In God We Trust

In God We Trust
By Rev. Robert P. Elkins
All Scripture verse taken from the NIV Bible unless otherwise noted
Psalm 146: 1-4
“Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.”
The Living Bible translates this as; “Praise the Lord! Yes really praise him! I will praise him as long as I live, yes, even with my dying breath. Don’t look to men for help: their greatest leaders fail; for every man must die. His breathing stops, life ends, and in a moment all he planned for himself is ended.”

Look at our currency, coin or paper; and you are going to see the words “In God We Trust”. That statement meant so much to our Founding Fathers that they made sure it was placed on the one thing everyone would carry. Did the founders of this great nation believe in the Bible? You bet they did! But they set up our constitution in a manner that in the event you didn’t want to carry the Bible around with you; you had the freedom not to do so. If you didn’t want to carry the Bible or profess what it says you didn’t have to but you would still carry a public statement which carried a nations belief in the one true Supreme Deity everywhere you went. You see our Founding Fathers knew that although they had a firm conviction that this was to be a Christian nation, they also knew that they had to set up this nations constitution in a fashion that would honor the few misguided souls who didn’t believe in God as well. Our Founding Fathers understood that being a Christian wasn’t about forcing the Christian belief on people, it was presenting the Christian belief to the people and allowing the Holy Spirit to do the work of convincing them.

And how do you go about doing something like this? Take a statement of faith, something like “In God We Trust”, put that statement on the currency of your nation and there it is! Right there for everyone to see, every time you handle the money you also see that statement of faith. The bearer of the currency may not notice that statement, it may not register just what they were looking at all the time but it was there and it was recorded someplace in the minds eye. The American dollar is desired in just about every nation, and by just about every people on this planet. And everywhere the dollar goes so goes that statement of faith, “In God We Trust”. I have to acknowledge that there are a few, and mind you I said a few; not the majority, that would like to see that proclamation removed. They make a lot more noise about their misguided belief than the believers do; we sit idly by and watch the minority remove the majority’s core value of belief because we don’t want to “offend anyone”. We watch our core values plunge in the depths and say nothing until it’s gone and even then we say to little because we are afraid to “offend someone”. And do you know what? They have their right to voice that concern, they have the right to be able to say that they want it removed, our Constitution gives them that right. But we as Christians also have our rights as well, and like it or not they have to listen to what we have to say too, our Constitution guarantees that right to us, it goes both ways, this isn’t a one way street my friends. They have the right to voice their opinion, we have the right to voice ours, but as long as any form of conscience remains in the hearts of the American public this movement to eradicate not only our statement of faith in God but God Himself will never happen. But it could if we let it, I know I’m not bashful in voicing my opinion, I’m not bashful in “offending someone” if they are attacking my rights, as I said, they have their rights and I have mine. For two hundred years in this nation we could mix those rights and no one got really bent out of shape but that’s not the case any longer because as one group becomes more vocal the other becomes more docile, afraid to “offend someone”. We need to turn the corner and get back to where we were once, which is where we started when those wonderful words were first thought of and placed on the currency. Just a little something to think about.

And now I would like to really exercise my right to express my own opinion as guaranteed under our Constitution. I think #1, all this hype about this foolishness of removing God from our nation is generated more by the manipulative and controlling news media than the few misguided souls who actually have an interest in this silly cause. We have a “News Media Mega Machine” that is no longer interested in reporting the news and presenting the facts to the people. This Mega Machine is now more interested in creating the news rather than just reporting it by wasting thousands of hours and millions of dollars following the foolish and small minority seeking the removal of God from this nation. And in doing so the news media is making it sound as if this small minority of misguided souls is the majority, which by the way, they are not! I firmly believe that it is the news media by their constant coverage and misleading story telling that is blowing things out of proportion, taking the picture or viewpoint of a minority group and presenting it as a huge majority, in essence feeding the public a lie to manipulate the facts and keep the foolishness alive when if left alone it would die from it’s own stupidity.

My belief #2, if this foolish minority does feel this strongly about separating themselves from God, do so by leaving the Christian nation that enables you to voice that opinion! If you feel that strongly about not wanting to have the presence or personhood of God presented to you pack up your spouse, your kids, you possessions and move to any of the godless nations that exist in the world. If these people truly feel that life would be so much better without the presence of God in their lives then by all means exercise your right and go where God isn’t acknowledged by the people living there. There are places on this earth where you can go and live with other like-minded people, where you can find people that don’t want to acknowledge God’s reality. If you want to think like that then go live with those like-minded people. But don’t stand in the middle of my Christian nation and try to tell me that God has to go. Don’t stand in the middle of the greatest gathering of Christians on the face of this planet and try to tell us that everything we believe in and everything we respect has to be changed because you don’t like the way things are. America is a Christian nation, founded by Christians… for Christians… so that they could worship as they pleased without fear of persecution from some radical few and friend I’m here to tell you that it isn’t going to change now. Don’t try to force your twisted desires on me because of the way you think! I’m a Christian because I want to be one, and I live in a Christian nation because I want to live there. If I wanted to live in a nation where everyone spoke French I wouldn’t move to a place where everyone spoke Italian and then demand that they change their language. If I wanted nothing but clean air I wouldn’t move next to an oil refinery and then complain that the place smelled like gasoline. If I wanted peace and quiet all the time I wouldn’t build my house under the glide path of a major airport and then complain about the sound of jets coming and going all the time. Sometimes you have to use a little common sense, if you live on a houseboat out on the water you’re not going to get much use out of having a riding lawnmower.

If any person thinks that their life would be so much better in an anti-god environment by all means move to one and do so with my blessing. But whatever you do; don’t try to force your twisted ungodly desires on me. I am a Christian, it is by my choice that I live in this lifestyle of my choice, and in the beliefs that I have and I just so happen to live in a Christian nation with a Constitution that says I have that right to do so and I want to keep it that way!

Via the much loved news media, I’ve seen millions of people trying to gain entrance to this Christian nation, through whatever means they can, be it legal or illegal, just so they can enjoy the blessings of living in a Christian nation. I don’t recall seeing anything about the heathen nations having a problem with people flocking to their borders trying to get in where there is no God. In those nations there are millions trying to get out, not in, and most are trying to get here! Now what do you think the reason for that is? If anyone wants to live in this nation and reject the concept of an Almighty Creator please feel free to do so. But keep your opinion to yourself because it’s the Christians that founded this great nation, it’s the Christians that feed and fuel this great nation with our industry and agriculture that makes it so appealing to be here and we can band together when riled and will if need be.

In God We Trust. Carried by every person in pocket or purse, everywhere in this nation, it’s embossed right there on the currency for all to see. Actually in today’s society we should have that embossed on our charge cards as well. If we exhausted more energy in trying to please God and less on trying to remove God and please ourselves I think our nation would be in far less financial turmoil than we are experiencing today. If we were focusing more on God and less on self interest the average working person in America wouldn’t be in dept up to their eyeballs and even higher. Enough said on that, I think you know where I stand on that subject.

The question I place before you now is, do we really trust God to meet our needs or are we abandoning God and placing our reliance more and more upon other means, mainly government? Have we abandoned our faith in God and His provision and are we looking more and more toward man and his intervention with government to provide our daily needs? It’s sad to say but reality deems I must, today in our society there is a huge number of souls who are more and more turning to government to provide for them and less and less turning to God. There are more and more people looking to the government and at the same time turning their backs on God, placing man above God as their means of security and provision.

This is not a new trend, it has happened quite often over the eons of time and it’s been recorded in the Bible. If you do a study of the Scriptures starting in the book of Genesis and reading up to the book of 1st Samuel you’ll see that the people Israel, the Hebrew nation; are somewhat content to be ruled by God as their King and leader. Granted the people faltered and fell on their faces quite a few times every so many years but for the most part they were content to be ruled by God who spoke through his priests and prophets. And throughout all of this time frame of Genesis to Samuel God provided all of their needs, water from a rock, manna from the heavens, and so much quail that they were ready to gag if they ate one more piece of Rabbi Sanderstein’s Hebrew Fried Chicken. God parted seas for them, gave them pillars of fire in the night for heat and pillars of clouds in the daytime for shade in the heat of the desert. He allowed them to conquer every nation that opposed them or stood in their way, He allowed them to occupy land that He had promised to them and in short God did just about every common day miracle they needed just for the privilege of being their God and letting them know that He loved them.
So, lets see how the people of Israel are doing with God as their leader. They are living a good life, their nation has a good economy, and their borders are secure against the other godless nations around them because these godless nations know that God is their protection and provider. I guess you could say that all in all things were pretty good. And then all of a sudden out of the clear blue sky someone comes up with a new and wonderful idea. “Lets reject God and do what everyone else is doing! Lets toss God out and go it alone”! Mind you now these people had it pretty good, they had all the bases covered, food, protection, blessings, security, they had the entire package. And then some pea brain comes up with “Enough already! I’m tired of having it all. Lets get rid of God and leap out there on our own. We don’t need no God, we have each other”. Is this starting to sound familiar to anyone out there? If I hadn’t forewarned you that I was talking about Israel what country would you think I was talking about? Guess what people; this is a wake up call! What are we hearing today? “Enough already, I’m tired of having all the blessings; lets toss out God and go it alone. Lets remove God from our money; lets remove God from our schools, out of our businesses, out of our governments and out of our lives. Lets force people to be afraid to pray in public or we’ll file a lawsuit against them. Don’t mention God in a government building or a school, strip God’s name from our heritage and our history. Come on contented people, let’s toss God out and go it alone.” People we’ve been down this road before. Look at (1st Samuel chapter 8:1-22) “1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.
4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."
6 But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."
10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."
21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king." Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Everyone go back to his town."

So the people reject God and all of His provision, they reject God and all of his protection and rather than live under a God that cares and loves them, they accept a form of government like all of the peoples around them. Now they have a king and now they are like everyone else. O happy day! From this point on the people of Israel have wars, famine, captivity, oppression, slavery and suffering. Not only did these disasters come from the nations around them but it also came from within. Not only did they have an overburdening set of neighbors who made their lives miserable but also their own internal government did the same thing to them. Taxation and indentured servitude, everything that God had warned them came to be. The people appeared content on the surface but their kings cost them dearly. Read the account of King Solomon, was he loved by his people? O yes, but he just about drove the nation bankrupt with his building projects. The rich nation of Israel was just about broke by the time Solomon finished his palace and the temple.

Solomon also practiced politics or government, as we know it today. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. And Solomon scratched a lot of backs. Solomon wanted the services of Hiram King of Tyre, and as partial payment he gave Hiram 20 towns in Galilee. Turning parts of your country over to foreign governments isn’t anything new; it’s been going on for a long time. We won’t go into it today but read 1st Kings some day to see what the daily requirement of goods was to keep Solomon’s government up and running, the numbers are mind boggling.
And just a little side note about the first king of Israel, King Saul. He wasn’t a very good king; he did things that were should we say a little un-kingly. But what were his prerequisites to being king? Look in 1st Samuel chapters nine and ten, it’s in both chapters, Saul was tall and good-looking. Because Saul was tall and good-looking he got to be king. Does this sound like anyone we had as president of this country in the not so distant past? Someone who was tall and good-looking but was a disgrace to the office of the presidency?

We’ve looked at the Bible and the history in the Bible, but now we need to bring this Bible teaching up to the present day. All of these stories are good and wonderful, our children need to be told these things, they need to hear these stories and we need to pass along the oral traditions of the Bible to the young and future Christian leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ. Younger Christians, regardless of age need to be encouraged to read these things for themselves. But to really make the Bible alive in our lives we need to place it’s teachings in juxtapose or comparison to life today so as to enable us to look at the Scriptures of past days and compare them to today. This will enable us to see how they are a timeless truth that is always relevant to the here and now we live in.

“Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.”
Our currency says we trust in God, but do we? Do we trust in God or do we put our trust in the government? The NIV translation says that we aren’t to place our trust in men; the KJ translation says “a son of man”. Either way they both are saying the same thing, man; men a person or people, it all comes out to be government or some other form of leadership other than God in the end. As a people we have become more and more dependent upon government to provide our needs and at the same time we place less and less emphasis on God. I’m not talking solely about America now because most world nations and peoples in general have become dependent upon some form of government and independent of the one true God. But since I am an American and I’m talking mainly to an American audience I would think I’ll contain my comments to the American culture. I want to talk for a moment about how we have wandered away from our God and heavenly provider and how much like a drug user who becomes dependent upon their drug of choice we have become dependent upon our government.
When a drug user first starts to dabble in their drug of choice they aren’t addicted or totally dependent upon that drug in the beginning. But over time, with regular use, the more they use that drug; the more dependent they become. The more they use that drug the more they desire its effects until finally they are completely addicted and are unable to function without that drug that now has control of their life.

For many Americans this principle of addiction to government has the same effect on them as the drug addiction has. Without a constant and continual injection of government assistance they are unable to function on their own any longer. Without the regular injection of government assistance they can no longer maintain life of any kind by themselves.

At one point in my life not so long ago I decided to sit down and read our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America. And after reading these two great documents it dawned on me that we really have twisted out of shape what these documents have to say in order that we may make them read in a way we want them to read rather than in allowing them to read as they were written, at face value, accepting them for what they are. The Declaration of Independence says in part; “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”.

Now if I’m reading this right, what it’s saying is that it’s quite evident or obvious that everyone is created equal. That no one is special, and that we are endowed or gifted by our Creator, there’s that God thing again that we say doesn’t exist in our government. That God has gifted us with certain unalienable rights, or rights that can’t be removed or replaced. So God has said that these rights belong to you and me regardless of who we are, that we have a right to them. And then they list what there rights are, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

What I want to draw your attention to, is not what is listed, but rather what isn’t listed. It doesn’t say that as part of our rights the government is supposed to give us food. It doesn’t say that the government is supposed to give us spending money. It doesn’t say that the government is supposed to give us free medical care or free medicine, a place to live, free heat, water, electric, an education or a car to drive. As a matter of fact if you look at this document it doesn’t say the government is supposed to give us anything. What it does say is that #1 we have the right to expect life and #2 we have the right to expect to life freely and #3 we have the right to pursue happiness. If we want food, water, clothing, housing, education, prescription medications, and spending money and these things make us happy, we have the right to pursue them, we have the right to try to obtain them on our own. You see the government isn’t supposed to give these things to us, we are supposed to get them on our own, and it’s God, there’s that pesky God thing again, that affords us the opportunity to do so. It’s the one and the same God that little minority of misguided souls is trying to remove from our public awareness.

So now you’re saying, “okay, it’s not in the Declaration of Independence but it is in the Constitution. It has to be in the Constitution where it says everything is handed to us”. Sorry but no. Actually what the Constitution says in part is;
“We the People of the United States in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessing of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America”.
Notice what it says now people, what is the government supposed to provide and what is it supposed to promote? There’s only one thing mentioned here that the government is supposed to provide, the government is supposed to provide “Defense”. The government is supposed to provide a means of defending our shores, defending its people. If you go on and read the rest of the Constitution it does say that it is the government’s responsibility to set up our political system, build our road system, develop a army and navy, defend our borders, and provide a postal system to deliver the mail! That’s a long cry from what people are demanding today. There is nothing that says, “give them the food, the clothing, the medicines, the education and the whole list of government handouts so many are so dependent upon. All of that was extracted from the little phrase, “promote the general welfare”. Friend “promote” doesn’t mean to “give”, it means, “to help bring about or further the growth of”. Government is to encourage us in our development of these wonderful things we like so much, but it’s not to be the administrator or provider of them.

I would imagine by now I may have ruffled a few feathers with some of you reading or hearing this. You are most likely saying to yourself, “I know I’ve read someplace that I’m supposed to get governmental assistance when I need it. I know I’ve seen someplace that if I can’t do it myself I’m supposed to get the help I need. I know it has to be in an document someplace, I just know it”. So if you’re one of the people thinking along these lines I’ve got some news for you. You’re right! You have read that, it is out there in print, but it’s not in the Constitution, and you won’t find it in the Declaration of Independence. You won’t find this in either of these wonderful documents but you will find it in the most important writing to be found in America or for that matter the most important document to be found anywhere in the world, it in the Bible!
Everything we talked about is in the Bible. Feed the hungry, it’s in the Bible, take care or the widows and orphans, it’s in the Bible. Educate the people, it’s in the Bible, provide housing, cloth the naked, minister to the peoples needs, it’s in the Bible. Take care of the sick, take care of the homeless, assist your brother and sister when they need it even if it’s just offering a supportive and listening ear, it’s in the Bible. I don’t care what it is, if it’s talking about meeting the needs of the people, it’s found in the Bible someplace. God wanted to establish these principles, these principles are found in the words of Jesus. You see friends it’s not supposed to be government ministering to people, it’s supposed to be people ministering to people. And we call that body of people the church of Jesus Christ. It’s the church of Jesus Christ that is supposed to be feeding the hungry, not the government, it’s the church that’s supposed to be caring and blessing and ministering to the people, not the government. The government collects taxes, provides secure borders and makes sure you get your mail, even the junk mail. But ministering to the needs of the people comes from the church. It’s all laid out in the Bible for us, I’m not making this up. Go to the book of Genesis in the 41st chapter.

We’ve all heard the story of Joseph and how his brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt and how through a long chain of events that perfected Joseph’s leadership abilities he came to be called before Pharaoh to interpret a dream Pharaoh had. So now we’re in the 41st chapter, Joseph is telling Pharaoh what his dream means and we will start reading with verse 34. “Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. (There’s the collection of taxes principle) they should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. (Notice what it says, under the authority of Pharaoh, that’s the principle of under the authority of the government) This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.” (There’s the principle of protection of the country by the government)

So Joseph finishes telling Pharaoh the rest of what his dream means and Pharaoh says I like what you’ve said and to reward you for your services you get the job of heading up my tax collection department, or in this case grain collection department. So Joseph gets some fine robes to wear, the king’s ring to use, a gold chain and a chariot to use. Today we’d say he got some cool clothes, some slick jewelry and a company car. Now we are going to jump down to verse 47.

“During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.” So Joseph has collected the grains, or he’s collected the taxes, the government has done its task of collection. But what does the government do with it? Go down now to verse 53. “The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food. When all Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. (Notice now, the people are saying `where’s the government hand out program’) Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, `Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.’ (Okay now people, here’s where we see the role of government in this food program) When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt.”
Did you see the role of government there? The government s-o-l-d the grain to the people, there wasn’t a free handout to anyone; it was a cash transaction. Today our government should be giving out low interest loans but not handouts free of charge. Free handouts lead to complacency not self-directed productivity. Now we need to tie this into the New Testament.

Jesus didn’t tell his disciples to go to the government and ask for bread to feed the multitudes. He said to his disciples “you go get the bread from the people that have it”, that’s the church collecting tithes and offerings, that’s the church giving to the people in need, “and then I’ll bless the food and we (the church) will then feed the hungry people”. In the 6th chapter of John we read in part, “When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him he said to Philip “Where shall we buy bread for these people?” Jesus asked this of Philip only to test him; Jesus knew there wasn’t anyplace to purchase bread in that location but he also knew that it wouldn’t be needed. Jesus knew it was God’s responsibility to feed the people, providing is what God loves to do, and Jesus knew the way God works through his people to carry out God’s plan. And why wouldn’t he? He’s God! You see God wants us to be dependent upon him and not upon our forms of government. When Jesus had his disciples go out and gather the pieces of bread he was setting before us a principle of praying and depending upon God; but layered within that principle was the fact that the people, in this case the disciples, had to do the gathering, and the person, the one who gave, had to do his part at well. Jesus was placing in our lives the principle that ministry and provision come through God via men and women helping men and women. This is showing care and concern for our fellow man through God’s church. This is an object lesson that Jesus did over and over again throughout the gospels. Care, prayer and share, it comes to people through the church.

When Jesus healed the sick he did it through prayer and told his disciples that they would do all that he had done and even more. He gave the gift of healing to his church; care, prayer and share, it comes through God’s Holy Spirit. Care, prayer and share, it comes through the church, it’s people helping people, and it’s where we need to place our trust, not in the government but in God. Jesus showed special concern for the little children, care, prayer and share, care of children comes through the church, trusting in God not trusting in government to meet the needs of children. Jesus showed special concern for women, care, prayer and share, trusting in God not government to meet the needs of women. Trusting in God to provide, looking to God for our needs, not looking to government for assistance or government handouts. I could spend the next hour taking you to places where Jesus showed his concern for his people and meeting their needs but I won’t. The people were looking to Jesus to heal them and he did, they were trusting on God not looking to the government. Look at the healing ministry of Jesus, after the healing took place it says the people praised God for his healing; they didn’t turn around and praise the government of Israel or the religious leaders of the day.

I don’t doubt that there are at least a few hearing or reading this that are saying to themselves, “This all sounds good but to do this it takes money! This all sounds like a nice way for God to work through his people but the people have to provide the funding for these kind of programs and the church doesn’t have the resources. The government on the other hand levies taxes on the people and can come up with the resources to take care of the people. Where is the church supposed to come up with that kind of money”? And in response to that question I propose to answer with another question, what is the theme of this teaching? Trust in God! The church needs to develop the same kind of dependency in God that we’ve transferred over to the dependency on government. It’s time the church of Jesus Christ turns back to looking to God and trusting in him for our needs and less time looking to the government to provide for us. This government we have is great but in due time it is going to fall apart, every government does. But God will always be there. The government can only sustain so many draws upon it’s resources until eventually it will collapse from the great weight. God on the other hand will never be without the ability to come to the needs of his people. Throughout the Bible we see God promising to meet the needs of the people, God is constantly telling his people to depend on him, he is constantly saying that he’s a loving God, that he wants to bless them, that he wants to care for them. God is constantly saying; “I love you, I want to be your provider, your blessing, and all you have to do is ask of me, trust in me and allow my Spirit to do his work through each of you”. One of the names of God is Jehovah Yireh, meaning The Lord will Provide.

We may have “In God We Trust” embossed on our money but we no longer have it embossed on our hearts, and now is the time to start going back to where we were so long ago when America was first founded. We as the church of Jesus Christ need to start looking to God in stronger ways of dependency and allow him to witness to us through his might and power in providing. And once we rekindle the flame of “In God We Trust” in our hearts then we can pass that flame on to our communities and the people in those communities. Once we start to develop that “In God We Trust” mentality again it will be easy to pass it along to others. Once we allow God to bless us we can then bless others and it won’t be long before other people will see, believe and grab hold of that spirit of belief and stop being so dependent upon governments that will only let them down.

Remember when we went through that “What Would Jesus Do” trend? We really need to start thinking just like that all over again; we need to ask the same thing, what would Jesus do? And the answer to that is he didn’t look to the Roman government to provide, he didn’t look to the temple leaders to provide, he looked to the Father to provide. He did it by caring and sharing and praying to the Father. Jesus trusted in the Father and so must we. Jesus tapped into the abundance of God and that same abundance is still there if we reconnect to God and seek it. The people in the church need to become more dependent upon God and less on the government, we need to acknowledge God’s love, acknowledge God as the provider and to rely on the reliable one instead of relying on the government. Remember our opening Scripture? God’s word tells no lies. Men and their governments are going to pass away at some point and when they do all of their programs and means of provision are going to pass away as well. I want to read you something I found not so long ago, it really ties in well with this message.

About the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.""The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage.”

There was a time in history not so long ago when the church of Jesus Christ better understood the principle of dependence and trust in God for all it needed, and God was happy to fill all those needs. We’ve wandered away from that mindset; we’ve lost the flame that once burned bright. We’ve transferred our dependence from God to men and today would be a good day to start to reclaim what once was ours to be had. “In God We Trust” is a powerful statement but we need to carry it one step further, we need to make it a reality not just four empty words. Join with me today and rededicate ourselves back to dependence upon our God. Don’t misread what I’ve been saying as unpatriotic, I love the Constitution of this country, I love the Declaration of Independence and I will always love our flag. But my dependence is upon God to meet my needs because I understand the difference between the role of God and government. I love our form of government and always will but I can say with pride and no conviction, for me

“IN GOD I TRUST".

Grace & peace