Good News?

As of noon Tuesday, July 5th 2016, the FBI publicly announced that they would not recommend criminal charges against Mrs. Clinton.  The FBI director, Mr. James Comey, listed some “extreme carelessness” in handling classified emails. But they would not recommend criminal charges because they did not find that Mrs. Clinton and her staff did this intentionally.
 
This has set off a firestorm of celebration and disgust. So I wondered, can God help us in all this? Well, here are some thoughts from His Word:
 
Matthew 7:17 … Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

• In this passage, Jesus is referring to false prophets/teachers. So it does not speak about email issues all that directly, but the principle here does.

• We can recognize the difference between good and poor fruit. It does not take long to know whether a strawberry or black raspberry is ready or not for picking. Jesus is teaching the same thing when it comes to the fruit people produce; their words, behavior, work, etc.
• In this email investigation, the FBI looked into the actions, behaviors and work of Mrs. Clinton and found that the “fruit” was not good.  

 
Ok. So what about the part on intent?

Psalm 44:20 … If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart?

1 Chronicles 28:9 … "And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

• These passages speak to the reality that you and I do not know what is in someone’s heart. We cannot know the motivation for the “fruit” that is produced in a person’s life, outside of his/her confession.
• It is, however, clear that God does. He knows what motivates the heart. Thus He can judge the whole person. We cannot. The FBI judged the behaviors of Mrs. Clinton and her staff, but when it came to the intent of the heart, they could not.

 
So today is a day of high political emotion. Some think Mrs. Clinton has been vindicated. Others feel the justice system is rigged. Regardless of how you feel, this really is a dark day. Why? Think about it. It's hard to miss. 
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One of the two leading people running for the Office of President of the United States of America, was investigated by the FBI, for several months, and was publicly rebuked by the FBI director for seriously poor judgment in the handling of classified information. How is this good news?  

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