The Truth About God
1Jn 4:7-8 “Beloved, let us love one another; for love
is of God; and every one that loves is born of God & knows God. He that loves
not knows not God, for God is love.”
Tit 1:2 “In hope of eternal life, which God that
cannot lie; promised before the world began.”
Mal 3:6 “For I am the LORD, I change not: therefore
the sons of Jacob are not consumed.”
Dan 2:20-21 Daniel: “Blessed be the name of God for
ever and ever: for wisdom & might are His: And He changes the times & the
seasons: He removes kings & He sets kings up: He gives wisdom to the wise &
knowledge to them that know understanding.”
1Kings 8:39 “..for You (God) only, know the hearts of
all the children of men.”
Jer 31:10 “Hear the Word of the LORD, O you nations &
declare it to the isles afar off & say,
He that scatters Israel will gather him & keep him as
a shepherd does his flock.”
Rom 2:6-11 “Who will render to every man according to
his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory &
honor & immortality, eternal life. But unto them that are contentious, & do not
obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation & wrath, Tribulation &
anguish, upon every soul of man that does evil, of the Jew first & also of the
Gentile. But glory, honor & peace to every man that works good, to the Jew first
& also to the Gentile. For there is no respect of persons with God.
Acts 13:47 “I have set you to be a light of the
Gentiles, for salvation to the ends of the earth.”
Ps 145:1-8 v-1 “I will praise you O God, O King; I
will bless your name forever and ever.
v-2 Every day will I bless you; and I will praise your
name for ever and ever.
v-3 Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; and
His greatness is beyond understanding.
v-4 One generation shall praise your works to another
and shall declare your mighty acts.
v-9 The LORD is good to all: His tender mercies are
over all His works.
v-10 All your works shall praise you, O LORD and your
saints shall bless You.
v-11 They shall speak of the glory of your Kingdom and
talk of your power;
v-12 To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts
and the glorious majesty of His Kingdom.
v-13 Your kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and your
dominion endures throughout all generations.
1Chro 28:9 “..for the LORD searches all hearts &
understands all the imaginations of the thoughts: If you seek Him, He will be
found of you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.” 2Chro 7:14.
Isa 40:28-31 “Have you not known? Have you not heard,
that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints
not, neither is weary? There is no searching of His understanding. He that gives
power to the faint & to them that have no might He increases strength. Even the
youths shall faint & be weary & the young men shall utterly fall: But they that
wait on the LORD shall renew their strength: They shall mount up with wings of
eagles; They shall run & not be weary; & they shall walk & not faint.”
Ps 124:8 “Our help is in the name of the LORD, who
made heaven & earth.”
Ps 127:1 “Except the LORD build the house, they labor
in vain that build it.”
Ps 128:1 “Blessed is everyone that fears the LORD,
that walks in His ways.”
[From:]
Because of Who God is, There is Hope for Haiti
Where is the Hope for Haiti?
Notes from Haiti: Past, Present & Future:
Where is the Hope by Jacmel Ministries
Prov 29:18 “Where there is no vision the people perish, but he that keeps the
law happy is he.”
Gen 1:31 “God saw all he had made and it was very
good.”
But in Haiti in 1492, with the arrival of the Spanish,
& later the French, the Taino Indians were wiped out by disease, war & abuse by
the Europeans. Because they needed laborers to mine the gold & work the
plantations, the French brought slaves there from Africa.
* Haiti teaches that a new frontier is a test of
vision & stewardship to see the bigger picture.
Isaiah 66:2 “My hands have made both heaven & earth
and they are Mine.” I the LORD have spoken.”
(It was not the one true living God they turned to for
victory from slavery, but voodoo gods.)
Haiti wanted freedom, only God could give, but leaders
were consumed with greed & lust for power.
* Haiti teaches us that a war fueled by greed results
in death, not peace, cooperation & God’s will & law.
Jer 16:11-12 “Because your fathers have forsaken Me,
said the Lord, walked after other gods, served them, worshipped them & have not
kept My Law. You have done worse.. to walk after the imagination of his evil
heart and don’t respond to Me.”
Gal 5:20 “Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, wrath, strife,
heresies: they which do these things shall not inherit the kingdom (of God).”
* Haiti teaches us that man’s limited vision for self
leads to taking advantage or exploitation of others. But God’s inspired vision
frees leaders to rule according to his perfect will of humble concern for others
resulting in effectiveness by faith in him. 1Pet 5:5-6 “God resists the proud &
gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of
God, that He may exalt you in due time.”
Amos 8:11 “Behold the days come, says the Lord God,
that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread nor of thirst for
water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.”
Their minds were in darkness. Only by turning to God
could Haiti be blessed & prosperous. But..
Deut 32:17 “They sacrificed to devils, not to God..
God said, “I will hide My face from them.”
*Haitian leaders depended on ungodly spirits for
leadership.
* Spiritual poverty leads to physical poverty.
* Not one leader has been able to break the yoke of poverty that threatened the
people.
1 Cor 10:20-22 “But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they
sacrifice to devils, & not to God: & I would not that you should have fellowship
with devils. You can not drink the cup of the Lord, & the cup of devils: you
cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table & of the table of devils. Do we provoke
the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?”
*Haiti teaches us that we can serve only one Master:
sin unto death or God in holiness who gives you salvation from the penalty of
sin by faith in Jesus Christ, a love for others & His righteousness before God.
Mat 6:24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one & love
the other; or else he will hold to the one & despise the other. You can not
serve God and mammon.”
* A nation that turns from the One True Living God cannot prosper.
Eph 2:1-2 “You He made alive who were dead in
trespasses & sins; for you walked according to the course of this word,
according to the prince of the power of the air (the devil).”
Col 1:13 “(Christ) who has delivered us from the power
of darkness (the devil) and has transferred us into the kingdom of His dear
Son.”
* Haiti teaches us that God’s purpose is not for a few
to gain for themselves but many restored to Him.
They need spiritual guidance. We have a
responsibility to pass our faith to them.
Ps 71:18 “Even when I am old & gray, do not forsake
me, O God, til I declare your power to the next generation.”
Eccl 12:1 “Remember now your Creator in the days of
your youth, before the evil day comes, nor the years draw near, when you shall
say, I have no pleasure in them.”
Rom 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ
for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes to the Jew
first & also to the Greek.”
Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you & you shall be witnesses unto Me.
Rom12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice unto God, which
is your reasonable service. Be not conformed to this world: but be you
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good &
perfect will of God.”
* Haiti teaches us that embracing (God’s truth) &
renewing the mind is vital. God’s way vs godlessness.
Jer 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,
declares the Lord, plans to prosper you not to harm you, plans to give you hope
& a future.” Ps 1:1-3 “Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the
un-godly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the
scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD & in His law dies he
meditate day & night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water
that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither;
whatever he does shall prosper.” John 14:6 “Jesus says, I am the way, the truth
& the life: no man comes unto the Father but by Me.” John 3:19 “And this is the
condemnation, that light is come into the world & men loved darkness rather than
light because their deeds were evil.”
Hunger, poverty, lack of jobs, loss of natural
resources & need for an honest competent government are challenges for Haiti but
there are solutions in a right relationship with God in all areas of life.
*Haiti teaches us that faith in God enables the new
generation to see through the problems to the solution.
Mat 9:36-38 Jesus saw the problem: “When He saw the
multitudes & was moved with compassion for them because they were weary,
scattered abroad like sheep with no shepherd. He prayed for the Lord to bring
forth laborers to His harvest.” Jesus became the solution:
Heb 12:2 “..For the joy that was set before Him, He
endured the cross, despising the shame..”
We too, have a choice: look at the problem or to be
part of the solution:
* The future of Haiti depends on you: a generation of
young people seeking God, destined to be leaders.
* Find your faith in God by grace through faith in
Jesus Christ and be a good follower of Jesus Christ.
* Pray for God’s will in every situation & lean not on
your own understanding. Pro 3:5-6
Our hope is in the one true God who gives solutions. Live for Him. Tell of him.
Christ in us; the Hope of glory.
Notes from In the Name of God Amen by Daniel Ford
The Reformers in England were called Puritans & more
devout were called Separatists. They were the common people assumed to be
uneducated. But with the Bible, commentaries & Reformer’s writings, they learned
God’s ways & wanted to practice them. They were persecuted, became refugees in
Geneva and in 1620 some came to America: a new frontier to live their lives
freely, “In the name of God, Amen.
The Pilgrims (Puritans) that settled America in 1620
were a people devout to God and to one another. They were devout members of
churches and a devoutly self-governed commonwealth.
Fifty years before the American Revolution, a new
generation had gone cold, but the Great Awakening occurred whereby many
multitudes of thousands experienced what they believed to be a spontaneous
outflow of the Spirit of God. Through those preachers, Americans sensed the
power of God (Providence) at work in the world; to change lives & empower them
to gain independence from power of Great Britain.
Thomas Paine wrote in ”The Salvation of God in 1746”:
“The French had 40,000 arms, ammunition & blankets for Indians.. 7000 Indians
had joined them. Upon the taking of Annapolis, they expected 18 French fleets on
their coasts, resolved to destroy the Frontier settlements of the English
colonies.
New England again appealed to their Lord in distress:
2Sam 22:18 “He delivered me from my strong enemy & from them that hated me; for
they were too strong for me.” In an immediate turn of Providence on behalf of an
otherwise hopeless people, an overwhelming storm overtook & scattered the
invaders turning New England’s pending ruin into the ruin of the French fleets.
. The Almighty Hand of God had again been manifested in America. Thomas Elliot
wrote: “If we be at once by the influence of the Spirit of Grace, brought to a
sincere & through Repentance, God, even our God, will delight to dwell among us
& bless us. Things will go well with us. If the Spirit be poured from on high,
the wilderness shall be a fruitful field.” The Congress also published a
circular letter to all the inhabitants of the American colonies which appealed
to them to reform their lives, to pray & “with devotion of spirit, penitence of
heart & commandment of life, to humble yourselves & implore the favor of
Almighty God: and we fervently beseech His divine goodness, to take you in His
gracious protection.”
There was little progress in human civilization
until the founding of the American nation. They were still plowing fields behind
animals, moving about in carts & hand weaving cloth. Then something happen-ed,
the human spirit was set free: Creativity flourished; Experimentation abounded.
“Americans were beginning to learn how to experience
freedom. After the proven principles of liberty were institutionalized by the
Constitution of 1787, it took less than 200 years before man was walking on the
moon! Man had progressed more in 200 years than previous 5000 years.” From The
5000 Year Leap.
The Puritans, founders of America, acquired their
doctrine by reading, hearing & studying the Scriptures & applied them in prayer,
repentance, fasting, intercession, thanksgiving & living their God-given
calling.
Gal 5:1,13 “Standfast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ has made us free & be not entangled again with the yoke of
bondage.. only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve
one another”
Haiti teaches us that we can serve only one Master:
Alexis de Torqueville in 1832 wrote about USA, that there was a gradual &
progressive order of social equity: the essence of democracy. America’s success
was in its devotion to God & a genuine Christianity that prevailed. Luke 4:8
“You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.”
Mat 22:37-41 In God’s continuing mercy towards
mankind, God then put His moral will & all wisdom of the ages for all people
into two concise commandments. In God’s gracious incarnation as a man, Christ
Jesus spoke of an universal obligation to have the Creator God as first of all
human concerns. His second commandment was to consider others over oneself.
Together, Christ merged truth & God’s love which obligated all the covenantal
faithful to follow in the conduct of their lives on earth. * At Gettysburg,
President Abraham Lincoln said, “This nation shall have a new birth of freedom &
that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish
from the earth.”
Haiti teaches us that embracing the truth (God’s
Truth) & renewing the mind is vital.
The Puritans taught a moral reformation in which all
aspects of human relations were brought into biblical conformity for the Glory
of God beginning with the believer and his covenantal interpersonal behavior.
Then, the covenantal role of parents was to be administered through the everyday
interaction, instruction & discipline of their children: Pro 22:6 “Train them
up.” They saw the covenantal role of churches as distinct, but binding members
with their own obligations for needs of others: Gal 6:10 “As we have
opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the
household of faith.”
They saw the wider civil governments as under the
authority of God enforcing the overall protection for their families & churches.
God commands standards for each & respect for His all-sufficiency: John 15:5
“You can do nothing without me.” He is our means for cultural success.
In 1954 the words “Under God” were added to the Pledge
of Allegiance but Americans already believed that every man was a creation of
God who endowed them with certain rights & responsibilities.
Abraham Lincoln’s prayer: “Whereas it is the duty of
nations as well as men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God,
to confess their sins in humble sorrow yet with assured hope that genuine
repentance will lead to mercy & pardon.. Those nations are blessed whose God is
the Lord.” 1865
Because Americans believed that God has decreed all
men to be partakers of liberty, that our “manifest destiny” is to set the
principle of self-government at work, to set free the enslaved, to regenerate
the needy to change darkness into light, to teach old nations new civilization,
to conform the destiny of the human race, to dissolve the spell of tyranny &
exalt charity & shed blessings around the world.
Ronald Reagan at Detroit MI Republican National
Convention 7/17/1980, to be nominated for US president said, “Can we doubt that
.. a divine Providence placed this land, this island of freedom, here as a
refuge for all those people in the world who yearn to breathe free? * The
freedom fighters of Afghanistan
* Jews & Christians enduring persecution behind the
Iron Curtain; * Our own Americans in captivity
* The Boat people of Southeast Asia, Cuba & Haiti; *
The victims of drought & famine in Africa;
.Can we begin our crusade joined together in a moment
of silent prayer? God Bless America.
Reagan had just tapped the potential of a spiritual
appeal to the American people.
While the Great Awakening prepared hearts & minds of
people of the American Revolution, it will take another Great Awakening to renew
our right relation with God, saved by grace thru faith in Jesus Christ Ronald
Reagan: “Without God, There is no virtue because there is no prompting of the
conscience.
Without God, ..It is the world that tells us only what
the senses perceive..
Without God, Democracy will not and cannot long
endure.
If we ever forget that we’re “One Nation under God”
then we will be a nation gone under.”
Yes, The Faith of America can give Haiti Hope because
God is no respecter of persons; He loves all.
2Chron 17:3-5 “The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because
he walked in the 1st ways of his father David & sought not Baal. But sought to
the LORD God of his father (Asa) & walked in His commandments & not after the
doings of Israel. Therefore the LORD stablished the kingdom in his hand.”
2Chron 17:6 “And his heart was lifted up in the ways
of the LORD. He took away the high places (places for pagan worship) & the
groves (wooden images) out of Judah.”
2Chron 17:7-9 “In 3rd year he sent princes, Levites &
priests. They taught in Judah & had the Book of the Law of the LORD with them &
went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people.”
2Chron 17:10-12a “The fear of the LORD fell on all the
kingdoms of the lands around Judah, so they made no war against Jehoshaphat.
Philistines brought presents & tribute silver. Arabians brought flocks.”
2Chron 17:12b-13a “He built in Judah castles &
cities of store. He had much business in cities of Judah.”
2Chron 17:13b-19 “The men of war, mighty men of
valor, were in Jerusalem. They waited on the king.”
2Chron 19:4 “Jehoshaphat dwelled in Jerusalem & he
went out again through the people from Beer-sheba to the south & to Mt Ephraim
to the north & brought the people back unto the LORD God of their fathers.
2Chron 19:5-11 “He set judges in the land in all the
fenced cities to decide & apply justice in the fear of the LORD with a perfect
heart. There was to be no iniquity with the LORD nor respect of persons..”
2Chron 20:2-17 “..There comes a great multitude
against you. Jehoshaphat feared & set himself to seek the LORD. He proclaimed a
fast throughout Judah & gathered themselves to ask help of the LORD, ‘Our God,
will you now judge them?’ God answered, ‘Be not afraid, the battle is not yours
but God’s.’ “
Nation of Judah with King Jehoshaphat
“that sought God”, was blessed by God can be a hope for Haiti:
Poverty: The Church should
help but the people need jobs & income. To get jobs, people need education to
learn skills for the jobs.
To make jobs available,
Haiti needs economic growth & business development, security & justice.
What will Save Haiti? It’s
us. When we study & hold forth God’s Word;
Live our faith as
we love God with all our heart & love others before ourselves; & tell The Gospel
that will bring people to God.
Then Haiti could be a Nation
that seeks God, where the presence of God is, not misery & poverty;
a nation that in justice fears God & desires to obey Him; Pray we become a nation whose hope is in God.