Oaths of Office

The Preamble Of the Constitution of the United States

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/

The Preamble of the Constitution of the State of Michigan

We, the people of the State of Michigan, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom, and earnestly desiring to secure these blessings undiminished to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution.

https://legislature.mi.gov

Both have significant Articles and Amendments detailing the responsibilities and obligations of those who are elected to office as it pertains to orderly progress of government. What is the most significant in both documents is the beginning phrase, “We The People” who determine who governs us. We, the residents of any state and citizens of the United States, have the final say over who governs and how they govern, however; most of us do not bother to know what role we play in how government works, but we are quick to complain when elected officials don’t do what we want them to do. The remedy for this chaotic mess is really remarkably simple—know who it is we vote into office—know where they stand, what they believe what their values are and how those things align with what we believe and how all should be treated.

Now, how many of us actually get to know the candidates before we vote for them? How many of us vote for someone simply because we recognize their name? How many of us actually pay attention to what people do once they get in office? How many of us contact our elected officials and let them know what we think of their performance? We are paying them with tax dollars, so we have a right to know and demand they pay attention to us—their constituents. If they do not or will not, they should never be re-elected, no matter how much money they spend campaigning.

Okay, that is the first thing of note, about why people should keep their oath of office, they were not elected to represent themselves, but the people who elected them.

So, what does an “oath” really mean? According to Merriam-Webster, “a solemn usually formal calling upon God or a god to witness to the truth of what one says or to witness that one sincerely intends to do what one says.” It is a pledge or promise to do something.

An “oath of office” is therefore a pledge or promise to uphold the solemnity of the position and to do the best one can to fulfill the requirements of that office. This oath of office is different for the various “offices” one can hold.

The President of the United States takes an oath of office, all Senators and Representatives take an oath of office, all state and local elected officials, and appointed ones, take an oath of office, but how many really understand what it means, and will do what it is intended to do—abide by the pledges they take?

It is difficult, if not impossible to uphold a pledge or keep a promise if a person has no clue as to what they were saying or the ramifications of making that attestation when sworn into office. Considering the mess, we have in Washington with Senators and Representatives condoning seditious acts—we know they had no clue, and their constituents should hold them accountable and make sure they are never elected again. Unfortunately, most voters will not pay attention, or they will believe the lies they’re told and keep putting traitors into offices of trust—to the United States—not a person.

Promising or pledging to fulfill a performance “to the best of one’s ability,” should require a commitment to know what is expected and then do it. That means, a person should know about the position to which they were elected, know where and how to find information that needs discussion before they vote on it, and keep in mind, their vote should represent what is best for those who voted for them, not their own personal agenda.

Therein lies the real problem, gullible voters who put people into office who have no intention whatsoever of serving the needs of the people, but in serving their own—for their own glorification. The perfect examples are found looking at what elected Senators and Representatives are doing in Washington, who fooled the people (unless the people who voted for them are actually missing brain cells) who voted for them and now, by their actions, their votes and collective loyalty to a TwiceImpeached megalomaniac, they totally ignore the needs of the people to appease the megalomaniac. They are not upholding their oaths of office and unfortunately, most of their constituents appear not to care.

We see the same disregard to upholding oaths of office at state and local levels when people don’t know what they’re doing, and they’ve managed to gaslight constituents into believing they care or everyone else is against them (playing the victim or race card). We see people vote on issues that do nothing to protect or uplift the constituents, but do everything to keep people oppressed and now, in certain states, elected officials are actually voting to “suppress the vote of their electorate.” What are, “we the people” doing to allow such a thing to happen? Apparently, nothing, which is why those in office are doing what they do because they know, they can get away with it when their electorate is complacent and will not pay attention.

“We The People” (all the people) must do better. We must know and understand the oath elected officials take and hold their feet to the proverbial fire—challenging them every step of the way, when they choose to take a path that is not going to benefit the people more than it benefits them. It is time folks, for all those who are eligible to vote to vote and vote in every election, knowing who it is we are voting for and that they will uphold their oath of office for the people, and not themselves. It is in our hands and if we refuse to take control of the situation, whatever happens to this nation, our states, and local municipalities, is on us—not them. We have the power and it is time we exercised it, at every level of government.

We, The People, need to pledge our own oaths as the electorate.

“I pledge, as an eligible voter of my state and city, to exercise my right to vote in every election, for demonstrably qualified candidates who hold any office that impacts my life and living conditions. I also pledge to hold all elected officials accountable for what they do in office, whether I voted for them or not. I will not be silently complicit with any wrongdoing committed by any elected official and will therefore take every legal measure possible to ensure, that official, is never elected again.”

Rejoice–The Lord is Near!

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7 NIV)

I will rejoice, I will rejoice, I will rejoice!

Why will I be glad?  The Lord is near and His peace is guarding my heart and mind--I have no need to fear or be anxious about anything. I know when I place my concerns before Him, He will address each and everyone and respond to His child because He loves me and cares about everything concerning me!

If this is the attitude most people have in life–there would be fewer problems because we know that He is the solution to every problem. We don’t have to know the answer; we just have to know the One who has all the answers.

When we know Him–have a deeply personal relationship with Him and we know His Word–we can relax when trials and challenges rise to defeat us because we know–we have victory in Jesus! Hallelujah! Rejoice! The devil is a defeated foe! Jesus put him under our feet and now it’s our job to keep him there. Remind him of his place every time he raises his ugly head–trying to influence our thoughts, leading to destruction.

Rise up O Believers in the most High God and know that He will never leave us or forsake us. Shout with a loud voice the victory is already won!

We must speak The Word over every situation that attempts to deter or distract us from receiving God’s best! We have the power in the Holy Ghost to keep the enemy defeated, but we must know what we have in order to use it–wisely, never doubting what God has done.

When we pray, our faith must remain steadfast, even when it doesn’t “look” like God is responding. He knows our needs and our hearts desire whether we speak them or not, but He wants us to come to Him, boldly–placing our petitions before Him and expecting Him to act on our behalf.

We have a reason to rejoice in The Lord! We should be glad that He loved us enough to die for us, went into the depths of hell and fought the enemy on his turf and won, rising up from the grave with all power in His hands and then–giving that power to all who choose to believe that He is!

No matter what happens this day or the next, we need to complete this journey called life–knowing that we have a Risen Savior and through Him, we can do all things and with Him, nothing is impossible for us to achieve. We need to act like we Believe His Word on a daily basis and not just be mealy-mouthed people who say one thing, but do another.

I believe every Word of God–know and understand why He inspired men to write it–know and understand why I must love others as He loves me–know and understand why I must obey His Word and because I know and understand His purpose for my life, I can rest assured of my eternity with Him. Not that I am a perfect being, but He is a perfect God and He said, perfect love–loving unconditionally, drives out fear–so I have no need to fear what others may say or think of me.

I have victory in Jesus and I will rejoice in His love for me–and because I love Him, I will live for Him! Hallelujah! I’m declaring every promise fulfilled and completed in this life time, in Jesus’ name for every Believer who is willing to stand–never wavering, but always believing–in faith–right now and it is done!

Perseverance–The Factor That Fuels Success!

“You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” (Hebrews 10:36 NIV)

The difference between those who succeed at one level than those who barely succeed–doing anything–is the level of commitment to keep going, keep refining, keep fine-tuning, keep revising, and keep believing that success is theirs. We know that true success is not achieved by a level of intelligent, but by a level of determination that no matter what happens, the focus is forward, not backwards.

But can there be success without failures in the interim? No–it is the failures that drive true success. We have but to look at Thomas Edison, Stephen King, Benjamin Franklin and so many more. We tend to believe that the success enjoyed by some occurred overnight because we only focus on the final result–not the journey to get there. So, for those who are weary and feel like giving up, today is not the day.

When God gives us a vision it is because He knows our capabilities beyond our doubts.

When we have obeyed Him in all things to please Him, He promised to give us the desires of our hearts and we must remain focused on the prize in order to receive the promise.

When things don’t go the way we expected, we take a critical look at what happened, analyze the whys and gear up to keep going.

When we think we have reached the end of our rope and all hope is gone, we tie a knot before we get to the end of the rope, and hold on, expecting help because He said He’d never leave us alone.

Every ministry poured into us will succeed as long as we keep our eyes on Him, not people, always seeking His wisdom for direction and guidance.

Every dream we have will come to pass, if we just keep the dream in front of us and are willing to navigate every challenge that confronts us.

Every promise of God will be fulfilled, if we just listen to His still small voice and are willing to do things His way and not our own.

We were not told that we COULD do all things through Him who strengthens us just to fill words on a page.

We were not told that with God all things are possible because those who wrote the words just had a little time on their hands.

We were not told that no weapon formed against us would prosper for us to sit on our duffs, waiting for something to happen, without doing anything.

We were not told that with His going before us, He is more than the world against us for us hide behind shame and embarrassment with our first failure.

We serve an awesome God–One who created the universe from nothing and His arm is not shortened when it comes to the success of His children! Surely, goodness and mercy will follow us from each failed attempt to the promised success, by reminding us–we belong to Him and every good and perfect–those gifts He has poured into us–comes from above and all things–especially the failures–work together for our good!

In Him and through Him, we have what it takes to accomplish all things as long as we are determined to reach the goal and refuse to allow the failures to stop us at the starting gate. We are more than conquerors, victorious in all things, now let’s act like it and get it done–persevering through every obstacle to make it happen!

To See The Promises, We Must Meet The Conditions!

” I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.” (Psalm 91:2,9, 10 NIV)

Before God can make a move to fulfill His part of the promise, we must fulfill our part of the promise. When we don’t, He won’t. And we see the truth of this in a number of places in scripture. Even though the qualifier to receive, the “if” is always there, we must see the “if” and then get mad at God because we refuse to obey.

Remember what was told to Joshua? “If you keep my commandments, then whatever you put your hands to shall prosper and you’ll have good success.” (Joshua 1)

Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commands.” (John 14)

In the NIV translation, the word “if” appears 1640 times–and much of it to do with God’s promises to us.

A covenant–an agreement between two people–is a promise to do something and if both sides keep their word, then both sides will enjoy the conclusion of the matter. Within the covenant of God’s Word, He promises to do certain things if we keep our part of the agreement to keep His commands. His commands, as summarized by Jesus are very simple–love Him and love others. If we love Him, we will do nothing to oppose Him; if we love others, we will do nothing to harm them.

Have we kept our part of the covenant? If not, why are we so surprised at the constantly unfolding consequences in our lives? Instead of blaming God, as the naysayers who claim they don’t even believe in God, we should look to ourselves–under a microscope–and see if we are truly keeping the covenant.  Are we obeying God in all that we do or say?

From the looks of things–on a daily basis–as they are reported in the media, I would venture to say we have a long way to go to get into agreement with God before we can start to think we can receive the promises. We are out of agreement with God when we promote or encourage others to live in opposition to His Word. We are out of agreement with God when we waste our time debating His Word with those who have no relationship with Him. He never tells us to “debate” with others what He means. God said what He meant and He meant what He said. That is the totality of the matter.

In fact, He tell us through Paul not to engage in strife over The Word, debating genealogy (the ancestry of our Lord) with those who are simply looking for opportunity to stir up strife. When we are promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ–the good news about repentance, the Work on the Cross, and salvation, we are told if people won’t receive it–to shake the dust off our feet and keep it moving. I find this to particularly true of instigators in online forums. The naysayers will randomly select a person talking about Jesus and interact with a seemingly innocuous question to engage our attention. DON’T ENGAGE! They hope to get people rattled and then sit back and laugh at the confusion they start and they garner assistance from others who think the way they think.

Hmmm! Confusion stirred in the minds of Believers–doesn’t that sound like the devil at work since we know that God is not the author of confusion? If we are truly in Christ, we have the mind of Christ, and we have the discernment of Him who guides us and we can know when the enemy is at work.

The bottom line for us is this–if we are not seeing God’s promises fulfilled in our lives, we need to do a thorough investigation of self–to see where we may be falling short and we may discover–we are in agreement in all things and it is simply a matter of being in God’s timing to receive. Hallelujah! Let’s choose to dwell with Him and say, “He is my refuge.”

Divine Power Results!

“Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:4 NIV)

God’s Divine Power–within us through Holy Spirit–puts us in position to receive and benefit from His promises. What does that mean? We have the power within us to live right, talk right, and stay on the path God designed for us.

How do we do this? When we allow Holy Spirit to guide us on a daily basis, we escape giving into fleshly desires which can distract and deter us from the path God would have us take. But we have to allow Him to do what He does best–hear from the Father and speak to us.

When we get angry–Holy Spirit reminds us of the Word–be angry and sin not.

When we get vengeful–Holy Spirit reminds us of the Word–Vengeance is mine says the Lord.

When we allow flesh to get in our way–Holy Spirit reminds us of the Word–neither fornicators, adulterers, or liars, shall not have any place in heaven.

When we allow our eyes to stray–Holy Spirit reminds us of the Word–every man should sex only with his own wife and every wife, with her own husband.

When children are rebellious and disobedient (and we are sometimes)–Holy Spirit reminds us of the Word–Honor our mother and father so our days will be long on the earth.

When we are tempted to hate for any reason–Holy Spirit reminds us of the Word–Love God first and our neighbors as ourselves.

If we love God, we will obey Him and will not allow the influence of the enemy to guide us in doing anything because we allow Holy Spirit to do His job. That’s the benefit of Divine Power operating within us.

Notice–we must allow Holy Spirit to speak to us and we hear Him–He will not force us to do anything. The devil cannot force us to do anything either–we must allow him to influence us.

So our decision must hinge on whether we want to see His promises manifested in our lives or the consequences of the enemy’s influence in our lives. It is our choice. And we have the power to make the right decision because of the Divine Power, who resides within us.

Not Like Man!

“God is not a man, so he does not lie.
He is not human, so he does not change his mind.
Has he ever spoken and failed to act?
Has he ever promised and not carried it through?” (Numbers 23:19 NLT)

If God is not a man, why do we–human beings–attempt to give Him the attributes of mankind instead of understanding Him as a Spirit being–not needing us or anything He created? He is a Sovereign Being–self-sustaining–was here before anything else was and will be after everything is gone. He is the creator of all things and without Him, nothing, absolutely nothing was ever created. Whether we believe this or not is irrelevant–especially since theorists are still trying to prove their theories–but here we are and at some point in time–we must simply realize that there are things that are beyond our understanding and defy our limited logic in attempts to explain them.

Having said all of that–God has no need to lie.  Why would He? Think about why people lie. They lie to gain confidence over others or to undermine others, to gain control over others or to escape punishment from those in authority over them. Who has any authority over Him? He is The Authority whether we accept Him as authority over our lives or not!

God is not human, but He understands His human creation well and has created us in His image–fully capable of love, but many are influenced by the evil one and their hearts have rejected Love and are full of hate.

God does not change His mind! What He has established remains true, but we have often misinterpreted His intent to fulfill our own desires and lusts. Once we understand His intent for mankind, we have a better understanding of His written Word and The Revealed Word that comes with relationship with Him. Like the human kings who seal “their decrees” with a ring and wax, God seals His decrees in our hearts with Holy Spirit.

If we look closely at the history of mankind and all of the current events, we can see that God keeps His promises–no matter what those promise are–they do come pass and we either reap the reward or the consequence clearly stated in His Word.

God will not tolerate people mocking His Word forever. As He has done in the past, He will do again–all those things He promises for either our obedience or disobedience. We only have to look at the state the world is in today to know–that He is not playing with us. So, why are we flagrantly disobedient to Him? Do we think we know more or can do more than He can? How foolish are we to think we can openly and rebelliously defy God and not suffer the consequences of our actions?

Woe unto us who know to do better, but choose to succumb to the dictates of man, rather than obey God!

Father, in the name of Jesus, help us to understand Alpha and Omega and cut away anything in our hearts, not like You so we may glorify You in everything we do and say. Spiritually, deafen our ears and blind our eyes to those thing that are not of You and keep our tongues from saying anything that is rebellious towards You. Amen!

 

When We’ll Know!

“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31, 32 NIV).

What Jesus said to those who believed Him, those who followed Him, when He was here in the form of physical man, still holds true today. “If” we hold to His teaching (what the Father said to Him), we are really His disciples and “then” we will know the truth and the truth will set us free.

This “if, then” proposition is simply one of many we find in The Word. If we do, then God does. There is no mystery, no magic, just understanding of obedience and how God’s principles work in our lives. We must do, then He will do–everything He promised–no matter whether the consequences are good or bad.

God’s promise to us through Joshua–“If you keep my commandments, then whatever you put your hands to will prosper.”

God’s promises to us through Deuteronomy 28–If we keep His commandments and obey, then blessings will overtake us. If we do not obey, then all of the curses will come upon us, even to those not yet named.

Moving forward–“If you love, keep my commandments. If my Word abides in you and you abide in my Word, then, ask what you will and it will be done for you.”

We’ll know we have a right relationship with God, when we keep His commandments and see His promises fulfilled in our lives. Then we’ll know the power we have over the enemy and know we have been set free from submitting to his temptation. When we have a relationship with God, then He can speak to our hearts and guide us in all things, knowing we are His children and He only wants only what is best for His children. When we know we have obeyed and know we have that relationship, then we can be assured of receiving His guidance and cementing the promise of eternal life.

 

Father, in the name of Jesus, help us to understand what we must do in order to be in Your perfect Will, receiving all You have for us to do and enjoy. Help us to receive Truth and be set free from the snares of the enemy and know without a doubt that we will spend eternity with You.

 

For All Of Our Tomorrows!

Father, in the name of Jesus,

Look upon us kindly, correcting us, guiding us and loving us.

Have mercy upon all who have yet to acknowledge You.

Don’t remove from Your Spirit from this place, but keep us mindful of Your presence.

Create in us a desire to please You and to be a model to others in doing so.

Help us to understand Your plans–plans to prosper us and not to harm any–and to live according to Your Word.

Keep us prayerful–always looking to You for answers and solutions–always considerate of others.

As our number in age increases–grant us increased wisdom and knowledge in abundance.

Help us O God to not judge matters that only You can judge since we have neither heaven or hell for anyone.

Help us to keep our minds stayed on You, no matter what our circumstances may be.

Speak to our hearts, Lord and help us to understand that loving You and loving others is the only way we can affect change in our lives.

We look to You, the only Wise God of all creation, for everything we need and desire and we thank You for keeping us in position to receive every blessing our eyes have not seen because of our obedience to You and Your love towards us.

Never let us forget to proclaim just how awesome You are!

Amen!

My Mansion!

“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).

There is so much that I could say about the entire Gospel of John, but there would not be room enough for me to write it. The most personal account of Jesus we have, from one who was closer to Him than any other; reveals His persona, character, and promises that we can hold onto for all eternity.

But let me move on to what I wanted to say about this verse. This has always inspired to live right before man and God because I do not want to lose my mansion–it already has my name on it! Now, some would debate whether this was meant to be taken literally or figuratively, but it really doesn’t matter. What matters is that I know, a place in heaven has been reserved for me and I have determined not to allow anyone to cheat me out of it!

And because I have a very vivid imagination, I see the front door with my platinum nameplate on it–inscribed in calligraphy, the staircase leading to my upper room, and everything glows softly against a pale background of gold and silver. I would tell you the rest, but I pray you can envision your own mansion.

The bottom line for me in this passage of scripture, is that it is a promise that I know has been kept. Because I love people indiscriminately, I pray all I know and those I don’t, have come into knowledge as to who He is, what He has done for us, have accepted Jesus into their hearts, are determined to live for Him, and will know that their place in heaven has been reserved, just for them. 

By the way, my mansion is not a particularly large one, but it’s sized just right for me. Big mansions need a lot of maintenance and trust me, my Father knows my limitations with housework.

Have a wonderfully blessed day in the Lord!

Faith In The Vision!

“Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6 NIV).

In the first verses of this chapter, Abram has a vision and in the vision, he has a conversation with God and is informed by God that he will have an heir, which was a concern to Abram. God told him that his descendants would number more than the stars in the sky. Once convinced of what God was saying, Abram believed what he saw and heard in the vision.

In the book of Hebrews, we know that Abraham was credited with acknowledged for his faith in God. Faith–having no ability to see what God has promised, but believing what God says and acting on it.

God has given many of us visions–with specific instructions as to how to see the vision come to pass.  The reason many do not see the vision come to pass is because they do nothing, but sit and wait for God to come down from heaven to get the job done. In order to see the visions become reality, we must exercise wisdom.  If we lack wisdom, we must ask Him, who gives it liberally.

If we know what we have seen and heard from God, our faith in Him, should be enough for us to move–get into action–to see the vision come to fruition. If we do nothing, God cannot do anything.  Faith–is not only believing what we do not see–but acting like we already have it.  Jesus said, when we pray, we should believe and receive and then we shall have it.

Now, we know that Abram and Sarah tried to help God’s vision come to pass when Sarah thought she was too old to be the recipient of the grace of God. And we know how that turned out–with envy and jealousy reigning in the aftermath. It took thirteen years for the son of promise to appear, after Abram helped God. When God gives us a vision and promises something will happen, it will happen in His timing, not ours. We prepare for the vision to come and with patience do we wait, working while we have opportunity to do so.

I am convinced that when we get busy–doing what must done in all those things that honor God, the vision will be fulfilled at a time we may least expect it, but it’s coming.

When we know what we have seen and heard, we have to trust God to get it done. Do your part in preparing to receive it. If God said it, it will come to pass. If we try to force things to happen, we could end up like Abram, having to wait that much longer to see it happen. If we start doubting God, we may never see His promises toward us fulfilled in our lives.

Lord, help us to be people of unerring faith–trusting totally in You, Your Word and the visions You give us. Help us to be people of integrity, honoring You in all that we do, so we will not bring shame to self, others, or You. In Jesus’ name, I pray and thank You, Amen!