Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
Men are foolish if they think anything other than what the ancient wise man said: "Safety is of the Lord." It is God alone who determines the fate of nations. On September 11, 2001, God gave to a mere handful of deceitful and murderous young men a success much greater than they ever hoped for in their efforts to harm the United States of America. What can we say to that? Where was the greatness of the United States on that morning? Who gave those men their very great success against such a powerful nation?
The United States is not the eternal kingdom. It can be destroyed, and at some point in time, it will be. Long ago, King David sang, "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." The United States is certainly a country that has forgotten the true God and will be turned into hell.
The root of all trouble on earth, now and throughout earth's sorrowful history, is simply this: wrong ideas about God. Muslim ministers have corrupted the youth of many nations with wrong ideas about the Creator, and Christian ministers have done the same to the youth of many other nations. Men are perfectly capable in themselves to hate and to be malicious, but when they are persuaded to believe God approves of their evil designs and that righteousness demands that they destroy, there is nothing that those men will not do. In such cases, men consider it sinful to be merciful. There is no hatred on earth that burns as deeply as religious hatred, no cruelty as merciless as cruelty in the name of God.
The Lord Jesus taught in John chapter 8 that only the knowledge of the truth can make men free from wrong ideas about God. God's truth alone can free men from the bondage of darkness and death. If men come to know that God is not just a big one of us, that "the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God", and that the Creator abhors cruelty and deceit, it is less likely that men will be cruel and deceive. The young, murderous men who caused so much pain and destruction at the Twin Towers in New York on September 11, 2001, were fully persuaded of, and fully committed to, wrong ideas about God. That is the root cause of that and every other catastrophe that has ever occurred on earth.
Pray for the spread of the truth of Jesus. It is the only thing that will set men free from sin.
Pray for mercy from God. Jesus told those who followed him that they are "the salt of the earth". God preserves nations for the sake of His beloved children. And without the saints interceding with God on the behalf of those who are ignorant, there is no hope at all for the mighty United States.