believe This is a reprint from the original posted on July 9, 2009. I read Psalm 27 and verse 13 stood out and I recalled writing about this before)

Are America’s better days behind her? Have we lost the battle for the soul of our nation? Is it possible that God has righteously turned His back on us and we cannot recover? Can we ever recover from what Steve Deace described as “more sinners than saints“? Some days I believe the answers to the first three questions are yes; and the answer to the last is no.

But that is because I am seeing with eyes of circumstances instead of eyes of faith. Whenever I’m feeling discouraged or confused I look to the Psalms for direction. This morning I thought I knew what the Lord wanted me to write on one thing and when I sat down there was nothing.

I begin praying and meditating beginning to wonder if I had reached the end of this journey with Him. It was a strange feeling; what would those who read this think? I knew immediately that was a silly question because if I am writing this for you then I have lost the original purpose of this devotional. It’s to share with you my conversations with God. Now more confusion began to set in and the Holy Spirit simply said, “Read the Psalms David.”

As I was reading Psalm 27 something splendid that David wrote spoke directly to my heart:

    “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13)

Oh precious words of the Holy One!

Thank you Jesus for the confidence I have in You!

It is not wrong that I love my country and lament over the evil that is prevailing. It is not wrong that I long for the day when our nation cries out to Jesus and admits that we have sinned against a Holy God who began and sustained this nation because it was a land filled with worship-seeking believers.

It was a land of the living!

It is God’s land and it should be our land!

As Christians we should reclaim this land for Jesus. We should admit our individual sins, confess them to the Lord and repent of them. As the title of Steve’s article says, “It’s about G-O-D, not G-O-P.” Will not our nation be healed if we return to God; if we consider all of it the house of the Lord?

    “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” (Psalm 23:6)

But this is not Heaven Bro Dave! I know, but should it not be a taste of Heaven?

    “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)

Can we not expect God to pour out His goodness and mercy if we repent and return to Him?

    “Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men!” (Psalm 31:19)

What am I doing with my own family when it comes to the Lord Jesus Christ? Am I preparing for the generations that will follow me should the Lord tarry that long? Am I building a house that will praise the works of the Lord that He has bestowed upon the Jeffers’ family? Will my daughters carry on this legacy with their husbands and teach their children and their children’s children? Will I teach my grandson Benjamin and the others to follow him how much Jesus has done for our family? I want to read to my grandchildren:

    “I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts. I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, and I will declare Your greatness. They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, and shall sing of Your righteousness.” (Psalm 145:1-7)

After I read this to them and tell them of the many times Jesus blessed our family, even in the midst of losing their Uncle Eddie, I want their eyes to be filled with joyful tears and we can all shout… “Great is the LORD!!”

I do not want to be a man who curses the darkness; who passes on a legacy of despair and despondency when things go wrong and when all seems lost.

As a line in a song by Caedmon’s Call titled “Faith My Eyes” I want to…

“…walk with grace my feet and faith my eyes.”

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

If you’re receiving these devotionals for the first time and would like to receive them on a regular basis, please email me at jeffers221@bellsouth.net and use “Please add to Devotional List” as the subject. You can purchase Dave’s two devotional books by visiting his Amazon author page.

    Copyright © 2013 David Jeffers

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,