Pages

Monday, November 3, 2008

Whose Side is God On?


Today I wanted to share some points from our message Sunday. We received a letter from our Pastor earlier in the week letting us know this would be the message Sunday morning taken from Joshua 5:13-15.
"Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold , a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him,"Are you for us or for our adversaries?" He said "NO; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him,"What has my lord to say to his servant?" The captain of the LORD's host said to Joshua,"Remove your sandals from you feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

Now after I read the scripture, I wondered how he was going to share that God was for us, because this scripture says nothing about it, and I was sure that must be the answer. Surprisingly enough, that was not the answer. He pointed out when Joshua asked the reply was NO, strange seeming answer to what seemed like a multiple choice question, and that wasn't one of the choices. Us or Them? To try to keep this a little shorter, I will share some of the points.
*God is a side in and of Himself. He is the sovereign Lord over all. He is in control of everything.
*God is not a part of the plan. He has the plan, He is sovereign.
* Our hearts must be anchored in God's sovereignty to keep us in place, otherwise we will be tossed around by every wind of doctrine.
*God is not America's mascot. He is not a symbol to bring us good luck, prosperity, etc (part of the definition of a mascot)
*We cannot wait until times of calamity to call on God.
*God is more concerned with his holiness than our comfort and ease.
*God will allow enemies victory to discipline nations that have forgotten him. Think of where we are as a nation.................we kill unborn children by the thousand, sexual immorality is rampant, we no longer hold fast to the belief that God meant for marriage to be between one woman and one man for life, we have become very materialistic..drawn to things and money more than God.
*God is preparing a Bride not a government.
*The power of the church does not rest in the presidency of the United States, it rests in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are to be the church regardless of our circumstance. God is sovereign and can change the heart of those in authority. We are called to faithful obedience.

Sunday evening we were called to come to pray for our nation. We confessed personal sins, and sins of our church and nation and asked for mercy and that we as a people would have a heart of repentance. It was truly a humbling and blessed time. I hope some of this has spoken to you, and that you would diligently seek much time in prayer for our nation as we elect new leadership tomorrow. I know this has been long, but it was pressing on my heart to share. Have a wonderful, blessed week. Jackie

12 comments:

Trixi said...

Jackie, very good post and message. We too are praying for mercy. However, I think which ever candidate goes in, either one will be for our judgement. There is no real good choice.

Smelling Coffee said...

Jackie~ Thank you for sharing this message with us! It's so true - and just what the Lord has been telling me, too. I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to add a link to this post in my most recent post.

May the Lord have mercy on us all and glorify Himself in our lives and nation... Jennifer

Kim Hancock said...

Amen!!! An excellent post!

Ginger said...

Thank you for this reminder...I really like what you said about God being more concerned about our holiness rather than our comfort and ease. May we all strive to bring honor and glory to our Holy God and realize that God will give us the comfort that we long to have. This comfort doesn't come from posession but from Him and Him alone! May God bless you. I enjoy reading your blog.

Darlene said...

We must remember that what ever happens God is always in control. Great post!

Shell in your Pocket said...

I totally agree with you!

No matter who wins...conservative Christians better start getting involved and informed the next 4 years...it seems that everyone is timid...we have the 2 candidates b/c it reflects our nation...it's morals and what it values!
-sandy toes

Tricia said...

What wonderful words to wake up to this Monday morning. Thank you.

Darlene - Our Creative Life said...

That is the same message our pastor has been teaching. Great message!

Ginny said...

What a great message. Your pastor brought up excellent points.

Shannon said...

Great message.

Dawn Gahan said...

Jackie, what was pressing on your heart to share is now a part of my heart. Thanks for sharing.

Love,
Dawn

Anonymous said...

"God is not America's mascot"...what a great quote. You are blessed to have such a wise pastor. Thanks for sharing this.