Times Which Try Our Souls

     You could say we have just come through the week which Hell has wrought. It began on Monday with bombings in Boston and moved south to West, Texas as the fire at a fertilizer plant exploded into destruction and devastation and disrupted the lives of an entire town. In time both Boston and West will come to a better day yet some lives have been touched forever by the evil of the moment. Even those of us whose families were not been personally affected will never forget the images on the screen as we looked in horror and even anger at what we saw.

      These things will take time to digest and we can be assured in both events more and more information will be released or leaked for us to assess according to our own spiritual tenets and political ideology. Last week, as I wrote how we must never allow fear to dominate our thinking I had no idea of what was about to befall us as a people and, as I watched and listened throughout the week, I knew the wisdom those words was not mine, but the Lord’s who had used me to minister to any and all who had read them. 

      The question which continues to roll through my own mind is whether Boston or West could have been prevented; if so by who and what will be done to make sure something similar does not occur again? A bigger question is can we trust the information we receive or will there be a cover up to protect some from their just due? Without delving into to conspiracy theories which usually result in nothing more than supposition I will admit to having little trust of anything I hear in the media. They have earned my skepticism through their lack of reporting on items which affect their own political agenda. Therefore, where does someone like me go for answers? The places are fewer than in the past and, as some try to silence them, they must speak louder as they call to those who are seeking answers. 

      I know many, like me, were praying for the people of both places and also that the bombers would be found and brought to justice. However, my prayer did not stop there because for a very long time I have prayed the truth of every situation would be exposed. Jesus said when we know the truth it will set us free and though many times the truth is hard to bear it also frees us to take action. We know Satan is a liar and the world in which he has dominance is no better; therefore, the only way the truth will be known is to use the power given to us as Christians to defeat the enemy on his home turf, which is not in the world but in the supernatural realm. Prayer is one means God gave us to conquer but He has also given us His Word, His Blood and His Name to bring the truth to the light.

     However, the Lord has not left us with these alone I remind everyone of what King David said in Psalm 144:1 “Blessed be the Lord my strength which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:”

     Therefore, let us rejoice and give thanks for the failure of the gun control bill to pass the Senate during this past week. Satan may have had a field day but the Lord spoke loud and clear through the bill’s defeat. Let’s continue to pray, keep the faith and stand strong. We WILL win. Don’t believe me, read the back of the Book.

R. K 2013

 

"So that you see, my brethren, in addition to every other motive for being good Christians, patriotism should be one. After we have turned away from the voice of God; after we have steeled our hearts to the claims of him who died upon Calvary, the just for the unjust, the he might bring us to God; after we have besotted our minds to act the fool's part of blindness to our own interest; there is yet one appeal which may not be lost upon our generosity, one consideration that should be sufficient; public spirit, the love of our country. Its welfare is resting on our individual virtue. For as drops of water make up the ocean, and grains of sand constitute vast continents, so the personal character of the humblest individual among us adds something, for weal or for woe, to that national character, by which the land of our love, the government which has cherished us, will stand or fall."

M. I. Motte , from the Sermon, The Christian Patriot Delivered at the
South Congregational Church,
Boston, July 5, 1840

 

     It is written over one hundred times in the Word that we should not fear anyone or anything except God, for whom we are to have holy fear as our reverence before Him for all who He is and that which He has done. However, life has many burdens and a way of overwhelming us with cares, tests and trials and behind each and every one lies the enemy of our souls ever waiting for our decision as to who and what we will believe; God and His Word or his own fear filled report. Cunning, his darts strike our thoughts with pictures of the worst thing which could happen, but when we read the Word we are told not to dwell upon them, but cast them down as written in 2 Corinthians 10:5. Job was a perfect example of what evil fear can bring and in the third chapter he says:  

 “²⁵ For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. ²⁶ I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.”

Therefore, it is incumbent upon us rather than dwell on the evil among us, to trust the Lord who has “overcome the world”. (John 16:33)      

     What does it mean to trust God and how do we overcome the fear which seems to be lying in wait at every turn? The following is the definition of trust which the Lord gave to me after seeking Him in prayer and these words are often in my thoughts as I read the news headlines, experience a physical symptom personally or if someone in my family is ill, when there is too much month at the end of the money or if my thoughts have me going in the wrong direction.

“Trust is following Me when you do not know where you are going and holding on to nothing else but My hand.”

This is Wisdom from on High when we dwell on the import of the Lord’s explanation and is easy to understand when we think about how many times it is that which we do not know which we fear the most.

     So, what does fear have to do with politics? Everything! Fear comes by hearing negative words, and someone does not have to be Albert Einstein to look at and listen to the news media, pundits and politicians to see how an onslaught of divisiveness, strife and ill will is prevalent and would strike fear into the heart of the most courageous soul. What is more discouraging is that it is willful and purposeful and there is no better example than President Barack Obama who has belittled, insulted and personally assaulted anyone who disagrees with his point of view.

     However, as Christians, and those who love God and country we must seek a better way and, as in all things, must begin with ourselves and in our own lives. Does this mean we hide our heads in the sand and not know or care what is occurring in our world? No, but it is incumbent upon us who know the Lord to seek and trust Him for our family’s welfare and that of our nation. Jesus told us to “love one another” and also to be “as wise as serpents and harmless as doves”. Speaking for me, both are a challenge and a reminder to pray and read the Bible daily for without doing so it becomes too easy to fall prey to the fear and enter into the strife ridden political world we live in. In this, we have given Satan an open door of attack in our own lives.

     My point is this; if we are to succeed in returning our nation to God and its founding principles we are going to have to do it His way. Then, the Lord will be able to move us forward in love to conquer the evil which we face. As the Apostle Paul said so well “be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good”. After all, isn’t this our heartfelt desire for our “one nation under God”?

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love and of a sound mind.” (2Timothy 1:7)

R.K. 2013

Government Betrayal to the Constitution, Securing our 2nd Amendment Rights

History by apprising [citizens] of the past will enable them to judge of the future; it will avail them of the experience of other times and other nations; it will qualify them as judges of the actions and designs of men; it will enable them to know ambition under every disguise it may assume; and knowing it, to defeat its views. -Thomas Jefferson

To me, consensus seems to be the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies. So it is something in which no one believes and to which no one objects. -Margaret Thatcher

I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power. -Thomas Jefferson

 

Well it's been a busy week in Washington and around the nation.  As with many things today, we who are closely watching what our Government is doing, have to focus our sights on many tentacles of an octopus.  While we are under the onslaught of government proposals, bills and regulations it is hard to know which tentacle to tackle first.  While most of the low info folks have been diverted to Beyoncé and Jay-zee's trip to Cuba and the parties at the White House, they have been blinded to the assault on American's 2nd Amendment rights. 

This assault on the People's God Given Right has been slipping under the radar of so many, as also the continuing erosion of our security through open southern borders and more talk about so called immigration reform, which will only lead to amnesty for millions of illegals. 

This week, 16 Republicans joined Democrats to proceed to the floor of the U.S. Senate to consider a gun control bill that includes criminalizing most private sales of firearms between citizens, unless they are subject to background checks and other restrictions.  Fourteen Republicans had pledged to filibuster the move. Two Democrats opposed the gun control measure, and with the 16 Republicans joining the Democrat majority, the filibuster group failed to gather enough support to filibuster.

Thanks to these 16 Rino traitors, that's right, I said it, when the vote was taken, these Republican senators joined with the Democrats to trash the Constitution and spit on those who entrusted them to uphold the oath they swore when they were sworn into office.

Lindsey Graham (S.C.), John McCain (Ariz.), Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), Susan Collins (Maine), Pat Toomey (Pa.), Bob Corker (Tenn.), Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), Richard Burr (N.C.),Johnny Isakson (Ga.), Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), Mark Kirk (Ill.), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Dean Heller (Nev.), John Hoeven (N.D.), and Roger Wicker (Miss.) all decided that appeasement and a misguided notion that they know better matter more than the Constitution.

Yes, a few of the Republicans who voted to allow the bill to go to the Senate floor for debate said that they only did so they could get the Democrats on the official record as voting in favor of gun control, and that they themselves, the Republicans, would vote no to the bill in its final form. But in essence, they still voted to get a bill to the floor which no one has read yet!  Obamacare anyone?! Do they have to pass this one too before they, and we can know what's in it, and how much of our Right has been infringed upon?

I guess one small thing we can be grateful for is that Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and Jim Inhofe have said that they reserve the option of employing the filibuster for the final vote on the bill.  However, the filibuster senators would have to pick up some support from the gang of 16. The question now, is who of these will be trusted enough to do the right thing and stand on the Constitution?

People who live in these states need to get on the phone, fax, e mail and tweet their representatives now! Remind them that they are the employees, and they swore to uphold the Constitution.  There is no denying the word “infringe” and what it means. We the people understand perfectly what the founding fathers meant when they wrote the 2nd Amendment into the Bill of Rights.  It is that document which is our gun permit, and it has no expiration date.

Update...
Not surprising that Susan Collins (R-Maine) has caved and said she will support for the bipartisan compromise on expanded background checks for the sale of guns online and at gun shows. 
Perhaps Ms. Collins and the rest of our so called representatives need a refresher course on the 2nd Amendment, and how all the encroachments during the past 50 years have not helped keep fire arms out of the hands of criminals.  All these do is make it harder for law abiding citizens to obtain them.

C.E.