Look Up

Psalm 42:11a - Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? 

It saddens me to think we've come this far as a nation only to have it slip out of our hands. We know through the Word of God that nations come and go. I believe they do because they do not hold God in high esteem. Take the nations in the Old Testament days which did not worship God but their own gods. They may have grown great but were taken down in time. Hmmmm. We once were great; will we be taken down?

I can't say it enough how a nation has to have God as it's Source. And so do we.

I've been watching America, The Story of Us. It brings me to tears sometimes to see the mettle, physical strength and pride of our forefathers. They cherished their freedom,

fought for it and worked for it. They were proud of their accomplishments. But they also had a strong sense of faith in God.

The episode I recently watched was about the building of New York City and the development of industry, how we have learned from our mistakes and began to make changes for the betterment of life and living and working conditions. There was always someone who had the knowledge and determination to bring about something useful, from the man who determined to assemble the Statue of Liberty, to Carnegie's steel and Edison's light bulb. Even when crime became a problem, there was someone to step in to bring about a positive change. They moved forward.

The Statue of Liberty, I'm sure we all know was sent to us as a gift from France who helped us in our battle for independence against the British. The people who arrived on the shores of our country then came not just hoping for a new found freedom through this nation but to find a place to live and work. They did not have much to start out, but they worked to build a nestegg.

How different it is today. We seem to be moving backwards. Change is not as much positive. Yes, there are those who still have pride in their jobs and have worked hard to build businesses, but there are others just wanting a handout. At the same time there are those who aren't satisfied with just enough and use others, even destroy others, by stealing from them for their own greedy gain.

In the beginning of our growth as a nation I believe we were proud of our accomplishments. We were determined and believed that there was an Almighty God to rely on in all of our struggles. What has become of these people?

Tuesday Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest said: God does not keep a man immune from trouble; He says - "I will be with him in trouble." It does not matter what actual troubles in the most extreme form get hold of a man's life, not one of them can separate him from his relationship to God.  But we need to be in that relationship. There's the clincher. This goes for man and country.

Chambers went on to say that Tribulation is never a noble thing; but let tribulation be what it may - exhausting, galling, fatiguing, it is not able to separate us from the love of God. Never let cares or tribulations separate you from the fact that God loves you... This is good news! ...Logic is silenced in the face of every one of these things (tribulation, anguish or famine). 

I just cannot separate anything in life from God anymore. I see Him everywhere. I know others feel the same. He is such an integral part of life. If it weren't for Him we'd not be here experiencing life as it is. He was with us when this country was founded, but I fear He is backing away a bit until we come to the realization we need Him once again.

We are seeing God in action, if we can recognize it. It is exciting, despite the trouble we can sense ahead. He is able to do anything…anything. What looks like a mess to us He sees clearly. When we don't understand how good can come out of something, He knows exactly what He's doing. That takes faith. Faith in believing what we don't see…in our own lives and in the world.

We have built this country with our own hands through, I believe, the strength of God who always wants to bless those who believe in Him. Our beliefs are not strong enough anymore. Oh, there are many who still look to God, but the eyes of others need to be opened and perhaps with a bit of tribulation God will chastise us. He will cause us to look up.

Psalm 42:11b - Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.

Matthew 6:33 - But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Seek God.  These words came over and over not long ago when I first decided I needed to more actively seek God through more avidly reading His Word and listening to Him speak...sitting at His feet.  The words came through sermons, reading and a Bible study I was doing.  It was something our church was doing at the beginning of the year, seeking God for our lives, our families, our relationship with the Lord and for our nation.  It made so much sense when I'd put all the various thoughts together.  It was time.

In a Bible study we discussed something which is not new, that the whole reason God created us was to fellowship with us.  I got to thinking, somewhere along the way over hundreds of years we have forgotten this.  We've gone our own way and left the most important part of our life out.  I was reading a book last night before going to bed about how our nation has done the same thing.  We're slowly taking the most important Person out of the very life of this country. Or should I say the very life of this country is being sucked out because we are attempting to remove all semblance of a Divine Creator?

In his book What in the World is Going On? David Jeremiah makes a reference to something George Washington had said:  "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."  There were other quotes by other presidents saying pretty much the same thing. And then  David Jeremiah wrote:  "...when America turns from its position of being under God, we can no longer expect His blessings on this nation to continue."  

I wasn't planning on going in this direction!  But I just did.  It seems it fits both situations--personally and as a nation.  My original thoughts were that I cannot take for granted my salvation.  It is a gift from God.  He called me.  I did not search for Him.  I thought the knowledge I had of Him was all I needed.  He tugged until I responded.  He justified me in His eyes.  He blessed me with this gift of salvation.  But it's up to me to actively seek Him now.

How does this fit with our nation?  I believe God gave us this country.  It was His gift to us.  It provided us the freedom we desired (salvation).  So we should not be taking it for granted. Now it seems like a melting pot of disasters.  As long as we seek Him for this nation, we are blessed.  That blessing may be dwindling.  If as a nation we change our attitudes and return to seeking Him He will bless us accordingly.  However, we are living in troubling times.  Our nation faces an unknown future.  As Christians we are not to worry about anything, not about our lives and what we will eat, drink, our bodies, or clothing.  God takes care of all things and aren't we more important than everything else? We shouldn't worry about what may transpire.  If I seek God first...if we seek God first...He will provide all our needs.  I am worried about those who do not know the Lord and do not have that provision for their lives.

I thank God that He never gives up.  I thank Him that He gets into a season of our lives and relentlessly taps our shoulders to get our attention.  He speaks so we will listen and then captures our hearts once again.  Seek God for our own lives and for this nation.  He will provide the answers, the encouragement, the understanding and the wisdom.  

Matthew 6:30-32 - Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? "Therefore do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?' or "What shall we drink?' or "What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 

Lord God,  I sometimes think I sound like a broken record.  I still am thinking about and thanking You for never giving up on us.  I thank You that all You ask is that we seek You first...first in the morning, first in our time of need, grief or trouble.  And then when our needs are met it is important that we thank You.  You know our needs.  You know the desires of our hearts.  You know the beginning from the end of any situation and we just need to trust You with all things in our lives.  If we are not to worry about our needs for every day, why should we worry about those things we would like to see happen in the world, our nation, our families, and our lives.  As long as we seek You, You will provide.

Hope in God

Hebrews 6:18 - ...God cannot lie when he says something and he cannot lie when he 

makes a vow. So those things give great comfort to us who came to God for safety. 

Those two things give us comfort and strength to continue in the hope that God gives us.

Psalm 146:5 -  Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, 

whose hope is in the LORD his God...

Romans 8:24 - We were saved, and we have this hope. If we can see 

what we are waiting for, then that is not really hope. 

People don't hope for something they already have.

Here we see three scriptures about hope.  Our hope should be in the Lord.  There is no scripture that specifically states that our hope should not be in man but in Jesus Christ, but I believe these scriptures allude to that quite well.

For the past few days I've felt a need to write about the uncomfortable feelings some are having about what’s happening in our country.  I've tried to write about this but seem to fall into a critical nature when I did.  That is not my intent.

I'm trying again today and asking the Lord to give me the right words.  There is nothing wrong about judging as long as truth is brought into this judgment.  We are to judge with a righteous judgment.  What would God think?  But I'm not here to judge either.

We do not know for certain where our nation is heading.  I don't want to present a calamitous view on this either.  I just want to say, again, we don't know where our nation is heading.  There are such opposing views on the leadership and it's certainly too early to know for sure how our new President is going to fare.  I'm not here to expound on that either.  I'm just wanting to point out where we can look for help and hope in difficult times.

We are told as believers and followers of Christ that no matter what happens, we will not be spared difficulties in this world just because we are Christians.  That's where hope in the Lord comes in.  He will guide, strengthen, give wisdom and give us peace in our spirits in the midst of our turmoil.  But we need to be focused on Him.

If our faith in God is strong His strength will kick in allowing us to endure even the most difficult of circumstances.  We can be a light in the darkness for those struggling, those who do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ.  We are called to live by faith, not by sight.  When we cannot understand in the natural what is happening around us and we begin to fear, we are living by sight.  We are living with our own understanding.  

God's ways are not like ours.  They are greater than ours.  He knows the beginning from the end in any situation.  He knew before time even began, before He created the earth, just how everything would happen, EVERYTHING.  If He is able to keep all that straight and we can't, wouldn't we want to put our trust in Him, our Almighty Father?

When I look at our country and see where we've come from, I'm disappointed.  Our country was founded on the principles of Christianity.  Congress used to begin their sessions in prayer.

Many of the first states referred to God as "one God," "Almighty,” "the Supreme Being," "the Creator," "Savior" and "Lord."  What I'm seeing today does not resemble anything like that.  

I may be straying a bit, but I believe that if we see problems arising in the future of this country it's because we as a nation have changed our course.  The world has changed its course as well.  It's topsy-turvy.  I'm thinking we're in the midst of turmoil and uncertainty because we have turned our backs, as a nation, on God.  What's good is now considered evil and evil is good.  The commandments of the Bible are not looked upon as truth anymore.  There is a lack of closeness with God and a lack of wanting a relationship with Him or desire to know who He is and what He says.

But I thank God that even though He might be turning His back on us as a nation, He has not turned His back on His children.  He stands firm in His covenant with us providing we do not lose our faith in Him and we maintain our focus on Him.  

He is our deliverer.  He delivered Israel out of Egypt and He will deliver us out of this world someday.  In the meantime...

Psalm 121:1-2 - I will lift up my eyes to the hills--from whence comes my help? 

My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.