The Art Of Being Out-Gunned Part #3

Posted on October 25, 2016 by America's Keswick in Freedom Fighters

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“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives His best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.” ~Matthew 5:43-47 (The Message)

So, with all that debating nonsense finally done and over with let me ask you this question…You still gonna vote? At first I thought it would be funny and write in a President that already has been (like Theodore Roosevelt) just to show them but in reality, I am really vexed by the whole thing. I see the ads on the T.V. and wonder who they are trying to fool. I, for one, don’t think that the laws of this land are actually geared towards one special individual or another and yet because of the mindset and strayed moral compass of the masses these T.V. ads want you to think yourself more highly thought of than you actually are…now anybody can that without an impending election, so who are they fooling?

As I have been going through the Sermon on The Mount and trying to run it through this election season I am having a hard time seeing any shred of it and, to be honest, why should I? Kingdom principles and Democracy don’t mix very well. You can’t vote for a Messiah. There’s only one and His party affiliation doesn’t cater to the masses simply because it is about saving the masses for Kingdom purposes, it’s for peacemaking and not peacekeeping. So, the real question is where can we find peacemaking in this coming election? The answer is simple here too…it starts with you.

Let’s go back into the Babylonian Exile for a moment. It is popular to believe that The Exile was punishment for the nation of Israel’s disobedience to a lot of what YHVH told them they shouldn’t be doing and that is a truth here. However, if we were to take a peek into Jeremiah 29:7, “And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace.” What I hope you see here is that the nation of Israel is given a purpose within its punishment. Now we all fall upon Jeremiah 29:11-13 for strength but we seem to leave out the condition that will bring that strength. So, what is that condition? Love your enemies…and pray for them. Easy to say, hard to do.

Here is a little something that brother Ray Pritchard noticed about Jeremiah 29:7. “Shalom, the Hebrew word for peace, is used three times in this verse. Besides peace, it means blessing, wholeness, completeness, the absence of conflict, prosperity. Here is the shocking fact—at least it would have been shocking to the Jewish exiles. God ties their blessing to the blessing of the Babylonians. This seems counterintuitive since the exiles were God’s people and the Babylonians were pagans. He is really saying they were better off in Babylon, and Babylon is better off because they were there. Said another way, we can summarize this verse this way: You need Babylon! Babylon needs you!”

Today’s media would have us think that a wide road is necessary to peaceful “Co-existence” (like the bumper sticker displays), but what it leaves out can only be found in a peace that is surrender to a crucified life (easy to say, hard to do). What we do see today is a people spending too much thought on “what they’re doing” and not enough on “what I should be doing”. It brings to mind this dialog found at the end of John’s Gospel…” Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” (John 21:20-22)

There’s more to come, until then…pray for Babylon/Rome/America. Amen?

Written by Chris Hughes: Chris, a graduate of The Colony of Mercy (11-2003) is married (Kathy) with two adult children (Kevin and Karen) and has been a Freedom Fighter contributor since 2008.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 144; Proverbs 25

Daily Quote: “Christian love draws no distinction between one enemy and another, except that the more bitter our enemy’s hatred, the greater his need of love. Be his enmity political or religious, he has nothing to expect from a follower of Jesus but unqualified love.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. ~Philippians 3:7

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