Wednesday, September 1: Declaration of Dependence

Our nation’s history involves a time when men laid it all on the line for the sake of religious freedom. Though our population continues to argue about that freedom, we never should lose sight of the fact that the United States began as a Christian nation. Our founding fathers were not fighting for the right to worship Satan, Allah or a host of other false gods. The religious freedom yearned for was to worship God deeper than the desires of the existing church, rather than less intensely. Yet as the nation grew, the men with that longing were replaced by their children and grandchildren, who had not known the same difficulties, and we know that God only has children, not grandchildren. Consequently, instead of relying on God to be their Provider, the ensuing generations relied on their own knowledge and hands for survival. God warned His people of exactly that:


11 “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— 17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’
Deuteronomy 8:11-17


Although most of us complain about the difficulties life has to offer, in truth, those difficulties are more of a conduit to God than our many blessings. In God’s blessings, the tendency for most of us might be an initial prayer of thanksgiving, yet the typical follow-up is the feeling that either we deserved the blessing or that we gave ourselves that blessing with our own intelligence, talents or hard work. Sometimes, I wonder if our definitions of blessing and curse are not reversed in many ways. For if hardship brings us to the Lord, isn’t that truly a blessing? And in the same manner, if earthly prosperity and gain carry us away from the Lord, aren’t those truly curses? It all depends upon your point of view, and along with that, the way you serve the Lord. If those monetary blessings are used entirely for your own earthly comfort, it can only lead you down a slippery slope away from the Lord. Our God gives and takes away according to His own plan, and if He gives to you, it is so that you will give back to Him by helping others.


Many Bible-believing pastors feel that we are either approaching or in the end times prophesied in God’s Word. Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 24 about difficulties that would occur just before the judgments of Revelation, and many of those difficulties seem very similar, though less intense. Each judgment will increase in intensity, just as a symphony approaches a mighty crescendo. How should we as believers view these challenges?

We, the people of God, in order to form a more perfect union with Him, make this declaration of dependence upon Him! He is our Provider, who will give us all we need. Often, He provides at the last moment to increase our faith. Our Lord blesses us more than we ever could ask. If the world seems to be getting difficult all around you, be thankful to God. He supplied every need for His chosen people in their exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land. Additionally, He supplied every need for our founding fathers, the Puritans and Pilgrims, walking in a covenant relationship with the Lord. In the same manner, He will supply the needs of His followers, for He is Jehovah-jireh, the Lord who provides. If you love Him, follow His commandments, and trust Him!


“How shall I pardon you for this?
Your children have forsaken Me
And sworn by those that are not gods.
When I had fed them to the full,
Then they committed adultery
And assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
Jeremiah 5:7