Before and After

This is a tough blog to write.

What you may not know is that I write these blogs on Monday night and they are published on Wednesday. Normally, that’s not a big deal because things don’t change too much from Monday to Wednesday.

But this week… well, things are going to change big-time in that three-day period.

When I push that “publish” button on Wednesday, we will have elected a new president and set a course for the country that everyone will be talking about.

But I can’t know what that is right now.

And then it occurs to me that no matter how it all turns out, one thing is absolutely certain:

We will have no less need of Jesus.

Whatever happens, none of the candidates running has campaigned on the promise of being our Messiah.

Our spiritual and moral decline started long ago and our real enemy is hard at work to see that it continues.

For a moment, I contemplated great number of believers responding to the election by donning camel-hair frocks stained with dribbles of honey and bug parts and standing in the wilderness calling for the broods of vipers to produce fruit worthy of repentance.

But then Jeremy Camp’s song, “The Same Power” came over the radio and the lyrics spoke a different message:

“The same power that rose Jesus from the grave
The same power that commands the dead to wake
Lives in us, lives in us
The same power that moves mountains when He speaks
The same power that can calm a raging sea
Lives in us, lives in us
He lives in us, lives in us

We have hope
That His promises are true
In His strength
There is nothing we can’t do
Yes, we know
There are greater things in store
We will not be overtaken
We will not be overcome

Greater is He that is living in me
He’s conquered our enemy
No power of darkness
No weapon prevails
We stand here in victory.”

No matter what happens, Jesus will still be Jesus. He will be the same yesterday, today, and forever.

No matter what happens, we will need to be saltier and shine more brightly. We will need to be more set-apart, more conscious of the impression we make on those around us, more willing to share our testimony and our witness in a nation that is increasingly more intent on trusting in the “wisdom” of humanity than the wisdom of God.

We will need to be more forgiving, more willing to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. We will need to be more consoling, more encouraging, more generous, and more willing to wash feet.

We will need to be more loving.

And for that, we will need more Holy Spirit.

Today’s Praise

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:17-21 NIV)

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