Decisions, decisions, decisions!
A lot is at stake in America right now.
Peer pressure is increasing.
Fear is amped up and the buzz in the air is utterly saturated, likened to the frequency of squawking hawks raiding nests! Overwhelm and chaos are running rampant in the atmosphere.
People are at their tipping points!
Saturation levels are heightened!
“Enough is enough!” is the word on the street.
Don’t you just want all the clamoring to stop. Have you been asking yourself questions about what is really going on, like; which voice can I trust, or how can I really even know who to vote for? Or, have you partnered with offense picking sides and engaged yourself in hatred, anger or even rage towards the opposing side?
There has got to be a better way. Feel the weight of what lies ahead for us in America and let it draw us towards God to answer all of our questions. Maybe you have already made your mind up or maybe you’ve even decided there’s not a candidate you want to vote for. Know your King is near and is available for consulting.
Believers, it is time to lead with faith, hope, love and peace. Heaven is at hand and it’s time to carry it’s glory and release it. Arise and take the pulse of what’s going on to bring Kingdom change. Stop partnering with fear. Raise the frequency to love!
In the 2016 Presidential election I heard the Lord clearly tell me who He wanted me to cast my vote for. Engaging in the madness of the media is something I never had to mess with. My King had spoken. I heard and responded. I want to invite you to ask God to be part of your decision this election. Invite the one you call Master to help you with who to cast your vote for in this 2020 Presidential election.
Synchronizing
While there are many things vying for our attention, there are:
None more important right now than hearing the voice of God.
None more paramount than knowing our Father’s business.
And, certainly none more supreme than to cast our vote, aligned with and alongside our Kingdom family – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Settling down, stopping the chaotic noise and drawing close to our King is the mandate at hand. Preparing to cast our vote will require having our spiritual senses trained. Synchronizing with and being about our Heavenly Father’s business is a must.
There has never in our history been a more important time to line up with the Kingdom of Heaven and discernibly hear the voice of God. Press in and get rid of the confusion and fuzzy airwaves. Clarity and peace of mind are available as options. Sync to the heartbeat of Father God to gain confidence in making a Kingdom decision. One that is based on relationship with God, above all else. This should be the highest intention for every follower of Christ who casts a vote!
Following
Our singular mission as ones who follow Christ, is to actually follow Him. Yes, literally, follow Him! In order to follow our King, we must first become aware of the ways that we are not following Him. Begin by pondering these questions:
Who’s voice have I been listening to?
Who do I follow or who have I made my god?
What frequency, message, mantra am I exclusively tuned into?
We must become more aware of how we are being programmed and persuaded by the outlets of this world. Programmers are dispensing their opinions, polls and misinformation, and we just buy it, hook, line and sinker!!! Let us not do this! Wisdom would warn us to know that these messages are completely biased and slanted towards the agenda they want us to buy into – and follow!
There is a higher road for us to follow. A better path for us to take.
The road may not seem clear or simple at first, but a willingness to grow in relationship with the Lord will lead and guide us to the Truth. There are many references in the Bible – actually over 20 references in just Matthew, Mark, Luke and John alone – where Jesus said, “come follow me”. The invitation to “come follow me” is there for us today. Now, the question we must answer is, will we choose to follow our King?
When we choose to follow our King – we choose His Way! He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is our Waymaker, so let us choose:
To break all partnerships with fear of man.
To no longer agree with the hatred of anyone.
To stop simply agreeing with others’ opinions.
To disengage with blaming, shaming and mocking.
To drop all cause for offense.
Aligning
Positionally, when we come into agreement with God, we are aligning to His ways and to His will. Passion for Him stirs us to lay everything else on the altar. Reverence beckons us to place every word and opinion into the Refiner’s fire. Give them all up. Eradicate their power by simply choosing to turn away from them. Do a 180 and turn around to face King Jesus. Position yourself habitiationally towards God. This is a critical time and deserves such honor to revere our Father in Heaven.
A healthy reverence and fear of God is part of being a follower of Christ. Our Lord Jesus modeled wanting to please His Father. And, He spoke of only being about His Father’s business. You and I, we have been adopted into God’s family and we have the same Father as Jesus. In John 20:17 Jesus said: “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and your God.” So this makes it clear that we have the same spiritual Father as Jesus. The clarity increases as we press in and choose to follow Jesus by aligning ourselves relationally as citizens of Heaven, foreigners here on earth!
Jesus was 12 years old when He said these words to his parents from Luke 2:49, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” He was old enough to know what His Father’s business was. Are we old enough in Christ to understand what Our Father’s Business really is? If we aren’t ready to understand what it is, then we can’t really be expected to “be about it”.
To actually be about the Father’s business means laying down our own will. As we follow Jesus, we learn that He said, “I do not seek my own will but the will of the Father who sent me”. We need to recognize God’s purpose for our lives during those moments where we would rather indulge our self-interests or run from the demanding implications of His leading. We are going to need to say “No” to ourselves and instead align ourselves to God’s heart and ways.
Isn’t it far more powerful to say, “You are the Lord and I will follow you!”
Weighing
Much is at stake. Take the time to invest in God. This election warrants an all out pursuit of God, like never before. Complacency must go. Act out of trust and faith. Beware of following after what the generations before have done. Bring all the issues to King Jesus. He is truly our authority!
Wisdom would invite us to not make decisions “souly” from our mind or emotions, lest we deceive ourselves, chasing the endless rabbit trails. Any decision we make should be made based on knowing the heart of God and should never be made out of dislike or hate towards another person. God’s ways are not like our ways, so we can’t try to reason our way to figure it all out either!
Words have power and are absolutely persuading us. It is very wise to not take verbatim any words spoken about a candidate or issue. If we don’t personally know a candidate, it is simply hearsay. The spin is real. Without awareness we can fall prey to the programming of others opinions and agendas.
Our best option is to let God weigh in and then align to Him. God’s ways are not like our ways, and the Word makes it clear that we are not to follow after the stranger’s voice. Agreeing with voices that accuse, judge, mock or hate another is certainly not in alignment with the heart of God. Deception is real.
Weighing our options must be based on God’s directives and not based on whether we like a person or don’t like them. The Bible is loaded with example after example of kings and leaders who were far from perfect, yet with hearts after God. Let us learn our lesson from King David and King Solomon, two of the best known figures in the Bible and two of the most beloved.
Leading
David is referenced repeatedly throughout the Bible and was chosen by God to be the king of Israel. He was, however, far from perfect. In fact, his worst sins are immortalized in one of the most famous Bible stories: his affair with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11. David used his influence and power as king to take her, have sex with her, and then betrayed her husband, having him murdered to cover up his own crime. All at once, David went from wise king and honorable warrior to adulterer and murderer – and yet, God kept him in authority as king. David is known as one who had a heart after God.
When it comes to famous Israelite kings, Solomon is second only to David. He is still known for the wisdom he displayed during his reign and was responsible for building the first Temple of the Lord. He was considered to be one of the few righteous kings of Israel and Judea, but even Solomon has some skeletons hidden in his closet. According to 1 Kings, Solomon had a variety of foreign wives, despite God warning the Israelites against intermarrying with pagan peoples. “Out of love for them”, Solomon “did evil in the eyes of the Lord” by worshipping the gods of his wives.
Clearly, the Bible provokes us to grasp the reality that there is not a person with a high enough moral compass to lead us. God appoints imperfect people to accomplish His purposes and plans. God works through broken people to accomplish His plans. All people are capable of doing ungodly and wicked things and more than capable of letting us down. The opinions of man matter not when it comes to God’s chosen vessel.
It is time to break partnership with the idea that there is a perfect, holy or complete candidate to choose. Romans 3:23 makes it abundantly clear that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” All have fallen — including all politicians regardless of party affiliation. Even that is not an excuse to stay silent in this election. After all, our hope is not that a leader or politician is going to right every wrong or be perfect on every issue, but God still uses imperfect leaders to accomplish His will. And, by aligning ourselves with Him we can help facilitate the Kingdom of Heaven, here on earth.
Deciding
Naturally, we may lean towards politicians who are going to value what we see as paramount. Leaders who reflect God’s kingdom here on earth are we want – through the policies they approve and the decisions they make – that we have invested interest in – that we view as important. Yet, as believers we have a higher call. As Ambassadors of Heaven, we are to align to the Kingdom of Heaven’s agenda with our vote. If we are really going to be honest with each other, let’s line up some simple criteria for how we should vote. Based on being followers of Christ and what’s been discovered so far:
Let’s lay aside our own opinions, desires and preferences.
Let’s get ourselves synchronized to a Kingdom of God perspective.
Let’s agree that all men fall short and that the plans of men alone may disappoint us.
No decision should be made based on selfish gain and what would be personally gained.
No decision should be made based on a person’s like or dislike of a candidate, as none measure up.
These truths should incite us to realize that we can’t choose a candidate on our own accord, based on our own logic and reasoning. Without hearing the voice of God, we could not possibly choose a candidate confidently. Without inviting relationship with God to be part of our decision making, we simply will fall short. We must ask ourselves if we are okay making a decision that will be so long lasting, based on our own understanding, when scripture warns us to not lean on our own understanding.
It is clear that there is not a candidate that morally, based on their own merit, will ever measure up to what we so hope for in our leaders. It’s also crystal clear that there is not a person alive on this planet for whom we could confidently cast our vote – based solely on their character or personality. And so it should be this way. Idolatry is not part of God’s plan either. It is, therefore, imperative that we get a clear directive from God on who He has anointed to lead us, for such a time as this!
Surrendering
Let’s all submit ourselves to God and give Him permission to search us, according to Psalm 139:24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart. Examine me, and know my anxious thoughts, and see if there be any offensive way within me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” It is true that at the end of the day, we will all answer to God and to no other person. The call to follow Christ comes with a simple relational directive: we must learn to follow.
The only way we can be sure of how to follow Him, is to take our seat with Christ in Heavenly places. Begin to engage with God directly, on earth, right now! His Spirit to our spirit. Jesus has made the way and we are no longer separated from the Father. Be about His business by positioning with Him today!
I once heard someone say that the difficult comes all at once, but the simple takes time. In walking out what we believe, it can be disheartening to listen to many voices. It most certainly causes confusion. If we are to get it right in any area, let’s get it right in the area of knowing that we, as Ambassadors of Heaven, are about our Father’s business here on earth.
The only option for us as followers of Christ is to lay aside the things of this world and cast our vote alongside our Kingdom family. No decision should be made without laying down all earthly agendas and engaging God in Heavenly places. Stop polling the world and listen to God!
“I surrender all,” are words many of us shout out as we worship, but are we willing to live out this kind of submission to God when we cast our vote?
Incredible clarity belongs to us when we just take the time to ask our Lord what He would have us do. Listening and obeying is what we preach to our children, but are we willing to listen and obey? Seeing through His eyes and asking Him how He would like for us to vote is true freedom. If we ask Him, He will tell us. Hearing is what we were made to do – we are His sheep and we hear His voice!
Now would be a very good time to curl up and spend some quiet time with our Father and our King. All that remains is the question that will usher us into living in new levels of trust.
Are you ready…
Heavenly Father, my Lord and King, who would you like for me to cast my vote for in this next election?
Blessings as you now trust and obey,
Pam
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