways, ways that are not my ways, and His understanding is unsearchable...so when He hears our prayers, He doesn't ignore them, and while we don't understand what is happening, we also don't know what's going on behind the scenes. That's where trusting Him comes in...it's hard to do that though, isn't it? At least it is for me. I have to work on it every day.
DeleteYou are SO right when you say prayer and fasting. Our nation needs to be doing a lot of that, don't we?
Betty, You are exactly right when you ay our country is getting exactly what it wants. If you look at not only the shows on TV, the movies, the media, but also at the lifestyles of our neighbors (and sometimes family!)...the acceptance of so much that is immoral and the marginalization of Christianity... Well, you get the likes of Trump. He does represent what many in our society wants. We are no longer a Christian nation. We're not. If we were, Trump wouldn't have a chance.
DeleteBut Christians who stand fast to the principles of the Bible are a minority,now. The majority--which includes many of those who think of themselves as Christians while living together without benefit of marriage, practicing homosexuality, and supporting abortion--live lives and have values that result in them thinking that someone like Trump is exciting, a breath of fresh air, and just what we need to shake things up in Washington.
He is the evidence of what our country has become. Ungodliness. Rebellion. Narcissism. Immorality. Lost.
And we Christians? Some have been swept up in deception. Most have been convinced that it is spiritual to remain silent. We are being shamed into holding our tongue.
Well, look what that has gotten us...
Climbing off of the soap box, now.
Deb
Margaret--Just so you know. If I could get my computer to work, I'd have written a post much like this one.
Yeah, Deb...what passes as entertainment (even for children) is completely Godless, and Christians will spend hours upon hours watching it! You said it well...America is full of Ungodliness, rebellion, narcissism, immorality...fear often makes us hold our tongues, sadly. Want to get unpopular really quick? Stand up for sexual morality. Adoption over abortion. Jesus over allah. Yeah, surely it must be the last days. I'll be looking for your post when your computer is working, Lady.
DeleteI'm not religious, but I agree with you: The Donald would never be any good god's choice. It's scary times indeed, even for those of us not in the US—or, maybe, most of all for us, since we get absolutely no say in the matter :) I believe the US is way, way better than this man, and we all desperately hope his supporters will remember that before elections.
ReplyDeleteVisiting over from the A-to-Z (early-bird special, haha), and very happy to meet you :)
Guilie @ Life In Dogs (and member of co-host Damyanti's team, D's Company )