How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, Lest I sleep the sleep of death; (Psalm 13:1-3)

What is the high road for our nation from God’s perspective?

This morning I did a google search using “prayer for election,” which helped shape today’s message and led me to today’s Link of the Day.

In his book “God’s Big Idea,” Dr. Myles Munroe writes “whoever controls the minds of the people creates and controls the culture… The most effective way to change a culture is to control its laws, because whatever is instated into law eventually will become accepted as “normal” by most citizens, regardless of how they might have felt at the beginning.”

In his October 27, 2008 letter titled “The Stakes Couldn’t be Higher, Dutch Sheets” wrote the following:

With the upcoming elections 8 days away, satan has worked hard to deflect attention off of the real issue. This has been relatively easy through the economic meltdown and an unpopular war. Many Americans, including Christians, will vote based on these two issues. While these things are obviously important, they pale in light of the real issue—the Supreme Court.

The cover story of USA Today, on Thursday of last week, spelled this out quite clearly. It stated that the real legacy of the next president won’t be the economy or the war, but the Supreme Court. The next president of the United States will appoint at least 2, and maybe 3, Justices in his first term. If he serves 2 terms, it could be 5 Justices—there are 5 of the 9 on the Court 70 years old or older! Since the trend is to appoint younger and younger Justices, the next president will most likely shape the court for the next 30-40 years! This means we are not voting only for a president, we are voting for the Court we want for the next generation! The vote we cast on November 4th will do more to shape the culture we give our children and grandchildren than any other vote of our lifetime! Perhaps some succinct bullet points will help us see this clearly:

Without question, no institution, organization, or agency has shaped the current culture of America in the last 50 years more than the Supreme Court. You don’t need millions of people, the majority in Congress, or the President to shape the culture of America. You only need 5 people—the majority of the Supreme Court. Five people can kill 50 million babies (the number aborted since Roe vs. Wade), legalize homosexual marriage, remove parental rights, put God out of schools and government, rob from us our godly heritage, etc.

It is now split—sometimes 5-4 toward life, family, morality, our godly heritage, the intent of our forefathers when they wrote the Constitution; sometimes 5-4 toward death, immorality, legislating their beliefs from the bench (though not their constitutional role or right, this is easy—they simply say the Constitution is a fluid, living document and therefore must be changed to accommodate the times), removing God from our nation, etc.

2-3 Justices will retire over the next 4 years, their replacements chosen by the next president; possibly a couple more will step down 5 to 8 years from now, making it 5 potential Justices that could be appointed by the next president if he serves 2 terms. This will determine how the Court rules for a generation.

The first two Justices to go will almost certainly be Stevens who is 88 years old and Ginsberg who is 75 and ill. They are the two most liberal and are no doubt waiting to retire, hoping for a president that will replace them with 2 more liberals. These two replacements alone, if they are good, conservative judges could shift the Court toward righteousness for many years.

Conclusion: our vote this November 4th will be not for a president, not for the economy, not for ending our involvement in Iraq. Our vote will be for what we want America to look like 40 years from now!

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, we praise You as the God of light, life, and truth. May Your light shine forth today to illuminate the minds of men and women as they vote. May our next president be one who nominates Supreme Court justices who exalt life and truth in America for the next 40 years. May darkness tremble at Your name Jesus! Amen and hallelujah!

Link of the Day
Battle Hymn of the Republic – beautiful song sung by Kraus

Blessings to vote for life and truth!

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25)

What must I do to inherit eternal life?

As mentioned in yesterday’s devotional, God worked out the circumstances such that I listened to Pastor Randy Orndorff’s sermon about the Good Samaritan three different times on my 7th spiritual birthday (Sunday Jan 6). It became very clear to me that God wants to drill home the message of the Good Samaritan deep down into my heart and your hearts as well. The scripture reading on Jan 6 was Luke 10:25-37.

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He (Jesus) said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” So he answered and said,” ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. (Luke 10:25-30)

Why didn’t the priest and the Levite stop to help the man beaten up alongside the road. Perhaps they were in rush needing to be somewhere on time. Perhaps they were fearful. Perhaps religious laws prevented them from helping someone unclean. Then a good, but despised Samaritan came along and responded in a way we know is right and good.

When we are in a position of being needed to help another, many attitudes arise within us. Jesus expects us to slow down, bend down, reach out, and lift up – to show mercy to those in need. Often these opportunities are unplanned and inconvenient. However, the greatest satisfaction and greatest blessings come when we serve others.

The Jericho Road is always with us. The Jericho Road is any place where people are robbed; where people are robbed of their dignity, robbed of their love, robbed of their food and clothing, robbed of their value as human beings.  It is any place where there is suffering and oppression. The Jericho Road is a symbol of suffering in the world.

This parable of the Good Samaritan is essentially about people not wanting to get involved with people who are suffering because of safety, because of money, because of time, because of inconvenience, because of busyness with churchy activities. While this parable is a condemnation of non-involvement, it also is an invitation for us to be merciful and kind to those in need.

It is much easier to take the “wide road” like the priest and the Levite than the narrow road like the Samaritan. Life is a highway. How much time do you spend reflecting on where you’re going and what you’re doing? How many times do you say, “Here I am LORD. What is the question?”

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, thank You for Pastor Randy and the generous and caring congregation at Culpeper United Methodist Church. Bless them Lord. Water the good seeds that were sown this past weekend with Your miracle grow. Continue to multiply the number of people and organizations supporting Sam Reeves and Operation Rescue Liberia. Thank You Jesus. Amen and hallelujah!

Link of the Day
Jericho Road (The Good Samaritan) – by Sermons from Seattle

Blessings to choose to walk the narrow road and be a Good Samaritan!