Category: governments

Wednesday 12/27 ~ True separation of church & state

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The scripture for today, December 27 (12/27), is 1st Kings 12:27 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

changes-in-worship-cover-medium“If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem [not some other capital city], they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah.”

For centuries and millenniums, kings selected a patron god for their nation, a god they most revered to protect them. The patron god was selected by the king. Nations were always ruled by either a high priest or king. Some nations even had priest-kings.

So, when Constantine conquered much of Europe and set up his empire, he needed a patron god. One day during a battle, he looked up and saw a cloud formation that reminded him of things he’d heard about Jesus. So he made Jesus his patron God, and Christianity his empire’s required religion. He even rode his army through rivers, then declared them baptized. He ordered conquered peoples to be baptized or killed.  Headquarters was Rome.

Luther was friends of the Duke [king] of Germany, so when he broke off from Rome, the official state religion became Lutheranism. John Calvin was in the government of Switzerland, so when it broke off from Rome, the official state religion became Calvinism. When the king of England broke off from Rome, he became head of the Church of England (and Prince Charles is head of the Church there today). John Knox was influential with the parliament of Scotland, so his Presbyterianism became the official religion of Scotland.

In each instance, the king or parliament could force its citizens to follow the chosen religion of that nation. If people didn’t, they could legally put them in prison, torture them, and execute them at will. And, in earlier centuries, they did just that.

Eventually, the idea of separating religion from the state government became popular. And that is where many nations are today. But it does not mean people in government cannot express religion. It just means they cannot force citizens to be a particular government-selected religion or be in danger of punishment.

That is true “separation of church and state”.

Scripture for Thursday 12/21 ~ Use Your Power of One

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The scripture for today, December 21 (12/21), is Matthew 12:21 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-Michel-COVER-Kindle-Medium“In his name the nations will put their hope.”

Revelation 21:2, 9, & 26 says something similar regarding the New Jerusalem which is the Bride of Christ, and the Bride is the Church:

“The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.”

The nation you live in may not be in good hands right now, or it may be thriving with high morals, or it may be diving into poverty. But your nation can hope ~ hope in Jesus.

Never lose hope. You are just one person, but there is great power in one. Jesus came to provide that hope. In your own way, in your own life, use your power of one.

Do not leave your nation for a “better life” in someone else’s.  All nations have their days of glory and their days of despair.  Tell about Jesus, the Prince of Peace, even if you have to tell it is secret. Stay. Show your nation how it can hope, how it can have glory, how it can have honor.

 

 

Scripture for Thursday 12/14 ~ IF

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The scripture for today, December 14 (12/14), is 1st Samuel 12:14 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

changes-in-worship-cover-medium“IF you fear the Lord and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and IF both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God ~ good!”

The Jews had just insisted on having a king rule over them instead of a supreme judge. Samuel replied and said IF. IF they serve and obey the Lord, and IF they both (people and king) follow the Lord, then it is good.

Today as then, some people live in a nation where the king/government does not follow the Lord. What to do? Galatians 5:22 tells us to be loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled, for “against such things there is no law”.

Is it hard to do this when crooked officials are getting all the advantages and you are being cheated? Indeed it is. It may seem they are on top of things. In reality, they are at the bottom. Never ever let others drag you down to their level. It is not worth it.  Keep your eyes on God!

Hold fast!

       Stand firm!

                Do the right thing!

In the end, they will lose. You and God will win. That is good!

Scripture for Saturday, November 18 (11/17) ~ Governments

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The scripture for today, November 18 (11/18), is Deuteronomy 11:18f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

changes-in-worship-cover-medium“Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.”

Sometimes the country we live in goes through very bad times. We pray for the bad times to end, but they do not. What is going on? The above warning was to the Israelites just before they entered their promised land. God had just said through Moses, don’t worship idols.

Perhaps your country is going through bad times because of idol worship. Probably not like the hand-made idols of ancient times, but idols of money and power and immorality. There have been times in the Bible when a good man prayed, “God, I am the only one left who worships you.” God would reply that there were a few others. But he did not reply that he was going to stop the punishing. The nation hadn’t turned back to God yet.

Therefore, when we are suffering unjustly for what a majority of our countrymen have been doing, we must do it bravely. And while we “wait it out”, let us continually remind ourselves, our families, our neighbors, our countrymen of the righteous ways they should be acting.

In bad times, this is our assignment. Let us be brave and spread the news. Let us keep reminding and be as patient with them as God is with us. Perhaps someday they will listen.

 

Scripture for Wednesday, November 15 (11/15)

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The Scripture for today, November 15 (11/15), is Revelation 11:15 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Heroes-Alone-COVER-KINDLE“The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven which said: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever!’ “

 Each of us belongs to a kingdom/nation within our world. It is not perfect. Its leaders can sometimes do very bad things. And we wonder how we can stand some of the terrible things that sometimes happen within a government.

But our worldly kingdom/nation is not the only one we can live in. Colossians 1:13 says Jesus “has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Rescued! Brought us! Past tense! The kingdom isn’t something in the future. It is here now. And it goes by yet another name. Verse 18 says, “And he [Jesus] is the head of the body, the church.”

So, when we become discouraged about the kingdom/nation in our world that we live in, take hope. We can have dual citizenship! For there is another kingdom here, a spiritual one. The king of that kingdom will actually love us. Forever and ever.

 

Scripture for Saturday, October 7 (10/7)

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The scripture for today, October 7(10/7), is Joshua 10:7f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Clouds in blue sky“So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men. The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.’ “

We today cannot imagine a good God condoning violence, let alone promoting it. But think back. Mankind was quite barbaric in the centuries and millenniums before Christ. God never runs very far ahead of mankind, or else mankind would not understand, would grow discouraged and then not even try to follow God. By the time Jesus came, God was saying, “No more violence.”

In this scripture for today, God was telling Joshua to attack people in the Jews’ Promised Land ~ Canaan. This brings up a related question: Why would a good God allow one group of people to kill off another group of people? God had told Abraham centuries earlier, “In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure” (Genesis 15:16).

In Leviticus 18:24, 28, God warned the Jews through Moses, “Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled….And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.” So God warned the Jews that, if they got as bad as the previous people in Canaan, he would drive them out too.

One of the monstrous sins of the Amorites was child sacrifice in the open fires of Marduck.  Eventually, the Jews began doing the same thing, and God drove them out of their Promised Land to Assyria and Babylon.

Further, in Old Testament times, God often punished people immediately. Why punish them? Partly to get them away from the good people. And God used armies of believers to do the punishing for him.

In the New Testament, God does not expect us to do the punishing. Romans 12:19 says, “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay’ says the Lord. On the contrary, If your enemy is hungry feed him….Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Thank God, he has taken the terrible task of vengeance away from us. We can just forgive (let loose of) our enemies and hand things over to God to take whatever steps need to be taken. In the meantime, we can read the Old Testament and learn that God takes notice when people are doing bad things to us. God does take care of us. God does love his children.

Scripture for Friday, September 8 (9/8)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn blessings, forgiveness, governments, healing, Inspirational, power, prayerLeave a comment

The scripture for today, September 8 (9/8), is Daniel 9:8 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Mefiboset-KINDLE Medium“O Lord, we and our kings, our princes, and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.”

Daniel is praying for his countrymen. Have you prayed for your countrymen and government lately?  I Timothy 2:1 & 2 says “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone ~ for kings and all those in authority.” At the time Paul wrote this, Nero Caesar, who led the persecution of tens of thousands of Christians, torturing many to death, was the king over the Roman Empire. Paul prayed for him.

All your life, have you done nothing but complain about your government? Isn’t it time to stop complaining and start praying? It is hard to pray for someone and they stay your enemy.

Then, pray for your countrymen. Pray for forgiveness for what your country is doing wrong. Pray with thanksgiving for what your country is doing right. All countries—regardless of how great or small—have both. Humbly ask on behalf of your countrymen for forgiveness of whatever shames them, comfort for whatever losses they feel, and gratitude for everything that is right.  Be proud of whatever country you live in.  Do not leave. Stay and help it be even better. Be patriotic.

Scripture for Monday, August 7 (8/7)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Daily, faith, governments, Inspirational, persecution, powerLeave a comment

00-COVER-KINDLEThe scripture for today, August 7 (8/7), is Hosea 8:7 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.”

This is the boomerang effect. We throw a boomerang into the air and no matter how we throw it, it always comes back to us. In the same way, God treats us the same way we treat him.

If we draw near to God, God draws near to us (James 4:8). If we don’t have time for God, God doesn’t have time for us. If we don’t want to do what he says, God doesn’t want to do what we say. If we reject God, God rejects us:

Psalm 9:15-16; Psalm 10:2; Psalm 37:14-15; Psalm 140:9; Proverbs 3:34; Proverbs 6:27; Proverbs 26:27; Isaiah 33:1; Isaiah 59:18; Ezekiel 7:8; Obadiah 1:15.  Look them up.

Also, there may be people out there mistreating you. Someday their mistreatment will boomerang right onto themselves. In the meantime, your assignment is to remain true to God with patience and calm. God will take care of the boomerang.

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Scripture for Tuesday, July 18 (7/18)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn blessings, Daily, faith, governments, healing, Inspirational, judging, persecution, prayerLeave a comment

The scripture for today, July 18(7/18), is Acts 7:18 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

inside-cover-medium

“Then another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt.”

Does God really answer prayers? When the Jews first arrived in Egypt, they received “royal treatment” because they were relatives of “Prime Minister” Joseph. Then he died, but his relatives stayed. Eventually, they were resented, then feared, then made slaves of the Egyptians.

For the following 400 years, the Jews prayed for God to release them from their slavery. Generation after generation died believing that God does not answer prayers.

But God saw the big picture. He saw that the 70 relatives of Joseph who originally went to Egypt would become over three million through the next four centuries. Then and only then would they be large enough to begin a new nation ~ the Jewish nation. In Egypt during those centuries, they were in a form of “protective custody”.

Are you frustrated and confused because God is seemingly not answering some very important prayers? Perhaps you are part of a bigger picture that God knows about. Perhaps your job is to stay where you are and just keep hanging on.

Are you up to the task God has assigned to you?

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Scripture for Monday, July 17 (7/17)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Daily, death, faith, good works, governments, Inspirational, judging, persecution, Satan4 Comments

The scripture for today, July 17 (7/17), is 1st Corinthians 7:17 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-Mefiboset-KINDLE Medium“Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him.”

In some situations in life, this scripture is hard to accept. Sometimes life gets very, very hard. Sometimes it is hard to keep smiling, even to keep breathing. When will it end? Will it ever end?

But can it be that this is where God wants you? Can it be that the difficulties in your life right now are your assignments from God? God fights Evil from heaven and it is our place to fight Evil from earth. It is an ongoing battle. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).

For some reason that cannot be understood right now, you are where God wants you to be. This is your assignment from God. Remember, we are “ambassadors for Christ” (II Corinthians 5:20). We must show the world that “all things work together for good to those who love the Lord” (Romans 8:28).

As a soldier for Christ, be brave. Think with a clear head. Hold fast. Stand firm.  Carry out your assignment.

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