9-19 Scripture Referene To Current Day Kingdom Citizenship

➡ This text discusses the importance of personal spiritual growth and understanding of the Holy Scriptures. It criticizes the reliance on governments and systems to solve societal problems, instead emphasizing the need for individuals to seek truth and implement God’s standards. The text also highlights the failure of throwing money at problems, using the example of the U.S. government’s unsuccessful attempts to fight poverty. It concludes by encouraging individuals to take responsibility for change, drawing on teachings from the Bible.
➡ Nehemiah, a man of vision and faith, was used by God to change the world in 52 days, despite problems that had persisted for over 114 years. He teaches us that when we prioritize God and follow His laws, we can quickly solve our problems and even change nations. Despite living in a time of societal collapse, Nehemiah turned to God instead of blaming others or distracting himself. His story shows us that when we are fully devoted to God, He can make things happen quickly, and that prayer is a powerful tool for inviting divine intervention into our daily problems.
➡ This text emphasizes the importance of faith and obedience to God’s laws in overcoming societal problems. It suggests that by adhering to God’s covenant, we can experience protection, authority, and blessings. The text uses the story of Nehemiah as an example of someone who took personal responsibility for his relationship with God and acted accordingly. It encourages us to do the same, using our skills and influence to promote a biblical view of government and society, and to actively participate in civic issues.

Hello, my name is Paul and I am the voiceover for a ministry provided to you by Jim Pugh at God is government called your daily bread taken from Christ’s teaching of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew chapter 6, verse 11. This is a daily devotion ministry focused not only on uplifting Scripture, but scripture that will grow your spiritual connection with Christ. We hope that you receive these devotions to uplift you, encourage you, but most importantly advance your knowledge base of the Holy Scriptures. Today’s focus discussion will be on understanding Scripture support for current day Kingdom citizenship in Judges 21 verse 25 KJV in those days there was no king in Israel.

Every man did that which was right in his own eyes. What we find in this passage is the same condition of society then as today. In chapter 21 we are told that the people lost their ability to affect the culture around them for good. As a result of this loss, society as a whole collective standard of right and wrong deteriorated to the point that every man did what they thought was right in their eyes and not in God’s eyes. Just like then. We find now that when this happens, rather than focusing on the true solution to the problem, governments and citizens resort to throwing money at the situation when alone can never fix anything.

Do you not find it amazing as to how many people today believe that our solutions to our societal problems and chaos lie in governmental systems or in the replacing of people who perpetuate those systems? We have been taught by our religious leaders that our salvation can only be provided by our governments. What they are doing is forcing God’s hand into a box of elected officials. We have been taught we are entitled to all things and from that require us to do nothing for it wrong. Our spiritual leadership is teaching of a kingdom they can schedule, program and understand.

We put our hopes and dreams and even our spiritual maturity in the hands of politicians who in our current governments are followers of things not of God. God warns us about what happens when we do this. 1st Samuel 8 verses 9 through 18 KJV now therefore hearken unto their voice, howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, this will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you.

He will take your sons and appoint them for himself for his chariots and to be his horsemen and some shall run before his chariots and he will appoint him captains over thousands and captains over 50s and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers and he will take your fields and your vineyards and your olive yards, and even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

And he will take the 10th of your seed and of your vineyards, and give to his officers and to his servants and he will take your menservants and your maidservants and your goodliest young men and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the 10th of your sheep, and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you and the Lord will not hear you in that day Find any similarity to our world today? Judges 82223 KJV tells us that there is no salvation by our government.

Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, rule thou over us, both thou and thy son, and thy son’s son also, for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian. And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. The Lord shall rule over you Our solutions to our nation and the nations around the world do not fly in on a plane like Air Force One. God is neither a donkey nor an elephant we discuss in chapter seven in the first book of the God Is Government series, God’s governmental authority structure what the role of government is.

And we found that it is not with any government that keys to morality are held. While political parties have both strengths and weaknesses, depending on the issue at hand, they tend to not stop and seek the true solution but throw money at the problem in hopes of correcting it. We need to stop our governments from continually throwing money at things and seek the true solutions. The solution to our nation’s problems and those nations around the world will not come by pumping money into yet another system. We cry for changes in our educational system, welfare system, judicial system, the political system, the economic system, and many more.

We are easy to lay blame on programs rather than people. We fail to realize that the very people we elect to offices are the very ones creating the broken systems. We allow this to continue by not seeking the truth and implementing God’s standard for leadership. This not only goes with our governments, but our churches, our schools, our hospitals, our communities, and more. Unless we, the people of whatever nation, fix people, we will never fix any system. Systems are the conception of people and run and manipulated for the sole benefit of the people who oversee them. If we look at a recent example within the United States, we find that between the years of 1963 and 2010, the United States government spent over $13 trillion to fight poverty and revitalization of our nation’s urban communities.

One would think that if someone spent that enormous amount of money on anything, it would be solved. But yet, what do we have today? We find today our urban areas are worse off than what they were during this period. This is why it should disturb each and every believer that much of our focus during any election season is on systems, regardless if the election is on a local, state, or federal level. God has told us time and time again that our problems never relate to systems. God has told us his and our problems relate to people.

Ironically, this means that it starts with God’s people, the citizens of his kingdom. God is always looking for that one person through he can usher in the good from him. Remember, in chapters one to three we discussed God placing humanity as having dominion over all living things and as such God only works here on earth through humanity to make his changes. God tells us in Jeremiah 5, verse 1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now and know and seek in the broad places thereof if ye can find a man. If there be any that executeth judgment that seeketh the truth, and I will pardon it.

God’s intervention into almost all things comes tied to a person, not a system. We find a similar situation Described in Ezekiel 22:30. KJV and I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it. But I found none. We should now understand that to change our current world issues it must start with us. See, God searches for people to make his changes and those changes requested by his citizens, not systems. Our solution is not one we can point a finger to or set blame unless we point our finger to ourselves and lay blame at our feet.

See, that is where the solution is and begins. We have the ability to do justice, seek his truth and stand up for our lands nations. The question we must ask ourselves is are we willing to stand up for what is right, good, pleasing to God, and healing our land? We all need to stop here and honestly ask if we are so willing. If not, we should stop reading this book and go one with our pitiful lives. We find in the book of Nehemiah a world situation that mirrors the situation of the world Today. But before we look at the Scriptures, let us set the stage of his community.

At that time, Nehemiah lived in a community that had gone extremely bad. Society was experiencing devastation and injustice. The family was in total disintegration, people were being charged high interest rates, robbery by the institutions and unemployment was through the roof. There existed all forms of relational discord, gossip, at the worst, sabotage, and all kinds of social and psychological trauma. In fact, every type of human dilemma existed in Nehemiah’s day. We find that the verses contained in the book of Nehemiah are not dusty old principles and ancient insights, but but they hold the keys to our solutions across the world today.

The book tells us and encourages us to not ignore the realities of the world we all live in. It also reminds us of God’s utilization of one man to change the world at his time. It is through one person or a small pact of people seeking God’s will that make changes to affect the world at large. Think about this. Where are you? On the side of the fence. We find that Nehemiah was a person of vision, foresight and patient, faithful to God, compassionate, had the utmost integrity and was persistent with diplomacy. When we read the Scriptures, we will find out that God used this one man to change the world in 52 days.

Despite the depths of the problems that had gone on for over a hundred and fourteen years. It is important to realize the time because it should teach us that whenever we put God first and align ourselves underneath his obedience, covenant and his kingdom laws, it really doesn’t take any time to fix our problems. We can literally change the face of any nation. Change that diverts disastrous courses of demises for our nations. Nehemiah teaches us that to have this type of change take place requires two devotion and dedication. In the midst of all difficulties, Nehemiah was a cup bearer for the king.

Israel at that time had been overrun. This was the same time period as the life of Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, Abednego, Mordecai and Esther. The Jewish people at this time were still living under the Persian empire in a pagan society. We can see in history how all this came into being by looking all the way back to King Solomon, who is described in 1 Kings 11 as a man who loved many women. It was his lust for women and the type of women he loved that lured his heart away from God. 1 Kings 11 verses 9 through 11 KJV and the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods.

But he kept not that which the Lord commanded. Wherefore the Lord said unto forasmuch, as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. The result of King Solomon’s disobedience was that his kingdom was divided into two parts, the northern part and the southern part. In 722 B.C. assyria captured the northern part and in 605 B.C. babylon captured the southern part. The southern part was the part that Judah resided in. It was in 586 B.C.

when the Babylonians finally invaded all of the territory which ransacked Jerusalem, tearing down its walls, slaughtering many people and and put into slavery many other Israelites. Not long after that, Persia overthrew Babylon, which provided an opportunity for Israelites to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. It was Cyrus, the premier of Persia, who gave the permission to the Jews that allowed anyone who wanted to rebuild the city to do so. Because the Israelites were so immoral at the time. The majority of the time trying to rebuild Jerusalem was spent on trying to get the people right with God to succeed instead of rebuilding the city.

It was not until Nehemiah that this actually took place. What we can determine from Nehemiah’s story is that while the specifics may be different, the deterioration then as well as today was what Nehemiah faced and what faces us as well today. Nehemiah found himself living in a community of total collapse. Economic collapse, social collapse, and a time when people were on the rampage, rioting, looting and killing. His society was in total ruin. Families could not work together, much less live together. There was no internal superstructure, governmental or societal infrastructure to hold everything in place that politicians and economists, social scientists and the government could not solve despite the laws in effect.

We find that Nehemiah, instead of complaining, blaming, pointing fingers, creating division, posting things on social media, mocking others with disrespectful memes, using entertainment to distract his attention or anything else we see of society today, Nehemiah took the problem to his even bigger God. As stated earlier, God used Nehemiah to correct the problem. In 52 days that existed for over 141 years. We may ask, why him? Or for that matter, us. God tells us when men and women become totally available to God, he makes things happen quickly. Nehemiah was a kingdom citizen in every sense of the word.

This is why God chose Nehemiah to use and this will be the reason God chooses us to use. Let’s look at the story of Nehemiah now, since the stage has been set in Nehemiah 1, verses 1 through 3 KJV the words of Nehemiah the son of. And it came to pass in the month kisleu in the 20th year, as I was in Shushan, the palace, that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped which were left of the captivity and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, the remnants that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach.

The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down and the gates thereof are burned with fire. Hanani was the brother of Nehemiah who had come to visit and they spoke about the city of Jerusalem in verse 4, Nehemiah took action. And it came to pass when I heard these words that that I sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Nehemiah took the problem to God immediately by fasting and praying. He did not create a committee to study the problem. He didn’t plan an event or concert to raise money to help the city.

Nehemiah didn’t post a blog or go on a social media site to make everyone aware to see what people thought. No, Nehemiah went directly to God for correction. If you look at the job of Nehemiah, he held a very significant position with King Cyrus as cupbearer and maybe would be called in total terms a big shot. But we find that he was not too big to go to his God to seek the true solution. He was not too busy to pray or too insecure to fast. What Nehemiah learnt in his position watching King Cyrus was that you cannot fix cracks in walls, fix society or fix systems without first fixing the people within them.

Understanding this, Nehemiah didn’t come up with a society fix program or a new deal for Jerusalem. He fasted and prayed for days. What we can understand from Nehemiah is prayer is the tool to invite heaven into history. It is the only vehicle through which we call on our divine God to intervene in daily problems. Prayer by Scripture is the divinely authorized method to access the heavenly authority which we are told to do for earthly interventions. It is where the invisible meets the visible transforming earth by the touch of heaven. John 15, verse 5 KJV Am the vine, ye are the branches.

He that abideth in me, and I in him. The same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing to access the divine. We must pray, and we cannot do anything without him. Nehemiah went to God first with prayer. What was Nehemiah’s prayer that was so powerful in chapter one of Nehemiah? It records a portion of his prayer that is one of the greatest illustrations and methods of prayer known to humanity. It states as Nehemiah 1, verses 5 through 11 KJV I beseech thee, O Lord, God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments.

Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now day and night for the children of Israel, thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee. Both I and my father’s house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments which thou commandedst thy servant Moses. Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, if ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations.

But if ye turn unto me and keep my commandments, and do them, though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power and by thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant and to the prayer of thy servants who desire to fear thy name and prosper.

I pray thee thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man, for I was the king’s cupbearer. Nehemiah understood the enormity of the problem his culture faced. He knew that the problem could only be solved from a heavenly perspective. Nehemiah began his prayer by acknowledging the greatness of God and his power over all. In our society today we are panicking because we see the problem but think it is too big. We panic because we have forgotten or not yet taught how to fix such a problem. We panic because we are looking to elect a person that can take charge of the situation and fix it.

This is all in vain. We panic today because we have lost track of the enormity of our God and His sovereignty. We read about God speaking a word and creation happens. But we fail to understand this same God can speak, use man, or even reveal himself through earthly things to overcome all problems. He created the entire universe. Do you not think he has the ability to fix a problem in his creation? It will only be when we are able to see our problems in the light of our God will we have the confidence to move against the darkness of our world in courage, commitment and faith.

The story of Nehemiah doesn’t stop here. After he acknowledged the sovereignty of God and his faithfulness, he tied himself back to God’s by his obedience to him. Nehemiah didn’t simply call on God to act, but took up the cause as his own personal responsibility and relationship to God. Realizing God is not required to do anything we ask other than what he has already decided he will do. Like salvation. Nehemiah understood to tie God to his faithfulness, loving kindness and preservation to those who love him and keep his commandments and laws. We discussed the covenant God made with humanity and it was that obedience covenant that Nehemiah tied God to.

Nehemiah realized, as should we today, that binding nature of the covenant between Israelites and God. This same binding nature applies to us today. God tells us those who keep his commandments and laws are legally bound to Him. We can think about this as a process. If you do this, then I, God will do this. If we operate under God covenant, then he provides protection, authority and blessings. On the other hand, if we choose to not operate under the terms and conditions of God’s covenant, then we cannot exercise the authority granted us as a citizen of God’s kingdom.

In the covenant in our society today around the world, Satan is winning God’s kingdom. Citizens are not functioning in accordance with God’s covenant. As a result, we are not winning any battles and benefiting from kingdom authority. It will be only when we the people live within the terms and conditions of his covenant that we will experience his covering, provisioning and authority, our God given sovereignty. Exodus 19:5 KJV now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine.

As we operate underneath God’s covenant, we set ourselves apart for his kingdom purposes. The reason this works is because it told us in the terms and conditions of his covenant that he would do these things if we followed his covenant. We find ourselves around this entire world not seeing God come through as we have asked to solve our cultural and governmental problems. This is because we have 1 forgotten, 2 neglected and 3 failed to adhere to the terms and conditions of his covenant. Nehemiah taught us through his prayer that those who love him and keep his commandments and laws that will have his sovereignty.

We place God in a position to only want him to preserve and protect at our will, when we want and how we want instead of living within the framework of his covenant and allowing him to determine the when, what, how, when, why and who to provide his sovereignty in order to receive the full benefits from God’s covering, His power, his provisions, his authority in our nation and in fact all nations of the world, we must not only be in his covenant, but we must also align ourselves underneath his rules within his covenant. We need to realize that there is much more involved for us to heal our nation than attending church a couple times a week and or doing devotions for several minutes each day.

We must be not only willing but live God’s lifestyle. He needs to be our mindset. He needs to be the very reason we have a heartbeat and wake up each and every morning. We have to break the mundane way of life and repetitive mold of latent faith we seem to promote. We have to be willing, like Nehemiah, to pray and then follow that prayer with physical action. It was in Nehemiah devotion that he took action. After his prayer, he used his leadership and administration skills to develop a plan of action. He mobilized people with a fresh vision of God’s future and a mindset towards healing their land through prioritizing their faith in God, not only themselves, but for their society.

Nehemiah understood it started with individuals first, then family, home and then the church, God’s people to bring justice and order into their society. It is through prayer and action that God provides His influence on earth. We must be like Nehemiah. We must utilize our skills, our positions of influence to leverage our impact not only in our society, but our homes and churches. This not only fulfills our responsibility to follow God’s rules associated with elections as directed from Scripture, but also in supporting those who are running for elected office who follow God’s commandments and laws. This also means getting involved in civic issues that do or could affect our lives, our families, our church, our workplace and our government.

It is our duty, as prescribed through Scriptures, to promote and protect a biblical view of civic government which says we are to utilize our relationship with God to take action to maintain a safe, just, righteous and compassionate environment for freedom to flourish. Thank you for joining us in this exploration of Scripture support of current day Kingdom citizenship. Until next time, remember to keep the faith, stay strong and continue to shine your light in the world. To hear these daily devotions of your daily bread, please log on to goddessgovernment.com goodbye and may your faith always lead the way.
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