For the Spirit of Jesus Christ to dwell in the Oval Office
I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion.
�Proverbs 8:12
Lord Jesus, thank You for being the source of all wisdom, for You are the way, the truth and the life. You provide all that we need to make good decisions and sound judgments. As we listen to You, we are able to act with confidence, knowing that we are being led by Your wise and guiding hand.
We intercede today for President Obama, that You, Lord, would give him an increased sensitivity to Your voice. Let Your wisdom, which lives with prudence, impart the benefits of knowledge and the advantages of discretion to President Obama as he sits at his desk in the Oval Office and makes decisions that impact not only our nation, but the entire world. Be with him, O God, and empower him by Your Spirit. We thank You for hearing our prayer and moving on our behalf, amen.
Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth!
Young men and maidens together, old men and children!
Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven. Verses 12-13
2 Thessalonians 3:6-15
Interesting passage, this, especially in light of our current times.
Paul is admonishing the Thessalonians to not allow themselves to be taken advantage of by lazy people. "If you don't work, you don't eat!" That's the rule. "...refuze to subsidize his freeloading," Paul says.
This is good amunition for debating with people who think that we should just always be giving hand-outs to people. There are poor people who are poor because of no fault of their own, and there are poor people who are poor becuase they are lazy. The latter is who Paul is speaking of here.
Imagine if our nation subscribed to this principle instead of allowing welfare to run rampant and be abused. I do understand that these are extremely troublesome times. As I said up top, we have an "almost-family" member who just got laid off. This is happening all around. It's hard to work if there are no jobs. But did you know that the "unemployment rate" does NOT take into consideration anyone who is NOT looking for a job? Right. So all the lazy people who are just taking government handouts and not bothering to look for jobs are not included in the unemployment figures.
Now, the way we address these issues with people is very important, especially for those of us who call ourselves brothers of Christ. Pauls says, explicitly, "But don't treat him as an enemy. Sit him down and talk about the problem as someone who cares." That's the challenge isn't it? To address a lazy person without feeling hostility toward them. We ought always display the love of Christ towards people, and it's definitely not always easy.
It's also important to realize that Paul is talking about Christians who are lazy freeloaders! Egad! That's even worse.
Can you imagine how strained the relationships were in this scenario? I don't know about you, but for me, it's very difficult to maintain a stable relationship with someone who is a freeloader, mooching off of others. We have a family member who is like this. It's very difficult to be civil to her. She can't hold down a job. She has no place to live, and no car. So she just kind floats around, mooching off of people. This creates very strained relationships. But, by the power of Christ living in us through the Holy Spirit, we are supposed to address these issues, not as enemies, but as "someone who cares."
You have blessed us tremendously. Let us continue to be generous and bless others, as well.
However, in light of the topic at hand, I plan to continue to pray for more compassion, but also having discernment at the same time.
And of course, I will be praying for my daughter's fiance to find another job.
Grace and peace, friends.