Then the Lord said to Moses, “Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saying, “To your descendants I will give it.” And I will send My angel before you and I will drive out the Canaanites and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey, for I will not go up in your midst” … Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. So it was that whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle, and it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle and the Lord talked with Moses. And He said, “My Presence will go with you and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:1-3a, 7-9, 14
Being human, it is so easy to allow the things we see and hear get our attention and entice us to take our eyes off of God. If we are not careful, we will look at the problems all around us and all we see are impossibilities. Before long, we begin to make idols out of the problems, giving them our undivided attention and focus. In these times, we need a reality check and we must remind our spirit and soul who God really is. The psalmist, King David, asked the age-old question in Psalm 18:31, “Who is God, except the Lord, and who is a rock except our God?” David started Psalms 18 with his love for God, acknowledging Him as his strength, rock, fortress and deliverer, in whom I will trust. David understood what it was to face adversity and even run for his life for years as a deranged and rejected king tried to kill the promise and destiny off his life. Like David, it is important that we never loose sight of who our God is and the power He has. Deuteronomy 10:17 states, “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of Lords the great God, mighty and awesome.” Jeremiah understood the power and majesty of God, “Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing is too hard for you.” Jeremiah 32:17. “The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord.” Psalms 97:5. Matthew 19:26 Jesus promised “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are impossible.” “Come and see the works of God, “He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men. He turned the sea into dry land; they went through the river on foot. There they will rejoice in Him. He rules by His power forever; His eyes observe the nations.” Psalm 66:5-7a “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save.” Job summed it up well when he said, “But as for me, I would seek God. And to God I would commit my cause- who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without umber.” Job 5:8-9. “The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness. The world and those who dwell therein. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle.” Psalm 24:1 and 8.
Sadly, Satan understands the strength and power of our God than we do. He knows that he is helpless against our Mighty God. Jesus said in Luke 10:18 “I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven.” Satan understands God is the most high God and there is no one or thing that can stand against Him. Since Satan is unable to prevail in a battle against God, in order to win the battle, he must remove God from the battle. The bible calls Satan the father of all lies, and one of his greatest weapons against the church is his lies. Satan has used disinformation and all out lies to make the church believe that we are supposed to worship God in a little box called a church every Sunday and we are not supposed to allow God to be God in every area of our life. The Johnson Amendment of 1954, signed into law that a non-profit could not endorse any political candidates. This law includes charitable foundations, universities, and churches. I think it is interesting that only churches have bowed to this legislation. Even some of our elementary teachers have been know to badger kids into believing that liberal candidates are the ones to vote for. I do not know how many times that people have told me the Constitution requires a separation of church and state. In fact, the words separation of church and state are nowhere in the Constitution, instead the Constitution has made it very clear “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Our Founding Fathers wanted to restrict the government from controlling religion, and gave the power to choose how they believe to the people. People who call themselves Christians are the largest voting population in the United States of America and the enemy has deceived the church into believing they should not be involved in politics. I had a woman sit across my desk recently and she told me that her and her husband quit going to a church because the pastor preached that they should get out and vote and vote their Christian values. I explained to her that the church is supposed to have dominion over the earth and that Jesus has equipped the church. Luke 10:19 goes on to say “Behold I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 16:19 “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” When Peter acknowledged Jesus and the Christ, the Son of the living God in Matthew 16, Jesus told him, “And on this rock I will build My Church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Why would Jesus give us the authority to bind and loose things if all He called the church to do was to meet a few times a week and sing kumbaya and love everyone, never confronting sin with the truth? He called us to preach the gospel of the good news to everyone and to set the captives free, not just walk by and say God bless you. We are called to stand and fight for the protection of our children. There is a very liberal agenda that is trying to take over our nation, that will allow child sacrifice in a newborn up to one month old, men to go into women’s bathrooms putting women and children in vulnerable positions, the vice president elect went so far as to make it state law to hang tampon machines in all the boys bathrooms in public schools, drag queens are going into schools and libraries , sitting innocent children in their laps and reading to them trying to groom them. The whole world has watched in disgust as the Lord’s Supper was mocked at the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and people cheered as a man who is unable to compete with any regular man, beat up on a woman in the women’s boxing competition. What is it going to take for the church to wake up and stand against this demonic agenda that is trying to take over the world? What can I do you might ask?
There are several stories in the Old Testament that the Ark of the Covenant, the place where the presence of God dwelt, lead the army into battle. The Jordan River did not part until the Levites who were carrying the Ark stepped into the water. The Priests carried the Ark and marched in front of Joshua’s army each day that went around Jericho. When The Israelites were being obedient to the commands God gave them, His presence would go with them and they would be victorious in battle. One time the Israelites were fighting with the Philistines and they decided to use the Ark of the Covenant as a good luck charm and they sent back to Shiloh to have the Ark brought to the battle, they lost the battle and the Philistines captured the Ark. The Philistines took something that did not belong to them and instead of the Ark blessing them, it caused a curse. The Philistines realized quickly that they had to get rid of the Ark, so they sent it with a trespass offering back into the Israelite’s territory. In Exodus 33, God told Moses He would not go with the Children of Israel on their journey because they were rebellious, a stiff-necked group of people, Moses boldly told God he would not lead the Israelites any where if God did not go before him. Moses was not looking for luck or a clear pass, he wanted the presence of God. Moses understood that God’s presence was more important than a victory over the enemy. Moses took his personal tent, his dwelling place and pitched it outside the camp to make a tabernacle for the Ark to rest in. Everyday, Moses got up and went outside the camp and into his tent to spend time with God. All the people watched as Moses entered the tent and the cloud of the glory of God filled the door way as God spoke to Moses. Moses refused to go any further without the presence of God with him. After several days, God told Moses that He would go with him. I wonder what would happen in our nation and in our personal lives if we did what Moses did. If we made our homes a dwelling place for God and we would go each day into our “secret room” and talk to God. If we would refuse to make decisions or make moves until we hear God’s voice and God gave us clear instructions for the task that lays ahead. We do not need a good luck charm in our nation. We need the presence of God to go with the movement that is fighting for our nation. We need God to be lifted up and the hearts of the people need to turn back to fully serving God and honoring His Word. It is not enough for our Nation to be a free Republic again that is being ran according to the Constitution. We must be One Nation Under God! In our personal lives, it is not enough to have our needs met and relationships restored, live is empty without the presence of God on a daily basis. Stir up your faith with scriptures that remind you about the mighty power and goodness of our God. If you have never made Jesus the Lord and Savior of your life, today is a great day to make that commitment. The Bible says if we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and he rose again after dying for our sins, we can have a new relationship with Him. Salvation is not just a prayer; it is a life spent in relationship with God, talking to Him daily, reading the Bible to understand who He is and to allow the word to change who you were. For those who know Jesus, be reminded how precious His presence is. A vibrant relationship with God is what makes life so precious.
Cathy Nesmith