This week I had an amazing opportunity and I have to share with you.
There is a wonderful person in my life, whom I love dearly, that I typically steer clear of conversations that revolve around politics. Not that the conversations are bad, let’s just say they get very passionate.
Being an Iowan, we get a barrage of political campaigning in our state. Being the first state to caucus, politicians and political campaigns are unavoidable.
I cannot say my favorite topic of conversation is politics. I do believe we need to do our part. Living in a nation where we are given the right and freedom to vote, we need to exercise that right. We can’t sit by and watch the world go round, God gave us a voice and reason and we need to use it.
After having a conversation, initially about whether or not it was going to snow here, I began reading for my Bible study. What was revealed to me is nothing short of amazing. Let’s just say God is good and knows what He is doing.So, I begin to plow through this chapter. Chapter 1 of Ephesians. Verses 19-23. God reveals himself in this way (not just to me, to all of us!).
I was so excited with this reminder of our great Hope in Christ, I had to text this dearly beloved person, to encourage him with God’s Word. Later we got to sit down and have this amazing conversation about God as we read through this passage. I thank God for His goodness and divine timing.
We have an option, we can stress about politics or as believers, we can trust Christ as the final authority.
I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else–not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.
Ephesians 1:19-23
These verses are packed with God’s great glory. Verse 19 starts with Paul saying that he was praying the people would understand the incredible greatness of God’s power. He reminds us, this power rose Christ from the grave and seated Him in a place of honor at the right hand of God.
Verse 21, tells us now, He is above ALL authority. Reminding us when Christ was lifted up, it was to the highest authority. Authority, far above or high above any ruler, authority, power, leader, or anything else.
So, while I believe we must exercise our right to vote. I believe we can go to the voting booth with confidence that Christ is the Authority over whomever the next elected officials will be.
Even if they do not act in accordance with God’s Word, we can be assured God has dominion over them.
I love the end of verse 23 when we are reminded that it is Christ who fills ALL things everywhere with His glory, ALL things by Himself.
What an amazing opportunity to thank God for His great glory and power forever. Amen!
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Praise the Lord for helping you in this situation! Thanks so much for sharing about how He was with you and also for the weekly link-up! You are a blessing. 🙂
He is awesome Cheryl. I love that He knows the plans He has for us! Thank you for sharing updates on baby Brody and thank you for linking up with us!
Good to read this morning as a reminder that God is in control of this next election as He was in all the prior ones. I needed to read this today as my discouragement of all the candidates continues to grow. What a neat testimony for you and your friend. Have a great Wedneday and thank you for the linkup.
It can be so discouraging. We can look at the candidates and think there is no hope. My text yesterday ended with, There is Hope! Because in Christ we have a hope for the past, a hope for the present and a hope for the future. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us this morning, Michelle. Glad you stopped by.
Thanks so much for hosting!
You are welcome Debbie. I am glad you stopped by.
God's timing is always on time, isn't it? 🙂 Thanks for sharing, and thanks for hosting. ((blessings))
Brenda, you are so right. We have to remember that when we become impatient. The funny things realized in His timing He can see the whole picture, while we can only see the moment.
Hey Jamie,
Happy Wednesday and thank you for hosting. Thank you for the excellent story and reminder that our world is–and will continue to be–in His loving hands. Wishing you a blessed week!
Such reassurance, isn't it Jed. Really, we could be in full panic mode or we can choose to trust God and His plans. Sometimes that is a tough place to be in.
Hi Jamie! Great verses for such a time as this. My son was watching the campaigns on TV here in South Africa. He's got a mind for politics and he loves his sociology studies at university, along with Computer Science and English. He's American/South African. P.S. I lived in Iowa as a kid.
That is funny. This is such a small world. When God gives you a passion for something, it is great to pursue that passion.
Dumb question, where are you from in Iowa. My family is from Oelwien, I don't know if you have ever heard of it.
I sent you a message on google+. I hope that you got it there.
Isn't it easy to get caught up in the emotions of politics? I, too, think we are called to educate ourselves and exercise our right to vote, but ultimately live in confidence that however it turns out, God is in control! Thanks so much, Jaime, for always being such a bright light of love!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
You are sweet Lori. It is always great to chat with you. I am with you and really think as believers it is our obligation to be involved in the government and decisions that are being made. But as always we have to keep our eyes on the One who is really in control. My mom's name is Lori, too.
Well said, Jaime!! Well said!! Thanks for the Linkup!!
Thank you Pam for the encouragement and I am glad that you have stopped by here to linkup with us again.
Politics is never an easy conversation to have with anyone, but it was so good to see how God spoke to you in these verses. Thanks for sharing and for hosting! Hope you are having an amazing week 🙂
I think the hard thing with politics is many people are so passionate about the topic because it affects all of us in a very big way. That much influence in your life yields intense results. Either way as believers we need to keep our eyes on Christ. Thank you so much for stopping by. Have a great week.
Amen! Prayer is so important also as we pray for the leaders who are going to represent our freedoms and country. Thanks for sharing with #SocialButterflySunday! Hope to see you link up again this week. Happy Valentine's Day 🙂
Jaime, the blog party IS doing great! So glad. I've been really busy at work and haven't had time to do blog stuff so I've been absent from the party for a few weeks. Hoping to get back regularly. Love how you pointed us to Christ, the final authority and king over all!
Thank you Mary for stopping by. We will look forward to your posts. I know it is hard when life gets busy to keep up with it all. You have been missed. Have a wonderful week. Thanks for stopping by.
Paul was wanting us as Christians to understand that the power of God is available to us as believers to walk out the Christian life, and to also minister life to others. There is so much more of His provision, that God desires us to take advantage of. Yes, the next President is in God's hands, but it is our duty to get out there and vote. Thank you for sharing with us here at Tell me a Story.
You are so right. There is so much that we can do as Christians that we sometimes get comfortable in letting God handle. And miss the things He has called us to do. We were are given the honor and right to vote and we need to take advantage of that opportunity. Thank you for stopping by Hazel.
I love how anything we need is in the Bible. Truly a great guide to living.
Ian' t that amazing. It is living and active and relevant today for teaching. Thanks for the encouragement Lux.
You know Jaime, I'm so glad to read this I guess it is somewhat an unwritten rule about avoiding politics in blogging, but I think it's important to just like our faith have our opinion and be able to speak on it. I do find myself more often getting upset at the way this country is going and leaving God out, but you do remind me, God IS in control, no matter what man does, no matter which man, christian or not is in office HE is in control! 🙂
What a wonderful reminder. I love the words in the Bible that the two words He knows… Because He does and we can find rest for our weary hearts in Him! Thank you so much for stopping by Tricia. Have a great week.
God is good. Everything is in his hands. Thank you for your inspirational post. Also thank you for linking up at Family Joy Blog Link up party. Hope you join us next week.
Thank you, Charlene for your encouragement. I will check back this week to link up with you.
I agree that God is the authority over whomever is chosen as the authority for our nation, Susan. It's a comforting thought, since I'm not crazy about the front-runners in the race for the presidency. Thanks for the linkup, my friend!
I'm not a big politics fan but will be voting. And I pray for the President whether I agree with him or not. Thank you for sharing!
What an awesome privledge we have to vote. I am glad you are using the power of prayer to pray for the leaders of our nation.
Thank you for sharing your lovely Blog Party site with us here at Tell me a Story.
This party has closed, but if someone reads this comment, they can go to the top of the page and click on "home" and scroll until they reach the new party. Congratulations on the terrific response to your new party site.
Thanks for the reminders that Christians should be good citizens and vote, but that God is ultimately in control! Romans 13 is great for further study. Thanks for joining us at the #LMMLinkup.