Author: John Page 158 of 166

Proverbs 3:4 “So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.”

Based on commands regarding wisdom, it is obvious that faithfully clinging to God’s wisdom will bring us favour in His eyes.  Yet, God’s promises regarding wisdom go far beyond this.  In fact, faithfully clinging to Godly wisdom will bring us favour in the eyes of man.  It is through this favour that we can deflect glory to the Lord.

Because of the distinctness of their testimonies, based largely on Godly wisdom, Daniel and Joseph found great favour in the eyes of worldly rulers.  These men refused to become part of their ungodly cultures in order to reach them.  Indeed, their strong stance for the Lord combined with an amazing level of insight possible only through provision from God Himself, caused them to change their lands without compromise.  Indeed, compromise would have undermined the powerfully distinctive understanding that brought them favour to begin with.

As followers of the Lord in our ungodly land, we need to cling to distinctive Godly wisdom in order to impact our nation.  Clinging to anything else, as we have errantly done in the past, will further undermine our ability to impact America for the Lord.  PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS, CLINGING TO GODLY WISDOM, WOULD FIND GREAT FAVOUR IN OUR LAND.  Godly wisdom greatly impacted Egypt and Babylon through favour found by faithful followers.  If we trust in it now, then according to God’s promises it can do the same in America today.

Proverbs 3:7 “Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.”

James 1:5 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

We love to be wise in our own eyes.  We gather degrees, study philosophies, and read self-help books while we neglect our regular devotions.  We are impressed by scholars, leaders, and pundits while we criticize our pastors.  We spend time listening to the news, watching television, and tirelessly texting while we skip our prayer time.  We seek wisdom from everywhere but its real source.

I am as guilty of this as anyone.  I fret over the topic of my PLUS posts throughout the week, wracking my brain for something worthwhile to write.  More often than not, this leads me nowhere.  Yet, without even thinking about it, the next topic will come to me just in time during a period of regular prayer or daily devotions.  Each time I’m surprised, but I shouldn’t be.  Nothing that I have to say is wise, but everything God has to say is.

Abraham Lincoln wrote the following in his journal in 1829:  “I feel humbled and mortified by the conviction that the Creator has gifted me with intelligence almost in vain.  I am almost twenty two and have as yet attained but the threshold of knowledge.”  Lincoln’s thoughts help reveal the difference between knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom.  Knowledge can be attained through studies and intelligence is a characteristic gifted by God.  The application of the combination of these, wisdom, is in vain without the Lord.

American Christians need to stop seeking wisdom apart from God.  Man’s wisdom is not wisdom at all.  PLEASE REGULARLY PRAY THAT THE LORD WOULD HELP AMERICAN CHRISTIANS RECOGNIZE OUR DEPENDENCE ON HIS WISDOM.  More than anything, this nation needs citizens who zealously seek the Lord’s wisdom.  Gaining true wisdom is not a tedious chore; it’s there for the asking.

Proverbs 4:7 “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”

Proverbs 2:6 “For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.”

When the Lord’s word tells us that something is ‘the principal thing’ then we better take serious notice.  We need wisdom in every facet of our lives.  We need it to be good employees; we need it to be good employers.  We need it to be good parents; we need it to be good children.  We need it to be good students; we need it to be good teachers.  We need it to minister; we need it to be ministered unto.  We need it to be good citizens; we need it to be good Christians.

We need it in our homes, our neighborhoods, our communities, and our workplaces.  We need it in our courthouses, our school houses, our church houses, and our statehouses.  We need it when we study, when we pray, when we work, when we play, when we serve, when we fellowship, and when we vote.  We need it in everything we do and in every corner of our land.

We need to recognize that wisdom comes from the Lord, and we should seek it with all our being.  PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD DESPERATELY SEEK THE LORD’S WISDOM AT ALL TIMES AND IN ALL SETTINGS.  In this country in recent days, we have relied on everything else to solve our problems and everything else has failed.  Instead, we need to return to ‘the principal thing.’

Joshua 1:5b “I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

The PLUS ministry has been an interesting journey of faith for me.  Probably like most ministries, it is difficult to tell if it is making a difference and impossible to determine if the time invested is paying proportional dividends.  Yet, in ministry we are not responsible for the results, just for the faithfulness.  The input is ours, and the output is Gods.  Fortunately, the outcome is left up to a God who will not fail us nor forsake us.

You may be wondering if your daily, faithful and fervent prayers for our country are making a difference.  I cannot give you an honest answer other than ‘I don’t know.’  Yet, I can tell you that God is far more interested in a humble believer who turns over the results of faithfulness to Him than He is in proud self-sufficiency.  I can also tell you stories of the power of encouragement that have impacted me in the last ten days:

• My Pastor’s daughter shared with me a story of her distant friend who was encouraging others to PLUS
• I received a book in the mail from a friend who thought it would provide material to use in a future PLUS post
• I received an email from another friend who had just spent some time in prayer for our country
• I ran into a strong Christian influence from my past who fully supported the concepts of PLUS that I shared with him on that day
• I spent some time with a Pastor from a past assignment who had been challenged by PLUS posts
• I received a phone call from a friend from another past assignment who had used PLUS posts as part of a devotional series he was teaching

These stories, and many others from the last six months, have encouraged me greatly in exactly the right way and at exactly the right time.   They have also demonstrated the Lord’s promise to never fail us nor forsake us.  While I don’t know where the PLUS concept will lead, I do know that I have been directed to minister in this way and so I will continue.

This journey has also helped me to better understand the challenges of potential discouragement for the pastors, missionaries, and evangelists among us.  PLEASE PRAY THAT YOU CAN PROPERLY ENCOURAGE LEADERS IN CHRIST-HONORING MINISTRIES.  Their ability to endure is vital to the cause of Christ in America.  While the Lord has promised to never fail them nor forsake them, He may intend to use you to put encouragement into action.

Joshua 1:9 “Have not I commanded thee?  Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

This verse closes God’s charge to Joshua as he was assigned the mantle of leadership following Moses’ death.  It was the third time in the short eight verses of this charge where the Lord directed strength and courage.  The context of this direction was Joshua’s role in bringing God’s people into the promised land, a task that the great leader Moses was never able to accomplish.  It is no wonder that Joshua needed an extra dose of courage.

Joshua needed courage, especially based on the nature of the task at hand, so God encouraged him.  By definition encouragement engenders courage, and encouragement is at its best when it is accompanied by a reminder of the Lord’s all-powerful presence.

American Christians need courage too, based on the nature of the task at hand.  We need courage to stand up to a culture that increasingly opposes Christ.  We need courage to remain faithful when faithfulness is often mocked.  We need courage to oppose ungodliness.  We need courage to stand up for the Lord and His institutions.  We need courage to demand selfless leadership.  We need courage to stand for the values of our Christian forefathers.  We need courage to take back our land.

If we want American Christians to act with courage, then we must encourage one another.  PLEASE PRAY THAT YOU CAN ENCOURAGE AMERICAN CHRISTIANS IN ORDER TO MAGNIFY COURAGE AMONG US.  Do so with the ready reminder that “the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”