Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God. So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval. For government is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For government is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong.   Romans 13:1-4 HCSB

My heart feels heavy due to events of the past few days. First we began the week with the loss of a dear friend from church. I have recently learned that there are complications with getting her services together. Yesterday news broke of a law enforcement officer being arrested for rape and child pornography. This officer was someone I knew, someone I had worked with, someone I considered to be a friend. I had not seen him in years, but I was shocked at this news. He worked for an agency that has 13:4 in their emblem and when I asked what that was for, they explained to me that it was representative of Romans 13:4.

As I read the news report, I saw where another officer in another parish had been addicted to drugs and was sentenced to two years in prison for malfeasance in office. A former sheriff is under indictment for sexual abuse of minors. We have a narcotics officer from our parish awaiting trial on numerous charges.

Sadly it is not uncommon these days to see those in authority in the news being charged with criminal offenses. It would be easy to sit and judge them, but the Bible warns against that in Matthew 7.

So, while I am heavy hearted at the sin taking place around me and the fall of these officers, I must remember that but for the grace of God go I. I must remember that the only thing that protects me is my close relationship with Jesus Christ. When I stay in close relationship with Him, He will uphold me with his righteous hand (Isaiah 41:10) so I have no reason to fear. My prayer for those that have fallen is that they will come to establish a close relationship with their Lord and Savior. I pray that they will come to see the need for God in their lives as they go through these trying times. Often times it takes disaster to bring someone to their knees and to their Savior.

So today I strongly encourage you not to judge others, no good will come to you from that. I encourage you to draw close to God in these end times. Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” We see a lot of that these days, which I believe is explained in Isaiah 5:21, “Woe to those who are wise in their own opinion and clever in their own sight.” We discussed this just a couple days ago.

I am not free because of any great thing I did, I am free because of what Jesus did for me. I am free because He shed his blood up on that cross to save me from my sins. I am free because He called me to Him and I accepted the grace and mercy that he offered me. We live in a time when the governing authority sometimes fail to govern in a godly manner. We see police officers falling and let’s not even get started with the majority of our politicians today. We see those that have sworn to protect us abusing those that are weak.

But we must remember that those who are in charge are there because God allowed them to be there. There is a reason for their placement there. We must lift them up with prayers and understand that they work in a world where they see lots of evil firsthand. We must pray that they stay strong and turn to God and do not succumb to the evil forces around them.

No matter what you do for a living, if you are not walking with God you are walking in danger. Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flea from you (James 4:7).  Remember pride goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18). So today as you hear of the evil going on all around you, remember that God’s got this, He is the ultimate authority. If we comply with his commandments, we will be in compliance with the laws set forth by our government and we will be able to stay out of trouble. Pray for those that have fallen. Pray for those families as they face the coming judgement of their loved ones as they sit through trials and prison sentences.

Most importantly if you have fallen, know that you can turn to God today. He will pick you up. Only He can restore you and make you free from the bondage of sin.

Have a great day!