12/19/2021
As faith fades from a people, and a nation, so do the blessings that God wants to bestow on them. When a people or nation rejects, or refuses to acknowledge that God is Lord, and does not serve Him, they lose their heritage in Him. Whether a country is one that was once faithful but has turned away, or one that is hearing the gospel and Word of God for the first time but refuses to accept it, the result is the same; God withdraws His hand from them, and His blessings are lost. Their heritage becomes a worldly one because they have chosen themselves, and this world, to be their gods…
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!”
Psalm 33:12 ESV
As we look at the world today we see that it is yielding itself more and more to the grasp of humanism, or in other words it is putting its faith in the human being, rather than the divinity of God. Even believers who were once churches have fallen away, and have become bastions of humanism. They no longer consider what God calls an abomination to be so, and have reshaped His Holy Word, and the Gospel of Jesus, into something that has no meaning; they are no longer hot or cold, but lukewarm, and their faith is rotting away.
““‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”
Revelation 3:15-17 ESV
But there is hope, and that hope comes in the form of the reprove and discipline of God that leads kings and people to repentance, and prods them into turning once again to an unwavering faith in Him, and Jesus Christ.
“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.”
Revelation 3:19-21 ESV
So the men and women who are now calling themselves “of God”, but who have watered down God’s Word, and turned the gospel of Jesus to a gospel of humanism, will face the wrath of God, and many will see death and eternal fire before they are brought to repentance, but there is still time for redemption, and to humbly turn back towards God. The love of God for man continues to prompt Him as He listens to their prayers of contrition, and leads Him to forgive their sins. This is the real hope, and it begins with a single man or woman calling out to Jesus, and then grows until it saves nations… are you that person?
“if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.”
2 Chronicles 7:14-16 ESV
Though the entire world might be turning away, and it’s people supplanting Him with their own humanism, there is yet hope, and this patient hope flows into every crevice of creation as we are loved by God, and saved by Jesus Christ. Now is the moment to repent, and now is the time for all men to turn their faces back towards the Lord. Now is the time for hope to rise up, and to transform us.
““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
John 3:16-17 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your love, mercy, and patience, but thank you most for giving us hope, and salvation, in the grace, and redeeming blood, of Jesus Christ. You have seen the whims of mankind lead us astray many times, and yet your love for us perseveres, and endures; your patient love continues to reach out for us. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who extends His love mercifully to every nation, and people. We praise you for the blessings you bestow on us as open our hearts to you, or we repent, and return to our faith in you. Help us Father as we work diligently to restore faith in Christ to our nations… one soul at a time. Wash us clean, and deliver us from every sin as you restore us as your people, and reestablish the holiness of your Church. Deliver us Father on the day when Jesus returns to claim His bride, and judge each of us individually worthy through Him to be seated at your table forevermore… men and women of every people, and nation, called the children of God.
“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!””
Revelation 7:9-10 ESV
Rich Forbes