Tuesday – April 26, 2016
Greeting in the name of the Lord God Almighty. Just as the people of Utah are grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty so am I and I guess so are you. Please once again be reminded to pray for those in authority across the United States in our governments. Today I am honoring the State of Utah. Utah was the 45th state admitted to the Union on January 4, 1896 during the presidency of our 24th President, President Grover Cleveland. According to a Gallop poll Utah is the second most religious state and according to a Pew Research poll it is the eleventh most religious state tied with Texas. Sixty to sixty- four percent of the people in Utah describe themselves as very religious. I repeatedly remind my readers and others that America is in Covenant with God. This is evident in the National Constitution and that of each state not to mention countless other documents and the obvious blessing on this nation. There are only two covenant nations on the earth. One is Israel who was chosen by God, to be an instrument of salvation for all peoples. The early settlers and the Founders of this nation chose to make Covenant with God. America has a double blessing so long as we bless Israel and maintain our Covenant with God. Cursing Israel brings a curse on America. (Picture above is from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Utah Constitution
Preamble.
Grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty, we, the people of Utah, in order to secure and perpetuate the principles of free government, do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION.
Let’s review our primary text from Colossians then we will move back to our secondary text in 1 Corinthians 15:57-58
Colossians 2:6-8 (KJV)
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57-58 (KJV)
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
One of the synonyms for the word victory is to conquer.
Romans 8:37 (KJV)
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Because we have the victory over anything and everything that has to do with darkness, the devil, the curse we can with confidence be steadfast and unmoved by circumstance undeterred in our mission for the Kingdom of God. The devil will tell us and he may even enlist some help from our friends, family, even strangers to let us in on the ‘secret’ that we really are not much in the Kingdom. When you hear this rejoice with enthusiasm causing the devil to cringe.
2 Corinthians 2:14 (KJV)
14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
I am sure you noticed in 1 Corinthians 15:57 that ‘thanks’ was directly linked to ‘victory’ and here in 2 Corinthians 2:14 ‘thanks’ is directly linked to ‘triumph’. In our thanksgiving we abound in faith and all things are accomplished by faith driven by love in the Kingdom of God. Remember the following verse.
1 Corinthians 13:13 (KJV)
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Charity is the old English word for love, agape Bible love. Notice that hope and faith are equivalents but love has the higher rank. When we do not operate in love (obedience to the Word) our faith (unwavering belief in God and His Word) will not work and the hopes (promises of God) that God has given us will not come to pass. Because we walk in triumph others come to a knowledge of God.
By Pastor David R. Wood
