Submission to Governing Authorities

God works in the most mysterious ways. I usually blog about topics that I feel are given through daily reading but today I was trying to think of something different to do. I had a couple ideas come to mind. The one topic I was considering doing was going to be about all the drama going on between President Trump and professional athletes. Then I thought, nahh I don't really want to post something that will cause any controversy or make people a little uneasy. So, about 30 minutes ago I sat down, opened up my Bible, turned to Romans 13 (where I am currently at) and the first heading says; "Submission to Governing Authorities." God definitely wanted me to take a shot and blog about this today. So here we go!

I think that so many people forget what the Bible says about governing authorities. I think that when governing authorities are mentioned in the Bible, the only thing people think about are the governing authorities that are in the Bible. Not the governing authorities today. The word of God is so amazing and everything in it is true! If you don't believe me, talk to me or google it. There is proof everywhere.

God is in charge of everything right? Correct. God created everything and his reign is over all the world and all of the universe. Enough of my talk, here is what Paul has to say about governing authorities in Romans 13:1-5.

"Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reasons. They are God's servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience."

Here are a couple of the points that stick out:
- authorities that exist have been established by God
- consequently, whoever rebels against authority rebels against God
- rulers hold no terror for those who do what is right
- for the one in authority is God's servant for our good.

 I want to be clear with this message today, I am giving you what the word of God says.

So what should we do? We need to love one another! Love fulfills the law. The most important commandment of all is this: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Romans 13:10 says: Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. We need to come together and love each other. It's really as simple as that. Where is the love?

Romans 13:12 says: The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

It's time to put aside our differences, the day is near and we need to love, love, love.

Romans 13:14 says: Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.

The desires of the flesh want to rebel against anything the flesh doesn't agree with. Clothe yourselves with Jesus. He is the author and perfecter over everything. We need to submit to him.

Even once I opened my Bible and saw what the scripture was for today I was still a little hesitant. I continued on to Romans 14 and found this verse that I took as God saying to me, "you gotta share this dude." It's Romans 14:9 and it says: Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

With this post today I am not saying, "All hail President Trump." I am saying that God created all things for the good of those who love him. We are to love each other. If you take away anything form what I had to say, I hope that it the fact of love. As Christians we are different, we are persecuted and not everyone is going to agree with what we have to say. John 15:18 says: "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first."  I want to close with that verse because it's so powerful. The world might hate us...but so what? God loves us and that is what matters most.