Author: John Page 110 of 166

Romans 1:21 “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

This coming week we celebrate Thanksgiving. American history is filled with Thanksgiving proclamations (I will use the 1777 and 1781 ones in the following posts) that help us remember the true spirit of this quintessential, Bible-based American holiday. I especially appreciate the characteristic of Thanksgiving that makes it different from all other holidays.

Thanksgiving is the only holiday that carries with it an explicit obligation – to reach out to the Lord in humble thankfulness. It is a day not about celebration, but all about praise. May we take this obligation seriously!

This isn’t a day in which our focus should be on watching enjoyable football or festive parades. It isn’t a day in which our focus should be on feasting on wonderful food. It isn’t even a day in which we should focus on celebrating with family and friends. None of these things are bad and they can all be incorporated into Thanksgiving, but they don’t fulfill the obligation that accompanies this day.

It is a day to give thanks. We should never turn it into anything else. We certainly shouldn’t turn it into “turkey day” or whatever secular culture uses to mask the meaning of a day where our true focus should be upward and nowhere else.

PLEASE SPEND THANKSGIVING IN HUMBLE PRAISE TO THE LORD. Don’t let the fourth Thursday of November slip by without meeting the obligation that this day demands.

SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re alarmed (that a lack of faithfulness makes our nation more vulnerable), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!

Exodus 20:1-2 “And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”

Writing for the minority in the Stone v. Graham decision (see the previous post), Justice Rehnquist reasoned:

“The Establishment Clause does not require that the public sector be insulated from all things which may have a religious significance or origin.”

Additionally, Justice Rehnquist argued the following:

“The Ten Commandments have had a significant impact on the development of secular legal codes of the Western World.”

Yet, in an attempt to insulate the public sector from all things that have religious significance, the Supreme Court removed from our view the entire basis of Western law. Without such a foundation, it is no surprise that we now hopelessly flounder as a society.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICA WOULD RETURN TO ITS BIBLICAL FOUNDATION. Without being affixed to our original foundation, we drift away from stability and towards bondage. We do so because of our inappropriate insulation from the very truths that have had a significant impact on our entire society.

Exodus 20:20 “And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.”

This week marks the 35^th anniversary of Stone v. Graham. This unfortunate Supreme Court decision struck down a 1978 Kentucky statute requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments on the walls of each public classroom in the state. The majority decision reasoned the following:

“Posting of religious texts on the wall serves no such educational function. If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce the schoolchildren to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey, the Commandments. However desirable this might be as a matter of private devotion, it is not a permissible state objective under the Establishment Clause.”

We wonder why our society faces the massive challenges of lawlessness, immorality, and rebellion. Apparently, it is neither an educational function nor a permissible state objective to focus on resolving the root cause of our nation’s problems. After all, the Supreme Court ruled that the Ten Commandments were to be removed from the walls to prevent students from obeying them. Indeed, they have stopped obeying them.

Margaret Thatcher reminded us of the following:

“If you accept freedom, you’ve got to have principles about the responsibility. You can’t do this without a biblical foundation.”

Without a biblical foundation, our nation is falling apart. Pundits contend that stricter rules, fewer rights, or more government intervention are the solution to our challenges. Yet, as the Federal Code grows so do our problems.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN STUDENTS WOULD ONCE AGAIN OBEY THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. If American students read, meditated upon, venerated, and obeyed the foundational rules of our nation then maybe we could expect a brighter future. Otherwise, we can expect nothing different than the status quo.

SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re alarmed (that in early November America is already removing Christ from Christmas), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!

Proverbs 29:2 “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.”

Daniel Webster went on to say (see the previous post):

“If [our] government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine Commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the Laws.”

Webster reminds us that our public prosperity and happiness are based upon our votes. The electoral tally determines all. As Christian citizens, may we not neglect the Divine Commands.

But what can we do a year out from the election? We can pray to uplift the right candidates and purge the wrong ones. We can pray that the Christian voice would be heard in all electoral decisions. We can vote in primaries to cultivate and cull the field of candidates. We can pray for revival and repentance on the campaign trail (in both parties). We can pray that faithful Christian candidates will rise to the top (in both parties). We can let our voices be heard such that all the candidates know that Christians will not stay home on Election Day, and instead we will vote en masse in accordance with Biblical values.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE ENTIRE AMERICAN ELECTORAL PROCESS. If we fail to do so, then we are neglecting our most basic citizenship responsibilities and neglecting God’s commands.

II Samuel 23:3 “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of the Lord.”

Christian citizen, we are exactly a year out from our next general election! Daniel Webster, the Father of American Scholarship and Education, said:

“When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, ‘just men who will rule in the fear of God.’ The preservation of [our] government depends on the faithful discharge of this Duty; if the citizens neglect their Duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the Laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizen will be violated or disregarded.”

We are approaching an election that will determine whether we are a country that is destined to rise or fall based on the justness of those we elect. Our votes will determine whether our Bible-based form of government is to be preserved or ruined. Our selection will determine whether our Constitutional rights are to be uplifted or violated. The choice is ours, and it is not too early to pray. In fact, our prayers for the upcoming election should have started long ago. Any further delay may cause them to be too late.

PLEASE FAITHFULLY AND FERVENTLY PRAY FOR THE 2016 AMERICAN ELECTION. We must not neglect our duty. The preservation of our government is at stake!

SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re ENCOURAGED (by the 2015 election results that indicate an awakening of the Christian electorate), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!

NOTE: Please see this prior post for related thoughts: https://prayatlunch.us/the-choice-of-our-rulers/