Gtcotr/ss102923
Pray for people …
James 4 NKJV
1 ¶ Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Today is the 23rd day since the terrorists group Hamas launched a murderous surprise attack against unsuspecting Israeli civilians in several Jewish communities close to the border of Gaza. Hundreds and hundreds of innocent children, teenagers, the elderly, and whole families were brutally tortured in unbelievably inhumane ways before being viciously executed or taken captive and dragged awayreminiscent of Hitler and the Holocaust. Hatred of the Jews is demonic.
Hamas should not be mistakenly identified to represent all Palestinians any more than the Nazis in the 1930’s and 40’s represented every German citizen. The government we vote into power does not always end up representing us. However the primary responsibility for dealing with a tyrannical or terroristic government lies first with the people of that nation.
An historic overview of WWII reveals the Japanese population either could not or would not deal with the kamikaze ideology of their own national leaders. Finally the Japanese military directly attacked the US and forced America along with its allies to mobilize and declare war against Japan.
The unwavering commitment of Japan’s government, its military, and the supporting citizens and industry of Japan to the destruction of America and western ideals, along with their demonstrated willingness tosadistically torture and summarily execute their captives, eventually made it necessary for the United States to do the unthinkable.
On August 6th, and August 9th, 1945, over 4 ½ years after Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the US detonated two atomic bombs over the densely populated Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombings indiscriminately killed an estimated 225,000 people, flattened the cities, and wounded untold numbers, most of whom were civilians. Six days later, the Japanese government surrendered bringing anend to WWII.
The act of dropping those bombs, seen by many as an act of aggression, was truly a last resort defensive move. The realistic expectation of the US and its allies, including Russia at that time, was that the people of Japan either actively allowed or directly supported the decisions and the actions of their government. It was believed that if Japan was not totally defeated, they would rearm and attack again. The goal of the US was to not only defeat the Japanese military but to destroy the will of the people to allow such terror to be perpetrated by their nation ever again. And it worked.
Unfortunately for so many nations throughout history, the common people of the nation are the ones who are left to pay for the decisions of the ones they put into power. Whether higher taxes, or mobilizing militaries, taking land or claiming the lives of sons and daughters, governments are only what the people allow them or want them to be. And, when war breaks out with terrorists nations, it’s the people of those nations who suffer the most.
It is a horrific truth that left to rest, regather, and resupply, those bent on terrorism and indoctrinated to hate will recruit, rearm and reattack at a later date. We simply cannot leave our children and grandchildren and the next generation to deal with that eventuality. As horrible as it is … and it is … it is nonetheless our duty to make sure it stops here, on our watch.
The responsibility of the Church and every Born-Again Believer in Jesus Christ is to pray that this war in Gaza comes to a quick and decisive end, having uprooted the spirit of terrorism from the borders of Israel, and that the Palestinian people be set free from the oppressive lies of the devil who hates Israel and wants to wipe the from the face of the earth.
This is prophesied in the Psalms by a psalmist prophet named Asaph. There are many other teachers of the Word of God who do a much better job of forecasting the prophetic impact of this event than do I. However, please allow me to share a brief overview of Psalm 83to confirm what James said about war and the enemies of God.
Psalm 83 NKJV
1 ¶ « A Song. A Psalm of Asaph. » Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, And do not be still, O God!
2 For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head.
3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together against Your sheltered ones.
4 They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”
5 For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You:
6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites;
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. Selah
9 ¶ Deal with them as with Midian, As with Sisera, As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon,
10 Who perished at En Dor, Who became as refuse on the earth.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb, Yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 Who said, “Let us take for ourselves The pastures of God for a possession.”
13 O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like the chaff before the wind!
14 As the fire burns the woods, And as the flame sets the mountains on fire,
15 So pursue them with Your tempest, And frighten them with Your storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame, That they may seek Your name, O LORD.
17 Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and perish,
18 That they may know that You, whose name alone isthe LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth.
James also gives us only one remedy for the conflicts of our souls just like the conflicts between nations … Acknowledge the LORD God Almighty! Make Jesus your Lord! Every knee will bow …
Hatred of God and hatred of the people of God, Israel according to the Bible, is demonic. Jesus was born in Israel; He ministered in Israel; He was killed in Israel; He rose from the dead in Israel; He went to heaven from Israel; and He is coming back to Israel … Israel is the chosen of God and the Jews have lived in Israel for over 4000 years; 2600 years before the founding of Islam.
Hatred of Israel and the God of Israel is nothing new and it is of the devil. The Bible gives us only one remedy for lasting peace.
James 4 NKJV
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you …
If you are in conflict of the soul this morning or if you are standing in a battlefield, even in the information battlefield and you don’t know what to think or what to do … take direction from the Word of God this morning.
Pray and submit yourself to God and His will for you life and for this world. Don’t allow the devil to feed your mind or control your emotions. This is not the worst day of God’s life and He has a plan that is beyond our imagination and beyond our control.
Draw near to God in prayer, worship, and in the Word. Perhaps for the first time in your life you need to let God be God … He is the only One who can be! Let’s pray for peace …
