Not on my watch!

I Thessalonians 2:7 - For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.

Did you know that the church has the power to change things in our world? That's right we have the power to hold back things and allow things to be as long as it is according to the will of God. I know that there are many things prophesied  in the scripture that will come to pass. But the scripture is very vague about when some of the things will happen. I believe the reason that it is so is because some things are not set in stone. Although God has established a day of reckoning and judgment for the world things do not have to be as bad as they could have been if the church had not prayed.

Unconvinced? Let's look at some examples from the Old Testament. In I Kings chapter 21 we are told that God was about to judge Israel. When the prophet went to warn Ahab, he jumbled himself. The exact words of scripture are that "he walked softly before God." God sent the prophet to Ahab again to tell him that these things would not happen in his days but in the days of his son. Hezekiah was another king of Israel with a death penalty on him. He prayed and cried out to God and God gave him 15 more years to live.

As I contemplated these things this morning I had  this thought: NOT ON MY WATCH. What do I mean? It's like this. God has put me in 2013 with a purpose. Just as Peter was responsible to his generation and Paul to his so we are responsible to ours. It is the job of the church to pray for our nation. We are the only good in this world and we are the reason that judgment is being held back. With that said, we should be interceding for our nation now like never before. We know that things look bad but they don't have to be as bad as they could be.

When God's judgment came on Egypt the land of Goshen was spared. Not only was Goshen spared but the people of Israel prospered. Several years ago I heard a man of God say this: "I refuse to participate in the downward economy." God sent manna from heaven and fed his people and he could do it again if need be. He will take care of us. But more than him taking care of me, I want him to take care of my loved ones, friends, neighbours, and my nation.

The greatest need of our nation now is for the church to pray. Pray for God to have mercy on us. Pray for God to spare us of any intended evil. Remember Moses when he stood between God and the people? God spared Israel because of Moses. No doubt this country that we love has set itself against God in a multitude of ways. But there is still a church in the earth that can stand between God and the ones that we love. I believe God wants us to intercede. Who knows but that God will have mercy, not only on me and mine, but one my government as well.

The Apostle Paul told us to pray for "all that are in authority". Why? so that we could live a quiet and peaceable life. All of us want peace. Our world is in desperate need of peace. We as Christian are filled with the Spirit of Peace. Jesus is our Prince of Peace. So I believe we need to cry out to our Lord and ask him to intervene with peace.

Would you join me today? Let's cry out to God for our nation. Ask Him to give our government officials peace between themselves and wisdom to decide what is right. Ask him to give the church favor in the sight of the government that it make no laws that would restrict our ability to worship freely. Ask Him to have mercy on us. If the government is going to fall in and our economy is going to crash it doesn't have to happen today. It doesn't have to happen on my watch. If we pray, who knows what God may do!

I don't wish evil on any future generation. But I am not responsible for the future any more than I am the past. I am responsible for today. And right now I see trouble in my land. So I cry out to my brothers and sisters, would you help me pray? It's not too late. It's never too late for God to work. Ask Him to work for us today and see what He will do, not only for us but for our country as well.

Prayerfully,

Sullivan Jones

A Good Report

Proverbs 15:20 - A good report makes the bones fat.

The Bible is so scientifically sound that it is amazing. Deuteronomy 17:11 tells us that "the life of the flesh is in the blood." Today we understand just how true this is. The blood is needed to carry nutrients toward and impurities away from every cell in our bodies. There was no way to know this for many years and yet the Bible recorded this thousands of years ago.

I recently learned something else in my biology class that made me think of the above scripture in Proverbs. There are two types of bone marrow in our bodies, red and yellow. Red is where the blood cells are produced and yellow marrow is where the fat cells are. Without going into a long scientific explanation which I am not qualified to give, let me say this. We have known for a long time, though we still don't completely understand how, that our physical health is tied to our mental health. We know that a person who laughs and can release stress easily is much less likely to suffer from a myriad of diseases. It makes me wonder exactly what the connection is between "a good report" and strong, healthy bones.

Now as a theologian instead of a scientist let me explain what I believe. When someone receives good news it is truly like an injection of medicine, not only to the spirit but to the body as well. Words of encouragement are like fat to our bones. Somehow God designed our bodies so that good thoughts and encouraging words can literally give us physical strength. I don't' understand it but I believe and have seen that it works.

So what can we do with that information? We know that people all around us are nervous about the future? There is much uncertainty in our world. Instead of passing on the bad news let's tell others how good God is. Let's remind each other that God has never let us down and His word says that he never will. I'm not talking about denying reality but speaking life. No matter what the economy or our government does our God has promised to take care of us.

There may be someone around you today that needs to hear those very words. Let's encourage each other today with words of life. After all, a good report makes the bones fat.