Check this out, JESUS Disciples' way....
"21 “So now we must choose a
replacement for Judas from among the men who were with us the entire time we
were traveling with the Lord Jesus— 22 from the time he was baptized by
John until the day he was taken from us. Whoever is chosen will join us as a
witness of Jesus’ resurrection.”
23 So they nominated two men: Joseph
called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they all
prayed, “O Lord, you know every heart. Show us which of these men you have
chosen 25 as an apostle to replace Judas in this ministry, for he has
deserted us and gone where he belongs.” 26 Then they cast lots, and
Matthias was selected to become an apostle with the other eleven.
These men HAD to vote! But how?! Who could replace a person
that we didn’t choose to start with?! Because JESUS was who made the first
selection of disciples, so now how can we do this?!
Well, here
we can see several things:
1.
they recognized their duty (vote), and
2.
their inability (how to); also, we can see
3.
their reverent fear to God, because
4.
they want to please the LORD in their selection.
5.
They knew it had to be someone who was walking
with them.
Though
the coming leader had to be walking with the disciples, the walk had to be
deeper because the remark says “traveling with the Lord Jesus”, meaning that
not only had to be among believers, but engaged in a relation with The Lord
Jesus. In other words, had to be a
person who recognize that JESUS was:
1.
The LAMB OF GOD, and who takes away the sin of
the world.
2.
Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
3.
The SON of GOD.
See, there’s a difference between being an
acquaintance with someone, and actually knowing the person itself; knowing what
their likes and dislikes. When you’re an acquaintance to someone, you might
worship with them in church whenever you get there, but they do not know about
you, if you’re a student or if you employed or where you work at, what you do, perhaps
if you’re marry or not, have or don’t have kids.
So
the chosen one HAS to be the one who matches the requirements. And you might
say “but from the candidates we have, we can’t name one who matches all the
requirements!”, and I understand because you’re right on that, BUT since we do
not have a “perfect match” it only means there’s homework for us to do. For those who like me live in Tennessee, you
can follow the link for a 2016 ballot sample[1]
so you will see more clear who are the nominees to investigate on; because
again you must know what’s their foundation in order to determine if the kind
of relationship they have with the Lord is one you support.
This
would be the first and foremost important detail to decide, because if a person
does not regard GOD as The Creator of all including humanity, enough to serve
and live for HIM, do you think this person will care about you, and your
future? Because if your child does not
how to manage $20 you give him, how confident are you to lend him $20K?
Speaking
of established things… There are two main parties, one is liberal, the other
one’s conservative; people either be one or the other one, because this speaks
of their character. Let’s say Party A is
represented by a woman who dresses in a conservative way, and the Party B, the opposite,
so this woman dresses in a liberal way. Party A, modest is the norm, shows no cleavage,
skirt’s length is longer, the slacks are not tight, and overall covers the
torso areas, reveals less details of the body. This woman knows that otherwise
her appearance can develop lust on anyone that looks at her, and might bring
her to be judged different than what she is.
On the other hand, Party B is a woman who does not think that it’s
important to cover and protect their body because her way of dressing “is an
expression of herself”. But friends, that’s
exactly what she’s expressing, that she does not care what others think, she’s
to show her charming, it’s her body, her life, her choice, and that settles it!
Really?!
It makes me question, if Party B, realizes that charm is
deceptive, and beauty does not last? Oh yeah, that’s why it has to be shown
while it exists, right? WRONG!!! “Charm
is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.”[2] This proverb in simpler words is letting us know that a woman who
thinks being charming is a must for life, that woman is been deceived and that reflection
shows not fear of The Lord because instead she depends on her own attributes,
not on God’s grace.
All humans have limitations, in fact there’s not a perfect one[3], but when GOD is in the matter, things go far beyond, because HE IS
PERFECT[4]! Jesus encouraged HIS
disciples, “looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is
impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with
God.” In other words, trust in THE LORD with all your heart, soul and
mind, leaning on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge HIM and
HE will direct your steps, where you ought to go, because even if there’s no
road to go, HE WILL MAKE A WAY!!!
Parting from this, when we parallel the given example with the two
main candidates of our 2016 Ballot, the selection process becomes easier,
because either you want a candidate:
1.
Who depends on their own
abilities, OR one
2.
Who depends on GOD and
the people who HE places around to help him/her lead our nation?
No
matter if the candidate is Republican, Democrat or Independent, the candidate’s
foundation will be one of these two. However,
but for whatever reason those candidates who DO NOT want to comply by the
Republican or the Democratic party’s requirements, they choose to go Independent,
which is the third category/party. Several questions are important you see here:
·
DO YOU REALLY, want to have someone leading you
who DO NOT want to comply to what’s established? I mean, that’s one of the
bases of their foundation.
·
IS the nominee a committed person to follow what’s
established? Or,
·
A Rebellious one that chooses to go on its own?
Being rebellious enough means that he/she will NOT CARE for the nation’s need. It means the nominee will do what he/she thinks is best, regardless of the counseling if he/she chooses to get some or not. And this is just the beginning… as the “the rubber meets the road”, and difficult times arise there’s no telling what this person would do. DO YOU REALLY want someone like this?
This
only means that the nominees in the Independent category are almost out,
UNLESS, you found one that is a devoted person to either side of the spectrum,
where Republicans think is too extreme for their conservative beliefs or too
liberal for the Democratic views. If you found one, you’ll have to count
him/her when making the last final pick.
To narrow down the choices, by elimination process…
I.
First and foremost, PRAY for the LORD to give
you a clear mind and discernment to let you see and understand whatever is
needed to make the choice HE wants you to.
II.
Divide all the candidates given in the ballot
(Republican, Democrats, Independents) in two groups:
A.
those who fear God, (even if they decided to
fear God, recently) and
B.
those who don’t fear God.
III.
Then, eliminate those who DOES NOT fear The
Lord.
IV.
From the only group, you have left, these are all
people who fear God, DIVIDE the group in the three established categories,
Republicans, Democrats & Independents.
V.
Eliminate the Independents
VI.
From the other two categories, remember, that a
person after God’s heart ought to be conservative, preserved for God’s use NOT given
to self-governing and liberal agendas.
VII.
Use the provided chart included at the end of
this document, to record your answers regarding essential issues to eliminate
the most unqualified candidates. As well as to easily determine who is the
remaining candidate for the final decision, and who will be the most asserted
choice to vote for. Only the most
relevant questions are presented in this chart, but extra empty blocks have
been added for you to write other questions that might be coming to your mind.
VIII.
When your final choice had been made, DO NOT
discuss any more about it until you vote.
IX.
PRAY for the final outcome of the elections to
be HIS will; for you not only did your investigation homework, but called HIM
to make sure, HE’s involved in the process, HE answered, HE LEADED you, and
you’ve followed. So, rest assure!
X.
After you’ve pray, DO NOT ALLOW SECOND
GUESSINGS, for HE heard and answered you, so doubting it’s out the question. It
shouldn’t be!
XI.
Until the process of elections ends, continue to
PRAY for:
·
Those that will be voting, to seek God for the
right choice
·
Those who have physical limitations to make it
to the voting polls, to get their vote in.
·
Those that have a chance to vote but don’t want
to get involved to be convicted to follow this God-given opportunity
·
The voters to RESPECT the newly Elected
official, and the rest of the candidates
·
Use common sense when celebrating the
victory or mourning the lost. Remember that losing an election is not always
bad. “And we know that God
causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God (us) and are called according to HIS purpose for
them.”[6]
[1] https://mcgtn.org/sites/default/files/election/electioninfo/SAMPLE%20BALLOT.pdf
[2]
Proverbs 31:30 NLT
[3] Romans
3:10
[4]
Matthew 5:48
[5]
Romans 8:28 NLT
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