Stephen De La Vega

  This intro is a disclaimer: I recognize there is significant dissatisfaction with governments across the globe. It is not uncommon for citizens to distrust and even despise certain government officials and government organizations. I don’t intend to discredit our varied opinions, positions, beliefs, value systems, or ideologies. I also am not writing to promote one political position over another, or even to promote a political position at all. However, I do intend to share, at least in part, a biblical perspective on God’s involvement in government and how we should respond in light of it. Resolution #6: I Will Stand for God’s Government Our 20:25 verse in this resolution brings us to 2 Samuel . (Remember, I am walking through every 20:25 verse in the Bible, and a few 20:24 verses since I started this last year.) 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel were originally written as one book. The same is true for 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles. These books were so long, early scribes coul...

  “Life is a mess.” “Things are spiraling out of control.” “We’re at our wit’s end.” “Nothing we’ve tried seems to work.” These are phrases we use when life becomes unmanageable. But we don’t usually express them as a nation, or worse, as a global population. Things got bad. We fight a pandemic. Its reach continues to haunt. We might hear the curve is flattening or trending toward healthy communities, but it doesn’t seem that way. We’re in this fight for a while. Racial injustice violates our screens and holds captive the tears and fears of all colors. We say enough is enough, yet it’s still not enough. We’re still at odds. It’s still us and them. We still perpetrate our agendas within our circles, our communities, and our societal systems. This is a letter to all of us who carry the banner of Jesus Christ. While we are eager for a new “normal,” have we spent enough time considering how God may be shaking us up for His greater purposes? Let’s reflect before we charge ...

When we contemplate the canvas of life, I hope we recognize that God is the Master Painter. He determines the colors, the background, the foreground, the objects, and the goings on in His big picture. We see in limited frames, but God combines them onto a single, grand canvas, with the richness of differing perspectives, multiple art forms and mediums, and expertly woven nuances of light and dark space across and beyond varied genres and time periods. God is the artful Master, and He profoundly captures the details of our interests, talents, and emotions within a single image. And then another that expresses a new adventure or a different struggle, and ever-maturing qualities as time elapses. All that is within our hearts, that which was before and that which is to come, are deeply impressed in our eyes as He unveils His treasure: each one of us – each individual, eternal person. The Master Painter never overlooks the value of texture and depth. Each portrait within ea...