“And He changeth the times and the seasons; He removeth kings and raiseth up kings….” – Daniel 2:21

What does the Word of God have to say about government?  It teaches that God has ordained human government. The prophet Daniel said that God is the one who removes kings and God is the one who sets up kings. And Romans13 teaches that the powers that be are ordained of God.

What about wicked governments? Did God set them up? It may surprise you to learn, yes, He did. That does not mean they are God’s will. God would much rather have righteousness. But by and large people get the kind of government they deserve. Wicked leaders are God’s reward for a wicked people. 

 What are we to do as a church? What is my responsibility so far as government is concerned? First of all, we are to pray for our government. We need to pray for leaders even if they are wrong“For this is good and acceptable and right in the sight of God our Savior” (1 Timothy 2:3).I am calling upon you to confess your sins personally and our sins nationally. And I am calling upon you to pray for America as Daniel prayed for his people—in the power of the shed blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is prayer time in America.–Adrian Rogers

Be of good comfort…and the God of love and peace shall be with you– 2 Corinthians 13:11

This admonition and promise, at first glance, seem to be backwards. It seems as though Paul should first give the promise of God’s presence with us, followed by the admonition to therefore be comforted. But he doesn’t.

Paul actually says for us to be comforted and then promises – subsequently – that the God of love and peace will be with us. The clear implication is that the love and peace of God will only be felt by us after we follow the admonition to “be of good comfort.” Why?

The fact is that Paul is exhorting us to be comforted. We are to allow the transcendent promises of God to flood our hearts; we are commanded to receive the marvelous truths of the gospel and hold on to them and believe them. It is only when we allow ourselves to be comforted, when we give in to the reality of goodness and joy and pleasure in all that God promises to us and purposes for us — it is only then that we can feel the love and peace of God with us. It cannot be in any other order!

We may often wonder why God has not sent comfort our way, why we do not feel the presence of God with us. But the truth is that God has sent countless comforts our way, in His Word, but we have not believed them, have not received them, have not allowed them to infiltrate our doubting and discouraged and deflated hearts.

It is only when we allow ourselves to be comforted by the truth of all that God has promised us that we will then feel the love and peace of God with us. So, believer, be comforted.(B.B.H.)

“The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”–Psalm 33:10–12

In his farewell letter to the Continental Army when he resigned his commission in 1783, George Washington wrote: “I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you, and the State over which you preside, in His holy protection, that He would incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government, to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow Citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the field, and finally, that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all, to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility and pacific temper of mind, which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy nation.”

America has a long and rich heritage of Christian faith and principles. We have never been a country where everyone was a believer, but the truths of Scripture were once held in high regard even by most of those who were not Christians. Today that is no longer the case. As we face a culture that glorifies evil and condemns good, we must respond. While we exercise our rights as citizens, we must never lose sight of the fact that our most important contribution to our nation is found in our obedience to Christ and our daily Christian walk.–Daily in the Word