The Lord wants to turn the captivity of this nation into a glorious outpouring of his Spirit, but He needs the cooperation of His people. It is not God’s will that we have Spiritual, political, economic, and social problems. He did not cause it. The devil did because we opened the door to him through our disobedience and disrespect of the Bible. That does not mean that every single person disobeyed the Lord.
HOW DID OUR NATION GET INTO THIS CONDITION
And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. (1Samuel 8:7)
The nation, as a whole, rejected God’s Word in the last two presidential elections. In a type, what has happened in our nation in the last few years is the same thing that occurred in Israel in 1Samuel 8. When you reject God you are accepting Satan. Satan came into this nation on a level that is of epic proportions.
11And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. 12And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. 13And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 14And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. 15And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. 16And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. 17He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. 18And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. 19Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us. (1Samuel 8)
If you look at these scriptures, you will see we have a modern day type of these things in our nation because the majority of the nation, even many Christians, rejected the will of God and voted the wrong way in the last presidential election. Many voted for a person, naturally, instead of considering what the spiritual, political, economic and social impact would be on our nation and on people individually.
You may also look around the world and see some of these same conditions in other nations – they are all from the same source, Satan, and all are caused from rejecting Jesus Christ and the Bible. It is that simple. The solution to all these problems is also very simple.
OUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS MERCIFUL
The solution is a return to God and His Word with repentance for being disobedient. I realize there is a great faction of people who don’t believe that Christians need to repent for their sins. Jesus Christ, Apostle Paul, Apostle Peter, Apostle James, Apostle John and others told Christians to repent in the Bible. Those who believe otherwise may be wonderful, popular ministers and Christians but they are misguided, deceived people. Jesus told the seven churches in Revelations to repent at least seven times.
1 John 1:9 was written to the Christian. The entire book of 1 John was written to the Christian. Many have declared that chapter one of 1 John was written to the unbeliever, and starting with chapter two it is speaking to Christians. This is not correct. It was not originally written in chapter and verse, it was all one letter to the Christian. Nowhere in the New Testament is the unbeliever told to confess their sins to be saved or born again. They are told to confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead. The Christian confesses a sin they commit and repents, or turns away from it.
No, we are not to live in condemnation for past sin after we are born again. But if you sin as a Christian, you are to ask forgiveness for your sin and take action not to commit that sin again. What if you do it again? Ask forgiveness again, with a repentant heart, thanking God that His power has set you free from sin. Forget it and move on in the Lord. Initial remorse for sin is healthy because it is a sure fact that you are born again and know right from wrong. Living in condemnation for past sin is unhealthy and will hinder your faith and growth in the Lord Jesus. He is merciful. You do not have to sin because sin has no power over you, in Christ.
NEHEMIAH LEADS ISRAEL IN REPENTANCE
Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them. 2And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. 3And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God. (Nehemiah 9:1-3)
The children of Israel went into captivity when they disobeyed the Lord. Nehemiah was saddened because the walls of Jerusalem had been destroyed. His desire was to rebuild the walls and the Lord helped him. He inspired the people to turn to God with repentance and he would help them restore the walls. I know the Lord Jesus Christ will help us rebuild the spiritual walls and truths of our nation if we will ask Him. He yearns and desires to help us. May we turn to our Father God and rebuild the spiritual walls with the Word of God in our day. Nehemiah asked people to help him in his time, I ask you to help me in our time. God is with us!