Only God Can Save America

It is not a single president or Republican or Democrat party that can save America. There comes a time in the affairs of men when they must prepare to defend, not their homes alone, but the tenets of faith and humanity on which their churches, their governments, and their civilization are founded.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt said something in 1939 that still stands true today:

“The defense of religion, of democracy, and of good faith among nations is all the same fight. To save one we must now make up our minds to save all.“

This was said two years before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Clearly, Roosevelt understood the importance of keeping God in high esteem within the family and within governments.

So why does it seem our government has abandoned God?

The answer isn’t an easy one and the change to abandon God did not happen quickly.

The United States was founded on God at the birth by the covenant of the mayflower compact. It was made by the Pilgrims and God and with each other long before local, state or federal governments were ever enacted. As time went on evidence proves that American had favor with God.

But as new officials were elected into political positions it meant new ideas were brought into play. Not every elected official clearly viewed the importance of the moral code handed down by the finger of God or even the difference between right and wrong as vital to America’s survival.

It’s those immoral, wrongdoing and unprincipled views that have infiltrated American families and government, oftentimes presented in way as to benefit our country when in fact they actually created a void between us and God. And that void results in separation from God and loss of His favor.

Jeremiah 2:11-13 says:

Has a national changed its gods, which really are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be astonished, you heavens at this, and be horribly afraid. Be very desolate, says the Lord. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the springs of living water, and cut them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water.”

American has fallen further and further from God. We either need to decide we have gone too far, believing the chaos Satan has caused and declare him as winner or we believe what Jesus taught and the truths God speaks continually through the Bible. And begin repenting and getting closer to God.

The Bible clearly explains that mankind is to turn to our Maker in every situation. Every situation includes personal, family, and work life. Every situation also includes turning to God to make right our government because our government surely affects all aspects of American life.

Only God Can Save Our Nation

We cannot trust in mankind to save our national from the likes of pandemics, racism, and violence in the streets or government fraud. But we can trust in God’s power to stir the hearts of believers, and call to Him sincerely in prayer and repentance for our nation. Ask Him to place law makers, leaders, and judges who will choose to obey God’s will. And rely on Him to place all concerns for America at the foot of the cross.

Only God can save our nation. He can do it through us. But we need to start by humbling ourselves on our knees confessing our sin.

Clean Hands And A Pure Heart

As I’ve said before we are going through the Psalms at my church. Every Psalm has a prayer for everything we go through in life.

Psalm 24 tells us to pray for clean hands and a pure heart. It had three main parts and they’re very clear in what they say.

Psalm 24 begins with a strong assertion that God is the creator who separated the dry land from the waters.

“The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains. The world, and those who dwell in it. For He had founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers” – Psalm 24: 1-2

Zion National Park

The point is simple. God has created all there is and everything belongs to Him.

Who can stand in the Lord’s presence?

The second part of this Psalm refers to the qualifications for entering the holy temple. If you could imagine a bunch of believers on their way to Jerusalem because they want to go to a place where there is a powerful sense of the presence of God.

The Scriptures are clear that God is omnipresent. But the Scriptures also make it clear that there are times and places in which His presence is so especially powerful.

If you’ve ever been go a Good Friday celebration with a 100 or more people worshipping God, you know the power of God is so strong that it almost knocks you off your feet you know what I mean.

“Who may ascend to the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place” – Psalm 24:3

The word “stand“ is well chosen. Who can stand in God’s presence and not be destroyed? In 2 Samual 6, a man named Uzzah touched the ark of the covenant (God) because the oxen stumbled and the ark was falling. Uzzah’s irreverent act caused his death.

“He who has clean hands and a pure heart. Who had not lifted up his soul to falsehood and had not sworn deceitfully” – Psalm 24:4

“He who had clean hands and a pure heart…“ In other words, he who has integrity. The word integrity describes a wholeness or oneness. The one with integrity had a whole heart. For instance David, was a great sinner, but the Bible says he was a man after God’s own heart. This means that David didn’t worship other gods.

Matthew 5:8 says “Blessed are the pure in heart. He was drawing from this Psalm. The goal is to see God -to be in His presence.

This means even after we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit and have been forgiven and cleansed, we must still walk in newness of life. We are on the same path as the believers in Jerusalem going to the temple to seek God’s powerful presence and we have not yet arrived.

“He who has clean hands and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and had not sworn deceitfully” – Psalm 24:4

Those who support idols swear by what is false, and swear deceitfully. The person who has clean hands and a pure heart receive the favor and vindication of God.

“He shall receive a blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation” – Psalm 24:5

Who can have that status? Those who seek the God of Jacob. This is the generation of those who seek this blessing. Namely, those who seek Him, even your people who are Jacob. In other words, the followers of the Lord God.

First Thoughts

Jot down the first thing that comes to your mind.

The first thing that came to my mind is. “What the heck an I going to take for a potluck to Passover?” My church is having a Passover/Potluck on Wednesday. I want to bring something easy and no-bake.

A Random Encounter With Strangers

Describe a random encounter with a stranger that stuck out positively to you.

Doing good feels good, but receiving a random act of kindness can help you think positively. Whether it’s a volunteer worker or something for a friend. Being the beneficiary of someone else good deed gives you a positive attitude boost, especially a random act of kindness from a stranger.

My friends have done more for me than I can recount and I am definitely grateful. But when someone I don’t even know does something nice for me it’s uncomplicated and unexpected. It does something kind of wonderful, and restores my spirit.

Yesterday I was helping at a function that helps send Bibles all over the world. I witnessed a lady buy two little girls items from a fundraising table that was set up. She clearly didn’t know them. She bought a stuffed crochet sea turtle and a small purse. Their mother was in such awe it brought tears to my eyes.

It’s these kind acts that make a persons day a little brighter. And give you faith in a broken world.

The Judgement Of The Sheep And The Goats

“All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left” -Matthew 25:32-33

The subjects of Christ’s judgment will be all the nations. The nation means every person alive on earth when the Lord returns. Although He will have taken all believers into heaven at the Rapture, during the following seven years of the Tribulation many other people will come to believe in Him. During that dreadful time, multitudes of Gentiles (Revelation 7:9, 14), as well as all surviving Jewish people (Romans 11:26), will be brought to faith in Christ.

Jesus makes it clear that those who are alive when He returns will include both saved and unsaved, represented by the sheep and the goats, respectively. And those two separate people will have two separate destinies. The believers will be ushers into the kingdom and the unbelievers into eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46).

I believe the time of the “great harvest” is now. We all have a choice to make and very soon. If you’re watching anything that’s happening in the world it’s clear that Bible prophecy is coming true right before our eyes.

The process of Christs judgment will include the absolute and unerring separation of the saved from the unsaved. When all the nations and peoples of the earth will have been gathered before Him at His return, the Lord will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

In ancient times sheep and goats were frequently herded together. But sheep are docile, gentle creatures, and goats are unruly and rambunctious and can easily upset the sheep. Because they do not feed or rest well together, the shepherd often separated them for grazing and sleeping at night.

In a similar way Christ will separate believers from unbelievers when He returns to establish His millennial kingdom. He will put the believing sheep on His right, the place of favor and blessing. But the unbelieving goats He will put on the left, the place of disfavor and rejection

In ancient biblical times, a father’s blessing was extremely important, because it determined who would receive the major part of the inheritance. When Jacob was about to bless his two grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, he was careful to place his right hand on the son who would receive the inheritance. Because the major blessing normally went to the eldest son, Manasseh was placed on Jacob’s right and Ephraim on his left. But when the time for blessing came, Jacob crossed his hands so that his right hand was on Ephraim’s head rather than Manasseh’s. Against Joseph’s objection, Jacob insisted on giving the major blessing to Ephraim, because God had chosen him over his brother (Genesis 48:8-20).

My sheep and goat prayer:

Father God, when the time comes to separate the sheep from the goats, I want to be grouped with the sheep. I pray that I would live my life fully surrendered to you, trusting in you and following you for the rest of my days on this earth, and that I will look forward to spending eternity with you in heaven. In Jesus Name -Amen

A Decision I Made That Helped Me Grow

Describe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.

I didn’t like the life I was living for a long time. I spent many years in self-pity because of the experiences I had gone through. For a long time, I thought I had no other choice.

One day I was taking a friend to the doctor and the receptionist had a plague on her wall that said,

“If you don’t like something change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. But whatever you choose to do, don’t complain about it.”

So often we sit around, thinking about how unhappy we are about our lives. Without putting any effort into changing it. We blame our circumstances or make excuses for why we can’t change. The only person capable of changing your life is you.

That wall plague changed my life. I made a serious decision that day. To not be okay with feeling the victim in my life. I chose to change my perspective on life. It was a decision that made all the difference in the world.

Pushing Buttons

When I get a different vehicle I always manage to hit buttons and something shows up on the dash but I don’t know which button to push to fix it. Buttons are like silent switches that are turned on or off sometimes without a sound. And we are not aware of just how they are pushed.

Some people learn what buttons they can push to make us angry, unhappy or manipulate us to get what they want.

We all have things that we should avoid, places or people that stir up wrong passions or desires, things that cause us to lose needed sleep… the liaise can go on and on. Certain things cause us to act in ways that are not good for us either physically or mentally or spiritually. We may suffer if we permit the wrong buttons to be pushed.

For example, there are times in the day when I especially want to eat something I really crave. Satan did that to Adam and Eve, and it worked. They responded to the suggestion he gave them. He tried the same with Jesus, but Jesus would have none of it. He would not accept Satan’s thoughts whether they came through people He loved or from thoughts that Satan directed His way.

What can we do? What provisions has God given us to help with this? We can learn how to make it increasingly difficult for things or people to control our thoughts. Jesus set His mind to think only the thoughts that would please His Father.

I have found that when I feel like my buttons are being pushed I can quote Philippians 4:8,

“Whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, thing about these things.”

This way I know my thoughts will align with God’s directions. I maybe thinking of something that is true but is it also admirable? Is it pure and excellent? If not, I can turn my thoughts towards things that I know God will use to bless others and myself.

Often times we may realize that our thoughts are not even fitting into God’s plan of what we should be thinking about. When we redirect our thoughts, we can sense joy stirring in our hearts.

When we are happy we think of ways to help others to be happy.

God-Centered Or Self-Centered

If Jesus Is at the center of your life, you will be blessed.

What will be the center of your life? In other words, who or what are you going to live for? We have a lot of options. We can center our life around a career, a sport, a hobby, making money, or having fun.

There is nothing wrong with any of these things. They are all fine, but they all make a lousy center for our lives. We need something at the center of our lives that is absolutely unchanging, and that can never be taken away from us. Because if our center can be taken away, we will always be under stress, knowing we could lose our security. That’s why we need to center our lives on something that is unchanging and secure.

There is only one thing we can put at the center of our lives that will never change and that is strong enough to sustain us through life -Christ Jesus.

I remember an old toy called “Superball.” When you bounced it on the ground, it would go dozens of feet into the air, because the center of the Superball was a tightly compacted, solid core, not a mushy center. It’s solid core gave it bounce-ability.

When our core is solid in God, we also have bounce-ability. We bounce back from stress faster. We bounce back from problems faster. We bounce back from sadness faster. We can even bounce back from a crisis faster. When we have something solid in our lives that doesn’t change, we worry less.

Philippians 4:6-7 tells us instead of worrying, pray…Its wonderful what happens when Jesus displaces worry at the center of your life.

When we put Jesus at the center of our lives we are able to worry less. Anytime I start worrying, it’s a red flag, a warning sign that tells me, “I’ve allowed someone or something to become the center of my life instead of God.” If we make a person or something else our lives, we will be under stress because that person can walk out of our lives, or that thing a break down or run out. Knowing our center isn’t secure brings constant stress.

Get Out Of Survival Mode

Many people spend a lot of time in survival mode. The problem is that when we are in survival mode we are repeatedly looking for the next phase, the next season, or the next big thing.

I’m very experienced on many different levels of survival mode. “If I can just get through the winter.” If I can just make my bills this month.” “If I can…”

Whatever our struggle or stress-induced situation, we pick a point just past it and say, If I could just get there. Current,y for me, it’s: if I can just get past this knee replacement things will be better. But I know when that happens I will pick a new preconceived magical spot and aim again.

It’s a constant game of Survival Mode.

But, God doesn’t intend for us to just survive through life. He’s given us tools and the ability we need to through the indwelling of His Spirit and lots of promises, so we can thrive not just survive. 2 Peter 1:3 says. “Seeing that His divine power had granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and virtue.”

In Jesus, we have whatever we need to not just get through, but to appreciate, enjoy, and partake in God’s kingdom each and every day -not matter what season of life we are in. The problem is that we are nearsighted, and continually setting our eyes on a specific marker instead of setting our eyes on a specific Savior. We are looking for some new season to bring satisfaction instead of seeking satisfaction in God, believing it’s the next thing we need instead of a God we most need.

There is a way out of all the phases, seasons, and struggles. And it has nothing to do with dates on a calendar or getting to the end of a struggle. But it has everything to do with a Christ-centered perspective.

Maybe we need to start asking ourselves. Where is my hope in am accomplishments or in God who hasn’t left me and won’t forsake me?

Romans 15:13 says, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

While accomplishments are great, and we should definitely celebrate them. But, if it’s simply the next accomplishment. I’m focused we are focused on, we are going to come up empty and unsatisfied every time.

Besides, accomplishments don’t get us out of survival mode, they just lead us straight into the next one. When our hope is in God, things shift. A new focus takes over, making room in our hearts for joy and peace. Which happens to be the two attributes we crave most when life feels like we are swimming upstream.

Hope in God feels like He is not done writing our story. It looks like trusting that God is not done with us. And we feel like God has already moved on from us, He still has a plan for our life that’s must right for us.

We need to ask ourselves if we are worrying or worshipping?

This one gets me every time. When I’m worried, having an attitude of worship is the farthest thing from my mind. Worshiping makes an incredible difference. Philippians 4;6 tells us “In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and Thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

We need to ask ourselves. Why am I so discontent with today?

If I’m only surviving then chances are that I’m discontent about something. There’s a reason I’m not happy about today. Do I wish I wasn’t so busy or too busy? Am I worn out and longing for a break? Or am I simply not seeing God’s blessings? What is it that’s causing me to wish for tomorrow or another season?

For me whatever it is I personally have turned it into an idol, whether it’s, sleep, sanity, slowness, or success. I’m surviving until I get it, then I’ve put it on a pedestal and decided that’s what I need the most. When it’s God I need the most.

We need to ask ourselves, Where is my mind?

Honestly, I wonder sometimes where my brain went, but it’s not a question of location, it’s a question of aim. Colossians 3:2 says “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth.”

This is a perspective question. Am I focused on God’s glory or my own? God’s will or my own? Remember that when we set our minds on the eternal instead of temporary earthly things it leads to a good day. When we get stuck on ourselves it’s easy to get stuck in survival mode.

The bottom line is we don’t have to live in survival mode is we can live each and every day focused on God and the things above.

What Place I Would Never Visit

What place in the world do you never want to visit? Why?

I have never had a desire to go to New York City. But especially not now. Because of their catch-and-release policy criminals go free. And it being a sanctuary city. All the of the crime is destroying it.

Along with what they doing to a man running for office. I’m not saying he is innocent in some cases but neither in the other person. None of this should be happening in America.

Negativity Attracts Negativity

Do you ever find yourself ruminating on negative thoughts? Theater a few basic laws of attraction, like attracts like.

If you examine this law a bit closer, it boils down to like thoughts attract like thoughts. If you have negative thoughts, you will attract negative people and things. If you have positive thoughts or think positive affirmations), you will attract positive people and opportunities. But you have to be careful. You can’t just also a positive thought in top of a negative thought and expect it to work miracles.

This is why positive affirmations don’t always work. You have to eliminate all the underlying sources of negativity otherwise it won’t work. Negative thoughts will always cancel out the positive ones. Your actual experience of something prompts the negative thought and then the thought feels real. Then the positive affirmation feels false, like wishful thinking.

Here’s an example,

Say you have a great relationship. You like the idea of having someone to share your life with and you can picture the relationship in a positive light. But at the same time, you’re worried that the relationship could lead to losing your freedom and control. The fear and your need for freedom and independence keep you from reaching the goal of being in a great relationship. This doesn’t prevent you from attracting the relationship but the need for freedom and independence prevents that relationship from becoming serious.

You need to find the don’t cause of the negative thoughts that are blocking your positive goals. When you eliminate negativity at its source then you’re on your way to a more positive life. If your feelings are negative they will color your thoughts,

Schemes Of Warfare

“He will speak words against the Most High and will wear out the holy ones of the Most High. He will plans to change the times and the law; and; and they will take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it to the end“ – Daniel 7:25

Have you ever felt like someone is trying to wear you down?

Issues unresolved in my like for what seems like a decade have left my energy depleted. Its frustrating because in so many areas of my life, I have seen such tremendous growth and increase, yet in this area, satan “seems” to have the upper hand,

Proverbs 17:22 says, “A broken spirit saps a person’s strength.”

Yes, there literally is trying to wear you down. It’s the enemy’s first tactic in warfare. The enemy of your soul (satan) is trying to break your spirit so he can sap your energy and get you to quit. We see him trying to do this today in America with all the “cancel culture” things that going on. Russia is trying to wear down Ukraine. Ukraine is trying to wear down Russia. Hitler did it to the Jewish people. Hama is trying to do it to Isreal right now. It’s not a new tactic it’s been going on forever.

Jesus reminds us that he only comes to steal kill and destroy. Satan doesn’t have any good plans for your life…but God does!

In the concentration camps the strongest people were those who humbled themselves before the Lord and relied on Him to take care of them.

God has a plan for your victory. Understanding victory is only achieved through a battle helps you accept that although victory doesn’t come easy, it will come.

If you’re feeling worn down, worn out, and sapped of strength, don’t give up. Fight the urge to become weary in doing good, at the proper time you will reap a good harvest if you don’t give up.

Victory doesn’t come easy, but it will come!