Heaven Still Rules

i'm so thankful that you can join us for this special facebook live and i know people will be joining up with us over the next few moments and i hope that what you hear you'll want to share with others you can share this facebook post or it'll be um the same content will be available on youtube sometime over the next few days we're actually going to air this these next 20 or 30 minutes on revive our hearts on monday so you'll be able to go to reviveourhearts.com to get that i know that all of us who are talking about this and thinking about these things about what's going on in our country have a lot of perspectives and our perspectives don't all agree so you may find that you want to post some comments as you're listening to this uh live um stream what are we doing facebook live is that a live stream i guess that's what it is and uh but i want to just encourage us over these next moments to push pause on our opinions and to use this time to let the lord speak to all of us and to just reflect together on what he's saying what he's doing and what he wants us to do at such a time if you would like to make a comment let me ask this could you either share a scripture verse that's been precious to you or encouraging to you over these last days and weeks i've been doing that on my social media just sharing some verses some quotes that are meaningful to me that i think help give us perspective or you may just want to put in the comments there a prayer that's on your heart as you think about what god's doing in this world what's going on so rather than just we're not going to lob um political perspectives we know we have those you can go other places to get those but this is a chance for us just to edify one another to encourage one another and uh to look together to the lord and to his word and to his perspective so if you want to comment feel free to share a scripture passage a bible verse or a prayer that may be on your heart now over these next several minutes here i want to share my heart about the events of the last few days here in the united states i know this what's been going on here is not something that will relate to the rest of the world necessarily but all eyes are on the united states and the things that are happening here are have lessons for all of us any place in the world in fact robert and i had the joy of talking today with a couple who are partners in this ministry who live in the dominican republic and they're very interested in what's happening here in the united states and each country has its own challenges but particularly what's been happening here in the u.s i want to share some thoughts about what's going on in our country from a biblical perspective and how we as the people of god are called to respond in such times now i'm going to have more to say in the days ahead what i have to say down the road will probably be better organized and but i felt prompted to connect with you today with just some things that have been simmering in my heart as i've been seeking the lord in these days so let's pray and ask the lord for his wisdom and then we'll get started so lord we come to you as jehoshaphat and the armies of israel said in second chronicles chapter 20 we don't know what to do but our eyes are upon you so we lift our eyes and our hands and our hearts up to heaven and we say oh lord please show us your ways show us what's in your heart show us how in this dark day we can be the light of christ in our world would you help me over these next few minutes to take these kind of jumbled thoughts but things that are really pressing in on me and would you be glorified would you be honored may your people be edified and built up and may you do a good work in us and then through us in the days ahead i pray in jesus name amen amen well i just got to tell you and i know that you will likely relate to this that my own heart has been so heavy as i've been watching the news reports and reading many social media posts there's so many that are deeply felt and they're also deeply divided i think you know what i'm talking about there's such a wide range wide range of perspectives and opinions about current events whether it's the pandemic vaccines election and that includes those listening to me right now we don't all share the same opinions on these things we've just come through a highly polarized election season and there's some who are listening to me right now who are super glad about the outcome of the election and there are others who are super mad and sad about the outcome of the election and everything in between some who say i just don't know what to think well whatever your political affiliation and leanings by any measure i think we'd all agree that this has been a chaotic contentious season for our country and that yesterday with the breach of our capital in washington dc this was a terrible dark day for our country now i think it's helpful to just have a little bit of context and backdrop i'm not telling you anything you don't already know but 2020 was a long hard year we all feel that and people are exhausted they're stressed they're anxious they're frustrated and i think there's just this growing deep-seated resentment there are many who have sincere concerns and frustrations about election irregularities and they feel that their voices have not been heard and you can just see that coming to a boiling point and then there are many others who believe that those who have these concerns are nuts that they're believing false conspiracy theories so if you're on social media at all you know that tempers are flaring people are flinging opinions flinging accusations and it's like there's no middle ground there's no meeting of the hearts there's just this animosity this intensity and so as we're living in this moment i want to make several observations several reminders several perspectives and several scriptures that have been on my heart over these last few days and it's not going to surprise you where i'm going to start and that is with these two words heaven rules heaven rules heaven has ruled all throughout 2020 and every year that preceded it heaven still rules in 2021 there is no power of evil there is no darkness that can sabotage god's redemptive story and plan heaven rules heaven has ruled throughout this past years we've been through the pandemic as my precious husband robert has been through not one but two cancers thank you by the way for praying we're encouraged we're waiting to see how the treatments have gone but we've said to ourselves a thousand times i don't think i'm exaggerating when i say we've said a thousand times honey heaven rules we say it after we watch the news heaven rules we say it after we get a doctor report heaven rules so thinking about this election moment administrations come and go but god is always on his throne and he's always working to accomplish his saving purposes in this world and to glorify himself so god has been on his throne god is still on his throne today and god will be on his throne no matter what happens tomorrow and that's why no matter what may be going on in our country or could i say in your own personal life in your marriage with your children we talked today with uh a friend who has a prodigal child and their hearts are so heavy that's bigger on their heart than what's happening here in our election a whole all that's fallen out from that but whatever is going on we can be people of hope because we know heaven rules and if we really believe this then our hearts will not be troubled we will have comfort we will have hope we will have assurance we will be people who are rooted and grounded in faith and in perspective no matter what whether we can see what's going to happen whether we understand it whether it makes sense we're going to be okay because heaven rules and by the way uh some have asked you know like did you make that phrase of well no i didn't it's found in the book of daniel where you have this you know daniel is this man of god this elderly man of god when you come to this part of the of the book of daniel and he is serving under multiple kings who are pagan kings they are pagan rulers they have all kinds of issues and the world is in um it's a mess it's fragmented god's people are in trouble but here we have daniel telling this wicked king heaven rules heaven rules daniel had to tell his own heart that and then he knew that was the message that was needed for his day heaven rules no matter what and heaven still rules today and it will still rule tomorrow no matter what now with that is kind of a backdrop for us and a foundation for us we got to keep counseling our hearts with that we we can't stop saying it we can't remind stop reminding ourselves because we forget so easily we start to think a president is in charge or a congress is in charge or a court is in charge or your husband or your wife or your kids or something else is ruling but no heaven rules now with that is our foundation let me just say that we're hearing lots of explanations for what's going on in our country and we're hearing a lot of proposed solutions if you turn on the news you may listen to mainstream media may even listen to cable news you may listen to um conservative or progressive or whatever you prefer to listen to but you're going to hear a lot of different explanations and a lot of different people saying this is what we need this is what we need and what concerns me in this whole range of perspectives is that so much of what we are hearing i would say most of what we are hearing leaves god out of the equation and when we do that as a country as a media as a as thinkers as people in this country that leaves us without any foundations without any moorings without any solid foundation or footing to cling to and it leaves us hopeless and helpless if we forget god if we forget that heaven rules if we forget there is a god or if we don't filter our perspectives and opinions through who god is we're going to be hopeless and helpless i saw this uh quote from charles spurgeon somebody posted on twitter the other day and i've been pondering it spurgeon said a world without god is a world without fear without law without order and without hope now you say well i'd like a world without fear no we need the fear of the lord and we need law and we need order and we need hope but if we throw god out of our public life out of our private lives out of our institutions out of our thinking a world without god spurgeon said is a world without fear without law without order and without hope so that's why this time is a that we have such a desperate need to return to the foundation the center the core in him we live and move and have our being we can't breathe without god and we can't process this time without god and i don't care how conservative or liberal the pundits may be if they're trying to explain this or solve this without god there is no hope for that now what we're seeing all around us is a loss of faith in the basic institutions of our society just think about it media government science our pastors our churches people have lost confidence in these things that one time you thought could be trusted or relied upon to be helpful but that's part of the problem what's part of the problem well that we have trusted in the basic human institutions of our society and let me just remind us that fallen sinful broken mankind is always going to produce fallen sinful broken systems now there are some systems that draw upon biblical thinking and that's always a good thing systems that are based on biblical thinking are going to work better than systems that are built without god but even systems that are built like a marriage that you build on the foundation of god in his word there's still two fallen sinful broken people in that marriage and so we're going to produce fallen sinful broken systems we can't trust in those systems we can't trust in those institutions the middle two verses of the bible i think are something we all need to be really familiar with psalm 118 you might want to just flip there while i'm talking right now but psalm 118 verses 8 and 9. and i think it's significant that this is right in the middle of our bible psalm 118 verse 8 it is better to take refuge in the lord than to trust in man it is better to take refuge in the lord than to trust in nobles think about that our hearts all whether we're christians or non-believers every heart in this on this planet longs for and needs a refuge we need a place to find safety in the storms of life we're all looking for a refuge we're looking for something that can be trusted we're looking for something that's dependable something that can be relied upon we all trust in someone or something or things the question is not are we trusting in things but what are we trusting who are we trusting and where are we turning for refuge trust in mankind trust in humanity trust in leaders or nobles as the psalmist says it if we trust in mankind or leaders or nobles we will always be disappointed we'll always be disillusioned because when those systems fail us we will be left without anywhere to turn if that's where we were trusting but let me say that when we've looked at those institutions to help us to sustain us we need humanistic institutions of government and and family and church those are god ordained institutions but we can't trust in those institutions but when they fail us it actually can be a good thing if it causes us to turn our hearts upward yesterday on the news i was really moved to see a a clip where congressional staff in the um capitol were praying they were crying out to the lord and i actually heard i don't think i've ever heard this before i heard a newscaster call out for prayer say we need to pray we need to pray that's a good thing desperation can be a blessing anything that makes us need god is a blessing right because it causes us to look to him and let me say that god is trying to get our attention that's true of believers it's true of non-believers alike he's trying to get the attention of the church he's trying to get the attention of the world god is trying to get our attention and so anything that makes us desperate for him is actually a blessing so we can't expect systems of this world including government marriage family our churches to be or to do what only god can be and what only god can do in our lives that's why the psalmist says those who it's better to take refuge in the lord than to trust in humanity it's better to take refuge in the lord than to trust in nobles those who trust in the lord with all their hearts will never be disappointed because he will never fail he will never blow it he will never disappoint one of robert's siblings we have a text thread we call the complete circles the complete circle and it's the wagon move siblings and their mates and one of them posted this hymn stanza on there this morning of such an encouragement to my heart i was written by isaac watts in 1708 and how timely those words are today he said oh god our help in age is past and our hope for years to come our shelter a refuge from the stormy blast and our eternal home under the shadow of thy throne thy saints have dwelt secure sufficient is thine arm alone and our defense is sure oh god oh god he's been our help in ages past he is our hope for years to come so we can't trust in mankind we can't trust in leaders or followers or anybody or anything but when we trust in the lord he is our help he is our hope he is our shelter he is our refuge and under the shadow of his throne heaven rules we will dwell secure sufficient is his arm his strength his arm and our defense is sure words written in 1708 words we need here in 2021. now uh i want to say also that it's appropriate and important for us to lament and grieve the brokenness of our world and as we think about the deep-seated problems our world is facing we ought to grieve we ought to weep we ought to lament because this is not what god intended when he created this world and said it is good night or two ago i i just couldn't sleep i was restless i was thinking about what was going on in our country and some other issues and i got up in the wee hours of the morning and i posted just this short sentence on twitter i said i weep for you america that was a phrase that had just been rolling around in my head in my heart and my my my belly during the night i weep for you america and i posted that and probably had more responses to that or as many as anything i've ever posted why because i think a lot of people feel the same way there's just this inner groaning this lament this grieving but let me say we weep not just for america but we weep for our world and we weep not just for the world but we weep for the church and we weep and we grieve and we lament not just for the church but for what god is exposing in our own hearts that's really what it kind of comes down to because i can't solve the country's problems or the world's problems or all the churches problems but i can let god deal with the problems in my own heart you see this is not a time for us to point fingers at the sins of others others do have sins they have great sins and grievous sins and there's a time for for showing the truth of god's word and putting it up against our culture and our world but first this is a time to let god search our own hearts and to show us where we may have contributed to the chaos and the brokenness now that may take a little heart searching but that's why the psalmist prayed lord search my heart search me oh god not just prove to everybody else how wrong they are what they've all done wrong but humility begs for us to say lord what's in my heart that you see i mean think about your speech over these last days the way you've talked about the outgoing president or the incoming president or the congress or uh judges or your governor or the um whoever the newscasters think about your speech things you've said maybe in the in your own um uh study where your sitting room where your tv is and as you've watched the news with your mate or your children think about your interaction with other people how you've talked think about your social media what you've posted the comments that you've posted and ask about all of these as i'm asking myself does this all reflect the heart of jesus i mean if god's people aren't reflecting the heart of jesus in our speech our interaction our social media our actions our attitudes how in the world do we think that this world is going to get it right does your speech your interaction your social media your attitude your actions does it reflect hope or does it reflect despair does it reflect that heaven rules or that something or someone else rules this world does it express humility or does it express arrogance and pride does it express grace or does it express anger and self-righteousness you see the anger of man scripture tells us does not work the righteousness of god and it's one thing for the world to be out there ranting and raving and screaming and yelling and going crazy but that is not appropriate for us as children of god not if we care about the righteousness of god being affected in this world that doesn't mean there isn't a place for righteous anger but so much of what i've seen and so much of what i've felt at times in relation to what's going on in our country i gotta say it's not righteous anger it's self-centered how does this affect me it's my opinions it's self-exaltation so this is a time for us to let god search our own hearts and show where we may have contributed because this nation is just a composite of the hearts and the thinking and the actions and the behavior of all of us collectively and then let me say and i hope this is encouraging to you that what seems so messy right now could actually in god's providence his timing his way could actually prove to be a season of great gospel opportunity so that's why we shouldn't despair because as dark as it gets god is at work god is on his throne god is still accomplishing his purposes and let me say that the world our world our country desperately needs for the people of god to be light in the darkness now again i've said i know we're coming from a lot of different positions and perspectives you may be those one of those people who looks on the last four years as being exceedingly dark and you are ecstatic that a new administration is just around the corner or you may be one of those people who thinks that the last four years are exactly what our nation needed and what's coming in the next four years you're dreading it because you see it as looming darkness that's going to be with us for the next four years so you maybe think the last four years were utter darkness or you maybe think the next four years are going to be utter darkness let me say either way whichever is true or whichever is more true our calling as christians right now is not to curse the darkness whether it's the past or the present or the future it's not to curse the darkness but to turn on the light and it's not our light it's not showcasing us but it's pointing people to jesus what if we truly were filled with christ in his light i think of romans chapter 12 verse 21 that says don't be conquered by evil that's what's happening to a lot of us our minds our emotions we're being conquered by evil but he says instead conquer evil with good light overwhelms darkness so our point is not and there is a time to expose deception and darkness but we have far too little of us turning on the light overcoming evil with good not by being warlike or angry or contentious that's that's just acting like the rest of the world don't be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good this is a season for great gospel opportunity if we will be the light of the world then i want to remind us that the problems we are facing are not going to be solved by any political party nor are they going to be solved by science or by any other human efforts these are problems that require divine intervention that's why this is a time for us to cry out to the lord and to pray as we have never prayed before i saw a tweet from a pastor who's a friend of our ministry uh in the last day or two he said i've believed it for some time he posted this yesterday actually he said i've believed it for some time but today is a confirmation the only answer to the problems in our country is a holy spirit empowered all-consuming great awakening revival and then he said would you join me in fasting and praying for the next 21 days see here's a pastor who realizes this is a gospel opportunity and we must cry out to the lord only he can do what needs to be done thinking about that letter that the prophet jeremiah wrote to the exiles the jewish exiles who were living in babylon in jeremiah chapter 29 he sent them this letter and they were living in a foreign country they were in exile life was hard but he said this is what the lord says pursue the well-being of the city i have deported you to pray to the lord on its behalf for when it thrives you will thrive and by the way he also said while you're there settle down build houses plant vineyards have children get married have children um he said you know you're gonna be there for a while so don't just get your head in the sky and hold on for the rapture settle down there and live there but don't put your hearts roots down there and while you're there pray like crazy for the well-being of this area and let's remember that we have brothers and sisters in many countries around the world who are facing far worse issues than those we're facing here in the united states so god's word says pray for the well-being of the country where i have placed you the city where i have placed you live your life there and live it for the glory of god and then as we come to a close here remember that this world is not our home we are exiles we are pilgrims the bible tells us so we're not just intended to huddle together and hang on till the end comes but we have an obligation to those who don't know jesus otherwise god could just take us to heaven now and like let's just get on with it but he's put us here for a purpose so the apostle peter wrote in first peter chapter 2 beginning in verse 11 dear friends i urge you as strangers and exiles you don't belong here this this world is not your home your strangers your exiles but he said abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul against the soul and conduct yourselves honorably among the gentiles among those who are not believers so that when they slander you as evildoers they will observe your good works and will glorify god on the day he visits listen the day is coming when god is going to visit this world we've recently celebrated the first advent of christ coming to earth but there's a day coming when he's coming back this time in judgment he's offered salvation he's giving us time for people to repent but he's coming back to judge this sinful wicked world and so the apostle peter said live your life in an honorable way in a christ-like way so that when people point the finger at you and say they're evildoers they won't be able to dispute your good works and they will glorify god on the day when he visits they will say i saw those christians i saw the way they lived i had an opportunity to repent either they will repent now and believe and they will join us in eternity with christ or god's judgment will be seen to be just and righteousness because we showed them the gospel through the way we lived i was texting um last night with a young friend a 21 year old young man who's a friend of robert and me and he said something that i thought we were just talking about the day's events and what was going on and this friend said we need a new country and then he said i guess we'll have that in heaven wow so wise he's right this world is not our home our citizenship is in heaven we long for a city we long for a country that god is building it's not temporal it's not earthly it's not man-made it's god made and our citizenship is in that country that's what paul said in philippians chapter 3 verse 19 he talks about those who are focused on earthly things but then he says our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly wait for a savior from there the lord jesus christ so we're living as foreigners as strangers as pilgrims in this world but our citizenship is in the presence of christ and that's why as long as we are here we can suffer when we need to we can endure we can persevere under hard times we can love well we can serve well we can have peace we can have joy because our citizenship is in heaven our home is in heaven and we're waiting we're longing for we're eagerly expecting that any day now the clouds are going to split the lord jesus is going to return and we will be forever with the lord and that perspective should change everything about how we live how we function how we endure how we love how we talk how we post on social media everything about how we live our life here during this short stay on earth would you pray with me and oh lord wow how we plead with you to intervene in this world in our country in our churches in our homes in our own hearts but today as those who are citizens of the united states we especially lift our hearts up and pray that you will have mercy on this country that you will have mercy on this transition taking place in our government that we will not put our hope in princes and presidents and leaders and congressmen and certain parties we're not going to be looking ahead to 22 or 24 our problems are going to be solved then lord you can work you can move with any party in charge because they're not in charge heaven rules so we pray that you would intervene and when we say that we're not asking that um you would give us a certain kind of government or a certain kind of something that suits us better in this world because your word says things are going to get worse and worse but would you intervene in calling men and women families and children and to repentance would you expose deception that is in our world would you bring truth to light would you send forth through your people hope for the hopeless and and and for the despairing through your people as they see in us that you really can be trusted to write our story and that your plan is good and beautiful that we trust you and may baby move to trust you as they see that in us we pray for revival in the church we pray for you to be glorified in this world we pray for an explosion of your power and your grace and your goodness in our country and in our world we pray that people would get so desperate that they would say we can't go on without god lord we pray the prayer of the lord jesus taught us to pray our father who is in heaven hallowed be your name may your kingdom come may your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven that's what matters to us may christ be magnified in this day and in this hour and through your people i pray it in jesus name amen amen well thank you for joining us for these moments thank you for praying thank you for wherever you are living out the beauty of the gospel and for trusting christ may he be to you all that you need may you find him to be sufficient may we find him as his people to be sufficient for us in this hour and may this turn out to be the great hour of the church being the church in the world by that i don't mean the building or the organization but i mean the people of god may we be his people may our light shine brightly and may god bring hope and help and grace to our world through us thank you for being our friends here at revive our hearts we love you we thank the lord for you it's our desire to encourage you pray as this message goes out on monday through revive our hearts encourage others to listen to it um and just continue to pray that god will help me and help our ministry to know how to speak a word in due season that will encourage the people of god and um will be who he wants us to be in this day we love you we thank the lord for you and thanks for joining us for this time blessings on you bye-bye

Channel: Revive Our Hearts

Views: 20,574

Keywords: revive our hearts, nancy demoss wolgemuth, current events, god, sovereignty

Id: TRWy2TKtxg4

Length: 35min 1sec (2101 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 12 2021