Father, thank You for the United States and its government. I pray for the president, the national and local government, the judges, the policemen, the business leaders and all those who are in leadership positions in this country. Please protect them from the evil that is in the world and keep them safe and free from all harm.
You have promised to bless any nation that follows after You. Help us to live quiet and peaceful lives so that we can continue to spread the Good News of the Gospel throughout our land. In Jesus� name, Amen.
He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.
Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,
God not only sees all of our actions as we live our lives, but he can also discern our motives and thoughts.
God doesn't need strong and articulate people. He proved that time and time again by the people that he chose in the Scriptures. He needs people who fully rely on him, like David did, when he killed Goliath.
"If I place my confidence in my own cleverness, energy, charm, or other human resources, I will fail. Real inner strength to meet the challenges of my life will come only when I give the Lord reverence and when I trust totally in His unfailing love of righteousness."
(From A Musician Looks At the Psalms, by Don Wyrtzen)
Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead...
Over and over, Paul, in his writings, would paint the most dismal picture of our condition and then say something like, "But God..." Those are my two favorite words in all of Scripture, by the way..."But God." If it weren't for "But God," we would all be dead in our sins.
It is God who gives us spiritual life. "We couldn't make ourselves spiritually alive any more than a dead person can make himself alive."
Consider Lazarus. He was dead in the tomb. Three days. He could not just decide to come out again. In fact, he couldn't even obey Jesus's command to "come out" unless Jesus gave him life first. This is a picture of our spiritual condition before God gave us life. "We can hear the gospel a hundred times, but unless that call is accompanied by the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, we can no more respond to it than Lazarus could respond to a vocal call from Jesus."
"I know it's difficult for us to accept the fact that we could not just decide to trust Christ in much the same way we might decide to buy more life insurance. The truth is, we did decide to trust Christ, but the reason we made that decision is that God had first made us spiritually alive. This is part of the good news. God comes to us when we're spiritually dead, when we don't even realize our condition, and gives us the spiritual ability to see our plight and to see the solution in Christ. God comes all the way, not partway to meet us in our need. When we were dead, He made us alive in Christ. And the first act of that new life is to turn in faith to Jesus."
(Quotes from Holiness Day By Day by Jerry Bridges)
And that, my friends, is the "full gospel!"
I also thank you that you have made me aware that I can only succeed in this journey if I place my trust in you. There is nothing within me that I can trust. Nothing that I have in and of myself that can help me. It is all from you, and through you. I trust you, Lord. These have been hard times...not just for us, but for many others that we know, as well. Help us all to remember that we need to place our full trust in you and not rely on ourselves for anything at all.
Grace and peace, friends.