PLUS

I Samuel 2:10 “The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

On June 7^th, 1776 Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed the following:

“Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances. That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation.”

These words formed the basis for the Declaration of Independence a month later. In that latter document, the Founders (in one long sentence) closely paralleled Lee’s thoughts:

“We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.”

Our founders turned to the one and only Ultimately Authority. They didn’t appeal to other nations. They didn’t appeal to foreign military powers. They didn’t appeal to their own reason, education, or philosophy. They didn’t appeal to the prevailing cultural morality. Instead, they appealed to God, thus turning to the Supreme Judge of the world. It was to Him that they sought adjudication of their righteous intent – the rectitude of their intentions.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO TURN SOLELY TO THE SUPREME JUDGE OF THE WORLD. It is His approval we seek. It is against His righteousness which we are to be measured. We must turn to Him alone for the rectitude of our intentions.

SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re alarmed (that the Military Religious Freedom Foundation regularly bullies the military into denying religious freedom), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!

Nehemiah 1:7-8 “We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses. Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations”

Matthew 9:36 “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”

There is a price to transgression beyond traditional hardship (see previous post), as if that isn’t enough. When we fail to keep God’s commandments, statutes, and judgments it literally and figuratively drives us apart. It scatters our society and fractures our community. It replaces unity with division. It transplants divisiveness for cohesiveness.

This nation, through a common faith, was once unified in spite of our diversity. Our sense of community was lauded by outside observers like Alexis de Tocqueville. Our mutual faithfulness inseparably bound us together because we followed the same shepherd. Now, as that faith has been replaced with the idols of the day, we are scattered abroad.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A LIFE, A SOCIETY, AND A NATION THAT FOLLOWS OUR SHEPHERD IN UNITY. Being Savior-centered is far better than being scattered abroad.

For other posts that refer to Alexis de Tocqueville see:
https://prayatlunch.us/strong-sway/
https://prayatlunch.us/sincere-sacrifices-de-tocqueville-ii/
https://prayatlunch.us/exceptional/
https://prayatlunch.us/enlightened-and-free/

Proverbs 13:15 “Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.”

Because of our personal and national sins, we are setting ourselves up for further hardship in this nation. Our transgressions are making our ways hard. The results are plastered all over the news, though the media neither recognizes the correlation nor reports on the causality. The results are financial hardship and economic hardship; social hardship and community hardship; security hardship and legal hardship; educational hardship and vocational hardship; leadership hardship and followership hardship; domestic hardship and international hardship; political hardship and diplomatic hardship.

The difference is as stark as any. We could live quiet and peaceable lives (I Timothy 2:2) or we could live hard lives. We could pray for righteousness and wisdom for ourselves and our leaders and benefit from peace, freedom, and prosperity under God, or we could neglect our most basic citizenship responsibility to pray and accept a society that embraces transgression while being burdened by hardship.

The choice is as simple as the difference is stark. Christians must rise up and preach to government, participate in government and pray for government. We must strive for personal righteousness while seeking societal renewal. We must not accept a life of hardship.

PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR NATION WOULD NEITHER BE CHARACTERIZED NOR DEFINED BY TRANSGRESSION. Such a nation faces hardship, though it need not be so if we return to God and righteousness.

SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re ENCOURAGED (by the 12 states who are standing up against massive federal overreach), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!
SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re alarmed (by the 38 states who are not standing up against massive federal overreach), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!

Numbers 23:23 “Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!”

In using the Biblical phrase “Look what hath God wrought!” in the first official telegraph, Samuel Morse may have also been giving advanced credit to God for the impact of such an invention. He may have been telegraphing (excuse the pun) the amazing influence that the telegraph would have on the world.

Indeed, the telegraph played a fundamental part in America’s westward expansion. A decade later, there were more than 20,000 miles of telegraph cables connecting various parts of the growing country. The telegraph also drastically sped communication between Europe and North America. The first transatlantic cable, transmitting in 1858, cut the time it took to send a message between the two continents from days to minutes. All of this was only possible by an invention enabled by God. Look what hath God wrought!

What impact is God having in our lives? What has God enabled us to do? Are we giving Him credit? We should be regularly proclaiming to the world – Look what hath God wrought!

PLEASE GIVE GOD CREDIT FOR THE INFLUENCE HE HAS HAD IN YOUR LIFE AND THE IMPACT YOU ARE ABLE TO HAVE THROUGH HIM. Of your life, humbly proclaim to the world – look what hath God wrought!

Numbers 23:23 “Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!”

On May 24^th, 1844 Samuel Morse demonstrated the first official telegraph from the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. to Baltimore, Maryland. Surrounded by members of Congress, Morse telegraphed the following message: “Look what God hath wrought,” quoting the last part of Numbers 23:23. In doing so, Morse publically gave credit to God for His miraculous creation that made such an invention possible.

In 1844 there was no uproar about Morse’s reference to God. There was no lawsuit about the use of a Bible verse in the halls of Congress. There was no withholding of public funding for the invention whose inventor dared give God credit for His amazing creation. In fact, a Biblical quote and a reference to God was a natural way to declare a revolutionary invention that was enabled by God’s great creation.

2016 is far different from 1844. Yet, there is no reason that Christians should be ashamed to give God credit for His great creation. Declare the emphatic exclamation as you witness God’s creation – look what hath God wrought! The world may no longer give Him public credit, but we should.

PLEASE UNABASHEDLY GIVE GOD CREDIT FOR HIS AMAZING CREATION. It is what He alone hath wrought!

SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re alarmed (that we’ve rejected the only leader, God, who can Make America Great Again) set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!