Election Day 2012 is past.
While a large part of America and many other countries are rejoicing in the outcome of this year's Presidential election, there are many others in our nation, and a few elsewhere, who are mourning.
For "change" IS coming!
We already know what those changes will be, they don't need to be reiterated here. Bible-believing Christians understand that rulers or leaders of countries are still under God's control, whether the leaders trust in God or not, He is still sovereign! And they will be used by God: either as instruments of righteousness or as instruments of judgment. The leaders themselves are not as much in control as they think they are.
Knowing this, that God is sovereign, what must be focused on now is what our response to the coming changes will be. We must not allow ourselves to be blind-sided, caught unaware, and respond poorly. It is of critical importance that we respond as the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY would want us to respond.
While we are not to speak evil of dignitaries, and while we are to submit to the authorities that God has ordained to rule over us, STILL there is a line that we cannot cross over. And it will take some studying and quite a bit of prayerful "hearing" from God to know exactly what that is and what our response is to be.
Peter and John faced this decision when they were taken into custody by the Sanhedrin because they were teaching and preaching "through Jesus the resurrection from the dead" (Acts 4:1-3). They were held overnight and then released with the command to "not speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus." (Acts 4:18)
To which Peter and John responded: "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:19-20)
This incident was not taken lightly, after all it was the Sanhedrin who had instigated the death of Jesus. Note what the disciples did next, and note especially that which is underlined:
"And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.
And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said,
"Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered togerher, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus."
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness." (Acts 4:23-31)
Note that the leaders and the unbelievers were "gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done."
Just as the leaders and the lost people of that day and age were doing what God had already determined would be done, all the while thinking they were "creating" such events of their own determination, such are the changes that will come to America. And so we must remember that in all things we submit to God.
YET, if a ruler tells us we are to kill an innocent or be killed, what choice will we make? In a clear-cut case such as this, it will be easy to know the right choice, whether we have the courage to make the right choice is another question. Which is why the disciples knew to PRAY for boldness. They were faced with the same terrors that we will be faced with...imprisonment or death. And there are terrors ahead. We will need as much boldness and courage in the face of death as the disciples needed, all of whom (except John) were martyred, in fact.
And wisdom and discernment will be needed.
Whether or not you are a fan of Dr. James Dobson, his response to coming changes is of note, as he has determined to take a stand, and has announced that stand in advance. Here are his own words, taken from the October 2012 Whistleblower Magazine (the cover title and focus of this particular issue was: The Tipping Point, Life in America Under 4 More Years of Barack Obama's Leadership):
"I believe in the rule of law, and it has been my practice since I was in college to respect and honor those in authority over us," evanglelical leader Dr. James Dobson wrote in WND recently. "However, this assault on the sanctity of human life takes me where I cannot go," said a resolute Dobson, responding to Obamacare's controversial abortion insurance surcharge by defiantly chaining himself to the moral high ground. "I WILL NOT pay the surcharge for abortion services. The amount of the surcharge is irrelevant. To pay one cent for the killing of babies is egregious to me, and I will do all I can to correct a government that lies to me about its intentions and then tries to coerce my acquiescence with extortion. It would be a violation of my most deeply held convictions to disobey what I consider to be the principles in Scripture. The Creator will not hold us guiltless if we turn a deaf ear to the cries of His innocent babies. So COME AND GET ME IF YOU MUST, Mr. President. I will not bow before your wicked regulation."
If Dr. Dobson follows through with his statement, then he will be guilty of civil disobedience. I believe it is called for at times. I can recall another family who were also guilty of civil disobedience.
During World War II, the family of Corrie ten Boom had choices to make as well. They each had their own convictions concerning the Word of God, and the killing of Jews; and while their responses were different, yet the end result was the same: they KNEW what their convictions were and they STOOD on those convictions, even in the face of death. Corrie, and her father, and her elder sister were all arrested for hiding Jews. Corrie was the only one to survive the concentration camps they were sent to. It was Corrie's conviction that it was acceptable to God to lie, and hide Jews, in order to prevent their death. Corrie had another sister who, although she felt just as strongly about Jews not being killed, also felt strongly about not lying. Because of this, some Jews hidden in her house were found, but she felt so strongly that God would take care of those Jews that she held her ground and did not lie, even for their protection. And sure enough, God did take care of those Jews. Was one sister right and one wrong? Or were they both right in sticking to their convictions and trusting God for the rest?
The point here is NOT that you must choose someone else's convictions and stand on them. The point is that we must KNOW what our OWN convictions ARE and then we MUST STAND ON THEM....even in the face of death. And our convictions MUST have a scriptural foundation! They MUST be from GOD'S OWN HEART!
The alternative of not pre-determining what our convictions are, is that we will be hit with making a sudden decision about something that we have not taken a stand on, are not strongly convicted about, but that is anti-Christ; and because our convictions are not firm, because we have not prepared for what is to come, we will fail God, we will fail as a testimony of Jesus Christ to the world. We will live...but at what price?
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven....and he that taketh not his cross, and followeth afrer me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." (Matthew 10:28-40)
The time has come to pray, to determine as individuals and as family units, what convictions are worth dying for, and then preparing, no matter what, to stand on those convictions in the days ahead.
While a large part of America and many other countries are rejoicing in the outcome of this year's Presidential election, there are many others in our nation, and a few elsewhere, who are mourning.
For "change" IS coming!
We already know what those changes will be, they don't need to be reiterated here. Bible-believing Christians understand that rulers or leaders of countries are still under God's control, whether the leaders trust in God or not, He is still sovereign! And they will be used by God: either as instruments of righteousness or as instruments of judgment. The leaders themselves are not as much in control as they think they are.
Knowing this, that God is sovereign, what must be focused on now is what our response to the coming changes will be. We must not allow ourselves to be blind-sided, caught unaware, and respond poorly. It is of critical importance that we respond as the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY would want us to respond.
While we are not to speak evil of dignitaries, and while we are to submit to the authorities that God has ordained to rule over us, STILL there is a line that we cannot cross over. And it will take some studying and quite a bit of prayerful "hearing" from God to know exactly what that is and what our response is to be.
Peter and John faced this decision when they were taken into custody by the Sanhedrin because they were teaching and preaching "through Jesus the resurrection from the dead" (Acts 4:1-3). They were held overnight and then released with the command to "not speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus." (Acts 4:18)
To which Peter and John responded: "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:19-20)
This incident was not taken lightly, after all it was the Sanhedrin who had instigated the death of Jesus. Note what the disciples did next, and note especially that which is underlined:
"And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.
And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said,
"Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered togerher, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus."
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness." (Acts 4:23-31)
Note that the leaders and the unbelievers were "gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done."
Just as the leaders and the lost people of that day and age were doing what God had already determined would be done, all the while thinking they were "creating" such events of their own determination, such are the changes that will come to America. And so we must remember that in all things we submit to God.
YET, if a ruler tells us we are to kill an innocent or be killed, what choice will we make? In a clear-cut case such as this, it will be easy to know the right choice, whether we have the courage to make the right choice is another question. Which is why the disciples knew to PRAY for boldness. They were faced with the same terrors that we will be faced with...imprisonment or death. And there are terrors ahead. We will need as much boldness and courage in the face of death as the disciples needed, all of whom (except John) were martyred, in fact.
And wisdom and discernment will be needed.
Whether or not you are a fan of Dr. James Dobson, his response to coming changes is of note, as he has determined to take a stand, and has announced that stand in advance. Here are his own words, taken from the October 2012 Whistleblower Magazine (the cover title and focus of this particular issue was: The Tipping Point, Life in America Under 4 More Years of Barack Obama's Leadership):
"I believe in the rule of law, and it has been my practice since I was in college to respect and honor those in authority over us," evanglelical leader Dr. James Dobson wrote in WND recently. "However, this assault on the sanctity of human life takes me where I cannot go," said a resolute Dobson, responding to Obamacare's controversial abortion insurance surcharge by defiantly chaining himself to the moral high ground. "I WILL NOT pay the surcharge for abortion services. The amount of the surcharge is irrelevant. To pay one cent for the killing of babies is egregious to me, and I will do all I can to correct a government that lies to me about its intentions and then tries to coerce my acquiescence with extortion. It would be a violation of my most deeply held convictions to disobey what I consider to be the principles in Scripture. The Creator will not hold us guiltless if we turn a deaf ear to the cries of His innocent babies. So COME AND GET ME IF YOU MUST, Mr. President. I will not bow before your wicked regulation."
If Dr. Dobson follows through with his statement, then he will be guilty of civil disobedience. I believe it is called for at times. I can recall another family who were also guilty of civil disobedience.
During World War II, the family of Corrie ten Boom had choices to make as well. They each had their own convictions concerning the Word of God, and the killing of Jews; and while their responses were different, yet the end result was the same: they KNEW what their convictions were and they STOOD on those convictions, even in the face of death. Corrie, and her father, and her elder sister were all arrested for hiding Jews. Corrie was the only one to survive the concentration camps they were sent to. It was Corrie's conviction that it was acceptable to God to lie, and hide Jews, in order to prevent their death. Corrie had another sister who, although she felt just as strongly about Jews not being killed, also felt strongly about not lying. Because of this, some Jews hidden in her house were found, but she felt so strongly that God would take care of those Jews that she held her ground and did not lie, even for their protection. And sure enough, God did take care of those Jews. Was one sister right and one wrong? Or were they both right in sticking to their convictions and trusting God for the rest?
The point here is NOT that you must choose someone else's convictions and stand on them. The point is that we must KNOW what our OWN convictions ARE and then we MUST STAND ON THEM....even in the face of death. And our convictions MUST have a scriptural foundation! They MUST be from GOD'S OWN HEART!
The alternative of not pre-determining what our convictions are, is that we will be hit with making a sudden decision about something that we have not taken a stand on, are not strongly convicted about, but that is anti-Christ; and because our convictions are not firm, because we have not prepared for what is to come, we will fail God, we will fail as a testimony of Jesus Christ to the world. We will live...but at what price?
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven....and he that taketh not his cross, and followeth afrer me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." (Matthew 10:28-40)
The time has come to pray, to determine as individuals and as family units, what convictions are worth dying for, and then preparing, no matter what, to stand on those convictions in the days ahead.
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