Welcome!
Date: Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Today: God rules by Love
Passage: 1 Tim 2: 1-4 NIV
1 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
I rarely see churches today, that pray/encourage praying for those in authority in the world
In the Evangelical/Pentecostal Churches, this is rare, and depends on “who is in authority?”
But the Bible urges us to pray for those in authority, whether we like them or not
When we vote, we are doing a good thing; we are exercising our rights
But after that, whoever wins, we accept it. Once they take office, we start praying for them
God is the person in charge, above all leaders/rulers in the world
One day, Jesus Christ will be ruling the whole earth in peace and security
In the Old Testament days, Kings and prophets used to have a good connection
Some of the Kings listened to the prophets; some didn’t
But God sent some of these prophets to the Kings, with His message
The King and the prophet had separate duties; God never told a prophet to take over the King or vice-versa
When the Kings wouldn’t listen to Him, God sent the judgment
But as the people prayed, God removed some of the adverse judgments
That is what happened in Nineveh; people responded to the call of God through Jonah; God answered their prayer
When God rules, He rules by love and justice
Can love rule? Is not love a friendly thing?
God’s kingdom is inverse to world’s; God rules by love
Love of God can conquer hearts; it can bring people closer to God and to each other
A kingdom in this world cannot exist, if it is all conflict
A church cannot survive/thrive, if there is no love within
A family cannot stay together, without love and mutual respect
Love of God must become basic platform/system running our lives
When a computer runs on a system like windows, all programs that are installed must be compatible with windows
Apple computers run on a different system- the Mac
And now, there is android and stuff like that
We cannot have the Love of God and the love of the world going on simultaneously in our lives; two systems cannot get along well with each other
That will be a conflict; the system will crash
It is one or the other
It is time to examine, how much are we controlled/motivated by the love of God
When we pray for somebody, we show to God that we love/respect them
Do we pray for those in authority? If not, it is time to start praying
It is our divine privilege to pray for those in authority
As America votes today, pray and exercise your privilege
God bless you
BG
Prayer: Lord, help me to be a responsible citizen in this world as well as of your kingdom. We pray and thank you for the United States, as America votes today. We pray for the President and for all those who are in authority, that you will guide them with wisdom and strength they need. Amen