This morning during my prayer time I prayed for America and for the leadership of our President and Congress. I asked God to guide them in decisions that would honor Him and bless our nation. As I have said before, God doesn't ride on Air Force One. There is One higher than the President, Supreme Court judges, and members of Congress, and He has the power to send a spiritual revival to our nation that would turn us upside down. He has the power to bless or curse any nation (Dt. 30: 19). However, He also gives us the power to choose which we will receive (Dt.30: 15-17).
The problems of our nation today are many. We are in two wars, our economy is in shambles, millions of people have lost their jobs and their homes, every day there is a new report of a government, business, or religious leader who has failed in his leadership responsibilities, and violence continues to escalate throughout our land. Isn't it ironic that a report was issued last week that showed that the number of people who are involved in religious activities has declined to its lowest level in our nation's history? I would suggest that our problems are not the economic problems and the others mentioned above; these are simply symptoms of our real problem. Our real problem is that we have turned away from God over the past 5 decades, and we are now reaping the fruit of that choice. When we chose to remove God from the public arena we chose the curse God warned us about in Deuteronomy.
Although I pray regularly for our President and other government leaders, they cannot bring us out of this mess. Political decisions cannot solve a spiritual crisis. Our economy is in shambles because we have turned our back on God. Haggai 1:6 reads, "You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." As you continue reading this little Old Testament book God explains this has occurred because the people had turned their backs on Him. We can identify the same reason for all the other problems our nation faces.
We cannot look to political answers to solve these problems. The only solution is a spiritual revival in this nation that restores God to His rightful place. The liberals, the atheists, and the persons of other religions will oppose this solution, but spiritual renewal doesn't depend upon them. Spiritual renewal comes from God and the ACLU, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, and the leaders of every non-Christian religion cannot stop it. Only you and I can prevent such a revival from occurring.
2 Chronicles 7:14 says, "If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." It is the people of God who must humble themselves and seek God, not the unbelievers, that will bring spiritual renewal and healing for our nation. Every pastor needs to be challenging his or her congregation to begin repenting of their sins and to seek spiritual renewal in their lives. Renewal will begin in the life of the individual, spread to the church, then to the community, and finally across the nation, but it must begin in the life of the individual. Without turning this nation back to God we will not ultimately survive, and such turning must be the result of a spiritual revival.
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