[A couple of weeks ago, I shared that I was going to revisit three posts that I had written a few years ago. For me, that is like picking up a book that I have previously read, and re-reading it. I would like to do this with three previous posts that will make up a trilogy of thought for the current season that we are experiencing as believers in Christ. I have taken the liberty to include some additional thought, and eliminate deemed appropriate.]
This was originally posted on December 24, 2019.
Recently, I completed a series about our nation being a P.O.W.
What does that imply?
I believe that we, as a nation, are a ‘prisoner of words’.
We are bombarded daily with words that accuse, seek to divide, and cause disunity disrupting the fabric of our nation. The centerpiece of this division is found in our political system.
Both sides of the political aisle participate in this divisive rhetoric.
What is my responsibility as a Christian? I believe that God’s Word instructs us to pray for those in authority over us. This is found in 1 Timothy 2:1-7. It is interesting to note that in this passage it tells us that we are to pray so that “we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” It continues instructing us that doing this is “good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior”. Verse 4 emphasizes the heart of God, our Father, that says that He “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
That does not seem to be the spiritual atmosphere of our nation today.
Today, as I compose my thoughts, it is the day before Christmas. If I may be so brash; many people in our nation, Christian and non-Christian, are more concerned about the coming of a man into the Presidency of the United States than celebrating the coming of the Christ-child to the earth.
Where is your focus?
I have thought of a new acronym for the word focus.
Focus On Christ’s Universal Sovereignty.
1 Timothy 2:5,6 clearly states Who is in charge.
“For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for all to be testified in due time.”
Galatians 4:4,5 says, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons…”
The One who is in charge has arrived.
God Himself.
Now what?
This Christmas season, I have been reminded several times of John 3:16,17 which says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Jesus, Who is the Word of God, “…became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth.”
As I ponder the atmosphere of our nation and the world in which I live, I ask my self a question, is there ‘room in the inn’ for Jesus today? or is there ‘no room in the inn’ just as it was at His first coming to earth, born as an infant in Bethlehem?
In order for me(forgive my personal reference) to function in this nation, I need to remember the Sovereignty of God.
God is in control.
My focus is not on the political turmoil that is disrupting the nation. My ears are not bent on hearing the latest news. My mind is not interested in pondering the pundits’ thoughts.
I confess that I do stay in touch to the point where I am aware of the general flow; but I do not seek to be governed by the political events of the day.
I do know that there is a political rift developing in the Body of Christ.
Is that wisdom? What is the source of that division? How am I to respond?
My response is-I need to pray; the Body of Christ needs to pray.
We need to ask in prayer, what is the Spirit saying to the Church?
Jesus is the Head of the Church. We are His Body. The Head speaks to the Body. The Body listens and carries out the plans of its Head, our King, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 55: 6-9 says, “Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way (repent), And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return (believe) to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon (forgive), For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord, For as the heavens are higher then the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
So what is the Lord saying to His Church? If we quiet our hearts before Him, He will speak, and direct His Body in truth of His Word, guided by the Holy Spirit. Therefore,
Let me encourage you to intercede for the Church, our leaders, our nation, and the propagation of the Gospel around the world.
In closing, I would like to share 5 bullet points that are listed in my study Bible written by Joy Dawson regarding intercession,
* Light is more powerful than darkness.
*Truth is stronger than error.
*There’s more grace in God’s heart than sin in men’s hearts.
*There’s more power in the Holy Spirit to convict men of sin than there is power of satanic forces to tempt men to sin.
*There’s more power in one drop of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus to cleanse men’s hearts from the stain of sin than there is in the accumulated filth of men’s sin since Adan and Eve.
We are at a crossroads in the life of this nation. The Church needs to seek the face of our Lord Jesus Christ and allow Him to bring correction to our lives. And then, the Church needs to intercede for our leadership and our nation.
Do you believe in the Sovereignty of God? Then everything is proceeding as He oversees the unfolding of His plan of salvation culminating in the return of His Son.
Tomorrow is Christmas (December 25, 2019), we celebrate His first coming; soon He will be coming again. In the meantime we live in the tension between the two events.
Have a blessed Christmas, a brother in Christ, deo
[As I have looked at this post from December, 2019 and the fact that it is being re-posted immediately following Easter, I see the significance of re-visiting this post, its thought, and its encouragement to pray for the nation.}
Living Words of Encouragement 