WE ARE IN A GOD WAR!

We are indeed in a God war! More than which person is seeking to be the leader in our county we who are aware of such matters, must be aware of the Spirit behind what each candidate stands for. That issue is the real issue! Even if you do not believe in God these principles are worthy of serious consideration.  This should determine whether we will vote for what is biblical or not. The reality is that behind what people do, the essential motivation aligns with God or aligns with the one who is still trying to be God, namely satan, a name which in Hebrew means adversary. And he is always the adversary of all that God is and the goodness and well being that God always intends. It is satan that manages to convince people that God and His ways are not good or good for us and so we must eat the fruit of another tree. 

This election is not about politics, folks. It is a war against the godliness of what America has stood for and what has made us great as a nation. This is a war to determine whether we can justifiably sing "God bless America" or not for God will not continue to bless a nation in continued and may I add, legislated rebellion against His will. Though no doubt you are aware of these issues perhaps I can add a bit more to consider in your choice: 

1) I need not tell you, dear readers, that abortion is murder. When God sent Israel into Canaan to destroy those nations, a good bit of God's motive was to do away with cruel and murderous practices of sacrificing babies, and often virgins, on the altars of their gods. It isn't just the acts but what kind of persons could do such horrendous things and think it's what a god wants. We may not link abortion to worship but what kind of persons are we becoming that literally millions of abortions are condoned or tolerated? 

2) Just as the land of Israel was and still is God's land (and so Canaan's practices and mentality were unsuited for His land), America is the only nation other than Israel to be so dedicated to be His. America was founded on dedicating this land in its entirety to God. He doesn't forget that. No other nation than Israel has such a foundation. Israel went from being a sovereign nation who had defeated all her enemies and stood under David as a nation in peace, to losing her nationhood when under Solomon she began to worship other gods and involve themselves in pagan practices and began to lose her peace and sovereignty. I wonder, will American continue to enjoy the peace we have if we 'constitutionalize' what are pagan practices. To make matters worse, many ways our young generation, as well as many of their parents, are entirely oblivious of the ways of God and are involved in what is ungodly. Could taking God out of schools a generation ago have anything to do with the fact that some young people have no knowledge at all of God's word, let alone His holiness. That puts our values at the mercy of subjectivity.

3) Drugs, for instance, are mentioned in the bible as pharmakia which is an attempt to attain to a feeling or another mindset which, like it or not, makes that person subject to demon influence. How much demon influence is there in our nation today? Do we even recognize it as such. Demons, btw, operate undercover, so to speak, but have their influence on the person nonetheless. 

4)There is more than one mention in Scripture of the plight of children born outside of marriage. In 2014 over 50% of all births were of single mothers. How many of those children are being raised without a father as a protector and a role model for them? Give some thought as to what those consequences might be. One wonders why there is no outcry about the reasons this is happening. Again, could taking God out of the schools have anything to do with it? At a Supreme Court decision, we might add. We've just slid into apathy about it all. That apathy, my friends, is already judgement. 

5) If you were an insightful reader of history you would learn that there is a sociological correlation between certain once powerful nations and their involvement in homosexuality that led to their downfall. One aspect takes place when a significant amount of a population is involved in homosexuality, as was the case in Rome, for instance, which left that nation with a deficit number of people in the next generation. Enough said on that issue. 

6) Note that each of the above issues are about the family which is the foundation of any culture and society. Allow the family to fragment and the cracks will go all through that civilization toward its ultimate destruction. We are at the place in our national history where it is being decided what kind of civilization we will be recorded in history as having become. 

7) Our Constitution was designed by the Founding Fathers on the foundation of the bible, specifically the teachings of Moses. Give thought, for instance, of how just one law - to regard any (and note the emphasis on any person, regardless of gender, color, race or religion) - of any accused person to be considered as innocent until proven guilty. This one edict has set the standard of justice in our nation. The implications of that law alone runs like iron supports through our Justice system. Remove those standards of biblical justice and readjust the Supreme Court decisions to subjective motives (of minority groups, btw) and we jeopardize the very foundation of our nation. Consider also that unborn persons are also among those who are innocent but who are deemed worthy of the death sentence by their own parents.

8) God instituted marriage as the foundation of all that would follow. The command to our first parents was to go forth and multiply, something that can't be done by a same-sex couple so that sanctioning them violates the first commandment of God. Institutionalize the violation of that commandment in the various ways that we are doing now and society begins to crumble from within. We have a chance to rescue this slide into what the bible calls depravity by voting on the biblical issues to align with biblical principles.

It has kept the Jews alive when others sought to destroy them. Don't let sympathies for individuals who are involved with ungodly practices be the motivating factor in your decisions or you will be contributing to the potential demise of America. We are standing at the crossroad of history. This is not a message of hate toward any persons, including either candidate or anyone who has or does practice any of those matters mentioned above. It is the practices and acts we are against because they are ultimately detrimental to our very nation, but we do not condemn the people. 

We are all in this together and to maintain attitudes of judgment or criticism or hatred is to violate the very character and nature of God who loves all persons, though He does seek to bring each person to a knowledge of Himself and His ways. As the bible puts in so many words, hate the sin (for what it does results in) but love the sinner. Put another way, vote for the maintaining of biblical principles but keep a loving heart toward those who don't agree with you. Can I get an amen?

THE IMPERATIVE OF HONOR

If Yeshua is the "word made flesh" (John 1:14) what word does He embody? Certainly not the New Testament because it wasn't even written until years after He walked the earth. Didn't He tell the disciples on the Road to Emmaus after His resurrection "all that the Torah and the prophets said about Him" (Luke 24:13-25)? And since the foundation of Torah (law) and the prophets is the Ten Commandments, we can be sure that He embodied those word perfectly.They are worth some time to ponder them and see what God would write on your heart about them, for they were surely upon Yeshua's heart.  

I find one of the Commandments particularly pertinent today during our presidential campaigns. Perhaps you've noticed. Allow me to briefly share some background to the commandments and how this one commandment I'm speaking of is a springboard to the very foundation of our nation, or any nation.

The first three Commandments listed in Exodus 20 have to do with our relationship with God. We could say they are the vertical commandments,reaching up to God: Love Him, have no other gods, do not use His name in vain (meaning carelessly, without reverence), no idols or images of worship, and observe the Sabbath as a day of rest. How hard could all that be?  Evidently challenging for some, a delight for others.  Then comes the horizontal Commandments, having to do with relationships with other people. Assuming the Commandments are listed in God's order of importance, though they are all important, the first one for us human folk is, "Honor your father and your mother that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you" (Exodus 20:12). What is more foundational to our own lives than our relationships with our father and mother, whether  good or not-so-good?

Children, the commandment says, are to honor their parents.Was the Commandment written to the children, or to their parents? It would seem that the parents must be the catalyst for this honoring to take place. To honor someone (anyone) is to regard them with respect, to esteem them as having worth, to be be honest toward them, and to be fair to them. As Yeshua said, it would mean treating others as you would have them treat you   (Luke 6:31). How does that apply to a child honoring his parents?. Well, a child learns to honor his parents by seeing how the parents model honor for him, how they treat one another and speak about others. And also how they treat child. Such a thing is caught, not taught. Hebrew people saw their children as belonging to God first, then to them. It is considered that parents are entrusted by God with raising their children to be godly people. There is also the honoring of a child's feelings to foster a sound sense of himself and his value in the family, even while "training him up as he should go (so that) even when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs22:6). Such a child is more than likely to grow up to be a sound and valuable member of society.  Ideally any parents who are followers of God should be raising their children with this in mind. 

When a child sees his parents pretty much honor one another, which extends to how they speak about other people, he becomes a person who likewise honors others. It naturally becomes his own value system, his way of life. To go back to a quote from Yeshua, we could paraphrase it to say, "Speak about others the way you would like them to speak about you."  We can all relate to that one, both in how loved and respected we feel when we are spoken to or about with a measure of honor. But how painful dishonor is. It's painful because it goes against the very nature of how God made us in His likeness. We're even uncomfortable when we hear someone speaking in a disparaging way about others. Or at least we should be, Yet there are folks who are so accustomed to verbal abuse that they don't recognize it for what it is. 

Honor is also the basis for another horizontal commandment that says, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor" (20:16). Neighbor means anyone your life touches, and bearing false witness has to do with your opinion which is not backed up by truth. Gossip would be bearing false witness. I once had a pastor who was also my friend who was making a decision I did not agree with. I went to God with it, sure God would agree with me. But no sooner had I voiced my 'opinion' to the Lord when I heard loud and clear in my mind, "Thou shall not bear false witness!"  I felt as if I had just had my knuckles rapped with a ruler in reprimand by God Himself. It actually shocked me it was so firm. It was then that I realized I had no idea what had transpired between this pastor and God, or what his motive was for his decision. I only had my opinion.  Not that we're not allowed our opinions and thoughts, but had I said anything to anyone else, which I might have, it would have been damaging gossip. I would have dishonored my pastor friend with what was really false, having no real idea of what was true in the matter. I can tell you it was a lesson well learned never to gossip. 

There is a principle in Scripture and in the natural that what comes from the head, or authority, flows down to those under such authority.  Be it parents in the home or a teacher in a classroom, all the way to the highest authority, where there is respect and honor for others, that attitude is evident in those under their leadership.When you see love flowing through a body of people, kindness, benevolence and a respect for all, if you looked at the leader of that group, no doubt you would find that spirit, that attitude, that set of values, coming from the leader. The same has been found to be true even when a king offers such kindness to not only his people but to people in need outside their nation. Norway, for instance, was very helpful to Jewish people when in great need inspired by their king..   A pastor who is loving and compassionate, will instill the same in his people, while a pastor who is breathing fire and brimstone, fearful of hell, will make his people likewise religious and fear-bound. It's just the way it works.

It also works on a political level. To use an extreme example, King Solomon forgot all his own wise sayings and turned away from God to the worship of the pagan idols of his way-too-many foreign wives and as a result the entire nation of Israel in time split apart and all that his father David had built was eventually lost. Tragic.  As the saying goes, "No man is an island, no man stands alone," (author-John Donne). We effect those whose lives we touch. As  individuals, parents, presidents or kings, we will influence others as far as our influence extends whether for good or not-so-good. Not to belabor the point, but whatever spirit the head of a family, an organization or a nation embodies will have an impact on those under their leadership. It is, therefore, so far as we are each able to chose, imperative that we chose wisely with character in mind, not just about policies or verbalized intentions which, as we know, do not always work out quite as they were touted or promised.

Differences of opinions are a reality as it should be. They help us keep things balanced. But we must disagree with others without dishonoring them.  We can see issues differently, but that doesn't have to mean we attack the personhood of those with whom we disagree or we are even vying (running) against. Hopefully we do so civilly without resorting to accusations, which often have little to do with the actual issues being weighed. Along those lines, have you ever considered how much the media is all about opinions as it reports what this one said about that one, or reveals things, true or not, that may dishonor the person being spoken about. Much of it is more gossip and opinions than the whole truth. Gossip can take many forms but it's always laced with dishonor. We reveal the level of integrity of our own character by how we talk about others. Addressing the issues at hand is not the same as ridiculing your opponent and does not lend any weight to your argument on the real issues.

So without going into who or specifics (so I don't dishonor anyone), when considering presidential candidates, give some thought to where you might see dishonor being manifested. It can come in the form of words that vilify, or a heated discussion, or all the way to a mob scene or a riot. If you see such happening, look to where the motivation is coming from. There's a leader in it somewhere, even if he denies it, that instigates dishonor.  If the kind of mindset feeds on the idea that "Might makes right," it is likely that at its core belief is likely to be an "I am stronger than you; therefore I make all the rules" belief. This, folks, is not democracy at work. It is its enemy. History will tell you in that mindset are the seeds of tyranny. 

We've gone a long way from the cradle to political anarchy, haven't we? The commandment to "honor your father and mother" goes on to say, "that you may live long in the land that the Lord gives you" (20:12b). God seems to be making it clear that the respect within the family unit ultimately has effect on how the whole nation goes. God was showing Israel, and the world, that maintaining honor, respect and caring within the family unit, including remaining faithful to one another, will raise up the next generation of adults whose nation would be based on such a high standard of living. The Commandments are God's idea of how to live the highest standard of well-being possible.

We are faced with decisions we consider political in this election we are faced with. In the end, character will (if you will allow me to use the word) trump policies. May God enable us to recognize where the voice of integrity and, to use the word one more time, honor can be heard and allow us to choose wisely.  

As a final word her. This might be a good time to pray and do some repenting so no one reading this carries any "I have so totally missed it" sense of guilt ourselves or seeing where our parents did. We have all been victimized by the Fall.  Thankfully, we have the blood of Yeshua and the forgiveness of God that is so wonderfully available to us. So...."Lord, forgive us for where we have been dishonoring to those in our lives, where we have not treated those nearest or furthest to us with the love and respect You extend to me. Lord forgive me, as I forgive those who have hurt or dishonored me, including my parents who themselves hadn't been taught to honor.  I thank you that I am forgiven as I forgive. Help me to be an agent for you to help others attain to forgivness and honor. In Yeshua's name, Amen.