Red, White and Blue

July 4

God-devotion makes a country strong; God-avoidance leaves people weak.  Proverbs 14:34 MSG

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.   Proverbs 14:34 NIV 

On this day, when we stop to thank God that we live in America, the land of the free and home of the brave, there is a bit of a heaviness for me when I reflect where we are as a nation.  There are two views which can be taken from the Christian camp...one being that we are doomed and under God's wrath.  Another which takes the viewpoint "All things are possible with God and we should pray for repentance and revival in our land."  Some days the first seems much easier than the later. Oh, me of little faith.
Michael Youssef is an Atlanta pastor, who is from Egypt. (We should be in prayer for that nation.)
Today he posted a message of "hope," which I have posted below.  In all of our celebratory actions today, may prayer for our nation be on our agenda!

By Michael Youssef, Ph.D.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our great nation, we are also dealing with threats that could bring about her demise. The threats we face today are far more dangerous than ones we have faced before because they emanate from within—accomplishing what foreign armies never could. It is true, America has faced great threats before, but her people have always known how to turn to God for help.

Our predicament is much like a magnificent home that is protected by a high fence, barking dogs, and an alarm system—but it is being destroyed by termites.

Today, we are dealing with leadership who has abandoned our spiritual foundation. These leaders even have the audacity to deny, mock, and act ashamed of the God of our Founding Fathers.

However, I am writing today to encourage you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, because those who know and love the Lord must never give in to apathy and discouragement.

Israel of old faced catastrophic circumstances, but it only took one man who refused to give up. He was willing to sacrifice, stay on his knees and trust the power of God as he stepped forward courageously to see the restoration of his nation. 

Israel had a series of corrupt kings and a series of warnings from God. He appealed time and again for them to repent.  They refused and so God’s judgment came upon Israel and they were taken into exile by foreign invaders.

But, 70 years later, God fulfilled His promise and restored Israel through a pagan king and a faithful servant of God, Nehemiah. 

During a time when very few people recognized the devastation of God’s people and the shattering of Israel, Nehemiah saw the broken walls and the burnt gate and he wept.  Right now, there are too few people weeping over America.

As I have sounded the warning bell repeatedly over the last few years, the response I have received is disheartening. People call, write in and respond on social media saying, “Why bother? America is already under judgment.  This has all been prophesied. We are in the end times. Leave it alone!”

Yet, when Nehemiah heard of the broken walls that symbolized defenselessness, he did more than weep. He prayed. He planned.

Today, the walls of our culture are leaving our citizens defenseless. The gates of our culture are burnt and destroyed. Christians are being persecuted in our military. School curriculums are denigrating the Christian convictions of our Founders. Hollywood deliberately lies about or denies the Biblical foundation of our nation. Government policies denigrate and destroy marriage and family as the bedrock of society.

Technology was meant to be our servant, but it has become our master—robbing us of our freedom. On our money it says, “In God We Trust.” Now, in truth, it is in money we trust.

You may be asking, “Michael, where is the encouragement you promised?” 

Here it is. Thankfully, with all of these broken walls and burned gates, it is a great time in history to be a Bible-believing Christian because we have an amazing opportunity to see the hand of God work more powerfully than ever before. We may have the chance of seeing God manifest His power once again.

However, we must follow Nehemiah’s example and pray and plan rather than giving in to anger, despair, indifference or apathy.

If Nehemiah teaches us anything, he teaches us that one person plus prayer and faith in a mighty God equals God’s mighty power at work. However, this must be a sincere movement of faith, not an attempt to manipulate God. 

God is not impressed with our outward displays of devotion without inward commitment. God is not impressed when we hand Him our crumbs with no sacrifice. God is not impressed with how high we can jump for Jesus. He wants to see how straight we walk once we land.

God wants to do His business with men and women who mean business.

So, how did Nehemiah go about God’s business?

First, he identified the problem. Then, he took the problem to the Lord in prayer. He did not waste his time getting angry. He did not waste his time in recrimination. He did not waste his time blaming others.

He fully identified with the people’s sin that brought about this disaster. He did not pray for “their” sin. Rather, he confessed his own sin.

When was the last time you prayed in agony over your sin and the sin of the nation?

When was the last time you wept over the sin of apostasy in the church?

When was the last time you felt anguish at hearing the name of Jesus mocked and ridiculed?

There are three things about Nehemiah’s prayer that I want to share with you from Nehemiah 1:4-11.

1. His prayer began with praise.
2. He prayed persistently.
3. It was followed with a plan. When you pray for something, be prepared for your heart to do something. Prayer is not an excuse to do nothing. It does not absolve you from responsibility to act when God leads.

Nehemiah’s prayer was a call to action . . . on his own part first.

When Isaiah was privileged to go into the presence of God and heard the question, “Whom shall we send?” he did not say, “Here I am . . . send my sister.”

No. He said; “Here I am. Send me.”

This should be our response, too:

Here I am. Send me . . . to my neighborhood.
Here I am. Send me . . . to my workplace.
Here I am. Send me . . . to my campus.
Here I am. Send me . . . to the harvest.

This Fourth of July and beyond, may the Lord give each of us the spirit of Isaiah and Nehemiah and may God bless America as we repent and turn to Him.