Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.

Good election news!! God is still in control. We need not sit in a circle  to grumble, complain, and gripe about the outcome. We need not stand in a circle and celebrate.

The Bible is very clear that God is working history by His plan. History is His Story. The small brush stroke we see during this breath that we call life is not the masterpiece. It’s a brush stroke.

When we worry and fret about the world, we are, in essence saying, “God, You’re getting it all wrong. You see, I know better than You how this should all be working. If You will just listen to me, I can get the government fixed, world peace established, and everyone sitting in a circle singing and sharing a Coke.” What a blasphemous thing to say.

It’s not true. Most of us can barely keep our own life in line. We have blind spots. We have biases (whether we admit it or not). Our focus is on the brush stroke that is our breath of life. We don’t see the Master’s Piece.

God will not change course based on my opinion. I thank Him for that. The good news is that He won’t do it for anyone! Imagine if He changed for every person – He’d take into account 7 Billion opinions, changing every second, all day long, every day.

Jesus healed men, women, Jews, Gentiles, Israelite, Romans, free, and slave. He gave love and healing freely, so much so that people touched His garment as He walked along and were healed. He didn’t do a “political party” survey. Israel was a nation in captivity, yet He healed the Roman soldier’s servant. He rendered unto Caesar what was Caesars. He called us to Spiritual Freedom, even in the midst of political bondage.

Please don’t give up your Spiritual Freedom in favor of political fear this morning. I know some will wring their hands about last nights outcome. Some will throw their hands in the air about last nights outcome. I will fold my hands in prayer for those elected in last nights outcome. I will thank God for still being in control and for allowing me to be a small brush stroke in this Masterpiece He is painting.

Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Presence is a gift. It is a present like none other. It is the gift of one spirit completely focused on another spirit. Love, Time and Talent are brought to focus in that singular moment. Presence is personal. Giving the gift of presence requires a mindful choice. We choose to be solely focused on a person or an experience in that moment. If there are distractions, we’ve not chosen to be present.

This is an age of distraction. Phones interrupt conversations. Work distracts from family. Social media replaces friendship. Electronics mindlessly absorb time. Parents ignore children in favor of Facebook. People text one another, while sitting across the table from each other. The art of letter writing is passing away. The craft of the personal phone call is on life support. The days of a personal visit to someone’s house, for some time with coffee on the porch, is thought to be odd.

Presence takes focus. A complete presence, giving all to another human being, for a period of time, is a present, a gift. When we focus a letter on someone, focus a phone call on someone, or focus a home visit on someone, we gift love to that person. We reach into our souls and extract a measure of love. That measure must come without strings. When we gift time to a person, we reach into the limited time that God has gifted to us and we extract a portion to spend on another.

Give the present of your presence to someone needing it today. In the end, it will not be the present that the child remembers, but the presence. It won’t be the compliment the spouse recalls, but the presence. It won’t be the praise the pastor treasures, but the presence.

When we’re called home, the Bible is quite clear. We won’t be judged on the presents we brought, but how present we were as we brought them. God won’t ask about the gift we gave, but about our heart as we gave it.

Our presents mean nothing to God in the absence of our presence.

1 Peter 3:4 rather let it (beauty) be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

When we can’t be the artist, we can be the artist’s inspiration. We can model the beauty, we can communicate the peace, we can echo the love that will inspire the artist.

Poets and songwriters write of love – flowing words and melodies that grab our heart and transport us into the emotion the artist is experiencing. Painters transform blank canvas into beautiful women using only paint, brush, and the inspiration held in heart.

The artist must have talent, this is true… but he must also have inspiration. She must have something that draws the music of the heart out. The talent is nothing without the inspiration. Inspiration, inspire, In Spirit – The Spirit inspires the art.

Artists exist in all mediums. There are artists leading business – they create the business using inspiration and talent. Artists lead non-profits – they’re inspired by a passion and create the non-profit to answer a societal gap.

When we cannot be the artist, we can provide inspiration for the artist. Being beauty, being God’s spirit in bodily form, being love and gentleness always – let the beauty inspire. I may have no talent to paint, but my love and encouragement may quicken the hand of the one who does.

Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Life is a balance of investments. We trade off between four basic areas each day, in every decision we make. Love, Time, Talent, and Money are being bartered in our effort to optimize this experience we call life.

Worldly design tells us to “go for the money”! Trade all love, time, and talent in pursuit of dollars. Build the bigger house, buy the nicer car, take the more lavish vacations. Invest all in pursuing what others will see and covet.

Divine design tells us “love is all that matters”! Use money, talents, time to amplify love. Focus on spouse, children, parents, neighbors, and strangers. Love your enemy. Do it all in secret and with pure motives. Give, with no thought to receiving.

Imagine a line extending between an endpoint on the left labeled “World” and an endpoint on the right labeled “Divine”. Our truth, what we will do, our focal point, lies somewhere along the line between the two extremes. As we move along this line, left to right, we become more personally invested.

When we consider Money, it’s almost purely of the world. It is very impersonal. The dollar bill I hold today will be in another hand tomorrow. To accumulate large wealth is not bad – to make it our focus is bad. To focus and sacrifice talent, time, and love (on the altar of life) to money shifts us away from the divine and toward the world. While we can trade love, talent, and time for money, we can’t trade money for talent, time, or love.

When we consider Talent, it’s more personal. No two people share the same talents. Though perhaps similar, each is unique. Talent is personal. Talent may be appreciated, but cannot be replicated. We trade talent for money, but no amount of money can buy talent. No amount of talent can be traded for time or love. When we trade talent for money, we are investing more personally than when we simply give money.

When we consider Time, this is even more personal. Time cannot be created. We each have a set amount each day. Giving time to someone or a cause means personal investment and other opportunities placed on hold. We trade time for money, we trade time to develop talent, but no amount of time can be traded for love.

When we consider Love, this is the most personal of all and is positioned on the divine end of our line. Love is completely unique. It is unlimited in capacity. You have only to look as far as the parent sacrificing all for the life of a child to understand this. Giving love means a purely personal investment. None of the other elements can be traded for love, but love is often cheapened in pursuit of the other elements. It is closest to divine.

Jesus warns us – value the most valuable most. Value love above all else. Fill the heart with love. Don’t trade the true gold of love in pursuit of trinkets and idols. In the end, Love will be the only treasure that follows us to heaven. All else will remain behind.