I Stand Amazed

The hymn writer says that he stands amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonders how He could love him -- a sinner, condemned and unclean. These are great words. But I wonder if we could even "stand" in His presence?
In reading recently about how Jesus told Peter to throw out his nets for a catch, and the nets filled up to bursting, all Peter could do was fall to his knees in the presence of the Son of God, saying "depart from me, for I am a sinful man."
All who have been saved must wonder at the grace we read about in Romans 5:8 -- "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

When we think about that - His gift of salvation - I am confronted with the question that Psalmist asked in 116:12 -- "How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?"

Perhaps I will desire God above all else. That I will hunger and thirst after righteousness. That I will seek to do His will. That I will take up my cross and follow after Him. That I will walk as Jesus walked. That I will be able to say with Paul the Apostle, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."

President Obama

Well the results are in, and as the world knows America has elected Barrak Hussein Obama as the 44th President.

As the reality sets in, my mind wonders "What will the next four years be like?" I do not think they will be like the past eight years, even the past 16 years. Eight years of Clinton, eight years of Bush will be markedly different than four years of an Obama administration. For many people this is a good thing. Afterall, that was Obama's mantra -- "CHANGE." This is what defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries and it defeated McCain in the general election. Obviously, many Americans say they desire change.

The status quo in government has been rocked. Clinton & Bush were for the most part centrists. They liked keeping the status quo, this is how they governed. The left pushed hard on Clinton, the right pushed hard on Bush but the result was pretty balanced. Stable. Sometimes clear divisions in Washington are not all bad -- not every side gets what they want.

Today it is different. Obama, though he campaigned as a centrist, has a record of being quite leftist. The Speaker of the House is a leftist. America, I believe will not be governed from the center, but from the left.
This will show up in a myriad of ways. In economic ("spread the wealth around" aka socialism), taxation, spending, entitlement, budget policies. It will show up in social policies - judges who legislate from the bench, Supreme Court justices that uphold abortion, increased legislative approval of a the homosexual agenda. It will show up in foreign policy - defense spending slashed to pay for domestic policies, tests by states and terrorists that hate us (Biden himself predicts this). And of course the left-leaning will show itself in domestic areas -- government-run health care amongst a whole host of other inititatives.

America went to the polls and voted for "change." What concerns me is the "change" we might indeed see and where it will take us.

May we all pray (as we are commanded in Scripture) for all of our elected officials. We as a nation and they as policymakers need, desperately, God's wisdom.