Lou Engle once said that while Hitler may have not directly killed anyone, he killed many through legislative decree.  So Hitler sinned perhaps not through committing the act, but by ordering that it be done.  Any time we vote for someone, we are making a legislative decree supporting what they have promised to do in office and their prior voting record.  So if they support evil, we are committing sin by our vote decreeing that they be allowed to do that evil.

If we vote for candidates who support abortion, we kill through legislative decree.  At the end of the day it doesn’t matter if they are building death camps in every city or just one, supporting partial birth abortion or abortion in case of rape or incest, we can’t allow even one death camp to be built in America or one elective abortion in America.  As Chelene Nightingale, a current California candidate for governor said, “The lesser of two evils is still evil.”   Allowing evil in government is like allowing a little rat poision in food, it will always bring harm no matter how small a quantity is used.  We can’t allow any evil in government no matter how small it seems compared to a greater evil.

Now the argument may be raised that if you support a third party candidate, they have no chance of winning the election.  John the Baptist didn’t listen to that type of reasoning.  He spoke out against Herod taking Herod’s brother’s wife, when he had no chance of changing who would be in power.  The most important issue is speaking out against evil, not winning the election.  We cannot compromise on evil to win the election.  Because if an evil candidate is elected we haven’t really won the election, we’ve lost the election by allowing evil to be in power.  Think about it, in the Nazi death camp example above have you really won the election if the lethal injection candidate is elected?  Are they really someone you want in power?  We have to speak out against evil whether or not our candidate wins.  Even if the third party candidate is not elected, if enough people vote for him/her, politicians will notice that candidate and what they stood for.

On the California ballot, there are many races where both candidates are pro-choice and/or pro-gay.  This includes the races for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and superintendant of public instruction.  (Also the Republican candidate for controller is pro-choice in cases of rape or incest)  And that doesn’t even include races for the state legislature and US congressional seats.  We cannot suppport candidates like this just to win the election, because at the end of the day we’ve just allowed evil to be decreed.

So vote your consience this election, not necissarily Republican.  Vote pro-life, vote pro-tradional marriage.  Speak out against evil whether you win or not.  Don’t sin by allowing evil; there is a judgment day where you must give account of your life to Christ.

Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: (Joel 2:12 KJV) Do you want to turn to God a little bit or a lot? Since fasting is one way our heart turns toward God, doesn’t it make sense that the amount of sacrifice a fast entails is the amount it will turn your heart toward God? Cheesy fasts don’t bring you that much closer to God. If you value that Wendy’s cheeseburger more than God it shows how much you are willing to turn to God. The amount you are willing to give shows how much you value God. Matthew 6:21 says, “Where your treasure is there will your heart be also.” (KJV) By sacrificing a treasure (food) we move our heart closer to God. So the amount of the treasure determines the amount our heart is moved toward God. It is interesting to note that the context of this verse is fasting. (Matt 6:16-18).

David recognized the spiritual value in sacrifice. In 1Chronicles 21 Gad the prophet tells David to set up an altar on Ornan’s threshing floor during a time of national crisis. Ornan offered to donate the land and oxen to David. David insisted on paying full price, saying, “I can’t just take something from you and then offer the LORD a sacrifice that cost me nothing.” (1Ch 21:24 CEV) Does your fast cost you anything? Or is it easy? Give God a fast that means a lot to you. Don’t give God cheep fasts. I’ve stopped praying for my fasts to be easy. Instead now I pray for God to give me strength to persevere, despite the sacrifice.

The story of Abraham being willing to sacrifice his son Isaac is symbolic of giving our best. Isaac was Abraham’s most prized possession. Abraham had longed for a son for many years before Isaac came. Yet Abraham was willing to give his absolute best to the Lord. I ask you, “What is the absolute best fast you are physically able to give God?” Are you just trying to meet the minimum requirements of corporate fasting or are you giving God your Isaac? Do you make exceptions to your fast and rationalize eating things or do you freely offer your best? I believe what will really turn all of our heart toward God is fasting our best.

Turn to God with all your heart by fasting your best. Answer the call of Joel 2:12 and set your heart to seek God by offering Him your greatest treasure.

Dr. Shirley Glass found that 62 percent of men and 50 percent of women she counseled for marital unfaithfulness had affairs with someone they knew from work. (Source: Focus on the Family http://urlot.com/affair-dix ) The reason people have affairs with coworkers so often, is that other than their spouse, people spend the most time with coworkers. Thus, they have ample chance for deepening relationships through frequent (even daily) one-on-one conversations with coworkers. It is very hard to work a whole day anywhere without having some sort of social conversation with someone who works there. These one-on-one conversations can lead to adultery.

When you think about it frequent one-on-one conversations are really a form of “unofficial dating” When you date someone, what do you do? You go out to the nicest restaurant you can afford and spend the night having a one-on-one conversation. Or you do such and such activity and have a one-on-one conversation while doing it. You call each other frequently to have more one-on-one conversations etc etc etc. Frequent one-on-one conversations are essential to forming an intimate relationship leading either to marriage or adultery.

It is very hard to maintain an adulterous relationship without one-on-one conversations. There is a level of intimacy in talking alone with someone (even if other people are in the room) that is not found in written communication or multiple person conversations. You are more likely to share the deep things of your heart in a one-on-one conversation than in a conversation with multiple people. Speaking of which, if you are married, you should limit what you share with people of the opposite sex you are not related to. The more you share, the more intimate you get and you don’t want to be too intimate with someone you are not married to.

What should we do with this information? First, be aware of opposite-sex acquaintances you have one-on-one conversations with on a regular basis. Tell your spouse who you talk with often. Don’t share the deep things of your heart with someone of the opposite sex you talk to often. Some signs the relationship is going too far is if you feel greater intimacy with than person than your spouse, if you look forward to your next conversation, or if you go out of your way to spend time with that person.*

One-on-one conversations can be a pathway to adultery. It is vital to flee fornication through making your spouse the person you are the most intimate with and have the most one-on-one conversations with.

*Source: Focus on the Family http://urlot.com/affair-pmy

Why is this true? It takes two things for your sin to be forgiven. 1) Receiving Jesus’ sacrifice 2) True repentance. Jesus sacrifice alone is not enough for salvation; otherwise the whole world would go to heaven. It also takes true repentance. Jesus preached a gospel of repentance, and so did Peter. You cannot go to heaven without showing repentance over the course of your life.

What is true repentance? Repentance is not a one time action; true repentance is shown over a lifetime. A famous sports player committed adultery and apologized to his wife. His wife told him that if he was truly sorry his apology would be shown by his actions over time, not just mere words. Actions show repentance; not just praying a prayer with sorrow. John the Baptist said in Luke 3:8 to bring forth fruit worthy of repentance. A person has not truly repented if their life does not bear the fruit of it. A mere prayer will not get you to heaven.

“For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
(Heb 10:26-31 KJV)

Now does this mean if we sin once after salvation we will never go to heaven? No. But we will still have to repent and walk in a lifestyle of repentance. There is a big difference from the Christian who sins and repents, seeking never to sin again, and the unbeliever who prays a prayer of salvation, yet willfully wallows in sin seeking forgiveness only as fire insurance with no intent and actions to change.

When a person knowingly, willfully sins after praying for salvation, they trample the blood of Jesus. This is serious. Imagine a criminal has run a red light, hit a car and someone died. The judge hands him a $100,000 fine. The criminal is sorry so the judge’s son pays the fine with his entire life savings. Now imagine if that same criminal shows up in court one week later having run a red light again. How would that judge feel knowing the utter disregard the criminal has shown to the tremendous sacrifice his son has made, giving his entire life savings so the criminal could go free? We are not bought with mere money; we are bought with the very lifeblood of Jesus. It is a horrible sin to trample the blood of Jesus through willful sin.

Trampling the blood of Jesus sends you to hell. Read that passage in Hebrews again. It says that if you sin willfully, knowing that you are in sin, Jesus sacrifice cannot pay for your sin. You can pray a prayer to ask Jesus in your heart and still go to hell, because your life does not show true repentance. After John the Baptist talked about bringing forth fruits of repentance he said, “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” (Luk 3:9 KJV) Like I said before, if you don’t bring forth fruits of repentance, you will be cast into hell fire. Theologians will argue if you were never truly saved because you didn’t repent or if you were saved and lost your salvation, but that is a minor issue. The major issue is if your life doesn’t show repentance you are not saved now and you are going to hell.

Trampling Jesus blood is such a severe sin, that God will severely punish those who do it. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb 10:31 KJV) If you look at the severity of the wrath poured out on Jesus on the cross, just imagine the severity of the wrath on those who lightly esteem that sacrifice? God doesn’t play around with judgment; just look at Ananias and Sapphira.

The Bible says to examine yourself to see if you are in the faith. I urge you to look at your life right now to see if you are showing fruit of repentance or if you are intentionally doing things you know are wrong and going to hell. Thank you for reading my blog.

First, get the eagle eye view. Think of eternity. If each year of your life was a step, how far would you get? Not even a quarter mile or quarter kilometer. Now compare that with the distance to walk across America between Seattle and Miami. 80 – 120 steps (years) don’t even get you close. Think of how far greater that distance to Miami is. Eternity is infinite time. Just as 120 steps is a blink of an eye compared to the distance across America, how much more is it a “blink of an eye” compared to eternity. If you have accepted Christ’s sacrifice to pay the penalty for your sins, you will spend eternity in heaven. Nothing bad will happen to you in heaven. Even if you spend 120 years of bad things happening to you, that time frame is like nothing compared to eternity. (“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Rom 8:18)

Why doesn’t God just put us in heaven to begin with! (can’t we just skip the junk and go straight to heaven?) God created us so that He could love us and we could love Him back. It is easy to love someone who is nice to you. But it really takes a lot of love to love an enemy (“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom 5:6-8) A sinner is an enemy of God. God allowed evil in the world so that He could show the depth of his love by loving us, sinner-enemies by dying on the cross and suffering our penalty to reconcile us with Himself. As I said, before, God only allows evil for a very short time. But He gives us the free will not only to receive his love, but to show that same love by forgiving and loving our enemies.

The final falacy in the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” is that no one is truly “good.” We all have made selfish choices. Think back, have you ever told a “white” lie? Then you’ve earned the title of liar. Have you stolen something (the value is irrelevent)? Then you’ve earned the title of thief. Have you lusted for someone in your heart? Then you’re an adulterer at heart. Good deeds do not excuse bad ones. If a man steals $1,000 from your bank account and gives it to charity, would you still send him to jail? Of course. Giving the money to charity does not get him off the hook — he still stole the money. So essentially, we are all sinners — thieves, liars or whatever. We are not “good people.” We need forgiveness for what we have done.

If you want to receive God’s pardon for your sin and give God control of your life, pray this prayer.

God, I forgive You for all the bad things that happened in my life, even though it is not your fault. I have sinned and done bad things, myself. I know Christ died on the cross to suffer my penalty so I wouldn’t have to endure eternity in suffering. I receive Your forgiveness for every sin, past, present or future. I believe Christ rose from the dead. I surrender my life to Your direction and control. I choose to obey You in every area of my life.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“Now”
At this very moment, right now… joy and peace are not something we have to wait for.

(the)

“God”
God himself, our Father

“of”
Which God… the God of Hope… kinda like God is love but the God of Hope… a special name for God

“hope”
earnest expectation as opposed to discouragement. God is the opposite of discouragement.

“fill”
God doesn’t want us to lack even a little bit of peace and joy. He wants us to be filled with them. God wants us to have the maximum amount possible of peace and joy.

“you”
refers to Christians — any Christian

“with”
God wants to fill us with something.

“all”
Nothing is left out — no form of joy or peace that pleases God is left out.

“joy”
God wants to fill us with joy

“and”
God wants to fill us with BOTH joy and peace not just one or the other.

“peace”
tranquility not doubt, not fear; peace

“in”
How God fills us — through believing

“believing”
When we have faith in God’s Word and promises, God fills us with joy and peace. Trusting God brings joy and peace.

“that”
indicates a purpose — why we are filled with joy and peace

“ye”
still talking to Christians

“may”
to make possible… Trusting God opens up the door for us to abound in hope.

“abound”
to have more than what is necessary, to have abundance… God wants us to have a lot of hope.

“in hope”
“expectation of good…joyful and confident” (Strong’s)

“through”
The Holy Spirit is the one who causes the whole process.

(the)

“power”
“Not by Might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord” (Zechariah) God’s power causes all of this to happen

“of”
possessed by the Holy Spirit

(the)

“Holy Ghost”
Note that this process is caused by the Third Person of the Trinity. It could be inferred that unleashing the Holy Spirit’s power by praying in the Spirit can cause God to bring hope, joy and peace to our hearts.

————

Hope this encourages you,

Deborah

Those in the 24/7 prayer movement may see this verse primarily referring to a ministry which has 24/7 prayer wherein the “fire never goes out.”

However, another equally valid interpretation is that this verse is refering to the fire in the individual Christian’s heart. In other words, it is important that I have a daily time for prayer, Bible study and worship. The word speaks of “praying without ceasing.” I must stay close to Jesus and never let my passion for Him die.