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The Light
Dr David Wood
SUBMIT TO GOD
Greetings! Once again I come to you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. It hardly seems possible that the first half of 2008 is behind and the
second half is before us. I believe that the next six months hold much for us,
the sons and daughters of the Most High God. As events unfold the seeds of the
great apostasy spoken of by Saint Paul in Second Thessalonians which have
already been sown will come into greater manifestation.
2 Thessalonians 2:3 (AMP)
3 Let no one deceive or beguile you in any way, for that day
will not come except the apostasy comes first [unless the predicted great
falling away of those who have professed to be Christians has come], and the man
of lawlessness (sin) is revealed, who is the son of doom (of perdition),
There is a great storm just ahead. We, the Church, can avert the storm if we
will humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and take the dominion bought
back by Jesus at Calvary and exercise the power given back to us at the same
time. In any event there will be those that rise to the necessary tasks before
us and will continue to take this Gospel and the glorious power of God into all
the earth. Before the end there will be many walking as Jesus walked, walking
as the two witnesses described in the book of Revelation. The secret of how
much this storm bothers you lies in the following verses.
2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV)
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then
will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
You may say, “There is no wickedness in me.” Well get ready for a shock.
Humble yourself before the Lord and honesty search your life and ask Him to
reveal the areas that need change and He will help you.
Psalms 139:23-24 (KJV)
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in
the way everlasting.
This next verse is vital for the body of Christ. We tend to be impatient and if
things are not happening in ours lives we see what we can do to hurry it along.
You know as well as I do that if you have a cake baking in the oven you can not
hurry it along and have a perfect cake. The same is true of us. God is working
in our lives to bring us to that perfect, mature, place in Him that He so
desires for us. We just must submit and be patient. In the book of James we
find that when patience has had its perfect work we will be lacking nothing.
What a deal!
1 Peter 5:6-7 (KJV)
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he
may exalt you in due time:
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
We must understand that we are the people of God and that we indeed are called
by His name. We must humble ourselves or submit ourselves not only to Him but
to all those around us in authority. I believe one of the greatest problems in
people’s lives is the failure to submit, to obey those in authority around about
us. We have no business talking negatively about anyone. We don’t need to have
roast Pastor on the way home after Church. In fact, failing to submit to
authority puts us outside the will of God and into the devils domain. Or
criticize our police officers and others given authority for our protection and
safety. If you are caught speeding, admit it, apologize to the officer as a
representative of the law and pay the fine. Repent before God and go on
determined in your mind to submit to the laws of the land which do not violate
God’s law. We do not have any business criticizing our President or other
elected officials. We are clearly instructed to pray for all men and those in
authority. Not only are we to pray for them but it is to be the first thing we
pray for in the prayer closet which means that it is a daily thing. This comes
way before, “what about me Lord?”
1 Timothy 2:1-4 (KJV)
1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers,
intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may
lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
Saviour;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge
of the truth.
We are to pray for all those around us according to the will of God which is
never for a bad outcome in their lives. If you have a spiritual prayer
language, pray much in the spirit for those in authority in our lives and in our
nation. This includes our Pastors and other spiritual leaders, those in
education, those in business, those in media and those in government at all
levels. Pray that they seek the face of God, that they be surrounded with
advisors and friends that seek the face of God and God’s answers. God tells us
plainly that we must do this to have any expectation of a “quiet and peaceable
life in all godliness and honesty.” Further He makes it clear this is vital to
the spreading of this gospel message.
As you are all aware the political arena is hot with activity and in November we
Americans will not only chose a new President but all of the House of
Representatives, many in the Senate. Of course there are thousands of political
races occurring across the nation. You and I as children of God must not let
the devil chose the agenda for decision making but the Word of God must be the
one setting the agenda. The media will tell you that the candidate with the
best plan for lowering fuel prices is the one for which to vote. Well what if
that candidate believes that abortion and same sex marriage is the way to go in
our nation? We, the Church must stand up without compromise for innocent life.
In ancient Israel they did not have abortion but they gave their children to the
fire god, Molech.
Leviticus 18:21-22 (KJV)
21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire
to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is
abomination.
Now we give our children to the, I made a mistake god, or the I don’t have time
god, perhaps we sacrifice to the convenience god, or “it” is not the right sex
god, when all the while we are shedding innocent blood (Proverbs 6:16-19) at the
rate of 1.4 million lives per year. God called the Prophet Jeremiah a person
before he was formed in his mother’s womb. We are a person made in the image
and likeness of God when the egg of the woman and the sperm of the man unite in
the woman’s body.
Jeremiah 1:5 (KJV)
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou
camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a
prophet unto the nations.
What about same sex marriage? We love the homosexual just as God loves the
homosexual and pray for them to come to salvation. But we find as God finds the
acts of the homosexual to be an abomination (disgusting). When we vote for
those will continue so called “pro-choice” and promote same sex marriage we are
partakers in their evil, wicked, deeds.
2 John 1:9-11 (KJV)
9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ,
hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father
and the Son.
10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive
him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
God calls these acts vile.
Romans 1:26-27 (KJV)
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even
their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman,
burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is
unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was
meet.
In fact read the whole of Romans Chapter One, you will find a picture of our
nation but it need not be for we the Church can change it all. Review 2
Chronicles 7:14 and you will see the recipe for changing our nation. We the
Church can return our nation a great distance toward righteousness in one
election cycle. But we must spurn the agenda of the wicked and cast all of our
care and dependence on Almighty God and have the courage and faith to vote
righteousness.
I have two remaining thoughts necessary to the process of turning away of the
coming storm. The wicked are going to be severely affected by an ever mounting
storm pattern until the return of Christ but it does not need to have anything
to do with us other then giving us ample and wonderful opportunities to show our
God strong. First thought, we must have an unwavering support for and a
nonjudgmental attitude toward Israel. We must pray that our government take its
hands off the monies approved for aid to Israel and not try to manipulate them
with it. Manipulation is a device of the devil, in short it is demonic. We
must also pray that this so called “Roadmap to Peace” and the “Shelf Document”
come to naught. We must have nothing to do with the division of Jerusalem or
Israel. We fought a war in this country that consumed conservatively 600,000
lives to prevent the division of this nation. Yet, now we are trying to
convince Israel, a nation which is the apple of God’s eye, a nation with a land
grant from Almighty God to surrender the eternal capital of the world and other
lands to demonic forces.
Finally, be sure that you have forgiven all so that you will be forgiven of your
sin by the Heavenly Father. We must be sure that we hold nothing against those
around us and that we forgive all. Leave all injustice in God’s hands. Jesus
put it this way.
Matthew 5:23-24 (KJV)
23 Therefore if
thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath
ought against thee;
24 Leave there thy gift before the altar,
and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy
gift.
Matthew 5:44 (KJV)
44 But I say
unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that
hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Matthew 6:14-15 (KJV)
14 For if ye
forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
There are four things that I have tried to bring into your thinking that are
essential for your victory, the success of your Church and for the return of our
nation to righteousness. First, it is essential that we submit to all in
authority. We must do it quickly and with a good attitude and keep the lip
zipped. The children of Israel wondered in the wilderness for forty years not
because they did not follow the cloud by day and the fire by night but because
they murmured in their tents and they would not act upon the Word of God.
Second, we are to pray for all men and all in authority. We are to pray for
their good and that they pursue and find the best of God. Third we are to seek
the good of Israel with all of our hearts. And fourth we are to have no
unforgiveness in our hearts and if we have offended in word or deed we are with
all speed to repair the breech.
Until next month may the Lord God of Israel empower you and protect you, may He
lift up His smiling face and surround you with all of His goodness and show
Himself strong bringing wholeness into every area of your life, in Jesus name.
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