Spiritual Dynamic

God is calling His Church to be awe-filled and awakened, walking in the light and clothed in the presence of Christ. In Romans 13, we can find these words:
11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

One can become easily discouraged when he or she notices the awful decline of truth in our society. But, that word, "awe-filled," can remind us that when we turn to God, we can be refreshed and renewed.  We can have the fruit of the Spirit flowing through our hearts and we can be equipped to walk in the victory over forces that are aligned against God and His people. He is calling us to draw closer to Him, so that we might reflect His hand.

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The well-dressed Christian, spiritually speaking, is clothed in the Lord Jesus Christ and recognizes that we are in a battle, not only to ward off corruption and sin from our own souls, but to be salt and light in our culture. Ephesians 6 states:
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

I want to return to an incident that I commented on last week, because I believe it is important to remember our history in what really has become a historical moment. Our nation, and our world, are in a crisis era, and we need the help of Almighty God.  

I remember the words of Billy Graham at the National Cathedral just days after 3,000 people perished in attacks on our country.  According to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association website, he said:

We’ve always needed God from the very beginning of this nation. But today we need Him especially. We’re involved in a new kind of warfare. And we need the help of the Spirit of God.

The Bible says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.”

Dr. Graham went on to say:

We desperately need a spiritual renewal in this country, and God has told us in His Word time after time that we need to repent of our sins and return to Him, and He will bless us in a new way.

There also is hope for the future because of God’s promises. As a Christian, I have hope, not just for this life, but for heaven and the life to come. And many of those people who died this past week are in heaven now. And they wouldn’t want to come back. It’s so glorious and so wonderful. That is the hope for all of us who put our faith in God. I pray that you will have this hope in your heart.

In a recent piece for FoxNews.com, Chief Religion Correspondent for Fox News, Lauren Green, quoted from what she described as the "First Prayer of the Continental Congress given by the Rev. Jacob Duche, rector of Christ Church of Philadelphia, on Sept. 7, 1774."...

It begins this way: "O Lord our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of kings, and Lord of lords, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the Kingdoms, Empires and Governments; look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, on these our American States, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent only on Thee."

This prayer was cited as a source for much of a prayer delivered recently to open a session of the U.S. House of Representatives by Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in California, Jack Hibbs according to what he said in Lauren's Lighthouse Faith podcast.  

Hibbs was invited to pray in late January by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.  As I noted last week, his appearance had been challenged by a group of lawmakers - the Fox story says 26.  In response, Hibbs said that...

... "when these progressives speak about ‘radical Christian nationalists,’ they're using verbiage reminiscent of the rise of the Third Reich under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. Hitler, as well as communists, Marxists and socialists, are known to label and vilify those who disagree with their ideologies."

Green goes on to say: 

Author of the recent book, "Daze of Deception: How to Discern Truth from Culture's Lies," Hibbs makes no excuses for being a Christian with orthodox — some would say extremely conservative — beliefs.

She notes: "Reps. Jared Huffman of California, Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin were the top organizers and signers of the two-page letter, according to Rep. Huffman's website."

Green also states:

...Hibbs' prayer could be yet another example of a clash of orthodoxies in political circles. Roll Call reported that Huffman calls himself a "nonreligious humanist."

He, along with Raskin, founded the Congressional Freethought Caucus.

Its stated mission is to "promote public policy formed on the basis of reason, science and moral values." That could be the conflict in a nutshell.

The majority of theologians agree that there is no such thing as a "non-religious" person, that there is no neutral position when it comes to religion; we all have a stake in what may be the grand spiritual narrative of creation.

Morality, deciding what is good or bad, is implicitly founded in religious values, not science.

As Oxford University mathematician and Christian apologist Dr. John Lennox said in a debate with atheist Richard Dawkins, "Science can tell you what will happen when you put arsenic in your Aunt Tilley's tea, but it cannot tell whether or not you should."

There is a spiritual dynamic that flows throughout life, and it is present even within the political realm.  That's right, when we pray for our authorities, as directed by 1st Timothy 2, we are actually activating spiritual power, and as we collectively redouble our efforts, we can anticipate the Spirit of God to move upon human hearts in a profound way.  Do we expect this?  

If you scroll through social media, spend some time on the Internet and other sources of information, you will see that there is a war of ideas that is taking place.  We have to examine our own ideas and make sure they are informed and governed by Scripture.  The enemy is destructive, and he wants to corrupt the people of God by distorting the truth. We have to be armed with the truth so that we can stand against his schemes.