How To Succeed As A Nation

In the fight between good and evil, a nation can only succeed by having God on its side. This means the Church must be a strong presence in the nation and the citizens must be obedient followers of Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, many people sit in church for years, learning about God but never realizing faith must exhibit itself by choosing to live like Jesus. When we live life Jesus taught, we place a hedge of protection around ourselves so Satan can no longer hold us back from receiving all the blessings Jesus won for us. We can live abundantly.

” I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.”(John 10:10)

Jesus came to earth to take the punishment for our lack of obedience. When He resurrected He promised to give the powerful Holy Spirit to all who believe in Him. It is the Holy Spirit who leads us to the safest path in life- the one that empowers us to live a sanctified life with bountiful blessings. But it is our choice- we have free will to choose this life or not.

The Faith Of A Nation Must Be Lived Out

Isaiah chapter 58 is a chapter that describes a nation who desires just decisions, they delight to know God and receive His blessings and yet they have not received them.

“For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.”(Isaiah 58:2)

To forsake the commands of God is to walk in opposition to God’s Commandments and thus open a door to the enemy.

Whether we care to acknowledge it or not, all of us have to fight evil daily – we are in a spiritual war. We take in evil by listening to gossip, looking at vile things on the internet, and even watching what seems to be a benign movie- yet if it involves activities God abhors, we need to avoid it. If not the evil powers that are unseen start to work on our mind to make us discontent leading us to all manner of sin.

Living like Jesus is not a strict life sentence of boredom. Everything Jesus taught will keep us from opening a door to supernatural evil spirits- the ones that make people think adultery isn’t bad, ignoring children is our right, cheating on taxes isn’t really stealing, lying in court, porn, drunkenness and casual drug use is fine. These attitudes are NOT of God, they are of the evil influences in the world. If we ignore Jesus’ teachings long enough, doing life our own way, evil will come in like a flood of destruction and ruin aspects our lives be it our health, relationships, finances etc.

The prophet Isaiah explains in the book of Isaiah chapter 58, why God did not intervene to help His people. He explains the Israelites have, on one hand, fasted and had the appearance they worshipped God, and on the other hand, desired only personal gain.

The Churches of America can also have the appearance of worship and yet engage in errors of omission or commission. Oftentimes the hard topics in the Bible are not preached- perhaps to keep the peace. But if we claim to be full gospel churches, our pastors need to feed their flock the full menu of God’s Word- even the more esoteric things. Not only that, they must encourage the church to apply God’s principles to their life- explaining that it is not to enslave us- but to keep the evil forces in this world held back from harming us.

Win As A Nation By serving The Subparts Of A Nation- The Family

Mother Theresa wisely said “If you want to change the World, go home and love your family.”

The values of a nation make a profound impact on the future of the country. Values taught to children are like seeds planted into the culture, ensuring that their future and the future of the country will be as strong or stronger than the current culture.

If we attend churches that rarely preach about the sacredness of family and the blessing of motherhood, homes will be empty while everyone chases after accolades and the god of this world-money. This leaves children alone, which the enemy takes full advantage of. He comes rushing in through social media twisting the minds of our children making them vulnerable to even the most evil activities. This can be stopped by having a God fearing mom in the home keeping good watch of her “flock.” Mothers need not fear the financial health of her family if she is caring for her children and staying within the teachings of Jesus.

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and everything else will be given unto you.” (Matt 6:33)

God is our provider and when we scurry about providing for our every need and future need, we show the world that we believe God exists but we don’t trust Him to provide.

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”(Matt 6:26)

When we work hard to gain financially for our family, not trusting the Lord to provide- we will have no time to provide love, attention and comfort to our family. Working full time will also diminish the time we have to help our extended family or those in our community.

“Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”(1 Tim 5:8)

Trust God’s Teachings As The Way To The Protected Life

Jesus tells us that there are two kinds of love.

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Matt 22:36-40)

We need time if we are to love our family and those in our community. Which means we need to trust God’s Word- He will indeed provide for us if we are walking in His ways. Not only practicle provision such as being lead to a better job with more pay so we can work less and be with children more. But when we do life God’s way, God provides protection and evil cannot touch us.

The Old Testament tells the story of Abraham asking God how many devout people can save a city and the final answer was ten. Ten Christians who trust the Lord fully and do life His way, can save a city from destruction.

32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”

He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home. (Gen 18:32-33)

It is clear from Biblical text, that the blessings and protection of a nation come from the righteousness of it’s citizens. In the new Testament, we are shown that it is not God who destroys us, it is Satan who enters our lives when we use our free will to step away from Biblical teachings.

We Win As A Nation By Honoring the Sabbath

The fourth Commandment is Honor the Sabbath and keep it holy.

To honor anything is to avoid desecrating it. The definition of desecrate= to treat a holy thing with disrespect.

Sunday was given to humanity as a day of rest and worship. God doesn’t need our praise and worship, He is already worshipped by the angels in heaven who never stop praising Him. Praise and worship pushes evil away from our lives and blesses us. God is not an arrogant God who made one day a week to be praised. No, praise helps us. Praising God in song, and thanking Him for all our blessings is actually a supernatural weapon of spiritual warfare. We can change the atmosphere around our life by singing praises to God. Sundays were given to us as a gift by God to partake in spiritual warfare. We can push back the devourer who causes expensive problems.

Benefits of The Sabbath

Honoring the Sabbath brings many benefits. When we spend Sunday with our family in our home- our sanctuary away from the evil in the world- we tighten the marriage and family bond. By staying at home in a day of rest as God intended, we aren’t causing anyone to serve us. In this way we are allowing merchants to also rest and worship our Creator as well.

Yet, if you are anything like me, you may forget to honor the Sabbath occasionally as you are driving back home from church, stopping to pick up a coffee or lunch. But the Lord will always put a check in our spirit letting us know that doing worldly things on Sunday is not what He had intended for us. It is actually a Godly act to plan ahead so we can set aside the god of this world- money- in order to keep the Sabbath holy.

When we choose to skip church and go to a professional football game or partake in some secular activity instead, it’s as if we have put down our swords and shield of war. Skipping praise and worship of God on Sunday opens the door to Satan who will get into our mind and cause us to make poor choices that add to our problems. Apparently God set up this system of a day of rest per week so we can protect ourselves with His weapons of warfare: praise, thanksgiving and worship in order to make the right choices for the week and keep evil at bay.

Anything that distracts a Christian from having true reverence, praise and worship of God on Sunday, is a tactic from the enemy.

A Nation That Honors The Sabbath

“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord,
and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 58:13-14)

Let’s break down this verse:

To ride on the heights of the land is to conquer all enemies with the help of the Almighty, so that the individual or nation can feast on the inheritance of Jacob. The inheritance of Jacob is multifaceted: material prosperity, strength, people who respect us, and those trying to harm us will be stopped and cursed by God.

The Blessings of Jacob:

May God give you heaven’s dew
and earth’s richness—
an abundance of grain and new wine.[prosperity]
May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.[the head/strongest]
May those who curse you be cursed
and those who bless you be blessed.”[protection/ blessing] (Gen 27:28-29)

The Prophet Isaiah tells us by worshipping the Lord on His Day- Sunday- we will be blessed profusely. Spending the day honoring the Lord by attending church, forgoing our job, spending more time in prayer and bible study allows us to hear God’s leading within our Spirit. And God’s way leads towards blessings. God’s 10 Commandments are all based on leading us to the best in life. They were not made to be punitive.

” Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.”(Ex 31:16)

Jesus Christ did not come to abolish the Ten Commandments- He came to fulfill them when we transgress them. Therefore we should ask the Holy Spirit to empower us to follow them. In doing this, we have picked up our sword and shield of protection from the supernatural evil in the world, and have set ourselves up to receive blessings from God. If we don’t recognize this commandment as necessary, Sunday will look like any other day of the week, with each family member doing their own thing, going their own way, perhaps not even sitting down as a family for dinner. A family and thus a nation, can never be strong if the subunits of the nation never spend quality time together. Our daily time together at the dinner table and our weekly time together on Sundays will change our relationships and our lives in countless ways.

With kids sporting events happening all weekend long, we may have to pull our kids out in the name of obedience (for protection). But one thing I know for sure after 22 years as a Christian, we can never give to God without receiving an even greater blessing in return. We will never be worse off by following our Creator- it’s impossible!

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”(2 Chronicles 7:14)

Keeping the Sabbath day holy means humbling ourselves under the Word of God. And churches that teach obedience for protection will be blessed, the people of the church will be blessed, our cities will be blessed and our nation will be blessed.

And this is how we make our nation great again!!

Food For Thought,

Lisa

For more on the Sabbath see here