A Prophecy of What God Wants by Bill Wilson
There is a lot
of debate back and forth as to whether America is done, finished. Some
Christians say there is no hope for America, that judgment is upon her
and that she is on the way out.
Others say that it's all in God's hands and He will decide what happens to America.
Still others say that Christian Americans need to exercise 2 Chronicles
7:14, and "humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from
their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin
and will heal their land."
And there is even an ilk that suggests never giving up, doing the Lord's work, praying and acting in faith.
Not all are wrong. Not all are right. But what does God want?
Now I know that many will push back and say, "How do you know what God wants?"
In general, if you read the Bible, you will know what God wants. And
all the excuses and over-spiritualization are never going to hit the
mark if you are true to yourself with God's Word.
Isaiah 58:2
tells us, "Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a
nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their
God: they ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in
approaching God. Why have we fasted, they say, and You see not? Why have
we afflicted our soul, and You take no knowledge? Behold, in the day of
your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers."
The
religious leaders and many of their followers in the time of Isaiah
were much like those today. They want everyone to know they are fasting
and praying and sounding spiritual. But that's not what the Lord wants
from His people.
Isaiah 58:5-7 tells us: "Is it such a fast that
I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down
his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will
you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
"Is
not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that
you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and
that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? When you see
the naked, that you cover him; and that you hide not yourself from your
own flesh?"
Going through the motions, but not making them count
for much, is the same as making a show of fasting and praying. Did the
Lord say "go to this conference or that," "make a big show over your
spirituality," or "make my house a kingdom unto itself"?
No. We
hear from the Lord through Isaiah, and from the Lord Jesus Himself that
our "fast" here is to loose the bonds of wickedness, undo the heavy
burdens, set the oppressed free, feed the hungry, house the poor, clothe
the naked. These are actions backed up by prayer and faith. If the
"church" body was doing these things, showing its faith by its works,
there would be extraordinary and supernatural impact on our nation.
In fact, the Lord spells out the reward of these actions in Isaiah 58
in verses 9-12, "Then shall you call, and the LORD shall answer...And if
you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul;
then shall your light rise in the darkness, and your darkness be as the
noon day: And the LORD shall guide you continually, and satisfy your
soul in drought, and strengthen your bones: and you shall be like a
watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And
they from among you shall build the old waste places: you shall raise up
the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called, The
repairer of the breach, The restorer of streets to dwell in."
This is what God wants, for you and for our nation.
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