Miracle Power vs. Political Agenda
By Rev. Earl Jackson
Acts 1:6-8 So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
When asked a question of political agenda, our Lord countered with a promise of spiritual power. This shows that the spiritual always trumps the material. The heavenly kingdom always surpasses the earthly kingdoms. And here, even after the resurrection and just prior to the ascension of Our Lord, the apostles still hadn't grasped this important lesson. Heaven wins! Don't worry about earthly kingdoms. Get concerned about the miracle Power from the Holy Spirit. You need Holy Spirit Power, not political power in Israel. This is exactly the answer Jesus gave them, and it is the only answer to their question. Don't worry about the times and the seasons ordained by the Fathers authority, worry about getting the power of The Holy Spirit falling upon you, so you can do something that really matters!
Don't be all entangled in the political affairs of this world. Get power from on high. That's what you need. Kingdoms in Israel, and everywhere else for that matter, come and go according to times and seasons in the Fathers control. But for you, He gives powers to be witnesses to the ends of the whole earth! Do you want to take up a cause of political agenda? Or do you want to be witnesses for Christ?
It seems to me that Christians really need to hear this message right now in this election year here in America. I see Christians of both parties, trying to bolster their party agenda, and people in both camps, nailing their issues down with Bible verses. But listen... Politics and political activism, is nothing in comparison to what Christ wants His people to be involved with. Let the dead bury their own dead. For us, the citizens of the heavenly kingdom, miracle power is far more to be desired and sought after than getting a particular candidate in the Oval office. Can you not see the terrible waste of time and total misdirection of energy this is to a child of God?
Christians all over America have lost sight of the true vision of Jesus, because they are too busy trying to vote somebody out, and get someone else in. Tremendous resources are being channeled into the political machine by Christian groups, with the idea that the political system will somehow guarantee our rights enforce our ideals, and create the world that Jesus Christ has promised. That is a myth with evil underpinnings. If our kingdom is not of this world, then our rights are never going to be guaranteed in it or secured by it's politics. Christ determines what rights you have, not the political parties in Washington!
If you believe in His Lordship, then act like it, and think like it. Why do you waste your time slaving in the systems of this world, trying to reform them, when God says that they are only evil continually? Instead you need to get the miracle working power that Christ spoke of, and then you can do some real good!
Or is it that you don't believe Jesus? Do you think He was speaking about some wide-eyed pie-in-the-sky nonsense when he tells you that when you have the Power of The Holy Spirit you will turn the whole world upside down? All power in heaven and on earth belongs to the Christ whom you claim to serve (Matt. 28:18). So why do you dilly dally and waste your time with the puny powers in Washington? Or the insignificant power of the voting booth? Who do you think runs the world? God? or Men? Do you really believe they can do something for you, or against you, that is not within the hands of your Lord and Savior? When you get His power, you have all power. Power to move mountains, power to rattle the very elements of nature... power to truly witness in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and yes, even in Washington, or anywhere else on earth. When you join forces with the world, you cut yourself off from the true source of Power. If you are a believer, then the agenda you need is the Holy Spirits agenda, and not the Republicrat's or Demican's agendas. Take up the cause of God and Truth and all other causes will pale into insignificant nonsense for you. When the miracle power of the Holy Spirit has come upon you, then you will realize that what happens to the kingdom in Israel, or in Washington is none of your concern. God will take care of all that stuff. You take care of the business Christ gave you to do.
When you take things into your own hands, you remove them from the hands of the Lord! And He is far more capable, and able, than you to do the will of God. By the same token, if you think that political might makes right? You deny the one "who is seated above all rulers and all authority, above all power and dominion, and above every name that is named" (Eph. 1:21). When you think like the world thinks, you deny Him who hold all the power of all worlds in His hand. "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matt. 28:18)
Acts 1:6-8 So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
When asked a question of political agenda, our Lord countered with a promise of spiritual power. This shows that the spiritual always trumps the material. The heavenly kingdom always surpasses the earthly kingdoms. And here, even after the resurrection and just prior to the ascension of Our Lord, the apostles still hadn't grasped this important lesson. Heaven wins! Don't worry about earthly kingdoms. Get concerned about the miracle Power from the Holy Spirit. You need Holy Spirit Power, not political power in Israel. This is exactly the answer Jesus gave them, and it is the only answer to their question. Don't worry about the times and the seasons ordained by the Fathers authority, worry about getting the power of The Holy Spirit falling upon you, so you can do something that really matters!
Don't be all entangled in the political affairs of this world. Get power from on high. That's what you need. Kingdoms in Israel, and everywhere else for that matter, come and go according to times and seasons in the Fathers control. But for you, He gives powers to be witnesses to the ends of the whole earth! Do you want to take up a cause of political agenda? Or do you want to be witnesses for Christ?
It seems to me that Christians really need to hear this message right now in this election year here in America. I see Christians of both parties, trying to bolster their party agenda, and people in both camps, nailing their issues down with Bible verses. But listen... Politics and political activism, is nothing in comparison to what Christ wants His people to be involved with. Let the dead bury their own dead. For us, the citizens of the heavenly kingdom, miracle power is far more to be desired and sought after than getting a particular candidate in the Oval office. Can you not see the terrible waste of time and total misdirection of energy this is to a child of God?
Christians all over America have lost sight of the true vision of Jesus, because they are too busy trying to vote somebody out, and get someone else in. Tremendous resources are being channeled into the political machine by Christian groups, with the idea that the political system will somehow guarantee our rights enforce our ideals, and create the world that Jesus Christ has promised. That is a myth with evil underpinnings. If our kingdom is not of this world, then our rights are never going to be guaranteed in it or secured by it's politics. Christ determines what rights you have, not the political parties in Washington!
If you believe in His Lordship, then act like it, and think like it. Why do you waste your time slaving in the systems of this world, trying to reform them, when God says that they are only evil continually? Instead you need to get the miracle working power that Christ spoke of, and then you can do some real good!
Or is it that you don't believe Jesus? Do you think He was speaking about some wide-eyed pie-in-the-sky nonsense when he tells you that when you have the Power of The Holy Spirit you will turn the whole world upside down? All power in heaven and on earth belongs to the Christ whom you claim to serve (Matt. 28:18). So why do you dilly dally and waste your time with the puny powers in Washington? Or the insignificant power of the voting booth? Who do you think runs the world? God? or Men? Do you really believe they can do something for you, or against you, that is not within the hands of your Lord and Savior? When you get His power, you have all power. Power to move mountains, power to rattle the very elements of nature... power to truly witness in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and yes, even in Washington, or anywhere else on earth. When you join forces with the world, you cut yourself off from the true source of Power. If you are a believer, then the agenda you need is the Holy Spirits agenda, and not the Republicrat's or Demican's agendas. Take up the cause of God and Truth and all other causes will pale into insignificant nonsense for you. When the miracle power of the Holy Spirit has come upon you, then you will realize that what happens to the kingdom in Israel, or in Washington is none of your concern. God will take care of all that stuff. You take care of the business Christ gave you to do.
When you take things into your own hands, you remove them from the hands of the Lord! And He is far more capable, and able, than you to do the will of God. By the same token, if you think that political might makes right? You deny the one "who is seated above all rulers and all authority, above all power and dominion, and above every name that is named" (Eph. 1:21). When you think like the world thinks, you deny Him who hold all the power of all worlds in His hand. "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matt. 28:18)
©2011 E H Jackson
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This article may be reproduced on webites and blogs with a direct link from the article back to this website. it may not be republished in any other form without written permission.