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www.truthworks.com 18 MAR 03 devotion archive |
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WAR I tell you the Truth, Last night, the President of the United States addressed our nation. Today, we stand today on the brink of war. I want to address the issue of war this morning. Not necessarily this particular war, but war in general. In my many communications with young people, I’ve found a great amount of confusion concerning war and our Christianity. There are so many voices in the world today giving so many opinions that it becomes muddy when trying to discern what is right and what is wrong. If God is absolute truth and we turn to God for answers on this issue, what will we find? Glad you asked. Because I’m going to give you what I’ve found as guidance on the issue. Let’s start out with the most blaring issue from God’s word. Many godly men have refused to embrace combat because of God’s commandments. It seems pretty simple to understand.
Exodus 20:
Exodus 20: We are not to kill or murder according to this simple commandment of God handed to Moses. Ok. Simple enough. I can’t kill or murder, so as a Christian there is no way I can go to battle against another human, right? Well, if the entirety of God’s commandments were settled in this one statement, then I would agree with you. However, the issue doesn’t stop with one sentence taken from one commandment. Stay with me, and let’s take a deeper look. Let’s listen to more of what God has to say about killing.
So the same God that commands us not to kill is now requiring us to put people to death for various misdeeds. Is there is conflict in what God is telling us? How can we not kill and be required to kill? The key is found a three letter word – law. Taking the law into our own hands and killing is unlawful. But taking life within the confines of the law as given by God is justifiable as punishment. So when God demands that we shall not kill, He is speaking to me as an individual. His intent is that I not take the law into my own hands in seeking revenge or acting in simple anger. It also addresses the senseless taking of innocent life, such as abortion. But within the law, God provided a means of punishment for breaking the law. Through the establishment of law, corporal punishment is justifiable according to God’s law when carried out by God’s given authority in the form of a government action. For these reasons, I personally come into agreement with the death penalty. It is a justifiable punishment for breaking certain laws when carried out within the authority of the law given to our government by God. Now when it comes to war, again, God speaks plainly and precisely.
Joshua 8: Directly from the voice God, Joshua is ordered to carry out a massive slaughter on Ai. His order, like Jericho, is to leave no one alive, including the king. This is just one instance of God ordering the His people to kill. Once again, by God’s voice, His people are acting justifiably within the authority of God voice, which is law. God’s ways are not our ways according to the Word. There are some things that I cannot give you reason for. But just like the wars of old we find in the scripture, God tends to reveal His purpose after the fact. Whether you and I agree with the decision of President Bush and our government, we are under their authority. This authority was given to them by God. I personally believe our President has sought the Lord’s hand in this matter and I have peace about his decisions. That’s my personal opinion. I also believe the target of this war has broken many laws. Many of you may not remember the war in 1991 when Mr. Hussein attempted to take the country of Kuwait and oppress its people. The UN set up a list of rules, or international laws to govern Iraq’s actions at that time. And Mr. Hussein has ignored them all. But regardless of opinion, we also have a duty to support our military men and women in prayer. We have a duty to pray for our leaders in authority. We should even pray for the enemy, that God will make this a swift and clean battle and that His will might play out in this conflict. The situation is frightening. This may be the most frightening time on this planet since World War II. If ever there was a time that God’s people need to pray, it is now. Let’s join together in prayer as God’s leads us. Your Servant,
<*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< Prayer Requests (and Praises!): Please reply if you have prayer requests, comments or simply need an open ear. I always enjoy hearing from you. <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< Copyright © 2002 Truth Works Publishing. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise specified, all scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE,
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