I love reading passages of scripture which proclaim the victory that Christ has already won. I get so excited reading about people from every nation and tribe and tongue worshiping Jesus Christ, the risen one! I cannot fathom the beauty of Christ displayed as all of His creation will bend its knee and worship the one, true God. This picture is painted all throughout the Bible and as I read these passages, I love to imagine what it will look like for all creation to finally acknowledge Jesus as Lord.
Philippians 2:9-11 “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Revelation 7:9-10 “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Yesterday I was praying, asking the Lord to increase His fame among the nations and that all people groups would come to know Jesus. In lieu of Independence Day and being away from America, my mind shifted to my homeland. When I think of the nations, I typically think of other nations and most frequently the majority world (third world or developing countries). However, this time, the Lord opened my eyes to the great sin and need in my own nation, America. It is not that I was previously unaware of the great sin and corruption in our nation, but this time the Lord allowed me to have a different perspective than I have ever had before.
I have recently been reading through the minor prophets (the short books at the end of the OT), which so far have included a great deal of prophecy and judgment. As I was reading a passage in Amos, I was sort of puzzled because the Lord kept proclaiming judgment on all of Israel’s neighbors and it was the same judgment over and over again for each region surrounding Israel and I kept wondering why the places weren’t all listed first and then the judgment would only have to be repeated once. But then, after punishment was proclaimed on all of Israel’s neighbors, the Lord began to address the transgressions of Israel, His chosen people. This section started off the same as all the others, listing what they had done and how the Lord was going to judge them, but then the passage continued and started going through all the ways in which the Lord had cleared the way for His people by destroying their enemies, yet they still sinned against Him over and over again. I scanned down to see that this section on Israel’s judgment was significantly longer than the others and then said aloud “Oh shoot…” And then it dawned on me that the all of the surrounding nations had sinned against the Holy God, but Israel was different. These were the Lord’s chosen people whom He had blessed greatly and who were supposed to be set apart for His purposes, yet even in light of the Lord’s favor that had shined upon them, they still turned to other gods and were adulterous to the Lord. My eyes were opened to the jealous and righteous wrath of God that was to be poured out on His people who were repeatedly turning their backs to their God. I just kept thinking, “This is not going to be good for them.”
Being away from the states has allowed me in a sense to step back and have a bird’s eye view of America, similar to how I read about the nation of Israel in Amos, as an outsider. Yet as I read through Amos, I kept thinking “I cannot believe how evil and unfaithful Israel is.” But now the Lord has shown me that my own homeland, of which I am so proud, is so far from the Lord.
Yes, I am so proud to be an America and I am in debt to the soldiers who have set aside their lives and interests in order to serve our nation, protect our freedom and defend the weak and oppressed, but I am broken over the sin that is in my country. I hate the stronghold that Satan has in my nation that allows countless unborn babies to be murdered and that holds political correctness and tolerance in higher esteem than holiness, righteousness, and Truth.
It might seem ironic (it does to me) that I am in a different country for only 2 months and that during this time the Lord has burdened my heart for where I have been for almost twenty years. However odd the timing might seem, the conviction that the Holy Spirit has brought upon me has led me to go before the Lord and plead for mercy on America and to beg on behalf of my countrymen and women for the Lord to forgive us of our corruption, immorality, and the detestable sins that fill our lives, even as believers.
I am begging the Lord to revive our hearts that we might come back to Him as a nation. I believe that He can do this and I will continue to labor in prayer that He will.
Jesus, I pray that we will regain sight of who you are, what you have done and what implications that has on our lives. Bring us back to you, Lord. May we fall on our knees and repent of the sin in our lives and in our land and may we be reconciled to you. Purify our hearts Lord and reside in us. May your church rise up and take its place in bringing our nation back to you. May we truly be your body and may we rest in knowing that your words, O Lord, are true “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)
Amen.
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