GUEST POST by Michael Bowman (Boise, Idaho) —
A few weeks ago, our pastor preached a sermon about the charge and duty of being a citizen of a nation. I have heard several sermons covering this topic many times over the years. Honestly, I was thinking here we go again another admonition, that even though we don't like the excessive taxes we are placed under and we disagree on most of how our hard earned money is wasted, we must nonetheless be obedient and that obedience requires a cheerful heart.
My mind began to drift away; I was on the verge of tuning this sermon out when God spoke to me. The question that came to me over and over was "When will my people render unto Caesar in the way I require?" I at once became alert and listened as I silently asked God to teach me the meaning of His words. I listened intently for the rest of the sermon looking for the answer to His question. Just as many times when I have felt God call on me, I knew if I had the patience, He would begin to put things in front of me, send someone with a word that they would probably not even know was a message from Him.
I checked my emails and found an offer to get a free copy of The Constitution, The Bill of Rights and The Federalist Papers. I went through and read them all looking for that answer that would jump out, grab me, teach me and end the quest. From these readings I was led to look at the all the men who were part of the framing of our nation. Again the question popped into my head, "When will my people render unto Caesar in the way I require?" Back to listen to the sermon once more and read the passages in God's Word. The sermon title was "Paying and Obeying" Matthew 16: 18-20. I began to sense a leading, I began to see the picture, I began thinking I was getting the message. Not wanting to rush and maybe miss His message I went back over everything I was led to see read and pray over.
I believe this is the message he has for the American Christians of this nation. God, Himself is the Creator of this nation. A nation different than any nation ever in the history of mankind. The first nation of the people, by the people and for the people. The first nation to help rebuild nations of her enemies after defeating them instead of taking control of them. The first nation created with and by the prayer and consideration of Godly men in constant prayer in every aspect our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
It became crystal clear. We The People are Caesar, we were ordained by Almighty God to be so. We once were a nation whose every move was bathed in prayer and supplication. We proudly displayed our ever present thanks and allegiance to God. The local churches were the center of communities, we proudly displayed The Ten Commandments in every public place, they were the standards to live by. We slowly began to be complacent, taking for granted that things would never change, we dropped our guard and Satan slipped in our house. We began to allow God to be removed here and there, always being told it really didn't matter, we still had our churches to worship in. We began to slowly allow God to be removed from our daily public lives, in our schools, in our public squares and sadly in many of our homes. We began to allow people to be elected who did not rely on God, they openly spoke out against Him, and we allowed that.
This progression has occurred over the last one hundred years. The culmination was for our President to stand up many times and publicly declare over the past four years that we are no longer a Christian nation. Then his Democratic Party voted in their platform to deny God, some people rose up with mild anger, I say mild because, many Christians who put a party allegiance ahead of God, although God was supposedly reinstated albeit with a loud disdain for God, still voted the party line and returned this man to office. We are Caesar; our nation was a gift to us from God and still can be our gift.
We must stand up, stand together and once again not only call on God to guide us, we must begin to elect men and women who are servants not only of the people, but servants of God. We must once again become a Godly nation. We will not survive with anything less. Our duties of citizenship in United States of America are God ordained and we will no longer succeed as a nation without God. The repair of our nation must follow these steps, we must restore ourselves each on with God. We must bring our families back fully to God. We must return bring our communities back to living under Godly principles.
If we do all of these, God will restore our nation. Will Christians unite; setting aside the things we disagree upon, coming together in that which we all believe, praying together for God's leadership? We must find, support and elect men and women of God who understand they have the duty to serve the people who elect them, serve this nation while always serving God. This will not be an easy overnight success, it could be if our faith is strong enough, our resolve steadfast and Our Lord is once again our protector of freedom. Let's begin to pray together, let's begin to work together, let's again be "One Nation Under God."
A few weeks ago, our pastor preached a sermon about the charge and duty of being a citizen of a nation. I have heard several sermons covering this topic many times over the years. Honestly, I was thinking here we go again another admonition, that even though we don't like the excessive taxes we are placed under and we disagree on most of how our hard earned money is wasted, we must nonetheless be obedient and that obedience requires a cheerful heart.
My mind began to drift away; I was on the verge of tuning this sermon out when God spoke to me. The question that came to me over and over was "When will my people render unto Caesar in the way I require?" I at once became alert and listened as I silently asked God to teach me the meaning of His words. I listened intently for the rest of the sermon looking for the answer to His question. Just as many times when I have felt God call on me, I knew if I had the patience, He would begin to put things in front of me, send someone with a word that they would probably not even know was a message from Him.
I checked my emails and found an offer to get a free copy of The Constitution, The Bill of Rights and The Federalist Papers. I went through and read them all looking for that answer that would jump out, grab me, teach me and end the quest. From these readings I was led to look at the all the men who were part of the framing of our nation. Again the question popped into my head, "When will my people render unto Caesar in the way I require?" Back to listen to the sermon once more and read the passages in God's Word. The sermon title was "Paying and Obeying" Matthew 16: 18-20. I began to sense a leading, I began to see the picture, I began thinking I was getting the message. Not wanting to rush and maybe miss His message I went back over everything I was led to see read and pray over.
I believe this is the message he has for the American Christians of this nation. God, Himself is the Creator of this nation. A nation different than any nation ever in the history of mankind. The first nation of the people, by the people and for the people. The first nation to help rebuild nations of her enemies after defeating them instead of taking control of them. The first nation created with and by the prayer and consideration of Godly men in constant prayer in every aspect our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
It became crystal clear. We The People are Caesar, we were ordained by Almighty God to be so. We once were a nation whose every move was bathed in prayer and supplication. We proudly displayed our ever present thanks and allegiance to God. The local churches were the center of communities, we proudly displayed The Ten Commandments in every public place, they were the standards to live by. We slowly began to be complacent, taking for granted that things would never change, we dropped our guard and Satan slipped in our house. We began to allow God to be removed here and there, always being told it really didn't matter, we still had our churches to worship in. We began to slowly allow God to be removed from our daily public lives, in our schools, in our public squares and sadly in many of our homes. We began to allow people to be elected who did not rely on God, they openly spoke out against Him, and we allowed that.
This progression has occurred over the last one hundred years. The culmination was for our President to stand up many times and publicly declare over the past four years that we are no longer a Christian nation. Then his Democratic Party voted in their platform to deny God, some people rose up with mild anger, I say mild because, many Christians who put a party allegiance ahead of God, although God was supposedly reinstated albeit with a loud disdain for God, still voted the party line and returned this man to office. We are Caesar; our nation was a gift to us from God and still can be our gift.
We must stand up, stand together and once again not only call on God to guide us, we must begin to elect men and women who are servants not only of the people, but servants of God. We must once again become a Godly nation. We will not survive with anything less. Our duties of citizenship in United States of America are God ordained and we will no longer succeed as a nation without God. The repair of our nation must follow these steps, we must restore ourselves each on with God. We must bring our families back fully to God. We must return bring our communities back to living under Godly principles.
If we do all of these, God will restore our nation. Will Christians unite; setting aside the things we disagree upon, coming together in that which we all believe, praying together for God's leadership? We must find, support and elect men and women of God who understand they have the duty to serve the people who elect them, serve this nation while always serving God. This will not be an easy overnight success, it could be if our faith is strong enough, our resolve steadfast and Our Lord is once again our protector of freedom. Let's begin to pray together, let's begin to work together, let's again be "One Nation Under God."
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