DEVOTIONAL FOR THURSDAY OCTOBER 3RD

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Peace”

Our Bible verse for today: “If you follow My statutes and faithfully observe My commands, I will give you rain at the right time, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit … I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to frighten you. I will remove dangerous animals from the land, and no sword will pass through your land.” Leviticus 26:3; 6

 Our thought for today: “God blesses the nation that obeys Him.”

 As I write this the government of the USA has been partially shut down. Our leaders can’t agree with each other on a variety of issues; they have also been unable to work out a compromise budget, and so the government has shut down. I wish I could write that this is an isolated incident and that surely common sense will soon prevail, but we all know that’s not true. Our federal government has become increasingly dysfunctional to the point of inertia. It is mired in partisanship, self-interest, corruption, and small-minded pettiness.

 It’s an old political truism that politics is the art of compromise. The way public policy gets done is that well-intentioned and reasonably intelligent people with differing opinions come together and work things out. So how did our federal government get so messed up? How did we end up with so many elected officials – in all three branches of the government, who are so incapable of playing nice with those of differing perspectives?

 In Leviticus 26:3-6 Moses describes the kind of nation that enjoys the blessings of God and therefore prospers in all areas of national life. It is the nation that faithfully obeys God. That used to describe the USA but it doesn’t anymore. We have drifted far from our Biblical roots and the further we have drifted, the more dysfunctional our life as a nation has become. Let me share with you a few quotes regarding our Christian heritage which may help us to better understand what we’re experiencing today:

 “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Patrick Henry, 1776

 “Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teaching of the Redeemer of Mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian.” Supreme Court of the United States, 1892 (After citing 87 precedents)

 “If God and His word are not known and received, the devil and his works will be. If the power of the Gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness will reign.” Daniel Webster, 1787

 “Anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness …”

 Pray for our nation. We have lost our moral compass because we have drifted far from our Christian roots. We no longer honor God in our national life and so we are now experiencing life without His blessings. Without the Prince of Peace a nation will not have peace … or prosperity … or true security … or a functional government. Pray for our nation.

 God Bless,

Pastor Jim