Picking up on the theme of the previous post, a person’s personal ‘diet’ may lead to a ‘diseased’ heart.
In the fall of November 2006, I turned myself into ER.
The cardiologist did not dismiss me.
I had to stay in the hospital from Thursday evening to Monday morning.
Monday morning was the first available time for me to have an angiogram.
They found two major blockages in the main artery to my heart.
I had a heart attack waiting to happen.
One blockage was 80%; the other was 90%.
When I woke up, I was told that a stent had been put in my artery.
God in His grace and mercy had watched over me and restored a ‘diseased body’.
I am a perpetual heart patient.
Praise God.
In May of 2024, I went through a series of episodes that landed me in the hospital.
On June 4th, I had a pacemaker put into my body to override my heart’s beats per minute from cascading to dangerously low levels.
I praise God again for His merciful ‘bodily’ attention to me.
I am also on a CPAP machine.
I wear it at night when I go to sleep at night to maintain a flow of oxygen for my breathing.
The number of times that my breathing would stop had been dangerously high.
This, too, was the grace and mercy of God in my life.
I am not an invalid.
My Father has graciously watched over me not only in the spiritual, but also in the natural.
He has graciously not only given me eternal life; but He has provided for me the means to live in this ‘body’, which is a temple of God.
Why?
“We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10 NKJV)
“By His grace, I have received His goodness, for His glory.” (Debbie George)
Praise the Lord.
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What surgery is God preparing to do in this nation to correct its illness?
So, I ask this question, “what if your ‘diet’ has ‘diseased your heart” ?
‘Diet’ of what?
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The following post is not indifferent.
It is an admonition to the Church.
Why?
Because what will be said are discriminating words that requires a ‘heart’ focused on the Lord Jesus Christ.
You can be saved, and not living your life focused on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Q. Do you believe that?
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Q. What if you are not a believer and you are reading this post; should you continue and pay attention to what is shared?
I encourage you to continue reading the post.
Please read, reflect, and respond as needed.
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In The Revelation of Jesus Christ, seven letters are written to seven Churches in chapters 2 and 3.
John writes, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet…and when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid, I am the First and the Last…Write these things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.” (Revelation 1: 10, 17, 19, NKJV)
Jesus, said, “Do not be afraid.”
I encourage you, ‘not to be afraid’.
Toward the end of each of the seven letters, the following sentence was written.
“He who has ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
What is the Spirit saying to the Church today?
There is so much chaos, confusion, conflict, tension, verbal accusation and lies filling this nation, and the nations of the world. We live in a ‘war of words’, that seek to influence our thinking, disrupt our lives, plant fear, anxiety, and worry in our midst, sow seeds of doubt, and daily water those seeds so that they do not die out, but flourish and bloom. This is done to incarcerate us, to torment us, to bind us in chains of despair, and create an atmosphere without hope.
B.U.T. (Believers Understand This), you are free from the influence of these words of despair in Christ Jesus.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” (Romans 8 : 1-10, NKJV)
These words were written to believers in Jesus Christ.
Q. What is your ‘mind’ set on?
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1, NKJV)
The law of sin and death, condemns and controls us.
It is a yoke of bondage.
The law of sin and death seeks to cause hopelessness, chaos, confusion, and conflict.
The law of sin and death espouses deceitful rhetoric to bring about division, accusation and schisms.
The law of sin and death is a mental incarceration that causes a diseased heart.
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I receive each Friday a weekly blog called, ‘The Friday Update’.
It is written by Mike Woodruff.*
I strongly recommend that you check out his app and download it.
You will be blessed.
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The following are quotes from his blog on September 25, 2026.
“According to this MIT study, lies diffuse significantly farther, faster deeper and more broadly than the truth, in all categories of information and in many cases by an order of magnitude.”
“One hundred years ago, people were physically tired. Today, more people are emotionally tired.”
“Annie Dillard, who spent a lifetime showing her readers wonder in the mundane, died last week at the age of 81. Among her many memorable lines is “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” “
“On the average day, 1 – in -10, US young people have no in-person contact.”
[that raises a question: What about adults?]
“The Amish have difficult lives but very little depression.”
“AI will make expertise ubiquitous. What will be in short supply is wisdom and holy living.”
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If these quotes are synthesized, then what is a plausible conclusion?
These quotes confirm, for me, that our nation has a ‘heart disease’.
Q. If the heart of this nation is truly ‘diseased’, then why is it diseased?; and, what is the diagnosis of the condition of our heart?
Our nation’s heart is the sum of the hearts of its citizenship.
Q. What will show us the diagnosis of the problem of our heart?
A. Our upcoming mid-term elections, at the national level, the state level, the county level, and the local levels will reveal the condition of our collective hearts.
It will show us what is the reason of our ‘heart disease’, and how serious is the disease.
Q. Does that frighten you?
Q. Are you prepared to live with the results of the elections that diagnose our nation’s heart?
A. The results of the elections will reveal why we voted the way we did.
After the stent put into the main artery to my heart, my doctor told me that I would be a perpetual heart patient for the rest of my life.
He told me that it would take 18 months to learn what it meant to be a heart patient.
He told me that I could not sit around and do nothing.
I had to keep moving.
I have coined my own personal response to his admonition: ‘Eat Well, Eat Less, Keep Moving’.
I have no choice.
That is not a negative conclusion; it is a living reality.
I had to learn to live with the results of my surgery and the consequences.
My results were positive and I needed to pay close attention to the consequences of neglecting the blessing I had received.
I could ignore my doctor’s instructions and lose my health again; or I could obey his instructions, and learn to live a healthy lifestyle.
It required that I pursue and discipline myself to ‘eat well’, ‘eat less’, and ‘keep moving’.
Consider this, as a citizen of this nation, you, too, will have no choice but to live the results and the consequences of the November elections.
But, how you live will be your own personal decision.
We, as a nation, will learn to live as a heart patient for the following 18 months absorbing and pondering the life changes brought about by the election.
I am not saying the diagnosis will be life-threatening.
I am saying that whatever the results, it will be a diagnosis of the this nation’s heart, and this nation will move forward, learning to live with its diagnosis.
It will be our choice to embrace or ignore the diagnosis.
18 months will bring us to the door step of our next Presidential election in 2028.
I wonder what that will entail, enlightened by what we will experience, engendered by this nations’s heart diagnosis on Election Day, 2026.
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As a citizen of this nation, you do have a responsibility to exercise your Constitutional right to vote.
Let me be very blunt.
Your vote will reveal the condition of your heart.
It is a personal revelation.
Is your heart healthy or unhealthy?
Q. Do you understand that if you do not vote, then, your non-voting affects the election results?
Therefore, it is imperative that you take time to read and reflect upon the election materials that will be put before you; and then you will decide how to respond.
You need ask yourself, as you consider your response, is what I hear, watch, and read actually true or are they ‘words’ designed to manipulate my response?
There is a verse of scripture that speaks to this confrontation of influence that is going to exponentially expand from today to Election Day. 2026.
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness.” Matthew 5:22-23, NKJV
It is possible to believe what is said to be the truth; but it is actually a lie, therefore, you are deceived.
It matters not only what you focus upon, but how you choose to focus upon it.
It matters what is your ‘diet’ of words.
What are you consuming?
Are you eating well?
‘Words’ enter your heart; and out of your heart the mouth speaks.
Your vote speaks for you.
“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man our the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:43-45, NKJV)
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Let me put it to you another way.
Rather than thinking about how to vote personally, people are satisfied and compliant with being told how to vote.
Are you such a person?
Are you such a person who is a believer in Jesus Christ?
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Returning to quoting, Mike Woodruff*, from his The Friday Update, dated September 25, 2026.
“Substituting politics for religion does not end well.”
“The opposite of love is not hate but self-protection.”
These two statements are profound; especially with respect to believers in Christ.
Q. I wonder how many Christians have substituted “politics for religion”?
Consider this: the political left, the ‘never Trump’, the anti-conservative voices, the MAGA haters, and those who accuse the political right of Christian Nationalism (there really are people who are Christian Nationalists) constantly pursue a derogatory rhetoric against Christians who identify themselves as followers of Jesus Christ that make their voices heard in the political area.
Unfortunately, there are also believers who propagate negative rhetoric as Biblical truth, pointing out the doctrinal errors of those following Christ, but believing that their understanding of the Word of God is correct, and that the Church is not living as Jesus taught, and not responding as Jesus would respond, especially emphasizing how He would have handled and modeled the social issues we are facing in this nation.
I was reminded to day (10-1-2026) that in the 60’s there were churches that centered in a social gospel and not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
My wife and I actually attended such a church in 1964 after we were married. We heard a social gospel preached from the pulpit and did not return to that church.
It is easy to point the finger and cry, ‘hypocrite’.
I need to heed this admonition too.
[I trust that what I understand to be a speck in another’s eye is not a beam in my own eye. (Luke 6:41-42)]
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Among Christians, what I have read, seen, and heard is mixture.
Mixture is very dangerous.
[Flashback to prior posts, Politics can be an ‘idol of the heart’. You cannot worship God and an idol, “in spirit and in truth”.]
God will not tolerate mixed worship.
Anything that takes precedence in your heart that reveals what you love more than God is idolatry.
Mixture can easily be distorted, misunderstood, and cause division.
A ‘diet’ of mixture is a recipe for a ‘meal’ that can cause a serious illness.
Political idolatry is a serious heart issue.
A verse of scripture that the Church frequently prays regarding the well being for this nation is found in II Chronicles 7:14.
To understand the blessing that enables us to pray this prayer, the Church needs to understand its context in II Chronicles 5-7.
When God’s people sin, they have a ‘diseased heart’, and there is mixed worship.
When God’s people are made aware of their sin, then God says, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (NKJV)
This is a conditional statement. If you do this, then I will do this.
Q. Upon whose shoulders rest the initiation of this prayer?
A. God’s people.
We are exposed to a lot of ‘mixture’ by those who love the Lord and have substituted “politics for religion”.
The most frequent accusation is that the Church is not showing ‘love’ according to the Word of God.
There is a measure of truth in such criticism; but there can also be error.
How?
Because one’s personal political bias can incorrectly influence the truth of the Word of God.
That influence is called, ‘leaven’. (Luke 12:1-3)
Q. What leaven, what yeast has been ‘kneaded’ into the ‘dough’ of this nation for the past 10 (or more) years?
Q. What ‘leaven’ has been ‘kneaded’ into your personal thought life?
Please do not misunderstand me, I do not support, those in Christ, who declare by their words and actions, a blatant disrespect for those who are living a lifestyle, the Bible says is wrong, conducting themselves arrogantly and pridefully against such people, making sure those they are ‘targeting’ know it and feel it, by their words and actions.
Consider these words again, “the opposite of love is not hate but self-protection.”
Politics is not a substitute for religion.
Biblically, religion is wrong.
Jesus, Himself, railed against the religious Jewish leadership.
Can you see, that in the end, that religion sought its own ‘self-protection’.
The Jewish leaders were threatened by Jesus, His words, and His lifestyle.
Jesus threatened their leadership and their influence over the Jewish people and their standing with the Roman government.
Therefore, they got rid of Him.
‘Self-protection’ is not Biblical love.
‘Self-protection’ can be understood, as mankind’s attempt to be recognized so that the threat that is within them will be assuaged.
People ‘hate’ others for their own self-protection.
What are some characteristics of ‘self-protection’? I want to ‘look good’, ‘feel good’, ‘be right’, ‘stay in control’, I have a ‘hidden agenda’, I’m looking for ‘personal gain’, and finally, ‘remain undisturbed’-I do not want to be bothered by you. (Journey to the Father on the Agape Road, by Bob Mumford, 2013)
True Biblical love is understood and experienced only in a personal relationship with God, the Father; God the Son; and God the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, many believers, who are voicing and propagating a continual voice against what is going on politically and using political talking points to make their case in the name of ‘love’, are not coming from a lifestyle centered in a relationship with God; it comes from a self-centered relationship steeped in carnality, bolstered by the wisdom of this world; and not centered in Christ, who is the wisdom of God.
The Word of God explains it this way. “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (James 3:13-18, NKJV)
The issue is not Republican or Democrat.
The issue is a problem of the human heart.
Summarizing this: Believers, who substitute politics for religion are living with a ‘religious spirit’. They are not living a Christ-centered relationship seeking to know the truth. They have been so influenced by what is not true that they are, for the most part, mentally unconscious that their words and actions, as they reach out for self-protection for themselves, their loved ones, and those needed to be cared for properly are misdirected.
There desire is not wrong; but it is not God’s love.
Individuals saying and doing things for the purpose of self-protection believe they can overcome the chaos, the confusion, the conflicts, the turmoils, the tribulations, and the tension of politics and its agenda when they contribute their voice, their understanding, using the ‘words’of others they agree with; yet, in reality, those ‘words’ do not bring healing; but continue to cause internal hurt.
Believing they are sowing words of peace, there is no peace, because they are words of unrighteousness.
In short , they propagate a false hope.
They are seeking to mentally appease the unrest they are internally struggling with, because of the fallout of the political ramifications that are causing unrest in this nation and in themselves.
They are not at peace internally.
They are grasping for a solution.
Their ‘internal unrest’ will only be found in a renewed personal relationship with their Lord Jesus Christ.
Their ‘internal unrest’ is a matter of their heart because their heart is a ‘diseased’ heart.
Only the Lord can heal a ‘diseased’ heart.
To be healed, they must come to Him and ask Him to heal their heart.
Q. Is your heart at peace within you?
Q. Where is your hope?
In politics or the person of Jesus Christ.
In religion or in relationship with Jesus Christ.
Has someone told you what to think and how to vote?
How long have you been ‘tutored’ by ‘politics’ ?
How long have you been covering up an internal hurt?
Are you free from the negative influences that seek to keep your mind chained to the ‘political’ agenda and its desires?
I am not telling you what or who to vote for; I am encouraging you, as a believer, to remove the ‘mental crutches’ that you rely upon, throw them away, get up, and ‘mentally’ walk in freedom, exercising your right as a responsible voter.
“Rise and be healed in the name of Jesus, let faith arise in your soul, Rise and be healed in the name of Jesus, He will cleanse and make you whole” (written by Leon Patillo, this is the chorus from his song, RISE AND BE HEALED)
Romans 8:1,2 was quoted at the beginning of this post.
We must remember that as a believer in Jesus Christ, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death. The law of sin and death controlled and condemned us; it seeks to keep us chained in bondage.
Jesus’s incarnation, life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension completed the task His Father purposed for Him to do.
The Son of God left heaven, completed His Father’s work perfectly, and returned to heaven to be with His Father.
Jesus’ resurrection from the grave validated the completed work of Christ on the Cross.
The resurrection of Christ by God, the Father, shows His complete acceptance of the finished work of Christ on the cross.
We must never forget that God confirmed the sacrifice of Jesus, as the Lamb of God , who that takes away the sin of the world, when He resurrected His Son from the grave.
Therefore, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus conquered sin and death, disarmed the authority of Satan, and set us free.
We are now eternally grateful for the grace of God given to us; and now in Christ, we are governed and guided by the Holy Spirit, according to the Word of God.
We are free from sin.
Q. What can wash away our sin?
A. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
That does not mean, a believer in Christ, we will never sin again.
“This is the message which we have received from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” (I John 1:5-10, NKJV)
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Do not be a programmed ‘robotic’ voter.
The following is from ‘Praying the News’, part of ‘The Pour Over’ app.
“With digital breaks, we’ve created a power that feels infinite in its knowledge, unbounded in its ability, unrelenting in its patience and available to us whenever we want it…But, AI, doesn’t know us. It didn’t die for us. It’s not redeeming this world. It cannot save us.”
Remember, AI stands for ‘artificial intelligence’.
God’s Word is not ‘artificial intelligence’.
[Please understand, AI has its place; do not misuse it, or believe that it is infallible.]
God’s Word is not infallible. It is absolute truth.
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What is my point?
Do not substitute anything for a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Q. In what or who are trusting to prepare yourself to vote?
“The Christian vocation is to be in prayer, in the Spirit, at the place the world is in pain. ” N.T.Wright.
We are a nation in pain.
We have a diseased heart.
I Timothy 2:1-8, NKJV, the Apostle Paul makes it clear, where a believer in Christ begins daily in their preparation to vote.
“Therefore, I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle–I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying– a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. I desire therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath, and doubting.”
Father, I pray, above all, that you will work in the hearts of all the citizens of this nation ( and the other nations) to diligently take the time to clearly understand what is before them as a nation so that they can be responsible voters. Give them a heart to read, to reflect, and respond with a clear conscience, with no double mindedness when they cast their votes.
I also pray for Your Church to pray, to ask, to seek, and to knock for Your wisdom as we make our decisions how to vote.
May Your Church be guided by the Holy Spirit, governed by the Word of God.
Amen.
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Our nation is in pain.
It is in need of much prayer.
Our nation also needs all its citizens to vote.
Let’s P.A.V.E. the way, Pray And Vote Everyone!
a brother in Christ, praying, and voting, deo
*Addendum: Mike Woodruff, is the senior Pastor at Christ Church in Chicago, IL. mwoodruff@christchurch.org.
Today (10-1-2026) I received my voter information booklet that I need to read, reflect upon, and respond to, deciding who and what to vote for.
I will be putting into practice what I have encouraged you to do.
It is time to PAVE my way.
