Political Thuggery - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) September 13, 2024
It's election season in the United States and as usual, people have taken to pure thuggery. Democrats and Republicans continue their cycle of vicious fighting. Each side believes their presidential nominee and other down-ticket candidates must snag the offices they are running for. It is a do-or-die affair as people line up behind the political party (or person) of their choice.
My question is for the Believers who have chosen to camp with one party/person or another - how many would be ready to get 'thuggish' if the Lord asked you to do so? How many would answer God's call to brandish the Kingdom weapons of prayer, fasting, and praise to address the very issues you trust the political parties to deal with in your favor?
This is the problem. Many Believers are ready to fight via democracy but unwilling to fight spiritually for the future of the nation you claim to love so much. And when you 'pray' you solely pray your desires, never once asking the Lord what His will is so you can honor Him by praying for that. And you wonder why the nation is in shambles. You are not involving God in the issues of your life, of which politics is one.
You forget that the Bible has called on you, dear woman and man of God, to not insult your leaders. Alas, as far as you are concerned, that only applies to the leaders you prefer. You have forgotten that when Jesus spoke harshly of the Pharisees and Sadducees, He did so because it was His calling to teach them how to be better for God's purpose. Thus, even when He spoke harshly, calling them "vipers" and "hypocrites", He did so to fulfill His fiduciary duty as God's messenger and witness.
When you get on your device to insult one political side or another, are you doing it for God's purpose? When you stand on your soapbox in the digital square to support one ideology or another, does God get the glory? When you gather with like-minded individuals to lambast those who disagree with you, is that part of your ministry and Kingdom Identity? Or are you simply seeking the applause of your peers, living to please man and not God?
If any part of this message makes you uncomfortable, I praise God! Please, brother and sister in Christ, go pray and seek forgiveness for being more willing to 'fight' via elections and other worldly structures than to fight with the weapons of Christian warfare. Lay yourself at God's feet and ask Him to help you serve Him be it in the political sphere or elsewhere. Be humble enough to acknowledge that unless God tells you what He wants you to do, you run the risk of praying and acting outside of His will. Remember, only when a Christian prays according to His will do they get results (1 John 5:14-15). Why not align with God instead of being so 'thuggish' for politicians, political influencers, political parties, and the like?
And before anyone accuses me of discouraging voting, that was not the point of this message. Also, do your best not to slander me or anyone else. God hates slanderers and deals with them accordingly. That said if the Lord is placing it on your heart to vote, run and go vote. However, if you have not even taken a moment to ask the Lord whether He wants you to vote and who He wants you to vote for, please do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. You cannot claim to be a Christian and not submit every aspect of your life to Him. If you have never submitted your political interest to God, that's not good. Please take this message as your call to put your political leanings before the Lord in prayer so you receive His instruction. Then, do what He tells you and not what you want.
God bless you and see you for fellowship at Noon EST when we shall worship our God and prayerfully intercede for others. We will also invite God into the areas of our lives that we've left Him out of and ask Him to direct us.
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