Daily Devotional for Monday October 10, 2005

Why Hope when You can Know

(2 Chronicles 7:14)

Last Monday, President Bush failed God in the single most important act of his Presidency, and the one job God allowed him to rise to the highest office in our land to perform. Despite many failures during his first term in office in dealing with the key spiritual issues our nation faces, God gave President Bush a reprieve in order for him to deal with the single most important spiritual issue facing our nation today..the Federal Government's legalized slaughter of over 4,000 innocent babies every single day. As he has continued to do over the course of his Presidency, last Monday, President Bush failed God once again by nominating Harriet Miers to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and possibly the last real hope of staying God's hand of judgment on this nation was forever lost.

Since I began in full-time ministry over 15 years ago, I have been sounding the warning to this nation that God's judgment would be upon us if we continued to legalize infanticide. I am very well aware of the gross wickedness that exists in this country. Runaway and unbridled gambling and sex industries. Making a mockery of God's Holy Institution of Marriage. Promoting lifestyles in complete rebellion to God and His Word. Murder, stealing, and other crimes against our neighbor. A total lack of compassion towards the widows, children, and the poor. However, nothing this nation does on daily basis compares to the fact that each day we slaughter over 4,000 innocent babies with the full approval of the United States Government, and it is this sin that is going to one day very soon bring down God's wrath and judgment on the United States!

For those who have been following the Daily Devotional since we started in August of 1999, you will remember that from the very beginning I have been sharing this message with you. In 2000, we mobilized a great prayer effort of over 1 million people to pray for God to allow a man to rise to the Presidency that would honor Him and Biblical values, that would take a stand for righteousness. Clearly, George W. Bush seemed to be the man best suited to do this, and I will never forget as we remained in prayer over 30 days AFTER the election during the agonizing recount and legal maneuvers where President Bush was eventually declared the winner. As I wrote back at that time, it was a war in the heavenlies for the soul of this nation and having a man in the most powerful office in the land that could lead this country back to God's values and principles.

Sadly however, during his first 4 years in office President Bush failed to lead this nation in the key spiritual issues that face our land. He took no bold stand on overturning Roe. He did nothing to stop the flood of legal actions that were trying to, and eventually succeeded in many states in redefining God's definition of marriage. He did nothing to stem the growing tide of gambling and pornography that is destroying the this nation from within. He got involved in discussions to actually give away Israel's land to its enemies. Lastly, it was becoming clearer he was more interested in pleasing man instead of God and loved the "office" more than the job God called him to do.

Despite these glaring failures, God gave President Bush and this nation a reprieve in 2004. I am certain today that reprieve was for the sole purpose of being in power today to have the ability to change the make-up of the Supreme Court and insure that Roe vs. Wade is overturned, taking the Federal Government out of the business of killing babies and sending that issue back to each individual state to decide. God orchestrated it so that not only would President Bush be in power to make the changes on the Court necessary, but He gave him a majority in the House and Senate to insure that those he nominated would be confirmed no matter what the opposition had to say or tried to do. It would be the same thing as being in a card game and having a royal flush. There is absolutely NO HAND that can stop you from winning.

In recent months, the great moment those who love the Lord have been praying for for the last 32 years was finally upon us. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement and shortly thereafter, Chief Justice William Rehnquist died. So we had a man in the Oval Office who claimed Christ as his Savior, a majority in the House and Senate, and the opportunity to appoint TWO people to the United States Supreme Court that would shift that Court back to upholding the Biblical values on which this nation was founded, including the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. It was the moment so many had been praying for, working so hard for, and investing so much money for. It was time to shift this country BACK TO GOD and hopefully stay His wrath for our gross sin and wickedness.

With the retirement of Justice O'Connor, President Bush nominated John Roberts to take her spot on the Court. Even though there were many other men and women with outstanding judicial track records and a history of rulings that honored God, Robert's judicial philosophy and track record indicated that he too would be in this mold. When Chief Justice Rehnquist died, it seemed the perfect opportunity to elevate either Justice Scalia or Justice Thomas to Chief Justice, insuring the court would have a strong leader on the key spiritual issues facing our land. Surprisingly, President Bush opted to nominate Roberts for Chief Justice and he was easily confirmed by the Senate. Having Roberts as Chief Justice, however, really only replaced the judicial philosophy of deceased Chief Justice Rehnquist, so the key would now be the person to replace retiring Justice O'Connor.

In nominating Harriet Miers, the person who would become the swing vote on the court and break any 3-3 deadlocks, President Bush failed God in the one moment for which he was put into office. Sadly, in his last debate with Senator Kerry prior to the 2004 election, President Bush stated that overturning Roe was NOT one of his objectives or goals. Despite stating prior to the election he would pursue a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage the way God does, as a man and woman, after he was elected that pursuit was dropped. Unfortunately, he played the key role in the "Roadmap to Peace" which gave away part of the land God gave to the children of Israel to those who want to see Israel wiped off the face of the earth. His administration has done nothing to slow down the spread of gambling and pornography that is destroying the moral fiber of this nation. Despite all of these failures, stepping up to the plate and putting someone on the Supreme Court who would stand for Biblical values and honor God was now in his hands....and he has failed!

I am not going to get entangled in the endless debate that is now taking place about Miers nomination, I am simply going to give you the bottom line. Miers has NEVER been a judge so she has ZERO judicial track record on the key spiritual issues facing this nation. There are dozens of men and women out there who have a long and established judicial track record on these very issues. These are men and women who have shown themselves to be brilliant jurists and have time after time taken a stand for Biblical values and for God. In the end we are being asked to "trust" President Bush that Miers will be make such rulings. Maybe she will, maybe she won't. WE DON'T KNOW, PRESIDENT BUSH DOESN'T KNOW, AND EVEN HARRIET MIERS DOESN'T KNOW!

We are being asked to "hope" when we have men and women as qualified, most more qualified, who we KNOW right now how they will rule based on their past performance. My friend, the spiritual state of this nation is at stake. This will most likely be the one and only opportunity we will ever have to see the Supreme Court turned back to the values on which this nation was founded. This is not a game, the very soul of this nation is on the line. However, we are being asked to trust the judgment of a man who has done nothing but fail God on the key spiritual issues God allowed him to rise to power to deal with, when we could know with 100% certainty had any one of a dozen others been nominated!

Just so you understand. Whoever President Bush nominates will be confirmed because he has the majority in the Senate. Like the analogy I used earlier, he is holding a royal flush, so there is no way he could lose. Would the Democrats be upset? Of course! Who cares? Can they stop his nominee? No! This is why so many worked hard to elect the people they did, so they had the power to affect this type of change. All of those who voted for this President and those in the House and Senate, all of those who have worked tirelessly for so many years, all of those who have given tens of millions of dollars over the years, have all waited for this moment. Sadly, instead of basking in the victory we should be enjoying, we are now being told to "trust" and "hope." You don't "hope" you are saved, you "know" 100% you are saved because God said so. Likewise, we shouldn't have to "hope" for Miers to follow God in her rulings, when we could "know" 100% God would have been honored had any number of others been nominated.

I am very well aware of those prominent people who have come out to support the President for this choice. I could care less about their support since they have no more clue how Miers will rule on the bench than the President does. I will share this one FACT with you that speaks VOLUMES to me. She was at one time the head of the State Lottery in Texas. As gambling continues to spread through this nation, I can tell you from the daily experience we have here at Liveprayer, the biggest gambling problem that destroys people lives every day is not casinos, or sports betting, or horses, or poker...it is the LOTTERY!

How someone who professes to be an "evangelical Christian" and follower of Christ could accept the leadership of something that doe nothing but destroy lives tells me much about her lack of willingness to take a stand for God. Of course, her supporters point out that the lottery is legal in Texas. Well guess what, ABORTION IS LEGAL TOO! Just because something is "legal" doesn't mean we are to support it! If she didn't have enough conviction to turn down heading the Texas State Lottery that is destroying people's lives every day, why should anyone have "hope" she will take a stand against killing babies and be the deciding vote to overturn Roe?

I love you and care about you so much. President Bush has become a textbook case of why we must look to our spiritual leaders to lead in spiritual matters, and not look to a political leader no matter what they claim their faith to be. In the end, they are politicians and their office will always come before their faith. Due to the weak and ineffectiveness of the spiritual leaders in this nation over the past 40 years, we have sunk into such a moral and spiritual decay that we were forced to rely on a political leader to help turn this nation back to God. Sadly, that has not happened. If that is to happen, it must be through courage and leadership of those men and women God raises up whose only "office" is SERVANT OF GOD!

Rather than sit back and hope and pray for a politician to guide us, rather than hope and pray for the Supreme Court to set the spiritual tone, it is time for those who know Christ as their Savior to rise up and make an impact in our land through bringing the hope and love Christ to this hurting and lost nation. Sadly, I am afraid that we are so far gone spiritually that it will take the wrath of God being poured out on our land for there to be a true revival. We are not only due God's wrath for turning our backs on Him and following other god and living in complete rebellion to Him, we are OWED His wrath! I can only imagine that His cup is overflowing and the time of His judgment on our nation is near.

But be of good cheer, because we know that in the end God's wins. We have the assurance that those who know Jesus as their Savior will be spending forever with Him. God has commanded us to be busy about His business until He returns. So my challenge to you today is to continue to pray for Present Bush and our leaders as we do every day here at Liveprayer, pray for Harriet Miers that as she takes her place on the Supreme Court, she will allow God to guide her rulings, and pray for God to continue to be merciful to our nation. If we will turn our hearts back to Him, we don't have to "hope" for His blessings, God has given us the complete assurance that we will KNOW His blessings!