Category Archives: Christian Life

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This Country Needs what Everyone Needs

We need God

People need the Lord. We all need God. Let me distill the thought for you. In this post I list five needs that we collectively and individually need. A verse in the book of Malachi gives us our ‘why.’ This tiny statement contains the major truth that has been true since Adam and Eve.

‘Return to me, and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

Malachi 3:7

*If you read nothing else, read the end of this post.

We in America need to return to God.

I want to share with you five components that I believe can help us as a nation and individually ‘return to God.’ These components aren’t formulaic, they concern matters of the heart and soul.

  • Awaken
  • Pray
  • Repent
  • Heal
  • Enliven

Awaken

America needs to awaken from its slumber. Christian people need to awaken from their slumbering. We are asleep. We, I, must see the big picture. It’s easy to complain about the state of affairs in our Country, the way things are today, without taking ownership of any of it. But that’s a mistake.

Individually and corporately we bear some responsibility in this. Believers need to come alive to the Spirit of God. Enlivened Christians are lively, rejuvenated and freed from their preoccupation with self and all its desires. Love is central to a spiritual awakening.

Pray

Americans need to pray. Christians need to get down to the business of earnest prayer that brings about repentance, righteousness, and holiness. If we would get serious about praying for America and the world, for our neighbor and the destitute (who is our neighbor; context matters), for those who hate and are godless, change would come.

God says He answers our prayers. “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Co 1:20). Christ brings about salvation in the hearts of humankind. A heart that loves God, loves well, and loves broadly.

Repent

We in American need to repent of wrongdoing. We as believers who live in America and elsewhere are charged with the same. If we don’t repent of our sin, if we don’t confess our sins with a contrite heart, then we are glossing over wrongdoing and excusing it.

We must look at our own hearts before we can effectively speak truth to others. Otherwise, we seem fake and disingenuous. A beautiful work of God emerges and touches lives when we are humble and genuine in what we say and do.

Heal

Americans need healing. Individually we need to heal. Healing initiates a transformational redemptive work in us. Yes, we have done wrong as a nation–through slavery (historically), racial injustices, abuse, killing of innocents, moral failures, prideful acts–worshiping idols of materialism, success, and power.

We ourselves have also failed. But God restores us when we seek Him with our heart, soul, and mind. He redeems what the locusts have eaten. God takes the old and makes it new.

Enliven

We in America are passionate about various things. However, our passion for things of God, in many respects, has waned. Our passion for God should drive us. Ask yourself, am I passionate about Christ’s message of life, His gospel of truth, and His promise of peace?

Our individual and corporate spiritual lives are an expression of God’s love to the world. We as believers thrive when we are filled to over-flowing, alive in the Spirit, radiant, enthusiastic, emboldened believers who speak life in word and deed to the world of humankind.

* * *

But How?

We can do this. It’s not as hard as it seems.

  • First, you do what you already know–you pray, and add to your prayers.
  • Next, you expand on this–you repent; you let God show you what needs attention.
  • Then, you pursue healing; God initiates, you follow, and then you act.
  • Finally, your spirit awakens and enlivens. These come as the result of pursuing prayer, repentance, and healing.

These five components work together. Awakening and enlivening are a result, not a cause. These two are attractive qualities in a believer’s life. They initiate this fluid process, and they draw people to you. Please will and intention to go further still with these critical elements.

However, some points of stress and resistance also come along the way. We have an enemy, we have strongholds, and we have to conquer the flesh to live in the spirit. But, you can do this. If you stumble, which happens, you get up, dust yourself off, and proceed. Our Country and the world become the recipients of God’s grace made manifest in our lives.

* * *

Now, as an add-on because he was my professor at Western Baptist College, now Corban University, I share this video of Dr. Jim Hills speaking to the graduates. He makes the point for me, about how to live authentically. He’s a Covid long-hauler and was in a hospital for months. Here is his story: https://youtu.be/SOm_kkFgqss

Thank you, Dr. Jim Hills.

. . .

I wish you well on your spiritual journey.

Leave a comment. Do you agree with this article?

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God As a Safe Place

God is my Safe Place

Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly plague. He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day.

Psalm 91:3-5

I don’t know exactly when I realized that God is my safe place. He is my safe place wherever I am. I go to God with my troubles. I cling to Him when I am afraid. I trust God to keep me safe. God is my Rock. He is my fortress. God is my ever present help in times of trouble. Every day is a good day because God is in it.

God covers me with His feathers.

I love the imagery of God covering me with His feathers. This is a protective stance of a mother bird with her baby birds under her wings. It is also a loving stance as we see a mother’s care for her youngsters. Just like a fledgling knows his mother will protect him, I know my Father in Heaven will protect me in the storms of life. I can rest in this knowledge of my heavenly father.

This does not mean there won’t be any storms in my life. It does mean that God is with me through the storm. God does not abandon His children. He is like a mighty fortress in which I find safety and help, in which I find my courage and strength to face whatever befalls me.

God is faithful

God never waivers nor capitulates. He remains strong, valiant, courageous. We see this in Christ, in His confrontations, trial, beating, and death on the cross. We see a measure of this same strength in Christ’s devoted followers–His disciples, the Apostle Paul, and Christian martyrs. They were pillars of faith; resolute, unyielding, firm in their faith. We may be called to stand alone for our faith. Should that happen, God will give us the courage and strength at the time when we need it. One person can make a difference.

There is a story of a monk in Roman days who had gone to the Colosseum to watch a gladiator match. As he watched the gladiators fight to the death he was appalled by the evil for what it was. He was so impacted by what he saw that he ran down the steps to intervene, yelling, ” Stop! This isn’t right. Stop!” He ran down to the ring where the gladiators were fighting. According to one account, they ran him through. According to legend, the emperor was so impressed by the monk’s bravery, and the crowd so affected by his actions that this became the last gladiatorial match in the Colosseum. You can read about it here.

We can rest in Him

Psalm 78:35 says, “They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.” Many are the hymns which we sing that express this truth about God, that Jesus is the Rock upon which we stand.

  • “On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
  • “O, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land–a Shelter in a time of storm.”
  • “The wise man built his house upon a Rock.”

Trust in God is a mighty assurance to us in our faith. Our trust has the ability to grow. I trust God more today that I did 10 years, 5 years, and one year ago. My trust grows exponentially. I am learning to trust God with more of my stuff as I have learned He is gracious, willing, and able to bear it. We can be hesitant to trust Him with our complicated issues, but He gets us, and He wants us to trust Him with it. He is a trustworthy God, and He never fails us. The challenge for me is to trust God with my burdens and leave them with Him. I want to worry, when He says, “Trust Me.” Then it becomes an exercise in re-giving my burdens back to Him.

I’m so glad that God is our Divine Protector, that He covers us with His feathers. He has our best interest at heart. We can trust Him with every burden. And best of all, we need not fear Him, for He is a kind, loving, gracious Father.

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.” -Psalm 91:1-2

. . .

I wish you well on your spiritual journey.