Hello folks. Today's devotional covers God's unchanging nature, known as immutability. This is the reason why when God promised Abraham a son, Isaac, the promise was fulfilled over two decades later.

Michie said:

iStock/koya79

Politics is very important. Politics played a role in the abolition of slavery and segregation and in the overturning of Roev. Wade. Conversely, it was because of a political vote that Hitler came into power, resulting in the deaths of multiplied tens of millions of lives.

So, politics can be very important.
Politics affects the economy, which in turn affects everyday life.

Politics affects national security, which can be a matter of life and death.

Politics affects which judges are appointed to our courts, which in turn can determine what laws are passed for a nation.

Politics can affect our most fundamental freedoms and rights. Few things are more important than that.

Continued below.

Politics is important, but politics is not the Gospel

We dare not downplay what politics can do But politics is not the Gospel Let s not confuse the two

www.christianpost.com

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Some Christians choose not to vote because neither candidate follow the principles of the Lord ... so they don't vote.

I disagree with this view as we are not voting for a god .... we are voting for who we believe will best lead our nation ... and yeah they all have faults of some kind.

All US citizens should vote ... it is important

Michie said:

Evangelicals wrestle with language, political agendas, potential 'fusion of Christianity and the state'

Editors' note: This is part 17 of The Christian Post's year-long articles series "Politics in the Pews: Evangelical Christian engagement in elections from the Moral Majority to today." In this series, we will look at issues pertaining to election integrity and new ways of getting out the vote, including churches participating in ballot collection. We'll also look at issues Evangelicals say matter most to them ahead of the presidential election and the political engagement of diverse groups, politically and ethnically. Read other articles in the series by clicking here.

What happens when "one nation under God" becomes "one God over a nation"?

That's essentially the question at the heart of the controversy surrounding Christian nationalism — what it is, what it isn't, and who, exactly, stands to benefit from such a movement. Is it everyday American Christians in the pews, or is there some other agenda at work?

Before the gunsmoke had barely cleared this summer in Butler, Pennsylvania, after the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, mainstream media outlets characterized the response of Trump's Christian supporters and the outpouring of prayers for the former and potentially next president of the United States as a form of Christian nationalism.

Continued below.

'Threat to democracy' or media phantom? Christian nationalism debate takes violent turn

What happens when one nation under God becomes one God over a nation That s essentially the question at the heart of the controversy surrounding Christian nationalism

www.christianpost.com

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Saying it's dangerous for Christians to practice their faith in the fullness thereof, whether at the polls or at the grocery stores and is some kind of a danger to regular people is very insulting really.

This country is built on religious freedom but when Christians actually practice faith and dare touch any of the lefts sacred cows suddenly "dangerous" comes out.

These people need to find a moral compass for their own and leave others to practice their life according to their faith - to include voting their morals at the voting booth if they feel so inclined.

The only time diversity is bad is when it's Christians unless we sit well away from their civilization and don't ever vote or pray for our leaders.

If we don't sit like good second class citizens we are dangerous. Wake up and use the sight given by God.

DaisyDay said:

They can be a little too click-baity sometimes and their sponsors are sometimes iffy. However I really like Michael Popok, Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Glenn Kirschner.

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I do agree on that. Their sponsors are iffy, and the titles of the videos themselves can be a bit click-baity. For instance, one of their sponsors (not naming any sponsors) are a mental health company that treats their own employees like crap. Another sponsor sells specially formulated beets at a price of almost $30. Like guys, just go to the local grocery store or farmers' market, and buy them for $5 instead.

Michael Popok is my favorite guy from MeidasTouch.

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tonychanyt said:

NIV 1 John 2:


ESV:


Which translation is better?

the
τοῦ (tou)
Article - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's Greek 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Father
Πατρὸς (Patros)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's Greek 3962: Father, (Heavenly) Father, ancestor, elder, senior. Apparently a primary word; a 'father'.

The genitive of possession stressed the person who owned something. In this case, the person was the Father. It was the Father's love, not a human's love.

For this verse, ESV translation was more faithful than NIV.

In Biblehub, 17 versions translate it as "of the Father". Only 3 translate it as "for the Father".

My translation:


It is not your love for the Father that is not in you. The truth is that you do not have the Father's love in you. It is about the Father's love and not your love.

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Colossians 3:2

English Standard Version
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

We are to focus on heavenly things ... not earthly things.

Proverbs 3:5 says to trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. That doesn’t mean to always sit back and expect a miracle from Him, though there are times that it may be more feasible to wait for the Lord when you’ve reached the end of your rope or those of loved ones. God expects you to do what you can, before He deems it necessary to give you a hand. As God says in Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Note that He doesn’t say we don’t have to lift a finger.

What is it that we really fear when a fit of fear grabs us? It isn’t of anything concrete. If you were to walk in midtown Manhattan amidst buildings that are undergoing renovations and you see a concrete block falling that may hit you on the head, do you not really fear the outcome if you remain standing under the falling block, rather than fearing the block itself? If you saw a concrete block lying on a sidewalk, would you be afraid of it that that point? If you’re hiking in the woods and you see a bear running toward you, are you really afraid of the bear, or are you not afraid of the outcome if the bear were to attack you? Would you be afraid of that bear if you saw him in a cage at the zoo?

In fear, the outcome is the thing, and it isn’t hard to perceive that Psalms 23 says the Lord will shepherd you through that fear. In Joshua 1:9, Joshua probably experienced some degree of fear before he went against the enemies of the Hebrews when he was charged with clearing the way for the Promised land, when the Lord says to him “...Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Note that God in Joshua 1:9 doesn’t say ‘Stay where you are, I’ll go for you.” When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, the Lord expected Adam to till the earth; and he expected Eve to help him in other matters; he did not expect them to lay around for God to do all the work. In that respect, God expects us to do what we can.

As God controls the future, He controls the outcome of things, The things we do and the decisions we make all lead to outcomes. For us, outcomes exist to the extent of uncertainties. If we use a knife to cut a sandwich in half, there exists a certainty the sandwich will be cut in half. To that extent, no uncertainty exists, and an outcome is not an outcome, it is a foregone conclusion. But if we accept that there’s a chance of an outcome resulting from an earthquake which presents us from using that knife, and we’ve encountered an outcome head-on, will God control the outcome so it doesn’t interfere with our cutting the sandwich, or will He let the earthquake take its course? The reflexive impulse of fear may set in, until we remember what God told us in Isaiah 41:10—God is with us.

And what of the outcome? It may seem disastrous at first. The earthquake may destroy our home, but as it says in Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” So in the end, we are still alive, and we might, say, enjoy an insurance settlement that enables us to live in a bigger home. Or, we might perish in that earthquake, to find ourselves in Heaven, who knows?

But to love God is to trust Him, as Proverbs 3:5 calls on us to trust Him and to put our understanding aside. We do not understand everything. We certainly don’t understand the Lord’s mysterious ways, as our thoughts are not His Thoughts. Our understanding conjures up fears, but our trust in God puts those fears aside. And at the end of the day, whatever outcome exists as a result of our actions will turn out to be a good outcome for us.

Harris does state who she is and what she intends to do
1) Claims to be: Middle Class and understands their pain
2) Economic Agenda : Tax the rich and give tax credits to select groups. Impose unrealized capital gains tax which could and would expand to the middle class, just like income tax.

Trump does state who he is and what he intends to do
1) Claims to be: Brilliant, Accomplished, Handsome
2) Economic Agenda : No tax on tips, overtime or social security.

You know, the Dems have taken Trump out of context, distorted his positions and pounced on any slip of the tongue or controversial remark he has made.
The message is Don't Listen to Trump because Trump Is.....(insert any label from basket of deplorables)."
However the message about tips definitely leaked out through the filters. No tax on overtime is on the airwaves. No tax on social security, has been a senior issue for a very long time.
But don't listen to Trump! You might hear things the Dems don't want you to hear.

tonychanyt said:

God loved the world. Should we?

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God "so" loved the world. God loved the world in a very particular way. A way in which we are not able to. God loved the world in the same way as: Matthew 13:44. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

When the treasure is eventually removed from the field, the man will love the field not so much.

There are certain types that abuse their positions of power. We should always watch those in the position and in their circles. Adults can be abused let alone children.

That's awful. I never saw anything about this in the news or online. I pray for all the women and churches in China.

I've only seen the first one. It was too Evangelical/Born Again for me.

I didn't like the theology, but appreciated the message.

May God have mercy upon him.

I was saved, and discipled through Christian radio in the late 80's early 90's . Many of those programs were Moody Network programs.

One more thing, this took me back to the late 2000s and early 2010s, where I binge watched documentaries on Discovery, National Geographic and History channels, back when the documentaries were focused on real history, instead of entertainment or sensationalism. Thank you @Dave Darling for bringing back my childhood memories of 2009-2012. My dad's parents overseas had a Panasonic Viera plasma TV, and when I was not hanging out with family members overseas, I watched documentaries on it. At the time, my parents only had LCD TVs which did not have the same picture quality as plasmas (but were more energy efficient), but we did have Dish Network at the time back when satellite TV was affordable. When we ditched satellite TV in 2012 or 2013, that was a sad day, but then Netflix had documentaries and good TV.

Now, in 2024, LCD TVs are better than plasma displays of the early 2010s, so when watching this documentary on my LED backlit 43" LG monitor that I use as a TV, this brought back the same memories. Call me an old soul, but my yesteryear(s) just got reignited. Alright, I am done talking about my younger years.

This fact checking article again goes back to the realities of how
the Pandemic made a hash of global supply lines, resulting in
a huge rise in inflation as the U.S. started to come out of the
Pandemic years. This has lead to persistently HIGHER prices in
some consumer goods, after the Pandemic, than before the
Pandemic.

Also, inflation was flat in the U.S., during the Pandemic years,
because no one had cash to spend. As soon as people began to have
cash to spend (after the Pandemic), then inflation went up.

The political candidates should STOP arguing that the effects of the
Pandemic, were actually caused by some President.

Solo81 said:

I don't understand what the issue is? Do you feel you were lied to or is it a case that pro-choice candidate can't help the PLM?

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The issue is Trump is a liar.

The Harris - Trump debate was interesting for various reasons:

1) Trump remains unfit for office as he continues to be deceitful about the election and contemptuous of the rule of law when he does not benefit from the court results.

2) Various international claims are simply false: he could not end the war between Russia and Ukraine overnight except by forcing Ukraine to accept unacceptable terms. Israel would not cease to exist within two years of a Harris presidency.

3) His views on immigration were spiced with lies about Haitians eating pets. He suggested that American crime rates were up (They are falling) and that the countries these migrants came from the crime rates were down. The top three countries where migrants come from are Mexico (crime is falling), India (overall rates falling) and China (who can say what the crime rates are there?). The reasons crime is falling have little to do with immigration or emigration in each of these cases.

The things I would suggest Trump won in the debate were on the issue of abortion and Afghanistan.

His main argument on abortion was that the devolvement of the decision to the states was less divisive than having it all decided on a Federal level and then imposed on all states by federal law. Harris is blinded by her passion for this issue. But his victory on this point was also characterized by lies about executing babies. Harris could not overturn the Supreme Court decision without a majority in both houses and if she did so she would undermine the rule of law, the defense of which she has based her campaign on.

Biden did mess up the withdrawal from Afghanistan. This also revealed major failings in the Chinese whisper system of American intelligence and military when it comes to hierarchy which I hope have been addressed since then.

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mourningdove~ said:

Exclusive—Frank Pavone: The Trump-Harris Debate Shows Who’s Closer to the Public on Abortion​

The portion of Tuesday night’s debate centered on abortion was an object lesson in how this issue is treated by the radical left. Unsurprisingly, the moderators’ questions were designed to mis-frame the issue and to never pin Vice President Kamala Harris down on any limits she might support. (That’s because she doesn’t support any.)

Exclusive—Frank Pavone: The Trump-Harris Debate Shows Who’s Closer to the Public on Abortion

President Trump and the Republican Party are closer in their views to the average American voter, and Tuesday’s debate showed exactly that.

www.breitbart.com

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Thank you. You gave me another reason not to vote for her.

He said something lewd about Kamala Harris at the debate, too. It is what the more disgusting candidates do.

Brief introduction:

I wrote this song some time ago. I had posted it here on CF at some point, but realized the mix was not great, so I redid it and am reposting now. I wrote and performed this, every track and instrument. It's probably not the best, but I gave it my best, so I'm happy to share now with the community.

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AlexB23 said:

My 3rd Party candidate has fears for the country as well. The American Dream was never really a thing, but it has become less attainable in 2024 compared to 50 years ago. The American Solidarity party is worried that Democrats could turn our country woke.

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So how does a vote for your 3rd party candidate prevent Kamala from turning our country woke?

Malaysia​

Please pray for the safety of house churches as they become increasingly important for persecuted believers. Pray for local established churches to see the importance of these places and to start supporting them in whatever way they can.
YES - I will Pray

Malaysia​

Pray for Malaysian believers, whether from Chinese, Tamal or Malay backgrounds, to remain strong in their faith and to resist increasing intimidation. Leaving Islam has severe consequences from society and government and in law.
YES - I will Pray

Malaysia​

Pray for tolerance to be shown by the public, some of whom have been urged on by radical groups, throwing petrol bombs at a number of large supermarket chains, creating tension and anxiety among the majority of the population and fear among the minority Christians.
YES - I will Pray

Malaysia​

Pray for wisdom and discernment among the population, particularly Christian voters, as some radical groups attempt to sow disunity within the country, calling for bans and prohibitions. They claim these are in line with Islamic teaching.
YES - I will Pray

Malaysia​

Pray for fairness and acceptance to be maintained within society, especially in light of the recent attempt by a halal chain of bakeries to ban the writing of ‘Merry Christmas’ on their products.
YES - I will Pray

Malaysia​

Pray for the believers, particularly from Malay backgrounds, who are experiencing an increase in intolerance towards them.
YES - I will Pray

Malaysia​

Pray for the Government of Malaysia as it attempts sensitively to handle the growing political pressure from local radical groups.
YES - I will Pray

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