The largest political, social and personal problem that we have in the United States is that we have forgotten what made us great. We are a nation that was established under God. Not a god, but the One and Only God. He is El-Shaddai, Yahweh, I Am that I Am, Alpha and Omega. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, part of the Trinity with the mysterious and powerful Holy Spirit.
Christians have forgotten who they are. Followers of Christ are sons and daughters of God, fellow heirs with Jesus. (Romans 8:17) We are spiritually alive with the very power of God residing within us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
We have let the world call our relationship with God a “religion” and allowed other religions to have the same standing. Yes, it is true that God has given everyone the right to serve Him or not to serve Him but Christians keep putting Him in a smaller and smaller box to not “offend” those who choose not to serve Him. This is not being a follower of Jesus. We do not serve a meek, sappy god. We serve the God that holds the universe together by the power of His Word. He is not the same or subservient to any other god.
This life we live is just a wisp and a shadow of the life we will live either with Him or apart from Him for all eternity. Earth is just the threshing floor.
We must change our minds, change our thinking to an eternal perspective. He is in control and it is mankind that has brought sin to this Earth. It is up to us to partner with God to push back the darkness by our prayers and by every word that comes out of our mouths. For “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45) so speak truth and walk in all righteousness.
Speak about the Lord as if you actually believe He is real. When we shy from speaking of Him, we are denying Him. In Matthew 10:33 Jesus says, “whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
We may pray that God will change our world but He has told us that He has given us a Spirit of power (2 Timothy 1:7). Jesus said some very shocking statements such as “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:17-18
In John 21:25 we read, “Now there are also many other things (miracles) that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” In light of this statement these words of Jesus written in John 14:12 are ever more striking, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” Acts 2:17 quotes Joel 2:28 when it says “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams;”. If these are not “the end times” then when?
Even as I look up each of these verses I run across mountains of writings by church leaders that seek to suck all the power out of Jesus’s words. I was raised in the church, attended church camp and a Christian College. I was taught to have faith for salvation but that was it. I was never taught the power of the Holy Spirit. I was never taught to walk in victory. I was fearful to talk about Jesus to others. NO MORE! I choose to believe Jesus and His Word over the teachings of men.
The religious leaders of Jesus’s day also accused Him of doing miracles by Satan. (Matthew 12:22 or Luke 11:14) They saw His miracles and plotted against Him. The religious leaders eventually killed Him. Ask yourself why it may be that we no longer see the awesome power of God in most of our modern churches.
Read the Bible again. Pray with a new mind and a new heart so that we CAN change the world we live in. God has said that without faith we cannot please Him and He has also said we can ask Him to give us faith. It is time.
Author: Janna Swanson
Janna Swanson helps her husband Paul farm in NW Iowa with their two young daughters. Since 2013 Janna has volunteered her time and energy for her community. She was a key member of the Preservation of Rural Iowa Alliance that protected landowners from the Rock Island Clean Line. From there she helped start and facilitated the grassroots group, The Coalition for Rural Property Rights to help protect community members from industrial wind installations. She is also a board member of National Wind Watch, a 25-year online collection of information of the industrial wind opposition from around the world. Most importantly Janna is a follower of Christ and seeks to help others to know and understand Him. Yet because she is also seeking deepening her own knowledge and understanding she welcomes critical, constructive debate. No one has the corner on truth, we all see “through a glass, darkly”. (I Corinthians 13:12)
