Important Message for Your Edification

 

                                              

Michael Reed, Editor of THE STANDARD

Six years ago, just following the 2016 general elections I wrote the following in response to what I was seeing. I think this message is even more important today following the just held 2022 Mid-term elections and the results. I think it is imperative that we recognize that the Almighty God is trying to get our attention before he totally abandons us to the evil of this world and our own devices so that we will either be destroyed as worthless or recognize who our Great king and father is and obey him and his Word and then go have dominion over the evil and wicked in his name!

I will probably have some disagree but as I read scripture, we will not be whisked away from our problems in what many call “rapture”. I notice that many throughout history were martyred, and civilizations were overrun with wicked men. In fact, the Alpha and Omega didn’t take them out of the trouble, the flames, or the flood! He left them there in the middle of the problems to stand on his Word and deal with it!

Psalm 37:9 says, for evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. 

Additionally, were we made that God should glorify us? No!! We were made to glorify the Great I AM in all we say and do and think, and in the victories we accomplish for the Almighty! 

Read the scriptures in Isaiah for how the Word made flesh works in this world for our benefit when we overcome the world system with his Word and for his glory. Jehovah changeth not! He is the same yesterday, today and forever! And even Noah saw the wicked people who created it removed from the land. Were the Egyptians removed from off the face of the earth when they sought to destroy the children? Didn’t the children seek him and cry out to the LORD, and he parted the sea to make a way for them and a trap for pharaoh? Like a good father He doesn’t “bail us out” like the spoiled brat by the wealthy father may do. No, our God does not remove us from the problem, he empowers us with his Word to face the problem we allowed and created and overcome it! 

Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

Isa 43:3 For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.

Isa 43:4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee: therefore, will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.

Isa 43:5 Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west.

Isa 43:6 I will say to the north, give up; and to the south, keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth.

Isa 43:7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

The LORD has created us to be mighty valiant men of God! Warriors for our King and his kingdom! He didn’t create us to fail as wimps in the land, but rather as mighty victors on the land. As soon as we decide to take up his mantle, obey him and follow him and compel our countrymen to do the same we will realize that the victory is in the LORD our God and he grants victory to those who overcome in his name!

Ask Noah, Moses, Joshua, and a whole host of others right there in your Bible! The plan and victory is right there in plain sight. We’ve just got to see the truth and not have scales on our eyes and behave as weak lambs for the slaughter. Rise up mighty men of valor, purify yourselves and proclaim victory in the power and authority of the God of Israel!

Michael Reed 11-9-22

Below is what I posted in 2016: 

"For the LORD is our defense; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.

Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people." Psalm 89:18-19

There is much jubilance following the victory of Trump over who has been described as "evil Hillary". And I believe rightly so! 

Time and again we have seen reported the evil this woman has been associated with and participant in. This was a victory over evil of sorts.

BUT, and that's a BIG BUT, we must remember that it is GOD ALONE who is our defense, our shield, our protector, our Saviour, and THE ONE we must return to! 

I noted that the people across the country have been in heart felt prayer for these elections unlike any I have witnessed in the recent past. The day before the election I was aware of no less than 15-20 prayer meetings in my community to pray for the elections and our wellbeing. I am certain my community was not alone in this call to prayer and that this was probably taking place everywhere in the land. Obviously, the congregation was concerned for our wellbeing regarding this election.

So, the people were so concerned that many prayer meetings were called for that day, but isn't that what the people are called to do every day? Every week? Aren't God's people to beseech the LORD for his forgiveness, for their repentance, for their hands to work daily righteousness and for his protection, provision and blessing throughout the land? If we haven't been doing this in such fervency in the past, then in Mr. Trumps famous words we should be "fired"! 

This election is a warning of a kind I believe is from the LORD himself. The warning is this: American Christians you have been slack, you have been lazy, you have sought after everything and everybody but the ONE who alone can do anything for you, until it became clear that you could do nothing, so in desperation you remembered the LORD. Isn't that the way it really is? Haven't most of the "church" done this? That only in our weakness, desperation and fear that we then turned to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?

Yes, this is a wakeup call to where we really stand in our corporate spiritual life. Contrast today and the prevalence of evil and wickedness to days gone by when wholesomeness was more the norm in every phase and sector of America. The difference? A Godly people on their knees beseeching the LORD of hosts gathered together midweek in public meeting houses for the righteousness, guidance and Godliness of those chosen to lead them, on a weekly basis, versus a people crying out to God in desperation who have generally ignored the Almighty until they are backed into a corner because they sense they have nowhere to go but unto the Great I AM!

I know, I can hear it now, "But pastor, we go to church and our pastor prays and we pray in agreement with him." And "we pray at home too." Certainly, this does occur, but I'm talking about PRAYER! Barna Research discovered 20 years ago that "the average Christian spends only 1 minute a day in prayer... and the average Pastor only spends 5 minutes" a day in prayer. That has not increased since then.

What kind of prayer could I be talking about? What used to be called 'getting a prayer through', the kind of prayer that beckons the wallpaper to peel off the wall, the kind of prayer that commands attention from outside your house like Daniel did with his windows opened to be sure everybody heard him afar off, the kind of prayer that God cannot ignore, and man cannot mistake. The kind of prayer that makes mountains quake and move, the kind of prayer that commands the attention of God and moves him to answer. The kind of prayer that intercedes on behalf of whatever and whoever and we see immediate answers! Yes, these things really actually happen with a God fearing and praying people!

Our problem is we Americans had rather get our instructions from Helli vision than spend that hour or two or three with the Almighty King of the universe!! Our problem is we say, "I've married a wife" and I'm too busy or too concerned with other things I would rather do than get on my knees in corporate prayer to bring down the power of God on my life and on my country. 

Our problem is we are probably too embarrassed to even suggest prayer in a public meeting. Why? Because the masses are ashamed of the God they claim to know, so ashamed that we have allowed the godless to remove the Commandments of our God and prayer to him from the public arena, from the public school, from the public discourse and from our public life, so that the will of the godless prevails in this once holy and Christian country!

It is apparent who many people spend their time with, especially traveling through neighborhoods in the evening. You can see the warm blue glow from their windows as they commune with their god, hour upon hour.

Yes, this election is a wakeup call to those who call themselves the "church"! The cry out to the LORD, and his not allowing a woman as Jezebel to gain power over this country is part of that evidence. Apparently, we gained the ear of the LORD through humility and prayer regarding the trust the people have put in Mr. Trump to lead this Heavenly Kingdom known as America. But it is still not Trump, he's barely a band aid on a total body scab.

That same Barna Research group discovered that the mass of people is spiritually being bankrupted by, please sit down and get ready--what we call the "church"! In fact, the survey says 94% of all church goers get nothing from attending their church other than socializing with others! What we call the church today is basically become useless, accepting any worldly doctrine or court ruling that comes down the pike. 

Case in point, many "churches" immediately accepted "gay marriage" when the US Supreme Court so ruled it ok, including openly welcoming them into the pulpit. They declared the truth of God a lie when they did so, in fact they declared they no longer represent Gods church at that time. Same thing with adultery, and other Sins, which are rampant IN THE CHURCH and most other things the Word of God declares as sin. Perhaps we should post "Ichabod" over their doors.

We are living in the Valley of Dry Bones: no spiritual Life from Jesus Christ, no solid truth from the pulpit, no solid biblical teaching in church assemblies, no light being shed from Gods Word, no pastoral leading of the men of the church teaching them how to lead and guide their families. I think this because so-called "pastors" don't know the Word of God and many probably don't know God himself. Dry Bones, that's the very least you can get by with for absolute actual survival, if that. 

This is our call for revival! This is our call for new birth! This is our call for Spiritual reformation! We have an opportunity now, to set things right with our God, if we will.

Our initial verse says, "For the Lord is our defense". The original word rendered “defense,” is 'shield' (Compare Psalm 33:20 and Psalm 59:11) from the Hebrew as recorded in Strong's Concordance #4043, meaning a shield or buckler. 

The understanding is that protection is to be found in GOD ALONE. The construction of this verse is, “For to Yahweh (belongs) our shield, and to the Holy One of Israel our king.” That is, not only is our protection, but the king or president himself belongs to and is in the hands of YHWH. All that we have, and all that we rely upon as a defense, belongs to God, or is of God; indeed, our very protection and defensive forces are themselves protected by Yahweh. We have no other defense; nothing else on which we can depend!

Has God changed? Is he still the Almighty? The protector and supplier of his people? If he is, and He Is, then why don't we as a nation behave like it? We see the answered prayers of Gods people in those we have chosen to lead the nation, as flawed as they are.

Even today there is a different spirit in the air. You can feel a much lighter spirit in the people. Could that be because the people have called on the LORD in prayer? Could that be because the people have declared unto themselves repentance? Could that be because the people have seen the mighty working of God in answering the prayers of the people? 

Now, the real work must begin. Now, that America sees that God can and will hear the prayers of his people when they humbly call on him in repentance, it is time for us to regularly, habitually, systematically, cry out to the King of presidents and kings, for Christianity to be revived and the Word of God be restored into the fabric and public spheres of this land. It is time for you and me to seek the LORD with all our heart, all of our soul and all of our might, and when we do, God himself will make America great again!

Michael Reed 11-9-16

Follow Michael's newspaper @ https://www.thestandardsc.org/