Walking in a Nation's Shoes.................... by JosieAnn Mathis

The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. Then the Lord gave me this message: “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand. If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom, but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would. “Therefore, Jeremiah, go and warn all Judah and Jerusalem. Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am planning disaster for you instead of good. So turn from your evil ways, each of you, and do what is right.’” 

(Jeremiah 18:1-11 NLT)

Turn our hearts back to The Lord, The Great I Am! Our Nation continues to fight against Jesus Christ and all that He stands for. Pray, earnestly seek His face! Pray for our leaders, they need to remember the truth. Why did we come across the ocean to this land?

To have freedom TO worship God - not freedom FROM worshipping Him!!

Look at the state Israel was in when this message was given to them. God had delivered them from oppression, bringing them into a New Land. He promised He would take care of them and protect them- As long as they did Not turn their eyes and hearts away from God and worship Idols and false gods, or participate in the vile evil acts the people of that land were doing.

Our founding fathers were under oppression; they left and came to a New Land. They came for freedom TO worship God, NOT freedom FROM worshipping God! 

                    Oh great nation, what has become of US? 

Our rights and freedoms upon which this Nation was founded are threatened more and more every day! What must we do to keep these freedoms, to protect these rights? We had best WAKE UP and figure it out, lest all our freedoms be stripped from us! 

Our nation now lusts after possessions, ungodly affections, killing of innocent children, and persecution of any who oppose such acts. Even though our persecution is far less than other nations in this world of ours, that persecution is rising. Open our eyes Lord to Your truth!

Is it just me, or are we beginning to see a pattern here, a parallel?

 “But if you or your descendants abandon me and disobey the decrees and commands I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, then I will uproot the people from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor my name. I will make it an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations. And though this Temple is impressive now, all who pass by will be appalled. They will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do such terrible things to this land and to this Temple?’ “And the answer will be, ‘Because his people abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to them. That is why he has brought all these disasters on them.’”

(2 Chronicles 7:19-22 NLT)

Wake oh sleeping nation! Arise before your hearts turn hard and cold and we are carried away into captivity, the result of bondage to our sin.

Our nation, compared with others, is still a young nation. But we could learn from past mistakes of others, if only our eyes would open to the truth. We must continue to stand against those things we know to be wrong, against God. 

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT)

Let us turn from wickedness, let us pray, let us humble ourselves, and more than anything, let us seek HIS face! 

Then, may He hear from heaven and forgive us and bring healing and restoration to our land!

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? 

                  If God is for us, who can ever be against us?

 (Romans 8:26, 27, 30, 31 NLT)

Take heart my fellow Christians/Americans, 

with God on our side...Life is So Sweet!