CITIZENS OF GODS KINGDOM The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live. 1 Timothy 2:1-3, MSG Americans go to the polls tomorrow to decide who will control the Senate. Republicans are predicted to maintain control of the House and in spite of the unpopularity of the President that has put a drag on many Democratic candidates for the Senate, contests in states like Georgia, Louisiana, and North Carolina are still up for grabs and some, like Louisiana, may not be settled until January of 2015. Many Christians feel like they have not only been left out in the cold by this present administration but even harassed for their faith. From the Affordable Care mandate on contraceptives, to gay marriage and all its implications for churches and faith-based groups, many Christians feel disenfranchised by their own government. There are at least three things that I believe Christians must do to be responsible citizens of Christs Kingdom. First, we must pray. The Apostle Paul had challenged believers in his other letters to look forward to the future we have with Christ. But when he wrote to Timothy who was pastoring the church in Ephesus, he was basically saying, Buckle up your seatbelt. You all will be here for a while. This is then how you live. And then he says, The first thing I want you to do is pray. I wonder what our government will be like if every Christian, before he posted something negative about our President or our government on Facebook, or expressed his dismay in conversations, prayed for our President, his staff, our congressman and our senators? The government might not change but we will be obedient to our Lord Jesus. We cannot simply pay lip service to prayer. Years ago I was with a group of men adamant about returning prayer to public schools. I posed the question how many of us actually pray daily with and for our kids. My question was greeted with silence. Our Lord has commanded us to pray because He desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). We have to remember that the primary and ultimate purpose of the Lord Jesus is to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). Our prayer accomplishes much more than we can ever imagine. Daniel started an angelic conflict when he prayed. An angel told him, From the moment you decided to humble yourself to receive understanding, your prayer was heard, and I set out to come to you. But I was waylaid by the angel-prince of the kingdom of Persia and was delayed for a good three weeks. But then Michael, one of the chief angel-princes, intervened to help me (Daniel 10:10-13, MSG). Second, we must vote. Not just tomorrow, but in every election. Local and national. We must vote for people who reflect our values. We must also let our representatives know where we stand on issues by writing or emailing or calling them. Third, we must be champion Gods cause in our communities. God tells us, seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widows cause (Isaiah 1:17). God, speaking through the prophet Micah, says, He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8). The pagan world took notice of Christians because they loved each other, they took in babies who were dumped like garbage on the highways, they treated slaves and women with dignity, and they even took care of the very people who persecuted them. Believers are just passing through this world. This is not our home. Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20). As Christians, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us (2 Corinthians 5:20). Peter, right after the Apostle Paul was beheaded, wrote to the churches then, and to us today, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us (1 Peter 2:11-12). Pray and live like followers of Christ. The world may hate us, but they will not be able to deny the light of Christ shining through us.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 13:05:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015