It is now less than Five Weeks And Counting-November 5 will be here soon!
At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, as the ‘unprecedented unrest’ is mounting…as the light of political truth reveals the secrets that have been hiding in darkness…as the volume of accusatory rhetoric increases…as the level of irrational wrangling escalates…we as a nation, a Constitutional republic will be going to the polls on or by November 5, 2024. Today is October 17,2024 and Five Weeks And Counting started, October 1, 2024.
As a believer in Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, what is my responsibility as a citizen of the United States? I have dual citizenship. I am a citizen of the Kingdom of God, and Christ is my Lord; and I am a citizen of the United States and Joe Biden is my President.
I am told, and have understood, that many believers are in a valley of decision regarding the upcoming election. They are torn, not wanting to vote in this election. It is documented that many believers in the past elections have not voted because they were dissatisfied with the choice that was put before them in our national election for President.
I understand that struggle.
I, too, wrestled with the choice before me. But I was able to come to a ‘somewhat’ peaceful conclusion in the past elections and vote.
How? I had to identify what is most important to me as a citizen of the United States of America.
I want to encourage you, as a Christian, to vote.
It is important. Really important!
If you are in a valley of indecision, I want to encourage you not turn a blind eye away from the election process; but that you “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full into His wonderful face, And the things earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.” (Words by Helen H. Lemmel, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus)
Your initial response to this might be: are you telling me then to ‘turn a blind eye’; no, in fact, I am trusting the Holy Spirit, that as you turn your eyes upon Jesus, you will look at your nation and see the upcoming election through the eyes of your Savior and Lord.
I contend that as you turn to Jesus, you will receive His focus upon the events shaping our nation, and give you understanding as you walk through your ‘valley of indecision’.
I believe the outcome will be that you will not ‘shrink’ from your responsibility to vote as a citizen of the United States because you will see that to vote is being a responsible citizen of the Kingdom of God.
What is our responsibility in the hour in which we are living?
As the title to this post declares, Five Weeks And Counting will be our national elections both at the federal and state levels.
As a citizen of the United States of America, voting has evolved throughout the history of our nation. Originally the states were given the determination who was approved to vote. This led obviously to quite a bit of variation among the states. We as a nation are still wrestling with the question of who can legally vote. Unfortunately, this wrangling has caused numerous issues in our recent elections.
Is it important for you to vote?
Absolutely.
Your vote, expresses your support for the nation. The process of voting is to keep our Republic strong by electing officials who are best suited to keep our nation moving forward based upon the strengths of our founding documents.
V.O.T.E : Voting Offers a True Expression of what you personally believe.
Unfortunately, over the course of our national history, there have arisen factions that want to change our founding foundation. Since the 1900s the thought of change has grown in intensity; and in the past 60 years, the proponents of change have become more demonstrative, both verbally and behaviorally.
From my perspective the fruit of those seeds of influence are now being expressed as ‘unprecedented unrest’ in our nation.
Some will automatically call me conspiratorial. That is not my heart.
The fact is that such a label of advocating ‘conspiracy theories’ is one of the issues that is at the heart of our current election rhetoric. People who disagree with the truth, or who want to ignore the thinking of those who raise credible contradictions dismiss their opposition’s claims with ‘name calling’.
Such is a current bedrock in our nation’s political rhetoric.
The SOUL, the LIFEBLOOD, the FUTURE, and the STABILITY of our nation, may indeed, be changed based upon the outcome of the November 5, 2024 election.
If you listen carefully to both political sides, that is exactly, what they are advocating.
Both sides are claiming to be saving our nation, our democracy, our very existence as we know it.
In fact, it is no secret, but both sides are praying to God for victory and their opposition’s defeat.
To me that is parallel to two competing athletic teams that have Christian players on both teams praying and asking God for victory.
What does one conclude when the winner and the loser become a reality, the contest is over, and victor is known?
How do you ‘feel’ when your favorite athletic team loses?
Are you ‘bummed out’?
*A personal testimony*
If you are a believer in Christ, confused, turned off to politics, bogged down in a valley of indecision, who has made the decision not to vote, I want you to know that I am not out to manipulate, pressure, or coerce you; however, I am asking you to seriously reconsider your decision.
Why?
We are not wrestling against flesh and blood (people/and their personalities); but we are wrestling against principalities, powers, and rulers of spiritual darkness. (Ephesians 6:12) (insert mine)
Consider this, your non-vote is a vote supporting those in our nation that want to dismantle our founding principles that will cause our Constitutional Republic to become weak and/or completely destroyed.
Yes, I am aware that those are strong words; but think seriously about the ramifications of our nation being changed negatively from within!
What is the S.O.U.L. of our nation? It is Saving Our Unalienable Liberties (or Lifestyle). It is about our life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
I suggest that if you clearly understand this; you will vote.
A couple of weeks ago, I came a point, where I realized that I did not need to hear any more words; I did not need to read any more headlines and their subsequent content. I have been purposely avoiding the news shows and the cable pundits because their analysis and rhetoric is verbal venom poisoning the minds of the voting electorate. I was certain I was not going to hear anything new. (As I update this post-I confess that there have been articles that have caught my attention. The latest is one about the number of Christian that are projected not to vote. It could be as high as 42 million. I believe that is wrong.)
[I am convinced that the Lord is uncovering the deeds and words of darkness bringing to light the lies and deceptions that have been perpetrated by both sides of the political isle. (If you would like to read more about this, go to livingwordsofencouragement.com and see the post, The A.R.R.O.W. of God.)]
I came to the point where I understood that my mind was mentally settled and that I could rest in my decision to vote.
Let me tell you why I needed to vote.
It is my responsibility as a citizen of the United States of America.
I need to live at peace with the Lord.
I need to live at peace with myself.
I need to have a clear conscience.
I need to be able to pray for the next President, just as I now pray for President Biden. The Word of God tells us to pray for those in authority over us “so that people can live peaceful and quiet lives.” (I Timothy 2:1-2)
I desire to be in that group of ‘people’. The scripture does not say that I have to agree with their decisions. Most of President Biden’s decisions I do not personally agree with; but that is not an excuse for me to avoid praying for him, and others in authority over me with a clear conscience.
Therefore, as I mentioned above, I do not need to be persuaded how to vote listening to the rhetoric of the political parties, and their pundits pontificating every day.
I am at rest in the Lord.
What has brought me to that rest?
That rest has been created by the Word of God.
I have chosen the Biblical worldview to come to my decision.
The Biblical worldview is Absolute Truth.
Both parties platforms are the expressions of man’s wisdom for the hour in which we live and are written explaining what they believe and they want to be accomplished to this nation forward.
They believe their platform will bring about the course correction needed for this nation.
What do you believe is necessary for a course correction for our nation?
If your course correction rests completely upon a candidate and his or her personality and/or characteristics, then I must say to you that you have fallen short of what is best for our nation?
Both platforms are NOT without serious shortfalls from the Absolute of God’s Word; but using the Word of God to evaluate both parties platforms, I have concluded that one of the two parties platforms provides for a resting place for my own personal peace and a clear conscience as a believer in Jesus Christ.
I am NOT saying that the party platform I have chosen perfectly aligns with the Word of God.
I have chosen the platform that I believe is more aligned with the Word of God than the other platform.
As I said previously, my decision brings rest and peace to me personally.
Why is that important?
It allows me to pray for this nation’s next President with a clear conscience, and not riddled by guilt, or regret.
It gives me a spiritual position of being able to quench the ‘fiery darts’ of the enemy that wants to assail me with accusations of fault.
In Christ, I can confidently submit myself before God, resist the devil, and he will flee. (James 4:7)
Therefore, I encourage you to prayerfully consider your personal position as a voter in this nation’s upcoming election.
What are your beliefs?
Do they align with the Word of God?
Are you at peace and rest as you approach the time to cast your vote?
There are major issues on state ballots that need voting upon by a responsible informed electorate.
Jesus said, that the enemy comes only to kill, steal, and destroy; but that He has come that we may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)
God has blessed this nation abundantly. Yes, we have misused those blessings; but we, too, have been able to bless many other nations and individuals.
Let us make sure we do not lose our founding principles because we choose not to vote or vote ignorantly listening only to the wisdom of man and not be guided by the wisdom of God’s Word.
It’s time to pray, be informed by Godly Absolutes, and vote intelligently and conscientiously.
Blessings, a brother in Christ, deo
Note: I want to give credit to my brother, David, who sent me a text that had the words, five weeks and counting, that I used for the title for this post.
Living Words of Encouragement 