Now What? Where Do We Go From Here?

Nov 17

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I’m not sure how to process my emotions over the last week. Every day I’ve gotten on social media and had to get right back off or bite my tongue. People have said some of the most rude and hateful things.

Many Trump supporters have gloated. They’ve called liberals “cry babies” and made memes to mock the other side. Flip the coin and it’s no better. Many (and I mean many) Hillary supporters have called our newest president ugly names, used vulgar language and have shown the same hate they claim comes from the Republicans. Hate doesn’t make “love win.” It just doesn’t work that way. Hate breeds more hate.

I don’t know about you, but I’m emotionally spent. I’ve fallen to my knees and sobbed to the Lord. God, heal this nation. Help us to get through this and get along. But every day the people I’ve seen are more and more resolute they are choosing hate.

Let’s pause a minute. Neither of our candidates was a great choice. We can talk and talk about why each was a poor selection, but that doesn’t matter any more. It’s over. Trump is in office for the next four years. Now what?

God has been very clear with me about how we got into this current state. We walked into it – step by step, sometimes begrudgingly, but more often than not we were happily skipping and running into the mire.

We have made an idol higher than God. And that idol is SELF. We’ve put our own needs, thoughts, and ideas first. It’s time to focus on me. I have to be true to myself. How often do we here those words as we seek to justify a sin-filled life? And if we dare open the Word of God, we are looking for a justification for our actions. We would rather put our self on top and live in sin than turn from our wicked ways and let God change us. How dare we open the Living Word of God and try to make it fit our lifestyle? The Word of God changes us. We don’t change it.

So now what? What do we do to change the world around us? To create positive change? It isn’t yanking people from their cars and beating them to death. It isn’t closing our eyes to the real fear of those around us. It isn’t standing in the middle of streets chanting about how much we hate the president. How does that change anything? All of those things only create more of a divide. The divide that satan started and then let us run with it, because we were doing a better job than he was.

In order to change the world around you, you have to start with yourself. Alan and I have shared this with many married couples in distress. They are unhappy and want to know – what now? I’m going to let you in on a little secret. You can’t change anyone. Not with your protests, your memes, your Facebook posts – not even with this post can I change you. The only person you have the ability to change is yourself. So start there. Start with you.

Get on your knees and ask God to empty you of you and fill you with Him. Spend time reading His Word. It’s powerful and will change you. That, my friend, is where I’m starting. I’m starting on my knees and I’m asking God for revival to start right here in my own heart. You see, revival starts with one. And if each one of us focuses on soul changing, hand raising, life altering revival with that person in the mirror, we CAN change this nation, and we can change the world. Are you willing?

Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!

All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing.

We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20

 

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