"Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." (Ps. 118:1)
It is truly incredible, when you stop to think about it, how such a pure and holy and righteous God can love such impure, unholy, and unrighteous sinners such as us. I am always
amazed by the depths of His love, and the extent to which He will go to save us from the destruction we bring upon ourselves by our wickedness and disobedience.
God doesn't keep secrets from us. He doesn't leave us to stumble along in bewilderment, wondering what we must do to please or appease Him. He has made it quite clear, in His Holy Word. It is our
own choice whether to believe His word, and obey, or to disbelieve and suffer the consequences. The results of either one are made very plain to us.
Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will
not obey the commandments of the LORD your God.....(Deut. 11:26-28)
That seems pretty plain to me. God does not make it difficult. He simply explains what the
results will be for either obedience or disobedience, and then gives us our choice. He never forces His will on us.
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may
live. (Deut. 30:19)
He also makes it plain that our choices will have far reaching consequences, perhaps farther
than we can even imagine. Our choices will affect our children and the choices they will make, which will in turn affect their children, and so on down the line....... It is a tremendous
responsibility we have to the next generation.
And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before
you the way of life, and the way of death. (Jer. 21:8)
This verse was spoken to the Israelites when they were facing captvity by their enemies, which
was a direct result of their wickedness and disobedience. In the next couple of verses, they were told that to live, they would have to humble themselves, and live a life of obedient
servitude; if they chose not to surrender themselves to such servitude, they would die.
God's message for us today is no different. We are to humble ourselves before the Almighty God,
and surrender ourselves to humble servitude. The message is repeated over and over, that whoever humbles himself will be exalted by God, but the proud shall be humbled by God.(see Matthew 23:12;
Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14, James 4:6)
Our choices will affect not only our children and our children's children, but also our nation.
There can be no doubt that this nation was founded by Godly men, based on Godly wisdom and Godly principles. And there can be no doubt that the Almighty God has truly blessed us for over two
hundred years.
We need to realize - God WANTS to bless His people! He makes that quite plain, as well:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,
saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.(Jer. 29:11)
But He wants His people to be obedient, and to worship no other gods. He promises that if we do this, He will continue to bless us, but if we do not, He will destroy us. It is God
alone who builds up a nation, or tears it down. (See Rom. 13:1) And it is our choice whether to be a nation blessed by God, or one He will destroy for their wickedness and disobedience.
The words He spoke to Israel way back then still apply to us today:
At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to
pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
And at what instant
I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good,
wherewith I said I would benefit them. (Jer. 18:7-10)
If God has plans to destroy any nation, these verses clearly tell us that if that nation repents,
and turns from their wickedness, then He will also repent of the evil He was going to bring upon them. That's right! Remember, before He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, He said if Abraham could find even 10 Godly people,
He would not destroy those cities. (see Gen. 18)
On the other hand, when God has blessed a nation, He will withdraw His blessing from that nation if they are disobedient and ungodly, doing
evil in His sight (not in their own sights; God never measures us against our own yardsticks, but against His own standard of righteousness!)
It is up to us; God never takes way our free will. We can continue on our wicked ways, and let both our families and this once-great nation suffer the wrath of the Almighty God. Or we can
humble ourselves, and repent of our prideful and arrogant disobedience, and allow God to heal both our nation, and our families.
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 will I hear from heaven, and will forgive
their sin, and will heal their land. (II Chron. 7:14)
Now, I know that there are some who will say, 'All of that is all in the Old Testament---- that
doesn't apply to us now.' That is so wrong! Every portion of God's Holy Word applies to us just as much today as it did the day He inspired it to be written! God is no respecter of persons.
(Acts 10:34) His word is still true and vital to us today. God is eternal, and unchanging. His Word applies to every person, of every generation. It has been truly said that the New Testment
is concealed in the Old, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New.
Yes, God's word is still true and unchanging. His promises are true, and apply to every generation.
The only real question is: What are you going to do about it? Like a pebble thrown into a pond, your decision has far-reaching consequences, for yourself, for your family, and even for your nation.
It is your choice.
....Choose you this day whom ye will serve;...... but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15)
