Nations

What happens to the nations that forget God or out and out reject Him?  We live in what was once called the greatest nation in the world, founded on freedom of religion and freedom of speech and biblical values, a nation that was prosperous and was respected by all the other nations of the world.  We were also the most powerful nation in the world; our economy was good, there were plenty of jobs available, then little by little we started to reject God and His laws and principles and instead of rejecting wicked things we started accepting them and even standing behind them.

When Israel rejected God and His Word, He rose up in judgement against them but, when they truly repented, He blessed them and forgave them which is a good lesson for us to follow.  Some of what we call normal today, and the things that we allow on our airwaves and in the media, would never have been allowed in the thirties and forties.  The Constitution was at one time a respected document, along with the Ten Commandments, but today they are rejected, mocked and scorned in many places.  

It seems like the United States has had a facelift, and not for the better but for the worst, and I wonder how long God will hold His hand back before real calamity and destruction will take place.  A nation can reject God and humiliate Him for so long and then judgement will come until that nation repents and cries out to God for forgiveness and help.  God brought judgement on Israel and His chosen people for their rebelliousness and sin and their rejection of Him so how can we escape His judgement and wrath if we do the same thing which we are doing now and have been doing, but there is good news in all of this.

If a nation repents, God may extend His mercy and grace on that nation, for example in God’s Word we find hope in many places but let’s look at the book of Jonah for instance and what took place in Nineveh, which was a very wicked city.  If you would like to read the whole book it is only four chapters long and you will see the grace and mercy of God displayed, not only on a whole city but on an individual as well, Jonah himself.  Read how God responded to a very wicked nation that repented of their sins.

Read Jonah 3:1-10, “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.’ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.’

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.”

This shows the amazing love, mercy and grace of God and also His desire to forgive when we, or a nation, repents and turns from their wicked ways and turns to God for forgiveness.  For many years there were sacrifices for sin but the ultimate sacrifice took place and that was God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who gave His life a ransom for our sins so if we will repent and turn from our wicked ways and ask His forgiveness, He will forgive and cleanse us from all our sins and unrighteousness and He will cover us with His righteousness, praise the Lord!

So the decision is yours, if you don’t know Jesus in a personal way as your Lord and Savior my prayer is that you will repent of your sins, which means to turn in the other direction and ask Him to forgive you and to be your Lord and Savior and let Him fill you with His peace, love and joy.  Then go forth rejoicing and praising and share what the Lord has done in your life and start growing in the faith.  Pray about the church you should go to and start fellowshipping with other believers.  May the Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!

Healing

Today I feel like the Lord has encouraged me to do this blog on the importance of your enemy in your life.  Read what it says in God’s Word in Matthew 5:43-48, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Loving people is so important in our spiritual lives, and that includes our enemies also.  How many times has God used a believer to help their enemy?  Remember, God can use anything or anyone to accomplish His purpose.  He may even speak through you to your enemy.  Jesus was a Jew but He brought the gospel to the Samaritans who were the enemies of the Jews and what about Paul when He went to the Gentiles with the good news?  You may think that God will never use you to win anyone, let alone an enemy, but if you will do you part by loving and praying for your enemies, you may be surprised at what the Lord might do through you.

Way back in the book of 2 Kings, there was a servant girl who was captured by the Syrians and taken from Israel.  Here is a girl that is taken from her family and friends and her home by her enemy and made a servant, but she decides to love and not hate, and this is how the Lord used her and what she did.  Read 2 Kings 5:1-5, “Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, ‘Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.’ So Naaman went in and told his lord, ‘Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.’ And the king of Syria said, ‘Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.’ So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.”

Naaman must have had some kind of mild leprosy at the time which eventually would have cost him his position and his family and even his life.  But instead of the servant girl rejoicing over this fact, she chose to forgive and love her master and try to get him to seek help.  This was the outcome of that experience and all because she loved and didn’t hold a grudge.  Read verses 6-14, “And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, ‘When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.’ And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, ‘Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.’ But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, ‘Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.’ So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, ‘Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.’ But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, ‘Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?’ So he turned and went away in a rage. But his servants came near and said to him, ‘My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?’ So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”

If you want to read the rest of the story you can read the rest of the chapter.

If it hadn’t been for this young girl’s decision to not be bitter and angry, this story would have turned out much different.  I know it is not easy to forgive our enemies but it is the only way that we will ever be set free.  Only when we make the choice to love and forgive others, even our enemies, the root of bitterness and anger and thoughts of revenge will be broken in our lives and we will be set free, praise the Lord!!  Remember this, when the Son sets you free you are free indeed!  When we are set free, then the Lord can use us to minister to others and help them, even our enemies.  This is a prayer you might use, ‘Lord I choose to forgive my enemies, please help me to love (the person’s name), thank you Lord, amen!!  This is the Lord’s will for you so why wouldn’t He help you to do what his will is for your life?  So, try it!

I have given you something to think about and may the good Lord bless you and yours with His perfect peace, love and joy and may you have a super nice day!!  God may use you to pray for your enemies and you may see them healed also, praise the Lord!!

Different Outcome

Have you ever wondered what would have been, if you would have made different choices in your life?  Have you ever thought about the choices you should have made but chose not to at the time for one reason or another?  Sometimes people live in the past and they get very discouraged when they think of what might have been if they just made better choices at the time.  Some people go through life depressed because they are stuck in the past and can’t get beyond it.  Believers are encouraged to leave the past behind them and look to the future.

A good example of this was the Apostle Paul, what if he continually kept looking back at his past life as a persecutor of the church and it caused him to be in a depressed state most of the time, he wouldn’t have been near as effective as he was in the ministry and he may have just given up all together.  Read what Paul encouraged the believers to do in Philippians 3:7-21, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

He encouraged them to look ahead and not to dwell in the past.  Paul had plenty of reason to dwell in the past but he chose to press on ahead keeping his eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of the faith, and do what pleased Him.  He knew that he had been forgiven and covered by the blood of Jesus and his goal was to honor Jesus Christ with the rest of his life.  Because of Paul’s devotion and love for the Lord, the Lord used him in a powerful way.  Paul’s goal was to know Christ and to be more like him, and that goal took all his energy.  Paul also loved the church and, I believe, he would have laid down his life for it also.  Paul was willing to give up everything, including his family and friends or whatever ties he had to this world, to know Christ even if he had to suffer, which happened quite often.  Whatever it took, he was willing.  Paul was ready, for he was sold out to his Savior and Lord!!

What about you?  What are you willing to give up in order to know Christ?  Something to think about!  May the good Lord bless you and yours with His perfect peace, love and joy and may you have a super day!!

Expecting

Be honest, when you come to the Lord in prayer, what do you expect to happen?  Has prayer just become mechanical because you have prayed so many times for the same request and have not received it so you have given up believing that it will ever happen?  Do you just keep going through the motions because it has become just a habit, sort of like spinning your wheels? Mechanical prayers are not what the Lord is looking for and isn’t something that we should get in the habit of doing!  

I know that many of us fall into that trap, including me, but read what God’s Word says about this in James 1:5-8, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

What we miss many times is that when we ask for something we need to ask in faith and expectation, without doubting, if we expect our request to be answered.  

God’s Word says this in Hebrews 4:14-16, “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Read what the Lord said about asking seeking and knocking in Matthew 7:7-12, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

Jesus is teaching persistence here, this takes faith, focus and a non-compromising attitude.  We must not to give up like some do after a few mechanical efforts to find God or get their request answered.  If you continue to seek God, you will eventually be rewarded along with your prayer request, if you ask in faith.  Faith is what God is looking for whenever we seek Him for any reason.

Read the story of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8, “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ And the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’”

Don’t give up and don’t give in to doubt, just keep expecting God to move by praying whatever you know to be the will of God and stand on His promises, along with faith, and receive the answers that you are looking for.  Something to think about and may you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours abundantly!!  Don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord!!

Betrayed

Have you ever felt like you were betrayed by a close friend or someone you thought was supposed to love you?  Well that is the way I feel and have felt for a while now.  We can feel betrayed by our family or our friends or others that we feel real close to.  When you feel betrayed, it is an awful feeling especially when you feel no matter what you say or do doesn’t seem to make a difference.  It can make you feel like it was just a game to the other person and you are left devastated.  What does this sound like?  It sounds like life to me!

There is always someone waiting to take advantage of you, playing a game of pretense until you mess up and then the hammer falls, so to speak, and it is all over but the shouting.  We live in a world where people use and abuse others daily, but it is so hard to accept it especially when you have so wanted that relationship to last.  If you feel like I do, you are not alone, which I am sure you already know but I am going to give you some examples of people that have been betrayed in God’s Word.

There was Samson who was betrayed by Delilah to the Philistines, read Judges 16:16-21.

There was David who was betrayed by his son Absalom, read 2 Samuel 15:10-17.

Also there was Jehu who was betrayed by Joram, read 2 Kings 9:14-27.

Then there was Joash who was betrayed by his servants who ended up killing him, read 2 Kings 12:20-21.

Then, jumping to the New Testament, there was Jesus who was betrayed by Judas, read Matthew 26:46-56.

I am sure if you study, you will find more examples of this in God’s Word.   

Way back in Genesis, Cain betrayed and killed his brother Abel in Genesis 4:6.  So betrayal isn’t something new, it has been around for a long time now, so we shouldn’t be too surprised when it happens to us.  Regardless, it still hurts when it happens, but the key to all this is not to get bitter and overly angry where we do or say some things that we will regret.  We need to guard our hearts from that bitter root that can spring up and destroy our testimony and our peace and joy.  

Jesus is always the greatest example in this situation for every believer.  When being betrayed by His own people and suffering, then on top of all that being crucified, suffering even more, and even feeling betrayed by God Himself, saying, “Father why has thou forsaken me?”;  He spoke these words, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”  

Although it isn’t going to be easy, we need to follow His example and forgive and continue to love.  Something to think about and may you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours!!  And don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord for He is worthy!!