Day 12
Enjoy today's written devotional from Doug Houser
Welcome to the devotion for Day 12 of our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting!
Psalm 33, verse 12, says this: Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.
Our country, the United States of America, certainly has been blessed; in material prosperity, abundant natural resources, liberty, freedom of speech and religion; with inventions, and discoveries in science and technology. We have been protected by divine providence, in deliverance from foreign enemies, and by revival and spiritual renewal, when godlessness and moral decay threatened to destroy us. And, not the least of these blessings has been the opportunity to preach the gospel to the world. The United States has been responsible for proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ to more people, and people groups, than any nation in the history of the world, by our sending and financing missionaries. We should always be thankful for all of this.
It is not that we are deserving of God’s blessing, or that we have always set the standard of righteous living; rather, as the latter part of the verse says, it is simply because God has chosen to do so.
The Apostle Paul expands this theme in the Book of Acts, chapter 17; “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth . . . From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the exact places where they should live. God did this (why?) so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.”
God’s purpose in orchestrating the events of history is to provide the best opportunity for us to get to know him; the circumstances of our lives are meant to move us to seek him.
These last few years have been a dark time in our nation’s history. And yet, the Lord promises us that in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us! And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
God is in control of history! We can rest assured God is keenly aware of what threatens our nation, from within and without! Many times in our history, God has provided miraculously for our deliverance.
I want to share the story of one of those miracles. At the onset of the French and Indian War, the nation of France was trying to regain control of their colonies in Canada, and to destroy British power and influence in the Americas. They sent an expedition led by French Admiral Duc d'Anville, which included 11,000 men and a fleet of 64 ships. d'Anville was ordered to "consign Boston to flames, ravage New England and waste the British West Indies." News of the expedition spread fear throughout New York and New England. The Governor of Massachusetts proclaimed a day of fasting and prayer. As churches filled in Boston, one well-known preacher prayed that God would smite their enemies with the whirlwind and storm. At that very instant, tremendous gusts of wind swept across the city, making the bells in the steeples ring wildly. The tempest struck the French fleet on September 13, 1746, destroying most of their ships. The survivors limped back to France defeated. The major settlements of the Eastern seaboard were saved.
Psalm 33, again, Vs. 10 & 11, proclaims this:
The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
He thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
The purposes of his heart through all generations.
God bless you, may you be filled with confidence in your God, an assurance of his good purposes for you, and his peace; and may we pray with renewed faith for our nation, that the Spirit of the Lord would revive us once again; that he will send, as he has promised, “Times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3, verse 19.)
Psalm 33, verse 12, says this: Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.
Our country, the United States of America, certainly has been blessed; in material prosperity, abundant natural resources, liberty, freedom of speech and religion; with inventions, and discoveries in science and technology. We have been protected by divine providence, in deliverance from foreign enemies, and by revival and spiritual renewal, when godlessness and moral decay threatened to destroy us. And, not the least of these blessings has been the opportunity to preach the gospel to the world. The United States has been responsible for proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ to more people, and people groups, than any nation in the history of the world, by our sending and financing missionaries. We should always be thankful for all of this.
It is not that we are deserving of God’s blessing, or that we have always set the standard of righteous living; rather, as the latter part of the verse says, it is simply because God has chosen to do so.
The Apostle Paul expands this theme in the Book of Acts, chapter 17; “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth . . . From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the exact places where they should live. God did this (why?) so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.”
God’s purpose in orchestrating the events of history is to provide the best opportunity for us to get to know him; the circumstances of our lives are meant to move us to seek him.
These last few years have been a dark time in our nation’s history. And yet, the Lord promises us that in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us! And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
God is in control of history! We can rest assured God is keenly aware of what threatens our nation, from within and without! Many times in our history, God has provided miraculously for our deliverance.
I want to share the story of one of those miracles. At the onset of the French and Indian War, the nation of France was trying to regain control of their colonies in Canada, and to destroy British power and influence in the Americas. They sent an expedition led by French Admiral Duc d'Anville, which included 11,000 men and a fleet of 64 ships. d'Anville was ordered to "consign Boston to flames, ravage New England and waste the British West Indies." News of the expedition spread fear throughout New York and New England. The Governor of Massachusetts proclaimed a day of fasting and prayer. As churches filled in Boston, one well-known preacher prayed that God would smite their enemies with the whirlwind and storm. At that very instant, tremendous gusts of wind swept across the city, making the bells in the steeples ring wildly. The tempest struck the French fleet on September 13, 1746, destroying most of their ships. The survivors limped back to France defeated. The major settlements of the Eastern seaboard were saved.
Psalm 33, again, Vs. 10 & 11, proclaims this:
The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
He thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
The purposes of his heart through all generations.
God bless you, may you be filled with confidence in your God, an assurance of his good purposes for you, and his peace; and may we pray with renewed faith for our nation, that the Spirit of the Lord would revive us once again; that he will send, as he has promised, “Times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3, verse 19.)
Recent
Archive
Categories
no categories
No Comments