Some Reasons To Thank God

In Australia we do not have a national Thanksgiving Day. We do not have a day set aside especially for giving thanks and praise to God for His blessings upon our nation. Of course, this does not mean that the people of God in our land do not have as much to be thankful for as others who have a national day of thanksgiving. Nor does it mean we should not pause at every opportunity and especially give thanks to our great God for His bounteous blessings upon our great land.

We should thank God for His gracious protection. Sometimes we are like Elisha’s servant and are blinded to the reality and dimensions of the great blessing of His gracious protection. In order to really see it we need to understand the vindictive war Satan’s wishes to wage against us. He would like to see the terrorists succeed in their quest to obtain and explode WMD’s in large cities and population centres of our world. He would like to see epidemics of aids, bubonic plaque, small pox, anthrax and other more deadly exotic diseases, sweep planet earth and especially hurt and destroy the people of God. Since he is the god of this world and we wrestle against his principalities and powers and rulers of darkness in high places, why does this not happen?

When we consider Job’s experience we could ask in a more personal and practical sense, “Why didn’t Satan destroy you, your loved ones and your home last night, since he would obviously like to do so?The psalmist gives us the only viable and believable answer, “Bless the Lord O my soul who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth the life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies . .” (Psalm 103:3-4) And again, “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.” (Psalm 34:7)

Just think for a moment about the times injury or death has perhaps brushed you by. Most of us can remember times when a split second made the difference between destruction and survival. I

can name a few, but I am sure there are many more that only God knows about. Perhaps when we get to heaven we will be blessed to have a “video replay” of the times the Lord’s hand has been upon us, protecting us from disaster and giving us a new lease on life on earth. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Heb. 1:14)

When we thank God for His gracious protection we should always remember the blessings of good health. Why are we not overcome with disease and illness every day of our life? It is because He neutralizes and negates the effect of sin upon our environment and our body and graciously gives us good health. “He heals all our diseases.” Do we have to meet a man with a white cane and seeing eye dog before we can truly thank God for our eyes and good sight? Do we need to see a paralytic in a wheel chair before we can thank God for the use of our lower limbs?

Do we need to hear the awful wail of an ambulance before we can thank God for daily giving us travelling grace? Do we need to visit the intensive care ward in a hospital before we can thank God for the health to live an abundant life? Do we need to see a hearse go rolling by before we can thank God for sparing our loved ones that we might enjoy their companionship for one more day? I have been asked a number of times, “Do you believe in divine healing?” I always reply, “Yes, all healing is divine!”

We should thank God for His gracious providence. This means we should daily gratefully recognize and acknowledge the operation of the central truth of Christian existence in our lives, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.” (Ro. 8:28)   

Facing The Future Without Fear

We live in terrible times. The threat of cruel barbaric terrorism pervades the atmosphere at home and abroad. Hardly a day passes without hearing news of another unimaginable atrocity perpetrated upon innocent women and children. It seems there is no depths of depravity those who are the adversaries of freedom and truth will not plumb in order to bring terror and fear to those who advocate and advance the principles of a Judeo-Christian civilization.

They make it clear they hate us for being us. They tell us in no uncertain terms we do not deserve to live on the same planet with them. They say ultimately we must convert to their religion or die at the point of a sword. It seems they would prefer the latter fate.

We seem to be given the options of dying on our feet resisting their tyrannical brutality or living on our knees in slavish subjection to an extreme and perverted form of a religion. The make no secret of their ultimate goal. They seek to impose their barbaric, uncivilized code upon all the world.

Is there any hope? Surely God will answer the prayers of those who will stand for righteousness in the land and in the world and grant the continuing freedom we need to live and serve Him. Surely we are still privileged to pray for such a victory in our time. Surely we can use the weapons of spiritual warfare He has given us to face our fears of the forces arrayed against us and forge ahead into a future of real freedom in Christ Jesus!

In Christ we can always be optimistic about the future. We can be sure the sun will rise tomorrow and the future will come, if Jesus does not come in the meantime, and then that will be our future!

Tomorrow may bring its own share of troubles and trials, but it will bring along with those the overruling providence of our great God. The words of our Saviour assure us of this, "... In the world ye shall have tribulations: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) Our Saviour is saying the obvious, if we will just stop and consider it. Each day has enough burdens and blessings of its own.

God only gives us grace and strength to live one day at a time. That's all we really need. Tomorrow's problems and challenges can be dealt with by His grace if and when tomorrow comes. Prudent planning and provision for tomorrow is wise, but undue worry about tomorrow is foolish and futile and fails to face the future with faith that the God of today is also the God of tomorrow.

The scriptures tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and that God's mercies are new each morning. When we are too fretful and fearful about tomorrow, we often rob ourselves of the peace, joy and victory God would give us today. Even today it is as the weeping prophet said, "It is of the Lord’s mercy that we are not consumed, because His compassions fails not, they are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23)

. Our outlook about the future should be reflected in the words of the Psalmist, "This [is] the day [which] the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)

Christians And Political Responsibility

A few years ago a pastor acquaintance sincerely asked me, “Do you not think that Christians, and pastors in particular, should avoid becoming involved in political issues? Would it not be better if they spent their time with spiritual concerns and winning souls? After all, we know that we are in the last days and things will wax worse and worse. We cannot do anything to change matters.” This was a rather pointed question: especially since my friend knew that I had a rather long history of what some might term political militancy and activism. My first response was that I believed the Bible to teach the imminent return of Christ. Paul and the apostles and people in the early churches and in churches in every age since had the same belief. But this did not deter them from opposing evil and promoting good in every area of life; as they turned the world upside down by their witnessing for Christ.

My next thought, although I did not express it bluntly, was, “Why not live the life of Christ, be an active and effective witness as well as a responsible and active Christian citizen in the community and nation in which one lives?” This might have been an especially apt response since I was aware that the same pastor held that door to door soul winning was a futile endeavor in Australia and therefore did not practice it. At the time, I was spending at least forty hours a week constructing a new church building, preparing and preaching three messages a week, knocking on a number of doors each week and sharing Christ, as well as being involved with other Christians in a successful effort to stop the establishment of the first “sex shop” on the Gold Coast. An effort that succeeded for a considerable time.

What did Jesus really mean when He said that we should render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar? What did Paul and Peter mean when they asserted we should recognize the role of government and be submissive to the laws of the land? It would be difficult to read such verses in their context and cultural setting without conceding that Christians do have the responsibility to support and pray for good government and even work toward that end.

But what about Christians and contemporary politics as practiced in the real democratic nations of our world today? Do we have a responsibility to work within the framework of democratic processes to achieve and support good government?

But this raises an interesting and vital question, “Should Christians be involved in politics?” This is an often asked and emotive question, obviously designed to illicit a strong response. Do we as Christians have the right and even the duty to be involved in such mundane and worldly matters? The world and many sincere Christians seem to feel we do not. But this is the wrong question. The real question should be phrased something like this, “Can a Christian refuse to become involved in the battle for good government and the establishment of righteousness in the land?” We do not know when the Lord may come back. It could be in the generation of our grandchildren or their children’s children. Do we not have the responsibility to work as Christian citizens to bequeath them a heritage of the freedom of speech and religion that we enjoy today? That they might live peaceably among all men and freely proclaim the gospel of Christ to their generation?

Has God called us to merely gather in holy huddles and sit around introspectively, as navel inspectors, venturing forth only to occasionally proclaim the gospel? Surely Christ had more than this in mind when He said we are called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Are we not our neighbors keepers in more than the mere mundane matter of providing a helping hand when needed? Is it not more important to try to protect our culture from the moral pollution and decay that is so rampant and destructive? Rather than being overly concerned about the real or imagined physical pollution of our day?

We only need to make a cursory survey of the Bible to discover those such as Daniel, Joseph and Esther. They served God with their whole hearts and beings, never compromising their faith or changing their convictions. But where did they serve Him? In the corridors of power and the cabinet rooms of the most powerful pagan governments of their day. Through them God blessed His people and the nations in which they dwelt. Perhaps we will never have the privilege or opportunity to serve in the corridors of power in our day, but we do have a voice and a vote that should count for God and country. 

“If the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” Prov. 14:34

“Godless men should not rule, nor be snares of the people.” Job 34:30

“When the righteous become great, the people rejoice, when wicked men rule,

people groan.” Prov. 29:2