If we call ourselves Christians then we agree that we have One Father, God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth.  We have One Savior, Jesus, the Christ, who shed His innocent blood, hung on the Cross and died, and was resurrected to new life so that we could be forgiven and brought back into the Family of God.  We are filled with the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to live the overcoming life that Jesus died to purchase for us.  This is the basis for our faith.  Our Father delights in us, He’s crazy about each one of His children and He has great plans for us, plans that were written in His heart long before each one was born.

Jesus explains these truths to us in His Word.  In Revelation 5:9-10, it is said of Jesus, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

Speaking to His disciples, Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-19, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus, the One Who is the King of all Kings, has given His authority to us, the sons and daughters of God, to rule and reign with Him.  As we step into this role of ruling and reigning, our call is to disciple the nations.  What does that mean?  We are to lead nations by example, not of ourselves or what we think is right, but by being a representative or ambassador of Heaven on the earth.  We are given a very high calling, one that most of the family of God has not understood.  Our understanding of Scripture and our knowledge of Holy Spirit as our teacher is far below what God intended from the beginning.

It stands to reason that we must be equipped for this awesome role before we can be successful at it.  Even Jesus, “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8).  There is a yielding of our own mind, will and emotions to the will of God that must take place.  There is a dying to self that is uncomfortable.  There is a purposeful intention to read the Word of God and be conformed to His image that must occur.   How can we know the will of God if we do not take advantage of the gifts He has given us?  He is not like us!  We cannot reason our way into the will of God.  We surrender our way into His will.

If all of this sounds painful and unappealing, then let me also say that there is the Grace and Favor of God that drips like sweet honey on every person that takes a step toward God.  His delight is for you, He extends kindness, love and mercy to every child that wants to know Him.  There is no greater joy than seeking to please the Father by wanting to know Him and to know Jesus the Son.  There is no greater place to live than in the joy of His Presence.  Nothing satisfies the innate need we all have to know our Creator.  Our identity and destiny is only fulfilled in relationship with Him.

Taking this one step further, God has “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation” (Acts 17:26).  You are alive at this time in history because God determined that, and you live in the place where you live because the Father chose for that to be your domain, your place of influence.  You were chosen to be here now to be His representative in the earth.

Our Father was serious about calling us to disciple the nations.  Before Jesus comes again, the Father is calling all nations, tribes and tongues back to the family table, the place where He communes with His kids.  His table is the place of honor, love and kindness.  He wants us to come to the table in agreement with Him and with each other.  This will never happen if we hold on to what we think apart from Him.  We can only get along when we all think like our Father.  We will have different expressions of His ideas, and that is a great thing.  It shows the creativity of the Father through His kids, but we must align with His righteousness, holiness and purity.  He is not divided, nor schizophrenic.

We can learn much by gaining an understanding the history of Israel.  What God has done with Israel, He will do to all nations just to a lesser degree. Let’s look at a couple of examples to make this point.

The Father delivered the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt with the amazing promise of leading them to their own Promised Land.  He wanted to give them their own place where they could live under His care and blessing.  What a generous, awesome offer!  Come out of slavery and be blessed forever in your own land!  At first, they were excited and awed by the way He got them out of Egypt and destroyed the enemies that tried to follow them as they crossed the Red Sea.  But the journey was difficult and they soon grew weary of all the challenges. The Word says that God tested them to see what was in their hearts toward Him.  Did they really believe He was good?  Did they really believe that He would protect them?  Did they really want to grow up and learn to rule their own nation?  They had 10 chances during their wilderness journey and sadly, they didn’t show a lot of confidence in God.  They whined, complained and eventually said it would be easier to go back to Egypt and be slaves because the government would take care of them.  Their final test was at the border of the Promised Land. Twelve spies were sent in to see what they were getting.  Of those twelve, only two came back believing that God was enough to establish them in their new land. The other ten saw what was wrong, what was scary, and what seemed impossible. They looked at themselves instead of God and determined they didn’t have what it would take to make it in this land.  They cast judgment on themselves.  The other two presented their case before all of Israel saying it wasn’t about their ability, but it was about the Promise that God had made to them.  What was on trial here?  God’s faithfulness was being tried by the nation of Israel.  They voted against God and chose to turn back to the government of Egypt.

God had had enough, so He agreed with them and sentenced them to 40 years of wandering in the desert.  Sure, He would still take care of them because He was their Father, but the older generation would die without ever seeing the Promised Land.  They judged themselves by their vote.

The same scenario played out when Jesus, the Son of God, was born into the earth.  For several thousand years, God had been speaking about the coming Messiah, the Savior of the World.  Everyone in Israel heard and expected this Messiah, yet when He came and stood in their midst, they didn’t have faith to believe it.  The Holy, Pure, Goodness of God was standing before their eyes and they were afraid to believe.  Why?  He didn’t look like what they expected.  He did stuff that made them uncomfortable.  He spoke with authority, not like the religious and governmental leaders of the day.  He wasn’t afraid.  Yes, many did believe, but as a nation, they rejected their Savior, their Promise.

When Jesus stood before Pilate, Pilate asked the people, “What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”  The nation of Israel responded by saying, “Crucify Him!”  They cast their vote against God, again! They preferred to stay in their perceived comfort with the wicked, unjust rulers of Rome and Israel.  They judged themselves by their vote.

Sadly, Israel is still living in the consequence of this judgment.

America is facing the same test today.  In less than three weeks, we have the opportunity to cast a vote.  It is a privilege that many sacrificed their lives to secure for us.  We have the RIGHT to vote.  Yet, many of us look at it as a burden.  We don’t like the process, we don’t like the candidates, we don’t like…..

But that is not the issue.  The issue is, as children of God, do we trust our Father to lead us, do we trust His goodness and faithfulness to guide us to the place He wants to lead us?  You may stop here and say, “Of course, I’m trusting God, He is sovereign and He will work this all out, It doesn’t matter if I vote.”  But that is the wrong conclusion.  Remember, my dear Brothers and Sisters, God has determined your boundaries.  If you live in the USA, He put you here to rule and reign with Him.  In other words, you are part of His government and you have a responsibility to govern in accordance with His desires.  Get past the names on the ballot and rise into your sonship.  By choosing not to vote, or by thinking that your vote doesn’t really matter, you are thinking just like the Israelites did when they stood at the border of the Promised Land and said, “we are like grasshoppers in their sight” (Numbers 13:33).   Look not at yourself, but look upon the awesome invitation that we have to partner with God and turn a nation back to Him.  He won’t do it apart from us!  We are His people and He treats us with great respect.  He has given us an assignment in the earth to discipline the nation.  Children of God, become the Kings and Priests you are destined to be.  Cry out to fulfill your call and believe He can make you all that you need to be.  Do not look to be taken care of, but seek out how you can care for others.  We are His House, a living, mobile tabernacle on a mission to go out and harvest the lost souls and bring comfort to the weary.  Rise and Shine, People of God! God is pouring out His Glory, His Ability, His Favor on His people!  Don’t miss this opportunity!  Humbly seek His Face and VOTE for His Kingdom principles.