Presenting ideas and thoughts about matters of importance
Here are several trends now in play, and how disciples of Christ might view them with interest.
A shift in power?
As of this writing (October 12), most polls forecast the traditional midterm swing, with the opposition party—this time the Democrats—taking control of the House. Through the summer, Republicans were generally expected to hold the Senate. Since August, that picture has blurred considerably.
In September 1654, twenty-three Jewish refugees staggered ashore in New Amsterdam in the New World–blown off course, stripped of nearly everything, and immediately detained over an unpaid fare. Nothing about their arrival suggested they carried anything of merit.
But they actually carried an immeasurable value: an unbreakable promise made to Abraham nearly four thousand years earlier.
One hundred thirty-six years later, in a small seaport in Rhode Island, the first President of the United States would deliver the words that put that promise into force–and, in doing so, quietly guarantee the astonishing ascendancy of the nation he led.
What does “abide” have to do with living successfully in an anxiety-saturated, hope-sapped world? What’s the pathway – what should be our focus?
Here’s a vital directive that can help us. It was given to us some 2,000 years ago on possibly the darkest night of the physical universe. Just hours before His gruesome death and ultimate sacrifice, our Savior and Elder Brother, Jesus Christ the Messiah, provided this deeply personal and powerful imperative command.
His directive is heightened by the fact that he was in full possession of the facts. He knew full well what was about to happen to Him, and, as the Bible records, it troubled Him. But His focus was elsewhere, like ours needs to be.
While Jesus knew he would soon experience searing pain, humiliation and death, he had been given a remarkably special gift.
In Hebrews 1, verse nine, we read something that sometimes gets read right over. Quoting Psalm 45:6-7, we read from the New Living Translation, “You [referring to Jesus Christ] love justice and hate evil.
Therefore…your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else”
We may not think of Jesus Christ being a joy-filled person while on earth, but the Bible confirms that He had a special anointing of joy from God Himself. The spiritually driven positive outlook was part of Jesus’ ministry. What did that gift reflect?