What do you do about it?

[Karl Peters]

The Lord came into my life over 20 years ago, and politically I am usually very apathetic. Now the Lord has generally taken the attitude that I need to follow Him. Indeed, when it has come to voting, He often has told me to just vote for Him. Yet not always. I remember when He made me go and vote for Bush, as if it would make a difference. I live in California and Bush was never going to get anything from my vote. It was Florida that made the difference then. Still, what I do, or try to do, is what the Lord tells me to do. I think even then, the point that He was making was that He could control things when He needs to or has a plan.

Over the years since then, He has pointed out a couple of important things to me. One is found in this verse:

1 Sam 12:14 “If you will fear the LORD and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God.

The above is extremely important!! The point is that if we listen to the Lord and do what He asks of us, then He will make sure that our leader (King or President) will also listen to Him. Of course the opposite is also true:

1 Sam 12:15 “If you will not listen to the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the command of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers.

So it is that we get a vote - but that vote is casts with our ears!!

Are we - as both individuals and as a nation - going to turn to the Lord and listen to Him or not?????

Now though I have been rather apathetic, concerning politics, over the years He was telling me that a day would come when that would change, and I remember the day it came.

It was a very specific day like many others, when I was walking and talking with Him. He told me, "Karl, I don't want you to go and protest."

I instantly wondered about that statement of His. I never did that kind of thing. This was when covid was starting to shut things down in places, and I had heard of a protest in Huntington Beach over the beaches being closed to surfers, and I used to be a surfer and lived in Huntington Beach. So I found that interesting, because knowing about surfing I knew that could hardly be a place covid would be transmitted. Surfers don't want to be next to other surfers while surfing, and expect for the pier, Huntington is miles of long sand beaches. And with the salty mist in the air and the natural distance between surfers, you didn't need to command them to keep their distance and it would have been a hostile environment to most germs or virus, I would think. Anyway, I wasn't going to join that anyway.

Still, that was the first protest right before all the BLM protests started. So though I would not have gone to them either, I still had a very personal commandment from the Lord to not go to them even if I had considered it, simply because I listen to the Lord and walk and talk with Him.

So what was He telling others?? Did they even listen to Him???

He could have told them to all protest and told me different. I am not pretending to be Him, but I doubt it. He is wise, and in fact Wisdom is a name in the Bible for His Holy Spirit through whom He talks to us. And were those protests, especially at a time when we were also telling people to keep their distant the wise thing to do? It seems more like they were the rebellious thing to do, especially at that time. And in California, we didn't have a problem with closing down churches then, but we did have a problem closing down protests. Which is to say we could throw away the constitutional right to gather for religion, but it was ok to gather to protest at the same time.

Face it, as a nation we are not listening to the Lord, so things are not going good for us!!!

So what do we need to do to correct that situation? Is it more protests, more making loud complaints about what is happening - or is it each of us turning back to the Lord Jesus Christ and listening to Him???

I'm not blind and I can hear from Him - and I know what He tells me. He tells me things like, "Karl all these things have to happen!"

'So why do they have to happen', I ask of Him - And of course the reason they have to happen is that we His people do not listen to Him!! That has always been the reason they have to happen.

Ps 78:34 When He killed them, then they sought Him,
And returned and searched diligently for God;

WE don't think to seek the Lord when things are good, we seek the Lord when things turn bad - so things have to turn bad - but how bad are we going to let it get before we His people, (Christians) actually turn back to listening to Him?

So it really is about voting with our ears!!!

 

[Pearl]

I believe my intellect is God given and as such I can choose who I vote for. If all Christians pray about their choice of candidate there are certainly some diverse replies as we all vote for a different people and parties.

 

[Karl Peters]

I believe my intellect is God given and as such I can choose who I vote for. If all Christians pray about their choice of candidate there are certainly some diverse replies as we all vote for a different people and parties.

Your are right!!

Your intellect is God given, and your life as it exists now, is God given and you can choose who to vote for.

Of course if a person was really smart they would vote for God to rule of them, because He loves them like no other, so He made them, and He even made them to be able to talk back and forth with Him...

That doesn't mean a person has to be smart. They could instead of talking to God and getting advice from Him, talk to other people and even spirits, who are not God nor listen to God themselves, like themselves, and think that is the smart thing to do!

He put before you good and evil, right and wrong, and He gave you a choice. So that who so ever believes in Him shall not perish, but there is something written about a remnant, right? And also something written how we being evil.


I understand though. I listen to Him but I don't always want to do what He says. Because I listen to Him I understand that He is there to be inquired from, still I only talk to Him about a dozen different times a day. Of course when I do talk to Him and listen to Him it usually doesn't take long, usually on moments, before I realize that He is soooooo much smarter than me - still I only talk back and forth with Him a dozen times a day, and I have been doing that for over 20 years now. So I confess, I too like to do what I like to do - even though I know it is not the smart thing to do. Of course I also fear Him and respect Him because He is so much smarter, and more powerful, than I am and I don't think too smart either.

Therefore I vote for Him in my life, and thus pray the Lord's prayer daily with "Thy Kingdom come so that they will be done", yet after that I spend more of the day doing what I want than listening to Him. So I get it. You want to do what you want to do, just like me!

But how much of that is do to your failure to believe He is there, and how much of that is due to you pride and personal desires to be your own god?

I mean, I believe He is there so I talk to Him, but I also have my pride and personal desire to be my own god also. But those things don't do together all that well. So when I am smart and can honestly consider my life, I vote for Him again, and listen to Him again. And since my vote at the ballot box seems to me important for all and I readily admit that I don't really know that much about those I vote for then, I tend to talk to my Lord about that thus making Him the one I truly vote for, right?

 

[Behold]

I believe my intellect is God given and as such I can choose who I vote for. If all Christians pray about their choice of candidate there are certainly some diverse replies as we all vote for a different people and parties.

Yes.
We have to consider..

One of the ways we can do this... is to look at what a candidate is devoted to doing to your country., Reader.
What is their agenda?
So, to vote for the candidate who is going to take the country away from socialism, marxism, 3rd world-ism, globalism,..continually.broken borders, and the advancement of culture clash....and NT Immorality...

Find that one who truly understands that direction is where you want the Country to end up., and vote for them.

its pretty obvious who does not agree with any of those principles.., so, dont vote for that one, reader.

Its been a few years now in the USA, since there were a lot of people who voted against Mitt Romney, because He's a Mormon.
So, that is a vote for OBAMA who is a Christ Hating, Hamas loving, Gay Right's activist, Marxist.
And look at what he released into the USA.
His policies have nearly destroyed it, and if this next election does not push back against Biden and His Christ denyig Marxist VP, and that same Obama agenda, then the USA is finished.
The time is short for them to recover, and their next Presidential election is their last sand in the Hour Glass.

 

[Karl Peters]

When I come to this Christian forum, much like when I go to church, I come in contact with Christians, but most of the time they don't really seem like me. - Which is to say they don't really seem to actually spend much time, even less than me, actually talking to the Lord our God Jesus Christ.

To me that is amazing, because I don't think I spend any where near enough time talking to Him, but even with those dozen or so times a day He has made my life really strange and sometimes incredible. Yet even all that seems to come from listening to Him by faith. I will listen, He will tell me something, and weird things happen. I have been taken out of my body so that I was looking at the part in my hair from above, I have been kissed my a greenish ghostly cloud that turned into the face of a lady before kissing me on the forehead. I have had it rain, more like a drizzle, on me three times when it was hot and there were no clouds in the sky. I have seen Him do hundreds, possibly over a thousand, miracles around me, including legs growing out, a heart being healed so that heart surgery was not needed the next day, my sons foot heal in an instant, my daughters' swelling in her knee going down under my hands while praying for her, and five years working in a Christian healing ministry where those type of things happened ever week when we did that ministry. He even healed my knee I hurt surfing and aggravated by refereeing soccer games, and also a grow behind my ears in a few seconds when I put my own hand on it and prayed. And those a just a few brief highlights. The littler things are more regular and often every bit as amazing. Still, above all those things I enjoy actually talking and walking with Him. He has the most interesting things to say, like "Understanding is understanding that I Am Understanding, understand."

So people, if you really want understanding about current events, spend a few moments and listen to Him, about a dozen times a day. Of course, what you will find is Him, because He is Understanding, and you are not! So what you ultimately come to figure out is like you read in Ecclesiastes.

That is to say that your talking to Him doesn't actually mean you can think like Him, it means you can hear from Him!!

Understanding that is real understanding! So then what to do?

When it comes time to vote at the ballot box I listen to Him! If He tells me to vote and for whom I do. If I don't want to listen to Him - then ok I don't want to listen to Him and instead a use the understanding and wisdom of some foolish person 'me' who didn't listen to Him. Of course He promised, as can be read in the Bible, that if we as a people do listen to Him and so what He says, then our leader, leaders, will be like that too. If only I listen to Him, then He fulfills that by making Jesus Christ my leader personally. But if we all listened to Him, even just on voting, it would change things, because wouldn't our leaders then listen to Him when voting for our laws like us, since they come from among our midst?

Yet on his forum, as seen in posts on this thread, most Christians don't actually make it about listening to Him most of the time. Not even me, but I do usually talk to Him before voting, just because I think I should at least vote wisely.

 

[Karl Peters]

Yes.
We have to consider..

One of the ways we can do this... is to look at what a candidate is devoted to doing to your country., Reader.
What is their agenda?
So, to vote for the candidate who is going to take the country away from socialism, marxism, 3rd world-ism, globalism,..continually.broken borders, and the advancement of culture clash....and NT Immorality...

Find that one who truly understands that direction is where you want the Country to end up., and vote for them.

its pretty obvious who does not agree with any of those principles.., so, dont vote for that one, reader.

Its been a few years now in the USA, since there were a lot of people who voted against Mitt Romney, because He's a Mormon.
So, that is a vote for OBABA who is a Christ Hating, Hamas loving, Gay Right's activist, Marxist.
And look at what he released into the USA.
His policies have nearly destroyed it, and if this next election does not push back against Biden, and that same Obama agenda, then the USA is finished.
The time is short for them to recover, and their next Presidential election is their last sand in the Hour Glass.

Yeah, we can "look at what a candidate is devoted to doing" or at least what they say they are doing.

Or perhaps we could actually talk to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith and listen to Him?

What do you think? If He does exits, wouldn't that be a smarter thing to do?

 

[Scott Downey]

Yeah, we can "look at what a candidate is devoted to doing" or at least what they say they are doing.

Or perhaps we could actually talk to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith and listen to Him?

What do you think? If He does exits, wouldn't that be a smarter thing to do?

Men of faith have prayed and taken action for all of history of Christianity.
Notice this

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.


Hebrews 11
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two,[a] they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

 

[Behold]

Or perhaps we could actually talk to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith and listen to Him?

What do you think? If He does exits, wouldn't that be a smarter thing to do

That sounds very spiritual, and i appreciate that you put a lot of time into that activity.

So, God gives us eyes and ears, to hear, what a candidate says.
He gives us the ability to research what they have done..

Remember ...... = you shall know them by their DEEDS, as 'talk is just talk".

So, when we are considering casting a vote, we are to look at not just the rheteric, but, the past history of the candidate.
And never is this more revealed then when a former president or a sitting president is examined, as they have proven what they are going to do...next........ already.

 

[Behold]

When I come to this Christian forum, much like when I go to church, I come in contact with Christians, but most of the time they don't really seem like me. -
Which is to say they don't really seem to actually spend much time, even less than me, actually talking to the Lord our God Jesus Christ.

@Karl Peters, As you can't see what any "Christian" here does in their real life, .. and yet you judge them without knowing....
That is very foolish.

 

[Pearl]

I pray about who to vote for and I know others who do the same and yet we vote for different people.

 

[Karl Peters]

Men of faith have prayed and taken action for all of history of Christianity.
Notice this

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.


Hebrews 11
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two,[a] they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Lots of great verses - do we understand what they mean?

For example - do they mean that those people just said God existed so they could do what they felt like it, or did it mean that they heard from the Lord and believed what He said so they took action accordingly??

So do we do our actions, our work, because we talk to Him and hear from Him, or because we say we believe and then just do what we want??

It is one thing to quote a verse and another to understand the sayings! What kind of "faith" do we have?

Is it a faith the means we seek Him or a faith that means we just do whatever we think is right?

James 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

James 1:18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.

James 2:23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God.

And where did that belief of Abraham come from? Was it not from hearing the word of the Lord talking to him?

Gen 15: 5,6 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Yes indeed, the hearing came before the faith!!

Rom 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

So we have all these great verses - but how to we know what they mean?

Prov 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Oh it comes from His mouth!!

So do we still argue with Wisdom by saying I will lean on my own understanding of who to vote for! And I will lean on my own understanding of the verses!

What are we doing, even with the Bible, that we don't seek Him when we read it and don't seek Him before we vote?

Don't we see the problem - and is it not that we don't actually listen to Him?

Prov 3: 5-7 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

I love the verses because they all support listening to the Lord, even though we don't!

 

[Scott Downey]

Lots of great verses - do we understand what they mean?

For example - do they mean that those people just said God existed so they could do what they felt like it, or did it mean that they heard from the Lord and believed what He said so they took action accordingly??

So do we do our actions, our work, because we talk to Him and hear from Him, or because we say we believe and then just do what we want??

It is one thing to quote a verse and another to understand the sayings! What kind of "faith" do we have?

Is it a faith the means we seek Him or a faith that means we just do whatever we think is right?

James 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

James 1:18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.

James 2:23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God.

And where did that belief of Abraham come from? Was it not from hearing the word of the Lord talking to him?

Gen 15: 5,6 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Yes indeed, the hearing came before the faith!!

Rom 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

So we have all these great verses - but how to we know what they mean?

Prov 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Oh it comes from His mouth!!

So do we still argue with Wisdom by saying I will lean on my own understanding of who to vote for! And I will lean on my own understanding of the verses!

What are we doing, even with the Bible, that we don't seek Him when we read it and don't seek Him before we vote?

Don't we see the problem - and is it not that we don't actually listen to Him?

Prov 3: 5-7 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

I love the verses because they all support listening to the Lord, even though we don't!

I think both happened in their various lives. Some God spoke directly to and told them what to do. Others, they asked God and God showed them. Still others prayed and acted on what they felt was right, as in it seems good to them to do the works, God having blessed them.
Some examples here
Judges 9
22 Joshua summoned them, and he said to them, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are very far from you’, when you dwell among us? 23 Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall never be anything but servants, cutters of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.” 24 They answered Joshua, “Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you—so we feared greatly for our lives because of you and did this thing. 25 And now, behold, we are in your hand. Whatever seems good and right in your sight to do to us, do it.” 26 So he did this to them and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel, and they did not kill them. 27 But Joshua made them that day cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, to this day, in the place that he should choose.

Acts 15
23 They wrote this letter by them:

The apostles, the elders, and the brethren,
To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, [h]saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”—to whom we gave no such commandment— 25 it seemed good to us, being assembled with one [i]accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual[j] immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.

 

[Karl Peters]

I pray about who to vote for and I know others who do the same and yet we vote for different people.

Pray???

What does that mean to you??

Do you listen to Him??

Do they listen to Him??

Well- I don't know about them, but when I seek Him I find Him and hear from Him. Prayer is a two way conversation with the Lord our God, right?

Yet I have talked to many many many Christians who say they pray but don't say they heard! And do they test the spirits?

Do they even know how to test the spirits - it means listening for a response with your spiritual ears, right?

1 Jn 4: 1-3 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

Now, I know the verse above and use it, but not always! I find it interesting when I ask the spirit I hear from to confess Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, and the spirit tells me, "I can't tell you that." Of course, more often they quickly take off, don't they. I sometimes ask the Lord to bind them up when that happens, and I hear things after that. Sometimes I ask that they be taken captive to Jesus Christ - and different things, even like a sword swishing in the spirit. So sometimes I just forgive the interruption - but can I really talk to you honestly about what we hear - and how we react to it?

It seems hard enough for me just to tell other Christians that we need to seek the Lord Jesus Christ and listen to Him, so it is that most can not even enter into an honest conversation about actually hearing with their spiritual ears, or seeing with their spiritual eyes, or smelling with that spiritual sense. It is like few, very few of us Christians even practice using our spiritual senses!

Heb 5:13,14 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.
But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

Anyway - it does not surprise me if and when "I pray about who to vote for and I know others who do the same and yet we vote for different people." I don't think their praying means the same thing it means to me?

 

[Pearl]

Pray???

What does that mean to you??

Do you listen to Him??

Do they listen to Him??

I ask God to show me who is the best person to serve my area; either in Parliament or local government. I listen but can't say I ever had a reply. So I use my God-given intellect to make the choice. Our system is very different from yours.

 

[Karl Peters]

I ask God to show me who is the best person to serve my area; either in Parliament or local government. I listen but can't say I ever had a reply. So I use my God-given intellect to make the choice. Our system is very different from yours.

Ok - I understand that it is not always so easy to hear what the Lord has to tell us. I have found that there are a number of reasons for su not hearing - of which one is never that He is not there or willing to talk to us!!!!

So what are the reason that I have figured out from 20 plus years of hearing from Him about a dozen times a day.

One reason is faith - or should I say lesser or greater faith. The fact is that it is easier to hear Him for some things than it is for other things. When I spent 5 years working in a Christian healing ministry like He asked, I ran across this all the times - both concerning me hearing from Him and also others hearing from Him. That is to say - that when people came in with a huge problem I found it more difficult to hear from Him on how to proceed than when they came in with a simple problem. Of course the Lord's knows that also, so He often would guide me into simpler things first and progress the instructions until I could hear Him for how to proceed with the bigger issue.

The same is true for the people coming in, and more so because most coming in did not practice hearing from Him as much as my poor dozen times a day. Some had never ever heard His voice before. Of course He knew that too, so He again would often choose to proceed with the easier things and progress. With the people coming in we often started by having them ask the Lord if there was anyone they needed to forgive and then listen to Him. Almost always there is someone we need to forgive and especially if we didn't start the day with the Lord's prayer and then forgiving anyone we need to forgive because we just prayed for Him to forgive us as we forgive them. That prayer should have lead us all to forgive anyone we need to forgive everyday, but do we even use that to start our day? So He often asked us to start by having the people to ask Him if they needed to forgive someone - but not always. Having them ask the Lord how He feels about them is another easy thing to believe to be able to hear an answer for.

So as I pointed out with a verse in prior post, the more you practice the better you get at hearing Him. And don't just figure other Christians are practicing hearing from Him. They probably are not. I knew a pastor of a church that had been the pastor for years and hadn't heard the small voice of the Lord for 13 years, he once told me. And I meet another pastor in town, who again was the head pastor of that church he ran and said he had only heard the voice of the Lord three times in His life. I can't even understand how either of them can even run a Christian church and preach every Sunday when they almost never hear from Him!!

That is not true of everyone though!! I have meet Christians that I am almost embarrassed being around because I don't hear Him better! My hearing the Lord a dozen times a day must seem pretty sad to them. And I tended to find those Christians around the miracles that God does. Again, I worked in a Christian healing ministry for five years, but don't think that I lead that ministry or that I was the best person to get if you came to it. I mean I saw God do a lot of incredible things there, but some of those Christians saw a lot more, and working with them is simply humbling. One night one leader of a group had seven people to pray for and he saw seven miracles.

The point is that the more you seek the Lord and listen to Him the better you get at hearing Him and the more incredible things you can believe for and see!!

Now there are other reasons for hearing Him or not. One of course can be His will. The first time I heard Him His voice came across extremely loud, and it felt like I got hit in the side of the head. The thing was that it took a lot just to get through to me, period!! He is still God and can do that if He needs to, but it appears He prefers if we seek Him and believe we can hear Him. Therefore, He usually puts quick impressions on us that if we practice picking up will come across as words to us (eg that small voice) So again I suggest; practice. practice. practice, seeking Him and hearing Him and it becomes easier and easier. Of course don't be surprised if He stretches your faith by becoming a bit quieter or by requiring you seek Him a bit harder. He is all for developing us and that includes our believing we can hear Him better too.

Attacks of the enemy are another reason we often have trouble hearing from Him. Of course the devil can not do anything that God does not let Him do, (See the book of Job and how Satan could only do to Job what the Lord let Him do) So the Lord has a reason for letting the devil be around, at least for now, and we have to deal with the battle we have with the dark forces. So when we are thinking about how to vote for, isn't the devil going to try and convince us to vote for the wrong politician? Who is the media listening to? And then we listen to them instead of seeking the Lord???

Still there are a few things to know about discernment of spirits. You can test them (1 Jn 4:1-3 or 1 Cor 12:3), you can seek the Lord and find Him (Deut 4:29) you can take all thoughts captive to Jesus Christ and listen (2 Cor 10:5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ), and that the first words of that snake were "Did God really say..."

It is important to understand that "Did God really say' is the first way the devils try to get you. Remember that Jesus explained that if you asked for something good the Father was not going to give you something bad - so when we seek the Lord we find Him and hear from Him, but almost the first thing we get after hearing from the Lord our God is another voice trying to cause us to doubt that we heard from Him!!

Again, the more we seek the Lord Jesus Christ and practice listening to Him, the more we believe and understand!!

Again, I usually talk to Him, back and forth in a conversation, about a dozen times a day, which is not that much considering He is always with me. But if you practiced playing the piano, even a little, a dozen times a day you'd probably get ok at playing the piano, right? At least good enough to play some simple tunes, like 'who to vote for' right? Of course doing that would mean that first and foremost you would vote for Him and want Him to lead you. Still, there is a ballot box sometimes, and if He leads you, He can tell you who to vote for, or maybe not even have you vote?

He, being God, may not even need you to vote and He will still get the plan of God to come to pass. So it is not even whether you vote or not but is always about whether you listen to Him and obey or not. The choice is ours!

 

[Pearl]

Ok - I understand that it is not always so easy to hear what the Lord has to tell us. I have found that there are a number of reasons for su not hearing - of which one is never that He is not there or willing to talk to us!!!!

So what are the reason that I have figured out from 20 plus years of hearing from Him about a dozen times a day.

I hear from Him regularly - always have - but not about who I should vote for.

 

[Karl Peters]

There is another thing I want to write - When I tell people about listening to Him; sometime people jump to the wrong conclusions about what He is going to say!! That conclusion is not from Him!! That is speculation!!

2 Cor 10:5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

The devil will use "speculation" as to what God is going to say to try and keep us from actually seeking the Lord for what He has to say!!

Now I can tell you one thing about what He is going to tell you, and that is that His thoughts are not your thoughts, and His ways are not your ways!!!! You don't have to speculate about that, that is written!!

Is 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.

So does that mean that if you are thinking He will tell you one thing that it will be the opposite?

No - it is probably going to be something you had not thought one way or the other about!!

So a person might think to themselves: "I want to vote Republican" then fear that if the ask the Lord He will tell them to vote "Democrat." - which is why I previously mentioned that He might tell you to not vote. Of maybe He tells you to not only vote but to get involved.? You just don't know, and don't try and sound smart by saying something like "He is always going to match up with the Bible". He is not going to conflict with the Bible, but your understanding of the Bible might conflict with His, and certainly will because of Is 55:8!!

Now because His thoughts don't conflict with the Bible I don't find it surprising that He generally speaking tend to come across like conservatives, because generally conservatives tend to be the ones calling themselves Christians - but not always!!!!!

Do we not understand in the Bible that God is about forgiveness, but what party was against the forgiveness of student debt?? He talked to me about that one morning on a walk. It wasn't that we needed to forgive student debt, but as He was saying to me, "Karl, when are they going to forgive?" I am just saying that from listening to Him, it didn't sound like He was too happy with those strongly against the forgiving of student debt without talking to Him first on the issue! I can also tell you that people not getting alone is not something He likes, even if He does understand it! There is a reason people are going to hell and that reason is that they don't actually believe He is there - even to the point that they don't ever seek Him and listen to Him!

His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways not our ways, - but as high as the heaven are above us so are His ways and thoughts above ours!! So He thinks better than we do, right?

 

[Karl Peters]

I hear from Him regularly - always have - but not about who I should vote for.

Did you ask Him and intend to listen to Him regardless?

Anyway, to me who to vote for is an obvious thing to ask Him, and expect to get an answer on. Not that it always is though. When I first came to know Him I did not vote. It just didn't seem worth my time. Then He told me to vote for Bush, and made me go. Indeed, I was heading home from work and He clearly started telling me to go and vote for Bush. He told me He didn't care what else, but I had to vote for Bush. When I pressed the issue about not knowing what else was to be voted for, He told me to go home, get the information they sent me, and He had me go and vote then. He also took a few moments to show me what other things and people He wanted me to vote for before He had me go and vote then. So if I hadn't pressed the issued it would have taken me less time, but since I did I got more information from Him.

Yet when Obama ran He told me not to worry about it. That is when He told me to just vote for Him. My vote was not going to make a difference in either of those elections, but my voting changed my interests in general. That seemed to be the whole purpose!! The first time got me thinking about world issues, the second got me thinking about Him over world issues. So what He really is up to is changing us. He can take care of the big things, maybe even easier than getting us to listen to Him!

 

[Karl Peters]

There is another thing to consider also. If usually our vote is not the difference maker, then could He, be God, ask one person to vote one way and another person to vote the other, simply because He is considering different places spiritually speaking those people are at?

I mean it could be that one person needs to focus on more liberal views, where as the other person needs to focus on more conservative views, so that He may have a personal reason for the two different people voting differently since neither vote would make the difference as to who is in office - but might adjust the thinking of the voter themselves?

Now that is speculation, so I don't need to go into it, but from talking to Him I have clearly seen that He is a personal God - meaning He is going to do what is best for us personally. So if we talk to Him, He will talk to us in a way that is meant to help us, even if it looks like He is getting us to help others - because that is often what is best for us - to help others.

 

[Pearl]

Did you ask Him and intend to listen to Him regardless?

Of course. I ask him thing all the time and hear answers but not to the question of who to vote for. Both in the general election for members of Parliament and in the locals for members of the town council there is usually a long list of candidates standing to represent our local area - or ward. We choose the person who will best represent us not the party. In the case of Parliamentary seats it is the leader of the party with the most elected members who becomes our Prime Minister. The last PM who came to power this way was Boris Johnson. Since his resignation Liz Truss was voted in by party members and on her resignation our current pm Rishi Sunak was voted in by party members. So the public had no say in that choice. I believe there will be a General election next year - probably spring - and that will be very interesting as Sunak is weak and unpopular.