National Day of Prayer

Tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer.  While I am so thankful we still have it in our country (and we certainly should!!!), I have read articles that make it seem like some people want "politically correct" prayers being prayed in Washington.  I don't know if it's true, but it caused my heart to hurt.

After all, we are praying to God.  He is the One we should be trying to please.  When we ask ourselves "What would Jesus do?", we should look in the Bible to see what Jesus would do.  If we are not sure, we should err on doing the best right thing we can after praying about it.  We should not look to ourselves for that answer, but to God.  When we look to ourselves, we find our own agendas, our pride, our flawed perspectives, etc.  When we look to God, things become clearer.  They won't always be totally clear here on this earth, but looking to God and asking what He would want us to do sure helps us make better decisions.

Making better decisions will not allow as much compromise.  Looking to God will keep us from voting for things that are clearly wrong in the Bible.

We should not confuse loving one another with loving and accepting all that people do.  If I hated sinners, I would have to hate myself first.  I sin.  I have to ask forgiveness.  I get up and keep trying.  I do this constantly.  But I know that justifying what I do (when I sin) by making other people accepting of it has nothing to do with right or wrong with God.  Sin is sin.  Wrong is wrong.  It does not matter who does it, who supports it, or who accepts it!  I must look to God.  He is the One I care about pleasing.  He is the One  Who sent His precious Son for me!  No one else did that .  No one else could do that!

Do I compromise?  I do all of the time.  I don't want to step on toes or hurt feelings.

Do I ride the fence?  I am sure I do more than I realize.

But I know what is clear to me.  I will not vote for abortion or those who wish to keep it legal.  I read an article today about a doctor on trial for late term abortions.  The babies would have lived if he had not killed them as they were born.  Have you ever seen a newborn baby?  Would you be outraged if you saw someone kill a newborn baby right in front of you?  Would it hurt?  Would it be awful?  Why is it okay to kill babies in a hospital or clinic?  Why?  Is our country that "off" that we just seem to accept it?  If someone has an abortion, are they happy they had one?  Do they live their lives in blissful peace?  If I did something and really did not realize the consequences, why would it haunt me afterwards?  Maybe because it was wrong?  And we have a loving and forgiving God.  But we must ask for forgiveness.  I am so thankful He wants us to ask, and He does forgive.

I am so disappointed our President and other leaders have come out supporting gay marriage.  I don't want a  President who does not seem to mind that he is supporting what the Bible says clearly is wrong.  I respect our President, but I won't vote for him.  I don't like him.  I wish his term was up.  Maybe some can overlook this because of the economy.  What is more important?  Looking to see if Jesus would support something like this or our economy.  Maybe our economy is a reflection of our country's direction.  And that direction scares me.

But then I remember Who is in control.  I remember to Whom I will answer and do answer to today.  I can call upon Him, and He is there.  None of the others are.  None of them can help me.  None of them died to give me eternal life.  But Jesus did.  And He will stand beside me on judgment day.  The least I can do is stand for Him while I am still here!

So tomorrow, I will pray for my country.  I will pray for the wavering hearts, the lazy hearts, the bad hearts, and all of the others.  I will pray for the ones who want us to look to God to stand strong and not be caught off course, derailed by the devil himself.  I will pray for myself - for guidance and wisdom and to know when to take a stand and when to not be silent.  I will pray to be brave and to sacrifice and be more willing to share what God has done and can do.  We all need to start looking up and stop being derailed.

Have you seen "The Passion of the Christ"?  How could you watch that movie as a believer and not feel what Jesus did for us?  And all we have to do is accept His gift of eternal life.  And if we accept it, we should want to stand for Him.

And do you know what happened to Mel Gibson after he spent so much time and money on that film?  I firmly, very firmly, believe that the devil was after him and caused him to fall and fail in so many ways.  I believe he was attacked, so he could not do more than he did to spread the good news.  I have prayed for Mel Gibson.  He may still be living a relatively normal life if he had not stepped out and given us this gift of a movie about our Lord.

It's okay not to be popular.  It's okay to feel lonely sometimes.  It is nothing compared to what Jesus felt on this earth.  It's okay to stand up.  But if I stand up in God's name, I had better be looking at Him and not my own agendas and pride.  That means being firm and unwavering, but it also means standing because the root of the stance is love.  I love my country.  I love the people who disagree with me.  (Although sometimes I don't like them.)

PRAY.  Pray to the One Who loves us the most.  He will give us the direction we need.