Being a Blessed Nation

Driving down the road I saw a bumper sticker from a radio station that read, "God has blessed America." I agree. It is undeniable that God's blessing has been upon this country for many years and has helped it rise to be the superpower that it currently is. This makes me consider the verse that tells us exactly why a country would be blessed. Psalm 33 holds the key to a nations blessing; "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." v12

Understanding this verse as truth there are a few things we must understand; this is not the complete verse. The second half of this verse says, "And the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance." God has chosen those who follow him, and those who follow him have chosen to follow Him. This is not to spur a discussion of predestination, but rather the sufficient grace of God. Romans 10.13 say, "Whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved." This is true with our nation. If we will bind together with our God being the Lord (Jesus the Christ; the deliverer) we will be blessed.

In the old testament beginning with Abraham God established a nation that would be His example people to demonstrate to the world the blessings of making God your Lord, and the consequence of denying God as Lord. These people are now known as the Jews but have bore names such as Israelites, Children of David, etc throughout history. They have shown the world that God does indeed bless a country when He is made their Lord; and they have demonstrated the painful consequence of proclaiming fame, riches, fornication, or power to become their lord. On a roller coaster ride of faith the nation has seen blessing of wealth and prosperity and the struggles of famine and pestilence.

In the new testament church age (which we are now in) the believer in Jesus Christ is the new chosen people of God (there is still a special place and purpose for the Jews) and they are now given the promise of Psalm 33, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." America is called a Christian nation but the percentage of true God followers is declining every moment. As the spirit of the antichrist saturates our society we are losing true believers in record numbers as they are convinced that there are multiple ways to know God and receive his redemption. Yes, I believe that God has blessed America because it has been the strongest Christian country in the world with the most missionaries sent out than any other country. There was once more Christian churches in America than in the rest of the world combined. Still, the promise holds strong that the nation, regardless of which it is, will be blessed if God is it supreme ruler.

The remainder of Ps. 33 spells out clearly that it is not a king, an army, or its technology that wins a war, it is the power of a God keeping his promise that wins the war. Having said all of this I do not desire to press one into a corner of depression and tell us to look around at all the spiritual ruin, rather I urge you to stand up and claim the promise of God and press forward to maintain a nation whose God is the Lord.

This is an election year and you have a voice in the next leader. You can choose someone who will help us keep God as the Lord, or you can cast your vote for destruction. As you cast your ballot in a couple of months remember this verse as you slide your ballot into the machine.