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Psalms 33:12-14 ^(KJV) Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. 13 The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. 14 From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.

As we approach the time of the year where we celebrate Thanksgiving we’ll gather together as families and eat way too much food. Many will watch football on television, snack, gorge themselves, nap, then feed again. It’s “Thanksgiving”. At many of the tables where families gather there will be no thankfulness nor prayer. In many of the opulent homes there will be no recognition of the God Who made the prosperity and blessedness of America possible.

When I was growing up every year in school we heard of the first Thanksgiving in America. There were 102 Pilgrims – Christ followers – who came to Plymouth to establish a colony there. These 102 were seeking freedom and blessing in a new world called America. At the first Thanksgiving there were only 53 Pilgrims. Disease and starvation had taken the rest. A local tribe of native Americans – the Wampanoags – helped the 53 survive the harsh climate. About 90 of the native Americans shared that first Thanksgiving meal with the Pilgrims.

They were thanking God for helping them survive, for blessing them, for loving them.

We don’t hear much of the first Thanksgiving anymore nor the part that Christ played in it. The devil robbed Adam of Eden, and the devil is today robbing Christians of America. And we are allowing him to do it by our silence. The truth of the matter is that we are a nation that has been shaped by the Judeo-Christian ethic found throughout the Bible. We were founded a Biblical nation from our very roots. But..

Are we a Christian nation?

If by “Christian Nation” you mean that everyone is a Christian, then no, we are not a Christian nation. America was founded to be a FREE nation where each person could follow their own conscience as long as they did not hinder the life or conscience of another. Since America was founded by Christians following the freedoms that Christ promoted we enjoy unprecedented liberties. Our founding fathers were not all Christians, but they understood the impact that Christianity had on our nation. For instance, Patrick Henry said:

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

Thomas Jefferson was certainly not a Christian. He was a Deist who envisioned God as a supreme being Who created the world but no longer intervened directly in daily life. Jefferson made his own Bible by cutting out what he did not agree with. Jefferson said:

“… can the liberties of a nation be thought secure, when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice can not sleep forever.”

Our twenty-eighth president Woodrow Wilson in his famous address, “The Bible and Progress,” stated: “America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture.”

Progressive Politics has replaced fact with feeling.

If a child is born with a male anatomy if he feels that he is female then Progressive thought demands that he be affirmed as such. Feeling greater than fact prevails throughout our nation. Feeling got us in trouble in the Garden of Eden. God said “Eat this, and you will die”. Eve in Genesis 3:6 ..

“saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise”

It looked good. It felt good. Let’s eat! And with this humanity fell into sin. We are following the same pathway in America today. To us God says:

Psalms 33:12 ^(KJV) Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

Our Blessings Came Because God Is The LORD

When Italian explorer Christopher Columbus journaled in 1504 why he went out to discover new lands, he wrote:

“I was led of the Holy Spirit to carry the message of the Gospel to undiscovered lands.”

When the Pilgrims of the Mayflower landed in Plymouth they drafted the Mayflower Compact. In that agreement they stated that they were a colony dedicated to “the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.” When our nation declared independence from the tyranny of Great Britain on July 4, 1776 that “Declaration of Independence” stated:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. “

Before Progressivism took over our schools of higher learning nearly every college or university was founded by Christians and Christian Churches. Names I am sure you all know – Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, William and Mary – all were founded by Christians. The man for whom Harvard University was names is John Harvard. He wrote:

“That every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main ends of his life and studies: to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the foundation of all knowledge and learning, and see that the Lord only giveth wisdom. To let everyone seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek Christ Jesus as Lord and Master.” Harvard University’s second official seal (still found on Harvard Diplomas today) stated in Latin these words,

“Truth for Christ and the Church”

Whereas their first seal stated “In Christi Gloriam” which means “For The Glory Of Christ”. In 1884 the Board of Overseers modified the logo to say only “Veritas” or “Truth”. Both Christ and the Church were erased from the University’s face.

American’s first schoolbook was the “New England Primer.” Christian truth was a part of American education even at the beginning. Children were taught their ABCs using Adam and the Bible. “In Adam’s fall, We sinned all” taught the letter A. “Thy life to mend, God’s BOOK attend” taught the letter B. Children were taught basic Bible truths.

A law passed in a Joint Resolution by the 84th Congress (P.L. 84-140) and approved by President Dwight Eisenhower on July 30, 1956, declared that our national motto “In God We Trust” must appear on American currency. There is no doubt that America was founded on Christian principles and in a firm belief in God.

A prayer written by Pastor Bob Russell of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky caused a lot of disturbance back in 1996. This prayer was read in the Kansas State House by a guest Chaplain named Joe Wright. Representatives got up and walked out during that prayer. ABC Radio Broadcaster Paul Harvey Aurandt heard of it, and read this prayer on his radio show. He read:

“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, “Woe to those who call evil good,” but that’s exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that:

We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism. We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism. We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it a choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the airwaves with profanity and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas, and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state. Grant them Your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your will… Amen

God is watching us, Beloved.

Psalms 33:13-14 ^(KJV) The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. 14 From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.

What Is America’s Hope?

Our future as a nation is that we all return back to Christ. Peter told the early Church:

1 Peter 4:17-18 (KJV)  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?  [18]  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

God’s people must be God’s people. We must be vocal and loud, shining for our Jesus. We must not “weary in well doing”. We must not compromise. We must cast off apathy and laziness. We must openly and loudly trust in our God. God is watching us. He is watching this nation. Let the darkness be the darkness – we MUST be the light. We must rejoice in our God.

Psalms 33:1-3 (KJV)  Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.  [2]  Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.  [3]  Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.

Just showing up and doing Church is not what we who are His are to do. The Pilgrims did the hard thing. They stepped out of their comfort zone and took a trip to a new land for the glory of God. They praised God with their lives. We are called to praise God. To magnify Him. To lift Him up. We are to rejoice in the Lord. To find pleasure in Him.

Too many professing believers today are just going through the motions. We need to get our hearts right with God. We need to quit snoozing through the sermons, and give God our best. Some of you give God your least, but at work you give your best. Should you not give your best to God. Do not the firstfruits belong to Him:

Proverbs 3:9-10 (KJV)  Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:  [10]  So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

God does not want our leftovers, but our best. We are to love Him with all our hearts, all our souls, all our minds, and all our being. Give God first place.

Matthew 6:33 (KJV)  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Along with PRAISE God also expects our OBEDIENCE to His Word:

Psalms 33:4 (KJV)  For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.

It is not the world that defines right and wrong, but the Word of God.

Proverbs 30:5 (KJV)  Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

The lost follow the Word of God as long as it suits their agenda. They are much like the Pharisees of whom Jesus said “you make the Word of God of no effect through your tradition” (Mark 7:13). Progressivism is the false prophet of our day. We must turn from this and ask ourselves:

“What does God’s Word – the Scripture – say about it?”

I am told that the goddess of Progressivism has created 49 genders that humans can be. This is hogwash. There are only two genders – male and female. God made you one way or the other regardless as to how you feel. Jesus told the devil – and we must tell the Progressive:

Luke 4:4 (KJV) … man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

Feelings are not facts. God’s Word – the Bible – is a fact.

Psalms 33:6-8 (KJV)  By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.  [7]  He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.  [8]  Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

The Word of God has not lost its power. His Word is His truth and His promise. We must trust in Him, and point others to Him through His Scripture and to His Gospel. The Salvation of our nation will only come when we trust in Him.

Psalms 33:18-22 (KJV)  Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;  [19]  To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.  [20]  Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.  [21]  For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.  [22]  Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

We need to not only shine for Christ, trusting the Word of God. But as a people we must pray. We must trust Him and pray for our families, our Churches, our communities, and our nation. He tells us in His Word

2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV)  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.

We must be the light that God has called us to be. May God touch your hearts with His Word.