I tend to agree with what Chris has said here. It is at least an interesting perspective.
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Hi again Quix!
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PREFACE FM Q:
This resulted from an exchange with Christ Strom that I had after someone posted his earlier one on praying in tongues for the U.S. and Iraq/world/war situation. This first partial paragraph is from a sharing on Chris's part about NZ opting out of mutual defense treaties etc.
. . . The one mitigating fact I can offer is that we have sent our men to fight side-by-side with America in every war since WW1--nearly a century now. We are more than friends, your country and mine.
Our blood has mingled together on battlefield after battlefield all over the world as our young men fought to protect the liberty we both love. And I think every New Zealander at heart acknowledges that without America we're sunk, and America is the real leader of the free and democratic world of which we are proud and grateful to be a part.
As a Christian I'd put it this way: America was raised up of God and is maintained by God to protect His freedom on Earth. We are not blind to America's faults, down here in the Sth Pacific, but we have our share of faults too. Every country does.
My part in this great battle is prayer. Because the real battle is unseen. In Ephesians 6:12 Paul says plainly that the battle isn't against flesh and blood but against unseen principalities and powers in the heavens who are pulling the strings of willing flesh-and-blood accomplices like Saddam Hussein. Bind those powers (Matt 12:29), and a Saddam deflates like a pricked balloon formerly full of hot air. Without the protection of those evil spiritual princes and powers he is wide open to overthrow. I'd expect his resignation or assassination, whichever he prefers.
So that puts a tremendous onus on us Christians. We are letting not only your President down if we neglect prayer at this time, but also everything good that America and New Zealand stand for, (or at least should stand for) which are all the facets of Goodness embodied in and originating from the character of God. We are letting God down if we don't pray.
And for those of us whom God has given a special prayer language, the responsibility is even greater. God has made it so easy to exercise that language and pray as we go about our ordinary business, because our inner spirit prays while our conscious mind is free to think and plan and do, an implication of 1 Cor 14:14. We can literally pray almost without ceasing if we pray in tongues.
Silently in tongues! I had one email from a guy who had fixed on the word "shouting" in my email and said he didn't care if he disturbed the neighbours, he was shouting in tongues! Ouch! I quickly emailed back and quoted the power of silent prayer as shown in 1 Sam 1:12-13. (Read the whole great chapter, it won't take long.) You can shout far louder silently than you can with your voice. Try it and you'll see what I mean.
Especially in tongues. You can fill the whole universe with silent sound! And no one can hear you! Only God! And because He is supplying the very words you are saying--those prayers ARE SURE going to be answered! What irresistible power they are going to unleash! All the POWER of God Himself! What a great gift from God!
You are so right abt Pres Clinton. I tell God that it really is unfair of Him to have Pres Bush reap what Clinton sowed, but that has always happened, even in Bible times.
Actually, that happens all the time in the natural. I well remember listening to Pres Johnson's State of the Union address after Pres Kennedy was assassinated, and he said he would honour every committment Kennedy had entered into including Vietnam. Momentous words!
It was a very tiny commitment then, very easy to get out of. Then.
When we read 2 Sam 21:1, we ask, How fair was that? David had to endure what his arch-enemy caused! The country had signed a treaty with the Gibeonites way back in Joshua's time but Saul had murderously attacked them. Result: Saul had given Satan legal right to do something horrible to his country.
Satan has learnt not to rush. He picks the most advantageous time (for him) before he cashes the "checks" we so foolishly write him with our sins. He cashed one king's check in the next king's reign. He has the legal right to do so. (So does God.) So listing them:
SAUL is bad so DAVID inherits wars
DAVID is good so SOLOMON inherits peace
SOLOMON begins good but ends bad so his son inherits only half a kingdom.
Behind the scenes: Bad Saul gives Satan legal right to inflict wars on good David.
Good David gives God legal right to give wealth and peace to son Solomon.
Good/bad Solomon gives Satan legal right to split the nation.
And to continue this almost unknown but so powerful principle:
CLINTON gives legal right for Satan to do something horrible to America.
BUSH inherits that Satanic legal right along with the Presidency. Satan cashes Clinton's "check" on September 11, 2001.
If America thinks that Clinton and Monica prove that we can get away with sin, that sin has no consequences, just walk around Ground Zero. Everyone who views Ground Zero shd murmur "Monica, Monica, Monica." Sin's consequences are real. They can be measured in terms of dollars and cents. And human lives.
As for Pres Clinton personally, he reminds me in some ways of King David. Awful sin, a forced public confession, and terrible consequences on his nation. So I think God's words of forgiveness to David will apply to him, but also the fact that the confession was insufficient of itself to prevent Satan's legal right /God's awful judgement on his precious nation.
I only hope every single one of Satan's previous-Presidential checks were cashed in full on Sept 11. Surely there aren't any left over for a future date? If there are, then clearly it's possible to pre-emptively deflect a great deal of their effects: 1 Kings 21:20-29, 2 Chron 12:5-7.
"Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" (Prov 14:34).
All of which is why I pray in tongues, for your nation , and mine, and the world.
Let's pray on!
Yours in Jesus,
Chris.
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Q's comment:
On the latter part--guess I'd personally say that I think Billdo's "confession" and asking for "forgiveness" was based totally and only on his getting caught with evidently very little to no heart sincerity. He has still enormous guilt to bear for selling the U.S. down the river in terms of highly advanced secret military info and actual material to Mainland China in exchange for personal benefit in his pocket. . . not to mention a LOOOOOOONNNNNG list of other extremely serious felonies. Felon-In-Chief indeed.
All of which to say--I wouldn't expect any of God's mercy etc. similar to that given David to be extended to Billdo AT ALL short of some serious sackcloth and ashes in public repentence from the heart on Billdo and Shrillery's parts.
I strongly concur about the praying in tongues and impacting history thereby.