{"id":11690,"date":"2020-01-03T05:09:26","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T11:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=11690"},"modified":"2020-01-03T05:09:26","modified_gmt":"2020-01-03T11:09:26","slug":"god-has-always-had-a-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=11690","title":{"rendered":"God Has Always Had a People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As relentless as I am to be optimistic, I know there will be plenty of opportunities to go rogue and get caught up in the whirlwinds of negativity that will, no doubt, get even more ferocious in 2020. After all, it\u2019s a presidential election year, and, well, if you\u2019ve paid any attention at all to the rancor and nausea-inducing negativity, you\u2019ll know 2020 will not be for the faint of heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why we must shift our mindsets and our thinking from falling prey to that darkness. Our true colors will be revealed this year. We\u2019re going to witness just how Christian we really are. How kind. How compassionate. How courageous. How committed. How fervent we are in prayer and absolute certainty that God is in control. The real questions are \u201cWhat kind of representatives of Christ are we?\u201d How deep is our faith? How different is our voice than the mean-spirited voices that surround us and bombard us 24\/7, if we let them? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key to UNLOCKING the PLENTY in 2020 of God\u2019s grace and love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.\u2013 the fruit of the Spirit — is letting our lights shine so much brighter than the darkness that permeates the other side. It doesn\u2019t take going to see a Star Wars movie to realize that we are in a constant battle of darkness (the dark side) and the light side. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crazier (and darker) things get, the more clearly our light MUST shine. I sincerely believe God has always had a people \u2013 a people who represent Him as His non-compromising followers. There\u2019s a shaking about to occur. I believe it\u2019s going to be a time when God’s people rise up with wisdom and insight and courage, and live above the political fray. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When I was writing this blog and typed the words \u201cGod has always had a people\u201d, I remembered that was a line in the song, \u201cThe Church Triumphant\u201d written by Bill and Gloria Gaither. I googled it. Just take a look at these words in the interlude. They nail it \u2013 nail the hand-writing on the wall of WHO we are and WHOSE we are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“God has always had a people. Many a foolish conqueror has made the mistake of thinking that because he’d driven the Church of Jesus Christ out of sight, that he had stilled its voice and snuffed out its life, but God has always had a people. The powerful current of a river is not diminished because it is forced to flow underground. The purest water is the stream that bursts crystal clear into the sunlight after it has forced its way through solid rock. There are charlatans, who like Simon the magician sought to barter on the open market this power which cannot be bought or sold but God has always had a people; men who could not be bought and women who were beyond purchase. God has always had a people.There have been times of affluence and prosperity where the Church’s message has been nearly diluted into oblivion by those who sought to make it socially attractive, re-organized and financially profitable. It’s been gold plated, draped in purple and encrusted in jewels. It’s been misrepresented, ridiculed, lauded and scorned. These followers of Jesus Christ have been, according to the whim of the times, elevated as sacred leaders and martyred as heretics. Yet through it all, there marches on this powerful army. God’s chosen people who cannot be bought, flattered, murdered or stilled. On through the ages they march. This church, God’s church is ALIVE and WELL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, yes, my friend and fellow believers in the Church and the Cross of Jesus Christ, let us STAND tall, knowing that we are on the LIGHT side \u2013 the Church Triumphant side — and we know, based on the end of the book \u2013 WE WIN! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame.” Joel 2:26-27<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As relentless as I am to be optimistic, I know there will be plenty of opportunities to go rogue and get caught up in the whirlwinds of negativity that will, no doubt, get even more ferocious in 2020. After all, it\u2019s a presidential election year, and, well, if you\u2019ve paid any attention at all to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16032,16033,16030,16031],"tags":[1083,16024,13177,3403,16037,6713,457,16036,43,16035,16034],"class_list":["post-11690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alive-and-well","category-bill-gaither","category-church-triumphant","category-gods-people","tag-church","tag-church-triumphant","tag-cross-of-jesus","tag-fruit-of-the-spirit","tag-joel-225","tag-light-side","tag-negativity","tag-non-compromising","tag-optimistic","tag-political-fray","tag-presidential-election-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11690"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11693,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11690\/revisions\/11693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}