[1] Our God is the King of the nations, “They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested.” – Revelation 15:3-4.
The prophet Jeremiah reveals that the Lord has plans for people groups, not just for individuals. When a nation turns from evil and listens to the Lord, He will direct His mercy and grace to that land and to its people.
“The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.” – Jeremiah 18:7-10.
Even under the Old Covenant, God had plans for nations other than Israel. The King of the nations has special purposes for each and every nation – including the United States – that exists throughout history.
The people of God must stand in the place of intercession for its nation, “The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger. So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.” – Ezekiel 22:29-30. We must act with faithfulness and continuously plead our case that God will bring repentance and faith to the nation before it is too late.
“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” – 1 Timothy 2:1-4.
The disciples of Jesus are the salt of earth and the light of the world, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:13-16. If we lose our saltiness or hide our light, what hope will be left for the lost people of our nation? Our relentless cry must join with the psalmist:
“Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?” – Psalm 85:6.
Prayer and repentance are two of the chief means by which God accomplishes His purposes. The Father will hear and respond to the cries of His children, but we HAVE to cry out to Him!
*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version,® Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[1] Excerpts from: https://www.dayandnight.org/a_prayer_for_national_revival. Used by permission.
Psalm 80
For the choir director: A psalm of Asaph, to be sung to the tune “Lilies of the Covenant.”
1 Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph’s descendants like a flock.
O God, enthroned above the cherubim,
display your radiant glory
2 to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Show us your mighty power.
Come to rescue us!
3 Turn us again to yourself, O God.
Make your face shine down upon us.
Only then will we be saved.
4 O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,
how long will you be angry with our prayers?
5 You have fed us with sorrow
and made us drink tears by the bucketful.
6 You have made us the scorn of neighboring nations.
Our enemies treat us as a joke.
7 Turn us again to yourself, O God of Heaven’s Armies.
Make your face shine down upon us.
Only then will we be saved.
8 You brought us from Egypt like a grapevine;
you drove away the pagan nations and transplanted us into your land.
9 You cleared the ground for us,
and we took root and filled the land.
10 Our shade covered the mountains;
our branches covered the mighty cedars.
11 We spread our branches west to the Mediterranean Sea;
our shoots spread east to the Euphrates River.
12 But now, why have you broken down our walls
so that all who pass by may steal our fruit?
13 The wild boar from the forest devours it,
and the wild animals feed on it.
14 Come back, we beg you, O God of Heaven’s Armies.
Look down from heaven and see our plight.
Take care of this grapevine
15 that you yourself have planted,
this son you have raised for yourself.
16 For we are chopped up and burned by our enemies.
May they perish at the sight of your frown.
17 Strengthen the man you love,
the son of your choice.
18 Then we will never abandon you again.
Revive us so we can call on your name once more.
19 Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.
Make your face shine down upon us.
Only then will we be saved.
Psalm 85
For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah.
1 Lord, you poured out blessings on your land!
You restored the fortunes of Israel.
2 You forgave the guilt of your people—
yes, you covered all their sins. Interlude
3 You held back your fury.
You kept back your blazing anger.
4 Now restore us again, O God of our salvation.
Put aside your anger against us once more.
5 Will you be angry with us always?
Will you prolong your wrath to all generations?
6 Won’t you revive us again,
so your people can rejoice in you?
7 Show us your unfailing love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
8 I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying,
for he speaks peace to his faithful people.
But let them not return to their foolish ways.
9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
so our land will be filled with his glory.
10 Unfailing love and truth have met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed!
11 Truth springs up from the earth,
and righteousness smiles down from heaven.
12 Yes, the Lord pours down his blessings.
Our land will yield its bountiful harvest.
13 Righteousness goes as a herald before him,
preparing the way for his steps.
Hugh Blair (April 7, 1718 – December 27, 1800) was a Scottish minister of religion, author and rhetorician, considered one of the first great theorists of written discourse. He was part of prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Society at Edinburgh (FRSE). Blair was born in Edinburgh into an educated Presbyterian family. His father was John Blair, an Edinburgh merchant. He was great great-grandson of Rev. Robert Blair of St Andrews, Scotland.
“Picture two men, after living in this town for many years, now ready to leave for what they assume is a better town or country. At the train ticket counter, two tickets and they are about to enter the . . .”
“Yes, I want a ticket but I don’t have a lot I can pay, where will it take me?” states Mr. Left.
Two choices are given to every man. The choice to go Right, or the choice to take what’s Left. The key to this life we live is just that, YOUR choice. God, our Heavenly Father and Creator is looking for a relationship with His Creation that is voluntary and of our own choosing. He has made a way in which our sinful nature can be Redeemed and Renewed (reborn) into a new Spiritual life. Our Heavenly Father IS Spirit. We can only relate to Him in Spirit and Truth. (
In TRUTH and reality, love, true, Godly love, is a CHOICE and an ACTION. I know, I just can’t express it enough; it is a CHOICE and an ACTION! This truth has been demonstrated AND spoke of throughout the Bible, the Living Word of God. Of course the source of Godly love is God; it is not a man-made construct or emotion. It is the very Nature of God and this is not the Apostle’s first time in mentioning that.
You do not see this type of attribute coming from someone who is relying only on their “feelings” because in those cases, it is the feelings that dictate the actions and people’s feelings are dictated by what else but their emotions! We know from Scripture that God abhors sin. He does not and cannot condone it, He cannot nor does He justify it, yet, despite His “feelings” on the matter of sin, despite the fact that He is wholly pure and holy, without guile, He sent His ONLY begotten Son, as an ACT of love to pay mankind’s penalty that was due for their sinfulness! God Himself, HE supplied the necessary sacrifice according to His own covenant with mankind for a blood sacrifice and thus ushered in the NEW covenant arrangement with mankind!
Remember, while we were still evil and unholy, God DEMONSTRATED His love towards us first by sending His Son to be the propitiation for OUR sins, not His! Propitiation simply means atonement or reparations, simply put, payment. For our sins, payment in Blood had to be made for God to be able to redeem us of our sins according to the Old Testament Covenant of the Law. Christ Jesus paid that price for each of us, making the Gift free and available to every individual. We can do nothing to purchase this Gift; we can not earn it, or bribe the Lord for it. All we can do is to accept it and allow the Holy Spirit to apply it to each of us individually. He does ALL the work. We can show gratitude and appreciation, we can demonstrate love for that Gift, once received, but we have to accept it for what it IS; a Gift, freely given, (at a heavy price to the Giver, I might add) yet freely accepted.
Lady Gaga then took aim at Pence, who recently defended his wife, Karen Pence’s, new teaching position at a private school that bans LGBT employees, gay students and the children of gay parents.
I also love that so many of these “Christians” feel it is okay to use vulgarities in their speech and especially when describing themselves as “Christians.” And as a “Christian,” woman or otherwise, where does their knowledge of what Christianity really is, come from?
We were STILL sinners. We hated God, we were of the world, yet God’s love was demonstrated by paying the debt of our sin. But what are we told and taught; 
1 John 3:
“But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” – 2 Corinthians 11:12-15
A reprobate mind as the Bible describes it, is a mind that is given over to sinful passions and ungodly desires. It is a word used to describe a person who outright rejects God while apparently KNOWING the truth and yet, does what is vile and self-serving rather than obey the Word or commandments of God. Because of this outright rejection of God and His Character, Nature, etc., they are judged by God and are under condemnation, therefore their conscience, their moral compass as-it-were is seared beyond redemption.
In 
Notice that the Apostle Paul is railing against some of these vile people who crept into the early church and began to teach other things, other doctrines, other gospels, and were successful at leading many astray. It was a problem right from the start, and it has continued to be a problem down to this very day! REMEMBER, Paul is addressing THE CHURCH, and those who CLAIM to know God! He’s not writing to those outside the Church who haven’t had their spiritual eyes opened as yet!
Christians are indwelt by God and abide IN God. 
I told you all that for this one reason; we encourage one another, we esteem one another, we lift up one another, but we do it for the reason that we in ourselves are not perfect and in that imperfection, which HAS to be pointed out from time to time, in TRUTH and LOVE, is the reason for encouraging one another in the Lord! There is no reason to be encouraged AND at times admonished if we are already perfected!
He IS reiterating that very thing here again. You WILL know the difference between the spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood or error. “I, John, am giving you a clue: the people of the world who don’t know God, will not hear you. The people who know God, WILL hear you.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is known as the “Prince of Preachers.” He was a strong figure in the Reformed Baptist tradition, defending the Church in agreement with the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith understanding, and opposing the liberal and pragmatic theological tendencies in the Church of his day.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
A Study In Context
1 Peter 5:8, “Your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
Luke 12:19, “‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”‘
Luke 10:37, Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Luke 4:6-7, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
Matthew 21:22, “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Mark 11:24).
John 14:13-14, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
Psalm 20:4, “May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, And fulfill all your purpose.”
*”According to the March 2007 edition of Time, the Bible “has done more to shape literature, history, entertainment, and culture than any book ever written. Its influence on world history is unparalleled, and shows no signs of abating.” With estimated total sales of over 5 billion copies, it is widely considered to be the most influential and “best-selling book of all time.” As of the 2000s, it sells approximately 100 million copies annually.”
It has been said and it is true, backed up by the Scriptures themselves that the Bible is a Living Word. Yes, it is and has been written by various men with various personalities and styles, and yet, the Authorship of the Holy Spirit behind those pens is evident when you look at the Whole of what has become known as the “approved canon” of the Bible.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” – John 1:1-5.
The Bible is the written incarnation of the Character, Nature and Attributes of God and His Son, Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ is the incarnate (uncorrupted flesh) image of the Character, Nature and Attributes of God, the Father. God, the Father has inspired the following through the Holy Spirit and spoken by Jesus Himself:
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” – John 4:23-24.
But Jesus went further on to also state when speaking to His disciple Philip:
“Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.” – John 14:9-11.
Now please, bear with me, be patient and hear me out. I am not espousing some new doctrine or a new theology, but only one that many times is overlooked within the WHOLE counsel of the Bible!
First, let’s talk about one (just one or else we will never finish) aspect of the Character, Nature and Attributes of God. We can all agree right from the start that “God IS Love!” 1 John 4:7-8, 16, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
“And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”
You can find countless Scriptures that define God’s Character as love, loving kindness, mercy, compassion depending on the version of the Bible you use. They ALL use the same language in the original to describe God Almighty as a Loving God in Character and Nature!
“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” – Genesis 1:26-27.
God created mankind and gave him dominion, or authority over the earth and its creatures and creation. Man’s food was NOT that which he had dominion over, but the fruit of the earth. Man was created in the image or likeness of God. It wasn’t a matter of LOOKING like God, but being formed with the same Character, Nature and Attributes of God. Man was given the ability to love, to create, to use authority for the good of the rest of creation. He was given from that point on the eternalness that was associated with God. Though God has no beginning, He also has no end and God passed that attribute on to His creation, mankind. Mankind was given the ability to learn and acquire knowledge as evidenced in God giving the command to name the animals, etc. Though God’s Character, Nature and Attributes are ALL encompassing as characterized by His Omniscience, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Eternalness and Immutability (unchanging Character).
Man was gifted with a portion of each of these characteristics. God the Father is a Spirit. God breathed His spirit into mankind to make him a living being. The Word was with God in the beginning as we stated already. The plan for mankind was already known to the Mind of God, the Word would become flesh, incarnate. God had given mankind the ability to choose. Why you might ask? Simply put, love without the ability to choose is not Love, not Godly love anyway! The Angels were created with purpose. They had assignments and abilities to accomplish God’s will all over the spiritual and supernatural; and that was before mankind as we know it was created. God wanted a people with the ability to choose in which He could love, but also who had the ability to return that love to his Creator. Mankind, created in the image and likeness of God the Father had that ability with those characteristics, nature and attributes that the Father had bestowed on them.
This leads to the rhetorical question; why would mankind HAVE to be redeemed? To bring back to fruition the Plan of God. Man has a choice, AND now, thanks to the willing Sacrifice of Jesus who made the PAYMENT for mankind’s sin, man has the ability to choose; walk in the way he wants too, with his own plans and schemes or accept the Savior’s Gift and allow Him to show us the true Character, Nature and Attributes of the Father through an intimate relationship with Him powered by the Holy Spirit Who was promised to dwell within each of us if we accept the Gift of a renewed spiritual awareness!! The choice is and always has been man’s!
Now, I hope you can see that what I have been leading up too is the mission statement as it were of the Bible, the Living Word of God. To show us, God the Father, THROUGH Christ Jesus, the Son and EMPOWERED through the Holy Spirit to have an intimate relationship with our Creator, God Almighty, our Heavenly Father! Salvation and Redemption is just the path to that end; it is as it were the beginning of that path, not the destination, but rather the way to that destination.
Okay, I’ve come this far and now you may be asking, what in the world does this all have to do with the context of the Bible??
It truly matters that you understand why our Heavenly Father gave us His written Word. It is how we can get to know HIM intimately and personally, along with prayer, communion and meditation AND listening for Him to speak to us, our hearts and mind. When you delve into that Living Word, when you get to know, even minutely WHO your Heavenly Father is, WHO Christ Jesus is and what role the Holy Spirit plays, when you DO commune with the Father, when you DO listen for His “still small voice,” you will not be mislead by the roar of the world, the lies of the enemy of your soul or the hub-bub of life around you.
I just finished an Expository Teaching on these Scriptures so I won’t go into further detail and you can find that here if you haven’t read it yet: 1 John 4:1-3.
One of the easiest ways in which to mislead and deceive the Body of Christ and its members is by twisting the Scriptures to make it say what you want it to say and sadly, we see this in the organized church even today AND many ARE being deceived.
The Word of God can be twisted to say whatever a person with ill motives wish it to say, IF it is taken out of context, which is so easy to do. A person who teaches the Word of God has a very heavy responsibility to make sure that when they use a verse of Scripture to confirm another, that it is within the context of what the Scriptures as a whole are saying. Many say the Scriptures contradict one another from one place to another, but my command to them is instead of lining Scripture up to match your theories, search your heart and make sure you are lining yourself up to the Scriptures. A person who truly studies with an open heart before the Holy Spirit will NOT find contradictions in the Scriptures but in actuality will find truth and enlightenment and illumination!
You will find many teachers who choose to teach in an expository manner; meaning they will take a section of Scripture and “expose” or comment on it verse by verse and line upon line. Thus, it is much easier to teach within the context of the paragraph or even chapter within which it was written. This is also a very important way to study the scriptures. However, there are books such as Ecclesiastes, Psalms and especially Proverbs that have verses of Scripture that stand alone. BUT – and here is the important thing, their meaning will NEVER contradict Scripture elsewhere in the Bible. If it appears that it does, it is your interpretation or translation of the verse that is wrong! This is why the Apostle Paul was so adamant to his disciple, Timothy when he wrote:
“Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” – 2 Timothy 2:14-15.
And:
“But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:14-17.
This is why when preachers and teachers teach thematically, they have to have a good grasp of what I like to describe as the WHOLE counsel of God! They have to be familiar with all the Bible and not just the parts they like the most. It is a heavy and grave responsibility for the Bible itself says that we are given a greater judgement for what we teach, especially if it is misleading to believers! James 3:1, “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.” If you have been “called” into this ministry, than just remember, your reliance upon prayer and the Holy Spirit is vitally essential for you cannot take a calling like this lightly. If you are called, the Holy Spirit WILL equip you but in my many years I have learned, He ALSO imparts to your heart and spirit a motive for wanting to teach. Mine is to encourage and lift up others, to inspire them to find their own gifts from the Holy Spirit and to use those gifts to build up the Body of Christ. There are other responsibilities that go along that aren’t nearly as pleasant, but when your heart motive is out of love for your brothers and sisters, it’s easier to deal with those aspects of teaching that aren’t always as pleasant; again from the Apostle Paul to Timothy refer to the verses above, especially, “All Scripture . . . is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete . . .”
And also, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” – 2 Timothy 4:2-4.
Now, I hope you can see the importance of not just reading the Word of God, but also of studying it. Search if need be, teachers you CAN trust who have a proven track-record of teaching the truth, but I would also admonish you to pray about what you read, listen to the Holy Spirit’s promptings within your own heart. Remember this; if the Holy Spirit can speak to me, in my heart and spirit, then He can certainly speak to you as well!
Whenever speaking of the Word of God and anything that involves study I always like to point this Scripture out as a confirmation of our need to be on guard within ourselves:
“Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” – Acts 17:10-11.
The key here is found in verse 11. “They searched the Scriptures daily to make sure for themselves that what Paul and Silas preached was true!” They didn’t go about it with the motive of trying to FIND fault, but rather that they would not be misled. They truly took to heart what Paul later wrote in Philippians 2:12-13, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
Sorry for the deception, but I hope you see my point! God bless you ALL so abundantly and richly as you take this to heart!
*From Wikipedia.org https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible, Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. Used by permission.