Author: John Page 149 of 167

Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Consider the following Presidential proclamation:

“Of the many influences that have shaped the United States of America into a distinctive Nation and people, none may be said to be more fundamental and enduring than the Bible.

Deep religious beliefs stemming from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible inspired many of the early settlers of our country, providing them with the strength, character, convictions, and faith necessary to withstand great hardship and danger in this new and rugged land. These shared beliefs helped forge a sense of common purpose among the widely dispersed colonies – a sense of community which laid the foundation for the spirit of nationhood that was to develop in later decades.

The Bible and its teachings helped form the basis for the Founding Fathers’ abiding belief in the inalienable rights of the individual, rights which they found implicit in the Bible’s teachings of the inherent worth and dignity of each individual. This same sense of man patterned the convictions of those who framed the English system of law inherited by our own Nation, as well as the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

For centuries the Bible’s emphasis on compassion and love for our neighbor has inspired institutional and governmental expressions of benevolent outreach such as private charity, the establishment of schools and hospitals, and the abolition of slavery.

Many of our greatest national leaders – among them Presidents Washington, Jackson, Lincoln, and Wilson – have recognized the influence of the Bible on our country’s development. The plainspoken Andrew Jackson referred to the Bible as no less than ‘the rock on which our Republic rests.’ Today our beloved America and, indeed, the world, is facing a decade of enormous challenge. As a people we may well be tested as we have seldom, if ever, been tested before. We will need resources of spirit even more than resources of technology, education, and armaments. There could be no more fitting moment than now to reflect with gratitude, humility, and urgency upon the wisdom revealed to us in the writing that Abraham Lincoln called ‘the best gift God has ever given to man . . . But for it we could not know right from wrong.’”

Amazingly, this isn’t a proclamation from the 18^th or 19^th Century.  It isn’t from the far distant past.  In fact, it was made a mere 31 years ago by President Ronald Reagan.  Sadly, in the intervening three decades we have drifted far from embracing the Bible as a part of the American public mindset.  Presidential Proclamation 5018 ended with the following:

“The Congress of the United States, in recognition of the unique contribution of the Bible in shaping the history and character of this Nation, and so many of its citizens, has by Senate Joint Resolution 165 authorized and requested the President to designate the year 1983 as the ‘Year of the Bible.’

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, in recognition of the contributions and influence of the Bible on our Republic and our people, do hereby proclaim 1983 the Year of the Bible in the United States. I encourage all citizens, each in his or her own way, to reexamine and rediscover its priceless and timeless message.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this third day of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and seventh.”

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICANS WOULD RAPIDLY RETURN TO THE ROCK ON WHICH OUR REPUBLIC RESTS.  Its priceless and timeless message, and the Savior who it describes, is indeed the best gift God has ever given to man.

Hebrews 11:1-2 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  For by it the elders obtained a good report.”

A year ago, on January 31^st, the Lord encouraged me to faithfully pray for our nation every day at lunch.  With the initiation of the PLUS ministry still several weeks away, I began this personal time of prayer the next day by walking out of my office and finding a place to specifically pray for my country.  As of this Friday, a year will have passed and thanks to the Lord’s help, every day at work since then I have been able to step out of my office and specifically pray for the United States.  In the course of this past year, I have been able to pray in 17 states and in Washington DC.  I have prayed on roof tops and in chapels.  I have prayed in my car and in the outdoors.  I have prayed on airplanes and in airports.  I have prayed closer to breakfast time than lunchtime, and have prayed closer to dinnertime than lunchtime.  Most importantly, I have prayed.  In doing so, I have tried to remain faithful to this calling the Lord has given me.

What fruit have I seen?  Frankly very little, but the fruit is not up to me.  My role is to remain faithful.  Our role is to remain faithful.  The fruit is in the Lord’s hands, and our lack of faithful stewardship may be limiting God’s ability to work here among us.  PLEASE PRAY THAT WE WOULD BE FERVANTLY FAITHFUL TO GOD’S CALLING IN OUR LIVES.  In the midst of today’s ungodly cultural messages, we need a good report.

I Cor 4:2 “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”

Faithfulness is God’s standard of measure, and what He seeks from those who are the stewards of His Christianity.  The Lord is responsible for the fruits of faithfulness, while we are only responsible for remaining faithful.  Regardless of the outcome of our efforts, the Lord is pleased with faithfulness.

Adoniram Judson, the Baptist missionary to Burma in the first half of the Nineteenth Century, faced several hardships on the mission field.  While his ultimate impact was substantial, it was not immediately evident.  Indeed, it took Judson six years to see his first soul saved.  Certainly, at any point during those six years he would have been seen as a failure by the world’s standards.  Yet, according to God’s standards he was a success even during that time because he remained faithful regardless of the circumstances.  In God’s time, He provided fruit.  The Lord could be assured that Judson would be a good steward of this fruit because he had shown himself faithful.

America needs Christians who remain faithful regardless of the circumstances.  The Lord seeks those who will remain faithful in the valleys and on the mountaintops, and we have done neither. He has entrusted us with a national Christian heritage, but we have failed to remain faithful in our stewardship.  How can we expect national revival if we cannot be trusted by demonstrating consistent faithfulness?  PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD BE FAITHFUL STEWARDS REGARDLESS OF OUR CIRCUMSTANCES.  Once we are found faithful, then the magnitude of our stewardship is limited only by God’s greatness.

Psalm 56:4 “In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.”

It is relatively easy to trust in the things we see around us.  Indeed, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the things that plague our lives.  It is simple for the pressures of life to produce anxiety and trepidation.  Yet, we must follow the advice of the Psalmist.  We must focus our attention not on the temporal but on the eternal.  Our lives must be consumed by trust in the Lord, discounting the impact of mere men on our lives.  We must let our thoughts linger on God’s powerful provision.

American Christians need to be empowered in our stand for Christ.  The message we have been given to share is failing because we have been inadequate in our role as messengers.  Our trust in all else, apart from the Lord, has made us weak and passive.  Our fear of man has fostered a population of impotent Christians in America, unable to influence our world.  Other groups have seized the initiative, while wrestling the public dialogue towards a direction that opposes Christ.  All the while, we are too paralyzed to engage.

The antidote to our passivity is a trusting spirit.  Fortunately, we have a God who is ultimately trustworthy and who eagerly anticipates our trust.  PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD BE EMBOLDENED BY TRUSTING IN THE LORD.  Setting aside fear of fleshly foes will foster our faithfulness.

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

In 2014, American Christians need to return to trusting in the Lord.  Not a partial trust; not a trust with contingency plans; not a trust to supplement our own efforts; not an academic trust; not a superficial trust; not a lackluster trust; not a pluralistic trust.  No, we need to trust in the Lord only, doing so with our entire heart.  We must set aside our own understanding and fully acknowledge Him.  Only then does He promise to direct our paths.

We have arrived at the status quo by trusting in a myriad of things.  They, apart from the Lord, have all failed us and will continue to fail us.  In a way that is profound and purposeful, we must set aside those things in which we have errantly trusted.  Instead, we must thrust the totality of our trust towards the Trustworthy One.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD TRUST IN THE LORD ONLY, AND DO SO WITH OUR ENTIRE HEART.  We desperately need His direction, and must acknowledge Him in all our ways if we expect to get it.