February 19, 2023

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.  1Jn 4:7 

Varied Relationships

Many of us have relationships that tie us to others whether through emotions, personal agreement or service. Those arrangements can have mutual strengths for all parties, or it may be a arrangement where one party is the stronger and the other is weaker.  That arrangement may be a positive or negative one.  Such arrangements may be in family, marriage, work, religion or government.  We can examine these arrangements closer. I know we are still probably considering our emotional relationship of love this weekend; but we have many other relationships we could examine as well.  So, let’s not use this examination on your partner this weekend; and this is not solely an emotional evaluation.

Let’s consider relationships that are more legal than emotional and ones where services are rendered.  In agreements with others such as work, organizations, church or in the government of city, state or nation; the experience can be divided based on the strength of the parties here also into categories of the stronger one and the submissive party.  Those relationships can be positive or negative as well, depending on how the power player chooses to behave.

Varied Partners

It is always sad when the stronger party chooses to take advantage of the weaker party, but it happens often.  In marriage, church and organizations, we choose to submit ourselves to others’ power for our gain and though the relationship may become difficult at times; we have the options of removing ourselves from that arrangement.  However, in some governments that are local or federal in our nation, we cannot so easily use the option of moving.  What if the difficult power broker is your nation?

We can go to some countries where the lifestyle is horrible, but it is the only life that is available to the people because the governing authority of that land denies the vulnerable any legal option to change their circumstances.  Of course, in some of these types of countries, the vulnerable have risen up and ended their suffering through overthrowing their abusive leader.  In these same countries, women usually suffer the most because of forced marriages, overbearing husbands, and personal restrictions that they cannot be relieved of without losing everything, including their very lives.

Even in nations where there is liberty to choose a romantic partner in a democratic government, there may be a religious authority or governmental authority that demands submission to their mandate for religion and civilian life as shown in authoritarian countries. In America, where there has always been governmental liberty to choose or leave a mate, liberty of dress, personal choices, to choose living environments such as city or state and religion; there is now an ongoing effort to force Americans into an authoritarian type of government and put people into restraints based on personal life, religion and government rules.  Some parts of government want to dictate to mostly women how to conduct their personal lives. These rules over people are intended to bring them back to so-called “normal” in what is assumed to be primarily Christian principles. 

America had already left formerly Christian principles and started to redefine marriage, home, religion and government into something other than Christian or God-fearing behavior.  However, it was always the religion, be they Christian, Mormon, Muslim, Jehovah-Witness, Seventh Day Adventist, Catholic and some other faith, that had the responsibility of bringing their people into alignment and obedience to the tranquility of faith.  Where these religions may have failed to bring about an ideal social environment; some religious, mostly Christians in government, have seen fit to force Americans by law to do what the chosen leader declares is right.

Partnership with Nations

Through world history, we have seen many types of leadership set up and operated to bring people into a societal government where it operated for the sake of family, provision and religious faith. All of these types of governments whether autocrat, authoritarian, monarchy, theocracy, anarchy, commonwealth, dictatorship, Marxism, etc., have proven to be a miserable life for the people, and especially for women, where they suffered abuse by its leader.  The truth is that no man is personally equipped to rule the minds and behavior of a multitude of people and do it equitably.

With all the history and examples known to American citizens, yet some citizens and leaders want to undo the American government started by an agreement of mostly godly people who believed the bible and in the Sovereignty of God and go into a proven vulnerable system of government where we are led by the mandate of authoritarian leadership.  Well, first of all it goes against the truth of the bible where God has given each God-fearing person liberty and power to live according to the liberties of Christ, as led by the Holy Spirit. Plus, we have seen these types of leadership fail over and over again.

So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. Gal 4:31 

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled

again with the yoke of bondage.  Gal 5:1 

The American religious right has decided to disregard the will of the Sovereign God and a majority of the American people to give us a government run by their selection of religious principles to bring the nation and its people back to what they call Christian principles by law when none of these authoritarian people or principles resemble what Christ would approve.

The Sovereign God that the first American settlers swore an allegiance to always knew man was incapable of leading men’s hearts and minds in order to rule a people or nation.  That is why God partnered with man from the beginning to help him live and re-create by divine instruction and spiritually leading man’s mind and spirit to guide him.  Guidance in the physical realm came through first the spoken Word and then the written Word of God downloaded to prophets to be written for all to read and be guided by.  All men, women and children of all nationalities could read God’s Word and be guided mentally into their part of obedience demanded by God for governance that would be sufficient for everyone to be helped, loved, and protected as they submitted to God.  However, God’s Word and guidance did not omit to inform all people that there was an enemy who would come against their union to persuade, overrule and abuse them by stealing their God-ordained freedoms and blessings.

Today much of the leadership and authority God designed for protection and provision does not look like God and, people uncertain of what is right or wrong leadership, are being abused.  God made this knowledge plain in the bible, but because all people do not read or believe the bible, this knowledge is not universally known.  Some of us have heard the saying that we, Christians, may be the only bible some people ever read, but Christians have changed too. So, the lack of knowledge about what is right or wrong in leadership makes it difficult for some people to reject evil and choose the good, which is God.

Know Influencers by Fruit

Information presented below helps to break down knowledge from the scriptures into some easy-to-understand characteristics where even a child could distinguish good from the evil based on personal impact.  The summary of characteristics is listed so that a review of it could help one to see the different impacts on them based on interactions with others.  When leadership is good and right, people will be blessed and prosper under its guidance.  When leadership, whether its personal relationship, social or governmental, is evil; the impact upon the vulnerable will generally be negative, harmful or destructive.  We each need to know whether we are being blessed or hurt; and whether we are being impacted by God or the enemy’s hand.  Listen to the list of good traits that represents God’s impact of love and then afterward, hear the list of characteristics of evil’s influence, which is bondage.  Listen closely and determine if you are experiencing God or the enemy’s influence and then determine if you may need to make some changes.

God Promotes: or Satan Promotes:

Love                                                                               Bondage 

                     

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Gal 5:19-23 

Outside Influence

People have to be able to distinguish between the two spiritual forces that have access to our life: one good and one evil.  Either God or Satan is influencing our life at specific times.  Satan likes to mimic God with false traits but do not be fooled.  We have to be able to distinguish whether it is Satan’s attack or not.  Spiritual influences impact our life that come from far above the highest physical leader. 

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against

the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Eph 6:12 

That is the reason why real Christianity was attacked: to weaken the Christian believer.  Christianity gives us a world view from God’s perspective and supplies faith in God for stability. In the worst of times, we know He is in control; and we can be confident whether it is time to rest and be at peace or to fight. Those who are not Christian or have no faith in God will be worried and restless because they have no confidence in God and do not have the ability to fight evil’s attack.  So, when trouble comes and people have to decide whether its fight or flight, the strong will fight but the weak will flee or compromise. Weak Christians may choose to compromise instead of calling on their help, which is the Lord Jesus.

Some people are afraid of former president Trump because their vision does not go any higher than the former or perhaps future president.  Some legal authorities may even be afraid of prosecuting him for crimes because they cannot see higher than the American presidential office, the highest political office in the land.  Faith in God allows us to look beyond the presidential office to see our Sovereign God, who is higher than the president. 

Unlike in early Jerusalem where the king was the highest office and no one had the authority to remove him but God, now through Christ, righteous believers are given authority to defeat all the power of the wicked.   In America, our Christian faith and our democratic three-part government with consent of the people allows us to put down wicked authorities that stand against God and His people.  Believers know that it is God who is in control, and it is He who holds the world and leaders in place.  Only Christianity gives us a world view to see that God is over every man.  God is higher than the president or king of a country; and it is God who holds the whole world in His hands.  God backs up righteous authority operated in His name; and He honors two or three believing witnesses in agreement.  Our government functions by the authority of the people in agreement with righteous leaders under God. 

Our faith and positioning in God as the righteousness allows us to prosecute heads of state when warranted, and still be safe as a nation because God is the highest judge, and He hates sin.  That is why the attack against the Christian church and the Christian leaders was so deadly.  Christian leaders were supposed to give the people a godly world view of Jesus backing up the believer. Jesus teaches us the Father’s will on how to operate in the name and authority of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to stand in the place of authority against all the power of Satan.  God, the Father, as the worldwide sustainer holds this world together, but He expects us to use the authority given to us through Jesus to maintain righteousness through the preached Word changing the hearts and minds of people and making disciples of them.  If the church fails to support righteousness, our society will become corrupted by wickedness. Jesus already came and gave us the solution for this dilemma through using the Word of God.

When the top Christian leaders supported Trump, they succumbed to Satan’s plan of high jacking Christian authority and overthrowing God’s plan for liberty in America. Satan’s plan was for the takeover of America through his supporters and usher in his rule, which is bondage like we see in many other nations.  Some religious and political Republicans sold out to Russian authority because of money.  Money and power were also the motivations behind the Christian leaders who rallied with the political Republicans over a mutual love of money, hatred of black people and the thirst for power.  Many that knew better kept silent.  Having already won the support of Trump through the love of money and power, his endorsement by Christian religious leaders, who rallied all the strings of power under their leadership, meant the plan was a sure thing for Satan and foreign influence.  Russia, who had already gained inroads through propaganda and hired help, solicited some of our highest leaders in the House of Representatives, Senate, corporations, mega preachers, and the President; all because of the love of money, wealth and power. 

Racial hatred gave the devil the ground he needed in white people to cause them to hate what God was doing in black people to bring them further out of bondage.  Black people who were asserting that they were the backbone of the Democratic party, had built the nation by hand through ancestry, and were about to become the majority power in the nation; so infuriated white people until the devil was able to use their hate as a motivator to form a plot that would overthrow the nation with their knowledge and cooperation.  The more they fought against black people, the greater the division and hatred to destroy the nation, which they also desired to give them authority to reshape the nation. It also benefitted Russia, whose nation and leadership they admired.  We have to come to the conclusion that God declared in the Word of God:  that the battle is ultimately between God and the devil.  People are being used as tools of one force or the other and you have already been given the list of traits to distinguish which is which.

The Spirit’s Help

In a previous article, I acknowledged that God had not given me insight into the Ukrainian war; but now I believe He has opened up my spiritual eyes to see the enemy working.  America, having lost the discernment of right and wrong and wavered in its devotion to God, did not have spiritual insight into the war and how it should be handled.  Sending money and weapons was its only solution to the war, when in fact if it had been operating at its best spiritual potential, there would not have been a war in Ukraine.  I have mentioned before that the spiritual church fights spiritual wars in the spirit long before it becomes a physical battle.  Churches that have sat down on God are useless to the plan of God; they are merely window dressing and powerless.  Believers waste their time in these places. But any and all spirit-filled believers can reach God in prayer.

America’s lack of spiritual insight failed to help in settling the dispute and being a godly influencer to defer war, In fact, America put fuel on an already lit fire when the president and officials interfered with the affairs to that nation for the sake of money.  Interfering with Ukraine was like kicking the bear and disputing blame.  Russia, already at odds with America, did not need much coercion to turn its anger to America.  We are already at war and the nations are already involved.  Ours has not been a physical war, but a spiritual war where only those walking in the spirit can see the battle flames.  This is a battle between God and the devil, but since America has already been rendered blind, she cannot see which way to go.  Therein, I find my role because I have continually sought the Lord to understand my own path which is intertwined with all these matters.  The gift of prophesy from God discerns in black and white terms, right or wrong. From my early days of prophetic ministry, I discerned between God’s word and the lie.  Christian churches should be the same, but many have set up shop for business and as long as business is good, they do not care much about right or wrong.  Individual Americans should care because your future is changing before your eyes, and many are sitting under pastors who do not care as long as they are taken care of.  Granted, there are some that may not be knowledgeable or may have been gagged by the enemy, which is all the more reason for the saints to offer up intercessory prayer.  I again urge Americans and Christians to open your eyes to what is going on. Government is not God’s best force against Satan’s work.

God has already given me some insight concerning the status of America, but because so many American leaders are led by their own instincts, they are hard at hearing.  The war in Ukraine has the potential to destroy their nation, bankrupt America, and still continue the war because Russia’s president is willing to fight till the end and do the unthinkable to prevail.  All of this started because of the lust of money, the root of all evil.

You may have thought that I forgot my subject, but I have not.  It is the human nature that has gotten us to where we are: greed for what God has not yet seen fit to give us and covetousness for what is someone else’s.  That in itself explains Russia but it also explains the average American: lust for things to be like someone else.  God gives His children power to get wealth, but the devil uses temptation for wealth to coerce them to do evil to get what they want while committing their souls for damnation. 

I know that while God is testing all American citizens and other nations, I am not exempt.  I, too, need more of God to prevail.   I know that the enemy is the devil, and that people are just his tools.  People are no more capable of standing alone to defend themselves than Ukraine, who gave up their weapons of nuclear capability (the Budapest Memo) for a promise of help from the wider community of the West.  And it seems that God has given them in return something that the great Americans do not have: unity, love of country, its land and the people.  Ukraine was told that if it gave up its nuclear weapons that the West (America’s Clinton Administration and the United Kingdom in particular) would protect Ukraine’s borders.  I am not privilege to details, but the West evidently failed them in 2014 when Crimea fell to the Russians.  The most important thing to Christians should be the Word and when we give our word to someone, it should mean something. 

The Ukrainian President has stated that he and his people are as David against Goliath.  That statement should perk up the ears of every Christian because the only help David had to defeat Goliath was his faith in God.  David knew his answer was in God.  God has placed all authority on earth in His Son, Jesus.  Jesus has given His authority to the church of Christian believers, which is most symbolically represented in the nation of America, the place that called itself “one nation under God”. All Christians have a responsibility to pray for peace and guidance for our leaders, but too many Christian leaders are unconcerned about these matters. If America does not hear the cry of vulnerable Christians less powerful than herself when she has the means and ability to come to their aid, what good is her wealth and power to God?  While America has promised and is some help to Ukraine, what good is that help if they are devoured bit by bit while America’s help comes drip by drip?  When Abraham’s nephew was taken, Abraham went with his whole force to take back his brother, Lot.  It was then that Abraham was blessed of God to become a great nation. 

It can surely be confusing at times like these to know the difference between right and wrong, but God is relying on the love He has invested in His children to know when it is time to help our brethren and neighbor.  The urgency of discerning between right and wrong in a time of crisis, explains why God sometimes call upon someone to stand in the gap or be a spokesperson for Him.  God will always send someone to come to the aid of the defenseless. We have seen over the last several years people who had much to lose, stand up and do the right thing and we have seen some in great power do the wrong thing.  Which ones represented God and which ones represented the adversary?  God has instilled in us ways to know what is right and examples of good and evil throughout the bible.  Many of us want to see God or complain that we have never seen God move, but everyday we have a chance to see God move when we get up to take a stand for what is right.  We are the tools that He uses to perform His miracles.  When inquiring what must he do to receive eternal life, the questioner received affirmation from Jesus:

And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.   Lk 10:27-28 

Jesus then told a parable of a man lying in the ditch after being beaten nearly to death who was passed over by the priest and Levite: but a good Samaritan came by and rescued him and paid his way back to full recovery. Jesus commended the Samaritan for having mercy on him and being a good neighbor.  Then Jesus instructed His disciples to go and do likewise (Lk 10:37).  We are the light and the miracles that many people are waiting to see.  God still lives and Jesus still work miracles, but many of us are hindering them by lack of faith. We have wars going on in our homes, in our government, in our churches and if we do not want to see physical war on our doorstep, we had better start moving. The war in Ukraine can end tomorrow or it can become a nuclear incident affecting us all, depending on what we do.

Christians of all ranks need to know what is going on and we cannot afford to sit under leaders who do not care about the urgency of the hour or the future.  We must know the difference between right and wrong to stand with righteousness and fight against evil.  We have to know what is of God and what is not.  We cannot always fight our enemies physically with weapons of war; sometimes we must love them into the love of Jesus.  Jesus is our personal counselor to help us know who is a friend and who is our foe, and to whom to lend help or prayer for.  We must be willing to be Jesus to all people because we are His hands and feet; and the world is waiting to see Jesus and to know that there is a God.  When something good happens to us, we give the praise to God because He is the source of all that is good, while the enemy is the source of evil.  Let us shine the light of Jesus Christ in the earth by getting up and doing our part.  We are the love that the world is waiting to see.  Forget about yourself for a minute and go help somebody.  If you need love, give some love and it will be returned unto you multifold.

Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 

Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.  Mt. 9:37 

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