HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Psalm 33:12-18 - Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance. 13 The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. 14 From the place of His dwelling He looks On all the inhabitants of the earth; 15 He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works. 16 No king is saved by the multitude of an army; A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. 17 A horse is a vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength. 18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy,
Europeans first started settling America right here in Florida at St. Augustine in 1565 by the settlers from Spain.
The first British colonies were settled in 1607 in Virginia and in 1620 at Plymouth which became the state of Massachusetts in 1620. New York was settled in 1624, and Pennsylvania was settled in 1681.
While America is a land of great opportunity it must be remembered that this land was settled by people who came here to escape religious tyranny and to worship God in freedom.
From it’s very inception God has blessed America because our founders feared and blessed God.
Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord.
God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above.
From the mountains to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America, my home sweet home.
America has known that Blessing of God. I believe that this is because our founding was on the word and ways of God.
We have not been a perfect nation. We have had our problems just like every nation before us. But there has never been a nation that has prospered, had more freedom, and taken the Gospel to the entire world in all of history like America has.
America was used by God to stop the spread of the Nazis throughout Europe and the World. We have been used to help reestablish Israel as a nation.
While our Founding Fathers did not stop slavery. Their descendants fought a war to eradicate it here in America and around the world. We are not a perfect nation. We are still fighting bigotry. But we are a nation where people come from all over the world, from all nationalities and shades of skin to be free, accepted and welcomed.
We started and continue to be the melting pot of the world.
While I have Italian heritage, I am not an Italian American. I am simply an American. I am first and foremost a citizen of heaven and then a proud citizen of this country. I am the righteousness of God in Christ.
Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord. Righteousness exalts a nation.
Today we hear a lot about – “Making America Great Again”.
Dwight Eisenhour and Ronald Regan helped make a quote by Alexis de Tocqueville Popular –
~ I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers—and it was not there. . .. in her fertile fields and boundless forests—and it was not there. . .. .in her rich mines and her vast world commerce—and it was not there. . .. in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did, I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.
~ Adrian Rogers - “God has blessed America, God gave us abundance, but the abundance has turned to greed. God gave us freedom, but the freedom has turned to license. America was dedicated by its founding fathers to Almighty God. Today, America has been taken captive by the world, the flesh, and the devil.”
America’s Founders Envisioned One Nation Under God.
Here are some words from the Declaration of Independence and from those who were leaders during our nation’s early years:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness... And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
America’s Founding Fathers Said some vital things about the necessity of God and His word being the very core of who we are as a nation.
~ President #1, George Washington -You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are.
~ President #2, John Adams - The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and the attributes of God. I have examined all religions, and the result is that the Bible is the best book in the world.
~ President #6, John Quincy Adams - In the chain of human events, the birthday of our nation is indissolubly linked to the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.
~ Benjamin Franklin, -As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and His religion as He left them to us, are the best the world ever saw or is likely to see.
~ John Adams - “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people."
~ Samuel Adams - "Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt".
It is no secret that America has in many ways turned away from God.
We see it in the way people treat one another.
We see it in what has become our priorities. Today the god of America is money and leisure.
We have become greedy. Our children have been sacrificed on the altar of convenience.
We have become lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
This is not just true of America but of any nation. The reason this seems to stand out in our nation is that our country was founded on the foundation of the word of God. When you remove the word of God our nation has a crumbling foundation.
By and large, nations receive the kind of government they deserve. What we expect out of our Constitution and government today is not something they were designed to do.
We need to understand that today the Hope we have for America is found in Jesus Christ.
Our hope is not in ourselves. It is not in our elected leaders. It is not in our military might or our economic strength.
The only Hope we have is in Jesus. We must turn back to Him.
~ Abraham Lincoln - "My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right".
Someone said – If we do not remain a nation under God then we will be a nation gone under.
Righteousness is directly related to our Character. The character of a nation cannot be disconnected from the character of its citizens.
Righteousness is assuming our God-given responsibilities as a citizen of the kingdom of God, and this country.
As Christians we have a responsibility to live as both good citizens of the Kingdom of God and of our nation.
~ Someone said - Our liberty directly correlates with our character; when we lose responsibility, we lose character, and then we lose righteousness.
Without responsibility and character freedom descends into a free for all in which no one is free, and people become prisoners of fear and hopelessness.
Galatians 5:13-14 (NLT) - For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
This turning goes by one very Biblical term – Repentance.
We hear people talk about having – A love for God and Country. This is more than a concept and a good idea. It must be more than a feeling of affection for geography but for the people who reside within the boundaries of our nation.
Remember that Love covers a multitude of sins.
If our nation is to have hope, we must make sure we raise our Children for Jesus.
We must train them in the ways of God.
We must train them up to be responsible citizens of heaven and of this country.
Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
(AMP) Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents], Even when he is old, he will not depart from it.
The Bible says that we are to train up a child. This is the responsibility of the parents.
Scripture is clear; we must lay the responsibility for teaching our children about God’s work in our lives at parents’ feet.
How can we expect our children to understand the Christian faith and to adopt Christian living when we are too busy fulfilling our own desires to obey what the Word of God commands?
When we relegate the training of our children to the school systems our schools stop educating and start indoctrinating.
Once our children loose site of Christians morality and responsibility the reasons and exceptionalism of our nation are forgotten.
~ Ronald Regan - “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
Psalm 78:1-4 (NLT) - O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying, 2 for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past 3 stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us. 4 We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.
We must teach our children the ways of God.
We must teach the hidden lessons of our past. For those who do not know what that is that is called ----History. If we do not learn from our history then we are doomed to repeat the mistakes and not learn from the lessons.
Just as God gave His law to Israel, He has commanded Christian parents in America and in every nation to make those laws know to their children:
Psalm 78:6-8 (NLT) - so the next generation might know them—even the children not yet born— and they in turn will teach their own children. 7 So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.
8 Then they will not be like their ancestors— stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God.
Psalm 145:4 - One generation shall praise Your works to another and shall declare Your mighty acts.
We need to remind our Children and our Children’s children what God has done for us personally, in our families and in our country.
Each generation must set their own hope on God for themselves.
Each generation must decide if they want to walk in the blessing of God or if they will be stubborn or rebellious.
If you ever want to see the future of a nation look no further than the investment that parents are making in their children.
Every nation in every generation needs a fresh move of the Spirit of God.
As His people, we are called to be salt and light—to purify, heal, preserve; to illuminate, guide and expose.
I believe that the fate of America rests in the hands of the Church. God’s remnant people who dwell in the Land.
Anything less than a true move of God will fall short of what America needs.
I believe there is hope for our Nation! The answer will come through prayer, repentance, humility and a turning back to God.
2 Chronicles 7:14 - If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Remember that you are loved. Enjoy your summer! God bless America and God bless you and your family!
Pastor Marvin & Dawn.
Image by Lisa Johnson from Pixabay