Dr. David Jeremiah Presents
Living inthe Ageof Signs
Online Destination
Living in the Age of Signs
Online Destination
Protect Your Mind
Today’s Devotion:
Protect Your Mind
While every part of the human body is important, the two parts most critical for life are the heart and the brain. It is no surprise that soldiers past and present have sought to protect these two parts. (Witness modern bullet-proof vests and helmets.) Even ancient soldiers wore breastplates and helmets.
But so did the Messiah—at least in Isaiah’s figurative language. Paul derived his image of the breastplate of righteousness and helmet of salvation from Isaiah’s image of the Messiah (Isaiah 59:17; Ephesians 6:14, 17)—and used the image of a Roman soldier as a ready reference for his readers. So to put on the armor of God was like putting on the Messiah Himself: His truth, righteousness, faithfulness, salvation, and Word (Ephesians 6:14-17). But why the helmet of salvation? How does salvation protect the mind? When Satan tempts us to doubt our salvation and the love of God which secures it, we rely on what we know to be true.
Memorize, in your mind: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
One of the highest and noblest functions of man’s mind is to listen to God’s Word, and so to read his mind and think his thoughts after him.
John R. W. Stott
Why has America in her short history outstripped the wealth, power, and influence of all ancient and modern civilizations? Can God have blessed a nation so richly without having a pivotal purpose? What is God's plan for America? What is its place in end–time prophecy?
To understand America's place in end–time prophecy, we must first explore the reasons for God's favor on America.
America Has Been the Force Behind World Missions
God has blessed America because we have been the launching pad of the world's great missionary movement. In the aftermath of World War II, Americans started 1,800 missions agencies and sent out more than 350,000 missionaries.1 Even before the widespread use of the internet, scholars believed that "more than 95 percent of the population of the world—people from every culture and language and country—will have access to the gospel through some portion of Scripture in their language, through literature distribution, radio transmission, audio recordings, the JESUS film or simply through the message of an evangelist."2
These achievements are due largely to the missionary zeal of churches in the United States.
America Has Been A Friend to the Jewish People
America's historic support of Israel is based not so much on efforts by Jewish lobbyists in Washington or the presence of Jewish groups in our society but on the Judeo–Christian heritage of our nation. President Truman's determination to recognize Israel as a modern state was fueled by his lifelong belief that, in the book of Deuteronomy, God gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people for all time.
At the founding of the modern state of Israel, surrounding Arab nations immediately declared war on the new nation. Few felt Israel could survive, and Western nations did not want to become embroiled in the conflict. Truman was under pressure not to intervene.
Jewish statesman Abba Eban flew to Paris to meet with an American delegation regarding recognition. Secretary of State George Marshall had to return home for medical treatment, and his deputy, John Foster Dulles, assumed leadership of the delegation.
Eban later wrote that Dulles held the key to the success of the talks. "Behind a dry manner, redolent of oak–paneled courtrooms in the United States, there was a curious strain of Protestant mysticism which led him to give the Israel questions a larger importance that its geo–political weight would indicate."3
What Eban called "a curious strain of Protestant mysticism" is the historic love that Christians have for the land and people of Israel, based upon their shared religious heritage and Scriptures. This, more than anything else, has cemented the friendship between America and Israel.
God promised to bless those who bless Israel (Gen. 12:1–3). He has amply fulfilled that promise. America has been abundantly blessed as a nation because we have blessed the Jews.
1Gordon Robertson, "Into All the World," Christian Broadcasting Network, accessed November 1, 2007, http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/churchandministry/churchhistory/Gordon_Into_World.aspx.
2Luis Bush, "What Is Joshua Project 2000?" Mission Frontiers, accessed October 18, 2018, http://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/article/what–is–joshua–project–2000.
3Abba Eban, An Autobiography (New York, NY: Random House, 1977), 134.