I had a request from a good friend for suggestions as to how to pray for Christians who believe a prominent political figure, indicted by a grand jury to appear during Holy week in court, carries a Messianic mantle.

The Holy Spirit and the Political spirit do not mix: so please, don’t interweave them within a Christian context or confuse others that they should.

The Bible is quite clear about the fruits of the Holy Spirit which are very different qualities than those which emanate from the spirit of Politics. 

1 Kings 21, gives a whole account of the subversion of authority due to greed and acquisition of political power, through the lies and deception of Jezebel. That spirit has time and time again, deceived an individual as well as their populous, to gain leadership and wield authority with no moral purity. We see it playing out again, as we did in the Jan 6^th attack on congress. Christians being misled by zealots in pulpits and the media. This is an outright spiritual attack on the unity of the Church, and has no communion with the Holy Spirit.

We often think of the workings of Jezebel and Ahab as a one off affair, except Christ in Revelation 2 calls on the Church of Thyatira to stop being seduced by that spirit. It has seduction, manipulation and misappropriation of righteousness all through it. 

So my prayer for those who believe our former president has a Messianic mantle of some kind, ask how do his actions line up with the fruit of the Holy Spirit as in Galatians 5:22-26?

 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

The Gulf Coast

One of the sadder happenings on the Gulf Coast is the occurrences of ‘Red Tide’, which are concentrated blooms of microscopic algae that produce toxins which kill fish. We just had a bad episode in March and many fish were washed onto the beach. It was sad to see all the different kinds of fish randomly lying dead together. Fish have long been a cymbal of Christian believers. As an antidote to seeing so many dead fish we visited MOTE aquarium today and saw many alive, beautifully colored fish, which are protected from the red tide. God has a way of restoring equilibrium, whether in the sea or in the church.

Living in Sarasota is a blessing in so many ways. We do not have to fight to stay warm during the winter months and I remember how much time of the day that would take up. Heating a big old house in the Hudson Valley was a constant demand on our resources. I do miss much about the landscape, seasons and gardens of the North East but the reality is, God has done a huge shift in my life and opened up doors to a very active life of ministry. I had absolutely no intention of ministering to the elderly but that is where God has placed me, at least in this season. For years I prayed for direction to a ministry where I could be used, I thought it would be associated with praying for healing but as it turns out now it is more in the ministry of comfort, and assisting those who, at the end of their lives, want to find Jesus. I still love to pray for healing, but this is a different kind of healing- the healing of a lifetime! 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.

 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Please let us know how we can pray for you, Michael and Christine.

Love and Prayers, and Best Wishes for a Joyous Easter!

Christine and Michael

Michael’s Photography. Christine’s Icons. Christine’s Icon Classes

Mary Magdalene in Progress