Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Dear Friends on Facebook,

(I refuse to call this an "open letter" to so-and-so, even though it very well may be.)

Let me start with telling you that I love you all, or you wouldn't be my friend on Facebook.  I love being able to pray for you, and I love being able to connect with you in the great world of social media.  I love looking at your pictures, too, so please...keep on posting them!  I even love looking at your vacation pictures...I used to get kind of jealous when I saw all those, but not anymore.  I really do enjoy looking at them.

I pray that in us being friends on Facebook and in real life that you always see Jesus in me.  My number one goal in life is to point others to Him.  I don't have a perfect family, a perfect record with homeschooling, or a perfect home and extended family.  But I have Jesus, and He makes everything better.  He is my light in the darkness, He is my strong tower, my shield, my Redeemer, my Rock and fortress, my hope and blessed assurance.

I pray that you always see Him in me.  I pray that you hold me accountable to always pointing others to Him.  If you see something that I post that isn't like that, please prayerfully consider telling me (only in a nice way, though, please).  My skin is thin and I cry really easily if people aren't nice to me.  I pray that I am always nice to you.  I know sometimes I tend to be gossip-y (talkin' to the friends I spend quality time with), and for that I am sorry.  I pray that God takes those tendencies away from me, because I know that is not honoring to Him.  I constantly work on this~and I am a definite work in progress.

But now...the point to this post.

I know that the world around us sucks right now.  We are flat out living in the last days, and guess what?  Things are going to get worse.  We are literally, as a nation, going to hell in a hand-basket.  (Tell me I'm not the only one who's heard that phrase before!)  I believe that things are not going to get much better.  If I had the choice of stopping this, I would love to, but I'm afraid I don't have that ability.  Or that choice.  Things are out of our hands at this point, in the times we are living in today and in the leaders the majority of our nation picked.

Things might get more bearable for a little while, but ultimately, in order for us to get to the grand finale of this life, the world as we know it is going to have to come to an end.  Jesus will come back for us and He will win the battle.  (Need proof?  Read Revelation.)  I'm no theologian, but I don't think He's going to come back when everything is peachy keen.  Wars will be going on, all kinds of things will be happening when He makes His glorious reappearance.

I know we all have different political opinions, and thank the good Lord for that!  How boring would life be if we all agreed on everything one hundred percent of the time?!  It actually sounds kinda nice...but it would get boring.  I believe that's a freedom that we have~the right to express our opinion.

And I'm not asking you to stop that...not directly, anyway.  I guess what I'm trying to say is this: how about, if before you hit that "post" button to share yet another something or other blasting our President, or making sure that I and my kids know how freaky things are right now, that instead of pushing that "post" button, you would stop and consider what else you might do in its place.  For instance, instead of going off on yet another political tangent, you stopped to pray for the man?  (In the words of my beloved Bible Fellowship Class teacher, Eric, "Have you gotten your toes stepped on yet?  Keep listening...it's coming.")

I need to stop right at this moment and confess to you: I do not do this enough.  I do pray for our nation and her leaders when I think of it, but that is not every single day.  Shame on me!  I should have verses posted on my fridge as a reminder, but I haven't really thought of doing that.  I will do that sometime, though, before the weekend comes.  And I give you my word, I will pray for our President and other leaders more.  Hold me accountable!!!

Speaking of the Bible, it tells us to pray for our leaders.

"I urge you, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people-for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness."  1 Timothy 2:1~2

If you need more verses proving that we should be praying, click here.  There's a whole page worth of verses.

Have your opinions, think what you may, but instead of complaining, would you maybe consider praying instead?  It's far more effective.  I believe that the things we post on Facebook about our political preferences are useless~nobody of enough importance sees them, and it's not going to make a difference on how things are at this present time and how much our government needs our help.  ;)  (That was a funny, feel free to laugh.)

Please, please, please know that I write this in love.  But I also write this as a woman of God who tends to get freaked out and fearful about what's going on around us.  I do have faith in my precious Lord and Savior, but I also get scared, y'all.  I don't want to think about how bad things may get.  I don't want to dwell on it.  I know that things will get worse eventually, but I'd rather not read about it on the page of a TON of my Facebook friends' pages.

And yes, I could keep scrolling, but seriously, I might as well not ever get on the blasted sight.  Or I would have to un-friend or hide a lot of people.  And I could do that.  And I might still, if things don't change.  But I love the lighthearted part of Facebook, the fun part.  The pictures, the funny statuses, the beautiful Bible verses my friends share, the prayer requests my friends ask us to pray for...but this morning, most of that wasn't there.  Almost every single friend of mine or a page that I "like" had something to say about our President.

I'm not saying anything negative about the man, y'all.  I would never in a trillion years want his job.  I think that right now, even HE may not want his own job.  He is a man and he is imperfect.  And that is all the reason we need to pray.  I am not wanting to start any political debates, and if that happens in the comment section, all such nonsense will be deleted.  (Especially if it's hateful.  We can say what we need to say without being a hater.)  All I'm asking of you~is to pray.  For our nation, our President, all of the House, the Senate, the head officials of our state.

That is all.  Well, almost.  I'm going to leave you with a song from Chris Tomlin called, Crown Him.  Read some of these lyrics, then listen to the song.  Or read them while you listen...but I urge you not to skip this part.

Crown Him (Majesty) by Chris Tomlin
with Kari Jobe

Crown Him with many crowns
 the Lamb upon His throne.
Hark!  How the heavenly anthem drowns
All music but its own;
Awake my soul and sing!
Of Him Who died for me,
and hail Him as thy matchless King
through all eternity!

Majesty!  Lord of all!  
Let every throne
before Him fall!
The King of kings,
O come adore! 
Our God Who reigns forevermore!

Crown Him Lord of life
Who triumphed o'er the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife
for those He came to save!
His glories now we sing!
Who died and rose on high!
Who died eternal life to bring
and lives that death may die.

Majesty!  Lord of all!
Let every throne before Him fall!
The King of kings
O come adore!
Our God Who reigns forevermore!

Forevermore!

All hail, Redeemer, hail!
For He has died for me!
His praise and glory shall not fail
throughout eternity!

All hail, Redeemer, hail!
For He has died for me!
His praise and glory shall not fail
throughout eternity!

Majesty!  Lord of all!
Let every throne before Him fall!
The King of kings
O come adore!
Our God who reigns forever!

Majesty!  Lord of all!
Let every throne before Him fall!
The King of kings
O come adore!
Our God, who reigns forevermore!
Praise God, who reigns forevermore!
You're the God who reigns forevermore!

And now, for the video:


Thanks for reading.  You may not ever want to again after the content and length of this.  Love to all.


2 comments:

Rene' said...

Very well said Jen!!

Jennifer Goodwin said...

Thank you, sweet friend of mine. :)

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