Faith Filled Family Magazine September 2016 | Page 8

the Lord has left us . Some say it stands for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth ! What better resource for all of the issues of life than from the book that was inspired and written by God Himself through His chosen individuals . There is nothing new under the sun . God has already given us instructions on what to do through His Word .
The first thing we need to do as believers is not fear . Non-believers need to see that our faith is in God and that we know that He will do what He says that He will do in His Word ! The Bible tells us in Psalm 22:8 For the kingdom is the Lord ’ s and He rules over the nations . Isn ’ t that wonderful news ! He rules over the nations ! Not the government , not the president , but the just God that we serve rules ! The Bible goes on to say in Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities . For there is no authority except from God , and those that exist have been instituted by God . I know what some of you may be thinking , because I have thought that too . Some of the people in authority may make you question what this verse really means !! But as we know , God does give us free will and sometimes He will give us what we want , just to show us what we need ! For example , let ’ s look at 1 Samuel Chapter 8 . When Samuel grew old the people asked for a king to lead them . Samuel prayed to God and this is what the Lord said starting in verse 7-8 : And the Lord told him : “ Listen to all that the people are saying to you ; it is not you that they have rejected you , but they have rejected me as their king . As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day , forsaking me and serving other gods … Now God loved them so much that He even told Samuel to warn them what would happen if they had a king . But the people refused to listen and still asked for the king so the Lord told Samuel to give them what they wanted . Some of these leaders that have ruled and reigned in our world were and are put in place because that is what the people want .
As believers it seems like we are becoming the minority . And what if what we want is not what the people want ! Do we have to suffer ? The Bible tells us that in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for good to them that love God , to them who are called according to His purpose . In Proverbs 21:1 it says The king ’ s heart is in the hand of the LORD , as rivers of water : He turneth it whithersoever He will . In Genesis 18:16-33 Abraham humbly pleads with God for the righteous that live in Sodom . Remember , God was going to destroy it because it was filled with sin . But Abraham asked Him to spare it if there were at least ten righteous there . And God agreed . I remind you of these verses because God is with us . He has told us in His Word that all things work together for our good as long as we love him and are called to His purpose . He tells us that He has the power to turn the king ’ s heart however He wants . And He shows us that even though many may be unrighteous , that He will save the righteous ! We have nothing to fear ! But we do have a job to do !
It is so important for us to pray .
It is important for us to pray for our communities , to pray for our leaders , our government , our nation , our world ! These prayers must be fervent . The Bible says that the effectual fervent prayers of a righteous man availeth much in James 5:16 . This means to pray with power ! To pray with intensity and passion ! This has to be important to us ! And there is a time to pray alone but there is much to be said for praying with a group as well . The Bible tells us in Matthew 18:20 that when two or more are gathered His name , that He is there with them ! If we are serious about seeing change in our community , in our government , in our world then we need to do what the Bible tells us to do and heed the examples that the Lord has given us in His Word ! We cannot just back down and take it ! Jesus was not happy with the governing bodies of His day ! He spoke the truth in love , He prayed , He performed miracles , He showed God ’ s power ! And although not everyone listened to Him , He started a revolution in the hearts and minds of those who followed Him and here we are today !
Change is not going to happen just because we want it to . As believers , we need to be doers of the Word , not just hearers . We need to take heed to the lessons and the promises of the Bible , fear not , and pray for our world , government , leaders and communities ! And if we can , we need to get involved and speak up for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to change this world one day at a time ! If we are quiet , they will think that we agree with it . It is our responsibility as represen-