Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son
And now let the weak say, “I am strong”
Let the poor say, “I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us”
Give Thanks. (Don Moen, “Give Thanks”)
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Endure Sound Doctrine and Think
Too many Christians decide to start praying only a few weeks before national elections and way too many decide not to vote or to vote for candidates that openly speak promises contrary to biblical principles. One pastor friend of ours was told by his city’s pastor group that there are issues in this 
election that are more important than abortion and the Supreme Court. More important? What is going on? Dear Christian pastor group, this election is deciding (1) what percentage of the future generation will have the opportunity to exit the womb alive (abortion has killed over 50 million babies—not fetuses—to date in this “Christian nation” of ours) and (2) appointments of those who will decide the legalities of future generations for possibly the next 30-40 years. As Dutch Sheets pointed out at an FMCI Conference, a sure fire way nations brought the judgment of God upon themselves was the shedding of innocent blood. He went so far as to say that abortion, the shedding of innocent blood, is blood sacrifice that empowers demons. (Here is a short list of scriptures speaking to the severity of the shedding of innocent blood Deut. 19:10, 13; 21:8-9; Ps. 106:38; Prov. 6:16-17; Jer. 7:6; 19:3-4) When the people of a nation are voting their personal values and consciences rather than the foundations and principles of God and His Word, it begins to look like 2Tim 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires. (NASB) If a person feels that they just simply cannot vote for a particular candidate, my suggestion would be to vote for the platform that comes closest to biblical worldview. To not vote IS to vote. Voting is just basic stewardship.
(This is the seventh excerpt from Marty Gabler’s article “What is Going On?“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)
The Lord Will Not Abandon You
May hope arise within the hearts of weary ones and may dreams be revived in the lives of discouraged ones, and may they lift their hands and declare on clear voices that our God does not forget His covenant or His mercies to a thousand generations. May the Lord do a redeeming work in you that He may bring forth through your life what He intended from the beginning. May He redeem and restore everything that the enemy has tried to destroy in you.
(Deut.4:31, GW) “The LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not abandon you, destroy you, or forget the promise to your ancestors that he swore he would keep.” We are praying you discover daily that merciful God has not abandoned you.
Preserve a Posterity
We have been taught by pop-theology to use faith for immediate relief, not long-term endurance, not long-term results (Heb.11:13 does not figure into 
Esau’s demands for immediate relief). The Esau mindset of blowing off the coming generations and spending what you’ve got on relief for the present generation flies well in today’s skies. Joseph did not get immediate results (or relief) after his prophetic dream and prophetic pronouncement. He (and Daniel and Esther) was sent ahead to “preserve a posterity,” “continue a remnant” and “save lives.” (Gen.45:7 Amplified) He stood and stood and took ground “until the Word of the Lord proved him” and he was not proven to guarantee him plenty of airtime and notoriety but for the survival of a nation (Ps.105:18). He was not dealt the luxurious right of faith for immediate relief or escape. But the result was the salvation of a nation and its being propelled into the future of its destiny for Jehovah’s Name’s sake.
(This is the sixth excerpt from Marty Gabler’s article “What is Going On?“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)
Hearts, Hands and Thanksgiving
As the people of God assemble today, may they lift their voices, their hearts and hands and sing thanksgiving unto the Lord God for all His beneficent blessings toward us. For God is good and greatly to be praised. “[ A Song of Praise ] Come, let us praise the Lord! Let us sing for joy to God, who protects us! Let us come before him with thanksgiving and sing joyful songs of praise.” (Ps.95:1-2, GNT)
God is Unstoppable
Babies cannot defend themselves. Yet, a powerful king could not destroy the baby Jesus. (Matt.2:16). This world system could not touch even one tiny 
baby Who was the embodiment of the Kingdom of God in this earth (compare Mk.2:12). Rome had conquered the world but it didn’t know what to do with a carpenter from Nazareth (Lk.23:4). Demons opposed Jesus yet He walked about freely demonstrating the Kingdom of God (Lk.11:20). When crucified, they set a guard on His tomb but could not prevent the power of the rule of God over death. The rule and authority of God to finish what He started is unstoppable. We are praying you discover daily that the power of God is finishing what He started in your life.
Short Term or Long Term
Short Term or Long Term—As long as there are a people who feel they have their “ticket stamped” to go to a “much better place,” there will be no reform of what they deem to be merely an exit platform. If the departure platform is somewhat rickety, people will just try to stand still and hope the 
train out of there arrives soon. With such a view, no one reforms or rebuilds the platform; they simply grip what is available to grip and hope to be off of it as soon as possible. The emphasis today upon the sudden coming of the Lord isn’t about Him, it is about us. The religious pundits pounding their pulpits exclaiming the quick return of our Lord are getting hearty (and well financed) “Amens!” in response to their promises of sudden escape from recent disappointments and prognostication. With that consideration, the interesting irony is that we literally cheer our Old Testament heroes who stood to the last man for the saving of a God-ordained nation.
(This is the fifth excerpt from Marty Gabler’s article “What is Going On?“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)
Intense Exertion
In spite of the angle of descent of morals and values, in spite of what the state of the union looks like, we stand on the brink of a destiny that our 
forefathers never imagined (Jer.33:3)—But it will require moving from being observers to acting, require shifting and transition: it’s the “violent” action of Matt.11:12 which means “intense exertion.” It is not violent in the sense of doing persons harm but in the sense of putting forth “intense exertion” in opposition to things that oppose God’s purpose. We must oppose darkness like opposing a rattlesnake trying to crawl up in our bed. We must do it for the King of Kings and for a generation. We are praying you discover daily that your intense exertion is gaining ground against darkness. (Marty’s Daily Discovery as heard on TEXAS PRAISE RADIO at the bottom of the hour 24 hours/day. www.txpraise.com)
What, Where, Why, How, When
What, Where, Why, How, When — What we need more than better politicians is an awakening move of God. Where we need that move of God is in the Church. Why we need that move of God (perhaps it might better be labeled a reforming move of God) is because, having lost sight of our purpose in 
the earth, the Church is bemoaning and reacting rather than decreeing and acting. How the move will come is determined by the resistance from those He is attempting to move upon, i.e., the types of circumstances in which they will be willing to hear from God. There are numerous creative circumstances in the Bible that were allowed to develop to awaken purpose in those who eventually became Sunday School story heroes. But then, their goal was not to get to heaven. It was to stop the giants and the systems that dared defy the Lord of Hosts. When God moves, we must be ready to yield to a paradigm that allows His government to reform us before we inadequately try transforming a nation. (1Pe.4:17 “judgment begins in the house of God”) After not preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom (the rule of God, not just a get-out-of-hell-free message; Matt.4:23; 9:35; 24:14) and Kingdom culture for 200 years, we are crying out in our nation for a political figure to legislate morality to produce a culture that doesn’t destroy itself and shed innocent blood. (Matt.5-6 is Kingdom culture)
(This is the fourth excerpt from Marty Gabler’s article “What is Going On?“. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)
God’s Word in You
God’s Word is in you. It is a seed. A seed does not exist just to hide in the ground. A seed will sprout, push up out of the ground, grow a stalk and put 
out leaves and blooms so that it may produce fruit, and that fruit is meant to be of benefit to others. God’s Word is a seed in us and it is growing in us (Lk 8:11). A seed cannot stay as it is, it must increase (Jn 12:24). God’s Word is working in you to improve you and increase you to bring forth good fruit. Col.1:29 “…His mighty power works in me.” (Col.1:29, GW) We are praying you discover daily the Word of God working powerfully in your life.
(Marty’s Daily Discovery as heard on TEXAS PRAISE RADIO at the bottom of the hour 24 hours/day. www.txpraise.com)
