There is no disrespect intended in the title. No one can deny he is being battered. We begin by facing facts: Trump’s statement about Haiti and Africa have unleashed a firestorm. I am not here to examine what he said or shouldn’t have said. That is for another blog. This is about you and me. This is about keeping our perspective, our cool, and our discernment.This is about why there is hope for our president.
But, true hope is anchored in truth. There’ll be no Pollyanna pep rally here. It looks bad, real bad. There will now be a massive effort to remove him from office by proving his is mentally unfit and invoke the 25th Amendment. Even some of his ardent supporters fear this will sink his presidency. But before you lose heart remember what we know.
-We know that Obama and Hillary loyalists—deeply embedded in Washington—are working feverishly to destroy president Trump. They are using their dark arts, not just on him, but on you.
-We know that a soulless media has discarded all pretense of objectivity. They are minions of a mindless coup. They are no longer capable of even thinking a decent thought toward Trump.
-We know that Trump is struggling to drain the swamp because some Republican Congressmen have stuck a hose back in it, recycling the swamp water.
-We know that Trump make-believers who once supported him abandoned ship at the first sign of trouble.
-We know that the forces behind Mueller and Comey will witch hunt Trump for concocted crimes while refusing to hold Hillary accountable for terrible crimes.
-We also know that during this overthrow of freedom much of the Church naps under the influence of frightened ministers.
-But the most important thing to remember is why there is hope. Yes, there is great hope for our president. I am shouting this question in your ear: HAVE WE FORGOTTEN THAT POWERFUL FRIEND?
Once before evil rose, with its bloody talons on the throat of America, and relief came from an unexpected source: This plea from Benjamin Franklin:
In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard; and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in this struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend?
Here is our powerful friend: Prayer, real prayer, sincere prayer, fervent prayer, unceasing prayer. Prayer will expose the lies. Prayer will defeat the traps laid before Trump. Prayer will shut the mouth of the lion, topple the Washington walls of Jericho, split the Red Sea of fake news, and raise the Lazarus church from the dead.
Our powerful friend is waiting to bring unimaginable help and shocking breakthroughs.
Can I reintroduce you to our powerful friend? Consider these points:
1. Even if you are the only one praying, it can change everything. “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16
When Israel languished in Babylon under the lash of Nebuchadnezzar only Daniel engaged that powerful friend. He set himself to pray and fast. His prayer, his solitary prayer, moved Cyrus to fulfill the prophecy of Jeremiah and release the Jews after 70 years of slavery.
The angel told Daniel it was his prayer that did it. Daniel 10:12 “Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.”
In the New Testament, one man’s prayer brought the Holy Spirit to the gentiles. Acts 10: 1 “There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. 3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, ‘Cornelius!’ 4 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, ‘What is it, lord?’ So he said to him, ‘Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.'”
2. Even if you do not know how to ask, the Holy Spirit will pray through you. Romans 8: 26, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
Think of that! We don’t know how to pray for this national disaster, but the Holy Spirit does. Our prayer language carries untold power to interrupt, and alter the affairs of man. He, the Holy Spirit carries all power and wisdom. He possesses the precision of prayer that totally escapes us. He will commandeer our requests to the very throne of God.
3. My final point is the most powerful and encouraging: God told us to pray for our leaders. 1 Timothy 2: 1 “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.”
Why would we expend energy on worry when we can pray? Why would we sit paralyzed watching the news instead of utilizing prayer to make news? You, by yourself, have the power to ask and receive, why would you delay praying? God told us that He is pleased when we pray for our leaders. Isn’t that the most powerful motivation of all. Remember our powerful friend.
Uwe and Hannelore Romeike are Christians and the parents of six children. When their kids attended the German public schools, they were bullied and harassed because of being Christians. The parents began looking into the schools and what their kids were being taught. They found a number of objectionable and inappropriate things in the textbooks that they didn’t want their kids learning.
Under the president’s new amnesty, businesses will have a $3,000-per-employee incentive to hire illegal immigrants over native-born workers because of a quirk of Obamacare.
President Obama’s temporary amnesty, which lasts three years, declares up to 5 million illegal immigrants to be lawfully in the country and eligible for work permits, but it still deems them ineligible for public benefits such as buying insurance on Obamacare’s health exchanges.
Under the Affordable Care Act, that means businesses who hire them won’t have to pay a penalty for not providing them health coverage — making them $3,000 more attractive than a similar native-born worker, whom the business by law would have to cover.
The loophole was confirmed by congressional aides and drew condemnation from those who said it put illegal immigrants ahead of Americans in the job market.
“If it is true that the president’s actions give employers a $3,000 incentive to hire those who came here illegally, he has added insult to injury,” said Rep. Lamar Smith, Texas Republican. “The president’s actions would have just moved those who came here illegally to the front of the line, ahead of unemployed and underemployed Americans.”
A Department of Homeland Security official confirmed that the newly legalized immigrants won’t have access to Obamacare, which opens up the loophole for employers looking to avoid the penalty.
But Mr. Obama, traveling in Chicago Tuesday to defend his immigration plans, said his moves would boost the economy and vowed they wouldn’t hurt American workers’ wages.
“Immigrants are good for the economy. We keep on hearing that they’re bad, but a report by my Council of Economic Advisers put out last week shows how the actions we’re taking will grow our economy for everybody,” he said.
This isn’t the first time the Obamacare loophole has popped up on immigration. The overhaul bill that passed the Senate on a bipartisan vote last year created the same situation, granting illegal immigrants a long probationary period where they could legally work but weren’t eligible for public benefits such as Obamacare.
At the time, Arizona Sen. John McCain, one of the bill’s GOP authors, acknowledged the problem and vowed to change it before it became law. Despite passing the Senate, the bill has stalled, with Democratic leaders refusing to send it to the House for further action.
Brian Rogers, a spokesman for Mr. McCain, said Tuesday the solution to the loophole is to get rid of Obamacare’s employer mandate, “which would eliminate the incentive to hire people who are ineligible for Obamacare subsidies.” Mr. Rogers said the Republican majority that takes control of Congress next year should vote on that proposal.
Under Obamacare, businesses with 50 or more employees are supposed to provide insurance coverage to their full-time workers. If they refuse, they are assessed a penalty for every employee who receives subsidies to sign up for coverage on the health exchanges. But because the newly legalized illegal immigrants covered by Mr. Obama’s order can’t sign up for the exchanges or receive subsidies, employers aren’t penalized for hiring them.
Employers take notice
Some employers have already taken notice, and Dennis Michael Lynch, a documentary filmmaker, raised the issue on political strategist Dick Morris’s radio show in Philadelphia over the weekend.