PLUS

Matthew 5:44-47 “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven:  for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?  do not even the publicans so?”

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Because we are Christians in America in 2018, there are those who will oppose us.  They will curse us.  They will hate us.  They will despitefully use us.  They will persecute us.

In reality, this isn’t unique to American Christians in 2018.  It has happened to believers throughout history.

As we stand strong and unwavering in our beliefs, Jesus gives us the perfect checklist to follow. As we are cursed, hated, used, and persecuted, we are to respond in a way that is refreshingly different and distinct from the world.  We are to do good to our opposition; we are to pray for them; we are to love them.

After all, this is the checklist that Jesus Himself followed.  He loved those who opposed Him.  He did good to those who hated Him.  He prayed for those who despitefully used Him.

If we are to make the impact that God intends for us, then we are to follow His ways.  They are greater than our ways!

PLEASE PRAYERFULLY RESPOND TO THOSE WHO OPPOSE US IN A WAY THAT FOLLOWS JESUS’ ADMONITION AND EXAMPLE. Maybe by doing so, we can have the impact that Jesus intends for us.  Maybe by loving our enemies, we can prompt revival in this land!

Matthew 23:26-28 “Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.  Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”

I Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as a man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia defines lavish luxury.  It has a lineage that traces back to 1778, with its current structure built in 1913.  The hotel’s beautiful façade provides an indulgent escape for the rich and famous, perfect for presidents and prime ministers, and kings and queens.  Yet, for several decades during the Cold War, there was more to the Greenbrier than met the eye.

In the late 1950s, the United States Government coordinated with the Greenbrier to build a massive underground bunker beneath a new addition to the resort.  This bunker, which could house 1,100 people, was to be the emergency relocation center for Congress in the case that a national emergency would prompt their evacuation from Washington DC.  It was ready at all times, and constantly stocked with fresh supplies for over three decades though it was never used.  Only those staff members with the most stringent security clearances and the tightest need-to-know rationales ever knew what was going on underneath the surface.  It was only after it was revealed by a 1992 news story and subsequently decommissioned that the vast majority in Congress even knew of its existence. The subterranean was cleverly hidden from view, though its existence played a major role in the overall character of the resort.

Sometimes in the lives of Christians, the subterranean is cleverly hidden from view, though its existence plays a major role in the overall character of the individual.  God directs that it would not be so.  We are to be outwardly and inwardly righteous.  While man looks on the outward appearance, God looks on the heart.

PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR INTEGRATED CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY WOULD BRING HONOR TO GOD.  May we never allow subterranean subterfuge to hinder our ability to serve the Lord.

Matthew 7:24 “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not:  for it was founded upon a rock.”

During our family’s recent move, we crossed our nation from coast-to-coast.  In doing so, we spent a significant time in the car and saw the incredibly varied sources of natural wealth that make up this great nation. We literally traveled from the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam.  Indeed, God has blessed America!

During the transit from the mountains to the prairies, we came across a great spiritual truth related to the pressure applied on us (and our things) by the world around us.  While driving, we noticed that the water bottles we finished drinking while at the lower-pressure higher altitudes would be compacted and sometimes crushed by the forces at the higher-pressure lower altitudes. Though the pressure changes were almost imperceptible to us while driving (other than a little popping of the ears), it sometimes disfigured the bodies it was acting upon.

In our lives, there are pressures applied to us at all times that sometimes slightly and sometimes dramatically impact us.  Throughout the course of our lives, the pressures during the good times do not cause us to bear a substantial weight, nor do they demonstrate whether we can handle the bad times.  It is only when we are tested, do we know whether our foundation will enable us to stay strong or whether the pressures will cause us to be compacted and possibly crushed.  Do not be fooled, the rains will descend, the floods will come, and the winds will blow. Without the right preparation, they will disfigure the bodies they act upon.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A FOUNDATIONAL RESILENCY THROUGH CHRIST THAT CAN WITHSTAND THE PRESSURES OF THE MODERN WORLD.  The world will try to compact and crush you, but through Christ, you can avoid disfigurement.

Philippians 1:27 “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ:  that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel.”

In July of 1932, 20,000 World War I veterans gathered in Washington DC to demand the immediate payment of delayed bonuses from their service during the Great War.  These veterans set up a community of tents and huts in two locations in our nation’s capital, the first in a location on Pennsylvania Avenue to the east of the Capitol, and the second in an open space on the southeast side of the river at a place called Anacostia Flats.

On July 28^th, 1932, General Douglas MacArthur accompanied by Major Dwight D. Eisenhower and Major George C. Patton assembled military forces to move against these veterans who were not much different than themselves in order to remove them from our nation’s capital.  They did so with great violence and strife.  Soldiers on horseback and armed with sabers stabbed those in their way.  Infantry forces armed with tear gas and torches dispersed the crowd and burned their lodgings to the ground.  Tanks rolled against these unarmed veterans, crushing their remaining huts and shacks.  It was a military rout, with current military members dismantling and destroying those heroes who had fought so valiantly only a generation before.  It was a dark day for America when there were plenty of real enemies that should have been the focus of our forces.

Far too often, Christians move against other Christians who aren’t much different than themselves, sometimes with great violence and strife.  We metaphorically stab those in our way.  We disperse the crowds and burn their lodgings to the ground.  Our tanks roll against our unarmed veterans, crushing them.  Each time this happens, it is a dark day for the cause of Christ when there are plenty of real enemies that should be the focus of our forces.

PLEASE PRAY FOR UNITY AMONG BIBLE-BELIEVING CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA IN ORDER TO PROPERLY OPPOSE OUR REAL ADVERSARY.  We must strive together for the faith of the gospel!

II Corinthians 3:5 “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God”

I Corinthians 4:7 “For who maketh thee to differ from another?  And what hast thou that thou didst not receive?  Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?”

This past week, I was honored, humbled and blessed to pin on the rank of Brigadier General.  Though I had been selected for promotion several months ago, this week was finally the time to enact the promotion based on the starting of a new job with greater levels of responsibility.  I have to admit, looking over at the single star on each shoulder still takes my breath away.

Throughout this season of promotion, the two Bible verses above continued to ring through my head. I am not sufficient of myself.  My sufficiency is fully from God. Everything I have, I received from Him. I must never glory in myself and instead must only glory in Him.  The moment I forget these important truths is the moment that I shift into the status of an eroding life that lacks potency and sufficiency.

The same is true for our churches.  We are not sufficient of ourselves.  Our sufficiency is fully from God.  Everything we have, we received from Him.  We must never glory in ourselves and instead must only glory in Him.  The moment we forget these important truths is the moment that we shift into the status of an eroding institution that lacks potency and sufficiency.

The same is also true for us as a nation.  We are not sufficient of ourselves.  Our sufficiency is fully from God.  Everything we have, we received from Him.  We must never glory in ourselves and instead must only glory in Him.  The moment we forget these important truths is the moment that we shift into the status of an eroding nation that lacks potency and sufficiency.

PLEASE PRAY THAT WE HUMBLY ACKNOWLEDGE GOD’S CENTRALITY IN ALL THAT WE HAVE.  We must not accept lives, institutions, and a nation that lack potency and sufficiency.