Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people.
Proverbs 14:34
I recently had a conversation with a young person who was on the fence about voting in this year’s election. He noted his distrust of the Electoral College and disappointment in the political system and politicians in general. In his opinion, they all seem to do what they want to do and tell us what they think we want to hear. I could not help but agree as I too recognize that our political system could use a lot of improvement.
Too often we see dishonor of their oaths of office, corruption, political jockeying for more and more power and a blatant disregard of “the will of the people”. The last 12 years, particularly on a national scale, has revealed some of the darkest places of the human heart, especially in pursuit of power, and 2020 has seemingly been the all time low. The politicizing of our response to Covid 19, the resurgence of racial tensions, and the sheer nastiness of this election, tempts me also to feel that it is hopeless; so why even bother. Why vote, why speak up, why even try to stand for what is right? Afterall, this world is ‘going to hell in a handbasket’ as it is said.
Shortly after the conversation, I heard the Holy Spirit whisper, “it is righteousness that exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” This scripture, found in Proverbs 14:34 changed my perspective. If we as Christians fail to show up, in the darkness, then what hope is there? Our collective righteousness lifts up our world and counters the collective evil and sin that is bringing it down. The only way that people see the light, is it shines in darkness.
Jesus put it this way in Matt 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Despite the darkness, lets choose to be the light. For indeed, it is righteousness that exalts a nation.
Published on Jan 20 @ 3:55 AM EDT
2 comments
Pray | Fast | Meditate
Becoming a Better You | Marlin D. Harris
Welcome to our 31-Day Corporate Fast.
In 1988, I was 15 years old, sitting on a plane flying from Oklahoma to Seoul, South Korea. I felt that I was leaving more than a country but leaving my entire concept of normalcy and certainty. I was going from the world I knew to a world that I was completely unprepared to face. My father had received military orders to move from Ft. Drum, New York, and for the next 3 years, live in Taegu, South Korea. Now, this is not uncommon. Military families travel across the globe to new duty stations all the time and often make wonderful and amazing memories and experiences while living in a foreign country. But that was precisely the problem – we were certainly not a family, and this was most definitely not promising to be an amazing memory. My stepmother was a non-functioning alcoholic, and my father was a functioning one. I was placed in their home because my home of origin had become too unstable and abusive for me to live in. I was traveling 5,000 miles away from what I had come to know as normal, with people that I had just met less than 9 months ago. I sat on that plane believing that I was leaving one disaster and heading into another one. Nothing could have convinced me that day that this one experience would have so deeply changed my life and so firmly established my faith and confidence in God.
RESOURCES
DISCLAIMER: Please note that our fasting programs are recommendations, and not to be considered as medical advisement. You should consult your physician, or other health care professionals, before starting this or any other fasting program. This devotional, and other areas of our website that offer nutritional information is designed for fasting purposes only and you should not utilize this information as a substitute, nor as a replacement for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Click here to continue reading our full Health Disclaimer Policy
Celebration of Discipline
By Richard J. Foster
“As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.”
Acts 13:2-3
Some have exalted religious fasting beyond all Scripture and reason; and others have utterly disregarded it. —John Wesley
In a culture where the landscape is dotted with shrines to the Golden Arches and an assortment of Pizza Temples, fasting seems out of place, out of step with the times. In fact, fasting has been in general disrepute both in and outside the Church for many years. For example, in my research I could not find a single book published on the subject of Christian fasting from 1861 to 1954, a period of nearly one hundred years. More recently a renewed interest in fasting has developed, but we have far to go to recover a biblical balance.
What would account for this almost total disregard of a subject so frequently mentioned in Scripture and so ardently practiced by Christians through the centuries? Two things. First, fasting has developed a bad reputation as a result of the excessive ascetic practices of the Middle Ages. With the decline of the inward reality of the Christian faith, an increasing tendency to stress the only thing left, the outward form, developed. And whenever there is a form devoid of spiritual power, law will take over because law always carries with it a sense of security and manipulative power. Hence, fasting was subjected to the most rigid regulations and practiced with extreme self-mortification and flagellation. Modern culture reacts strongly to these excesses and tends to confuse fasting with mortification.
Second, the constant propaganda fed us today convinces us that if we do not have three large meals each day, with several snacks in between, we are on the verge of starvation. This, coupled with the popular belief that it is a positive virtue to satisfy every human appetite, has made fasting seem obsolete. Anyone who seriously attempts to fast is bombarded with objections. “I understand that fasting is injurious to your health.” “It will sap your strength so you can’t work.” “Won’t it destroy healthy body tissue?” All of this, of course, is utter nonsense based upon prejudice. While the human body can survive only a short time without air or water, it can go for many days before starvation begins. Without needing to subscribe to the inflated claims of some groups, it is not an exaggeration to say that, when done correctly, fasting can have beneficial physical effects.
Scripture has so much to say about fasting that we would do well to look once again at this ancient Discipline. The list of biblical personages who fasted reads like a “Who’s Who” of Scripture: Moses the lawgiver, David the king, Elijah the prophet, Esther the queen, Daniel the seer, Anna the prophetess, Paul the apostle, Jesus Christ the incarnate Son. Many of the great Christians throughout church history fasted and witnessed to its value; among them were Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, David Brainerd, Charles Finney, and Pastor Hsi of China.
Now the fact that all these persons, in and out of Scripture, held fasting in high regard does not make it right or even desirable, but it should make us pause long enough to be willing to reevaluate the popular assumptions of our day concerning the discipline of fasting.
Although the physical aspects of fasting intrigue us, we must never forget that the major work of scriptural fasting is in the realm of the spirit. What goes on spiritually is much more important than what is happening bodily. You will be engaging in spiritual warfare that will necessitate using all the weapons of Ephesians 6. One of the most critical periods spiritually is at the end of the fast when we have a natural tendency to relax. But I do not want to leave the impression that all fasting is a heavy spiritual struggle—I have not found it so. It is also “. . . righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17).
Fasting can bring breakthroughs in the spiritual realm that will never happen in any other way. It is a means of God’s grace and blessing that should not be neglected any longer. Wesley declares:
“. . . it was not merely by the light of reason . . . that the people of God have been, in all ages, directed to use fasting as a means: . . . but they have been . . . taught it of God Himself, by clear and open revelations of His Will. . . . Now, whatever reasons there were to quicken those of old, in the zealous and constant discharge of this duty, they are of equal force still to quicken us.”
Now is the time for all who hear the voice of Christ to obey it.
Foster, Richard J.. Celebration of Discipline, Special Anniversary Edition (pp. 47-48, 60-61). HarperCollins.
Published on Jan 20 @ 12:36 AM EDT
0 comments