March 27
Deut 7:1-8:20 | PS 69:1-18 | Prov 12:1 | Luke 7:36-8:3
If people were to list what they fear is the greatest threat to the existence of America, the lists might vary. Some might list other powerful countries such as Russia or China. Others might list the infiltration into our nation of those who might seek our demise through porous borders or through refugees that were brought over from Afghanistan. Others might point to the virus and all that has been done surrounding this disease. While still others would look at our domestic politics, our concerns over energy, etc. Though each one certainly could be a reason for concern, if our nation was to fear one thing it should be God. Though our nation was at one time deeply rooted in the things of God, we have positioned ourselves now as His enemy. Recently the U.S. State Department has offered 1 million dollars to report on Israeli human rights violations. Not only this but we have been infusing huge amounts of cash to Israel's most vocal and dangerous enemy, Iran, and this doesn't even include the amount of money we are now offering for Iranian oil, since we refuse to allow production in our own nation. When God makes a covenant, He doesn't change His mind. In the Abrahamic Covenant, we read in Genesis 12:2-3, concerning the future nation of Israel, "I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”" For years, as Israel's main ally, we have been the recipient of God's blessings. We have now adopted a position of cursing Israel , as we strengthen their enemies. Every other concern dwarfs in comparison to becoming the object of God's curses by placing ourselves in that position in God's covenant through Abraham.
Our nation came from humble beginnings. But we have become a powerful and prosperous nation. No one can argue that for years, we have been the world's superpower. But our nation once rooted in God, has become anything but this. We have become utterly godless. We have allowed it to seep into our classrooms, our homes, our workplaces and our neighborhoods, as we read the warning in Deuteronomy 7:25-26, "You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing." Our idols might look different from then, but everything exalted over God is an idol. Please meditate on this as we consider our current idols. In our prosperity, we have allowed ourselves to be lifted up, as we read in 8:11-14, "“Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them;...when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;". Read God's warning to Israel, which should send shivers down our spine in 8:17-20, "then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’...Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God."
We, in the United States are faced with a choice. We either return to our God, or we will soon perish. Trials have always existed and if our eyes are on Him they will refine us and strengthen us.. The question is what will we do with our current trials? We read in Deuteronomy 8:1-3, "“Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers. And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord." If you think that our nation has gone too far, and our situation is hopeless, then our nation will fall from grace and become a byword of its former self. Our hope, in fact our only hope, is revival. We don't need to look to others for this to happen. In your own mission field: at home, at work, at church, on social media and in your neighborhoods, show the light of Jesus Christ to a world who has either never known Him, has forgotten Him, or has taken Him for granted. Our job in our nation is to render ourselves and influence our nation to become a people that God can bless, rather than curse.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: