This came in via the ElijahList today, and it gives some good food for thought. I’ve never seen the levels of anger and coarseness we now have in America. I can understand some of it, because we are rapidly abandoning our foundation and, unsurprisingly but yet distressingly, falling apart. But Joyner brings us back to what James 3 tells us is the true wisdom of God:

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.
But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. – Jas 3:13-18

In reading this, one thing that stood out to me from 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” is that in order to reconnect with God and get out of our pit we first need to seek God’s face, not His hand. We desperately need His hand to move in our lives and nation. But we don’t command His hand, neither do we implore it. It is God himself whom we seek, for the awesome majestic person He is. As His delegated agents, we make our requests, but in the context of Him already knowing what our true needs are. In this way, we uphold faith and give Him the honor that is due.

I posted here a while back that there is a movement to pray for the nation at 9pm each evening. I set my google calendar to email me a few minutes ahead of time to remind. So I’ve been praying for the nation, its leaders, our troops, and the church, and it’s been rewarding. I find myself entering new vistas, as I pray for the souls of some people who in the natural I detest. I don’t hate their souls – I know that’s wrong and God simply will not allow me to do that, but I do have a principled hatred for the evil they do. Praying for them helps me separate the two – and that is very good for me. It’s potentially good for them as well, but ultimately that is up to them.

Anyway, I’m placing Joyner’s message on page two. Very much worth a read. Be blessed and be safe this Fourth, and remember our troops in the field in your prayers.

In His love,
Paul

4th of July Message by Rick Joyner

July 4, 2010

The biggest open door for tyranny is for God’s people to be passive. If we are Christians, we have a mandate from God to be the salt and light wherever He has placed us. America has been sliding into tyranny for decades but the pace has now accelerated. Even so, it can still be stopped and reversed if God’s people will wake up and get engaged in turning the nation back toward her divinely given purpose. If God’s people do awaken and become engaged, we will not only avoid the abyss we are now so dangerously close to, but our best times could be ahead of us.

Pray for the Right Leadership

There are examples in history where nations have fallen to their deepest depravity, then a revival or spiritual awakening was ignited, and they rose to their greatest spiritual heights as a nation. Movements such as The Tea Party Movement is evidence that many are waking up and have considerable resolve to turn the nation back to its roots, its strength, and its very life source. However, there is one element missing—clear, defined, and capable leadership.

Immature or evil leadership are judgments of God upon nations that have fallen into debauchery as we see in Isaiah 5. Good, wise, and capable leadership is likewise a blessing from God. We must pray for our leaders as we are commanded, and we need to pray for the right leadership. For this reason, we should view the incompetence and evil of many who are presently in authority around the world as judgment. Our first priority must be to return to God, not just look for better leaders. We are told in II 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” (NKJV).

We see here that the healing of the land begins with God’s people doing the following: 1) humbling themselves, 2) praying, 3) seeking God’s face, and 4) turning from their wicked ways.

How God Sees Judgment

Could it be that, as with Jonah, the reason for the great storm that has come upon our ship is not because of the heathen, but because of the rebellious prophet? Just as the heathen had to wake up Jonah and convince him to call on his God, in many ways even the heathen are doing this today. On every front, problems are beyond human remedy, and they are starting to understand this.

As a prophetic voice given to represent God in the nations as salt and light, we have a responsibility to speak out against the wrong that is done by our leaders or the people. We also must always humble ourselves, and look to ourselves, repenting of the evil that we are doing first. This does not mean that we cannot speak out until we are perfect, or we would never speak. However, when we speak out after humbling ourselves, the words will not have that self-righteous air to them, but rather the cry of an anointed appeal from God to save those whom He loves, which includes everyone. For this reason we are told in I Peter 4:17, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God.”

Many kinds of judgment are in Scripture—one is condemnation and one is destruction, but the rest are discipline from the Lord. As we are told in Hebrews 12, the Lord disciplines those whom He loves. Therefore, the judgments we are suffering are because He loves us, and He is seeking to turn us back from the path of destruction we are on. This judgment has to start with His own people because how can He judge the nations for the things that even His own people are doing?

Keep Humility Above ALL Things

We must remember that the path to having our land healed begins with God’s people humbling themselves. Our declarations against the evil deeds of our leaders, or the people, will not come with outrage and anger as much as an appeal seasoned with humility. We must always keep in mind that “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6 NKJV).

The only way to get out of the mess we are in is by God’s grace, so we must keep humility above all things. This does not mean that we are weak or in any way compromising in our declarations and challenges to the times, but we are taking our stand to appeal to God even more than appealing to men. Only then can we hope to be truly victorious because, as Jesus Himself said in Matthew 12:28: “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.”

If we are going to cast the evil out, we will have to abide in and speak by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is always recognized by the fruit of the Spirit, which is the following: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (see Galatians 5:22-23).

Rick Joyner
MorningStar Ministries