Disturbed by evil people’s deeds, I confronted God with inquisitive questions about grace and justice when I was driving to church this Sunday. At some point of the interview, I even asked God “what about nations who were built on blood, slavery and other evils; do You now bless them because they declare your name (in their currency) or make Christianity the state religion?” . I was referring to America and basd on just my little unproven information and point of view of course. I continued, “Can I build a church on drug money? Does grace override justice? How does this grace of Yours work?”. The Lord immediately answered me that His blessings on multitudes are not usually based on the work of many but the righteousness of few. He can bless a nation (even evil people) based on just one good person.
Please allow me to first give you a couple of Scriptures that God immediately referred me to.
1. If God found ten good people in Sodom and Gomorrah (S &G) , He would have spared all the wicked homosexuals and they would have continued with their evil. When Abraham confronted The Lord if God would destroy S &G if there were 50 righteous people ,
Genesis 18:26 NLT And the LORD replied, "If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake."
Abraham fearfully and hesitantly asked what if there were 45 innocent people, or 40, 30 until just ten innocent people?
Genesis 18:32 NLT Finally, Abraham said, "Lord, please don't be angry with me if I speak one more time. Suppose only ten are found there?" And the LORD replied, "Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten."
2. The way the world is so evil the Lord would have sent flood to destroy the whole earth by now ….but thanks to this one man, our ancestor
Genesis 6:9 NLT This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.
Genesis 9:8-13 NLT Then God told Noah and his sons, (9) "I hereby confirm My covenant with you and your descendants, ….. (11) Yes, I am confirming My covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth." (12) Then God said, "I am giving you a sign of My covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. (13) I have placed My rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of My covenant with you and with all the earth.
3. I laugh at people who think Israel is holy and special than other nations and those that worship Jerusalem… psss, nonsense! The nation of Israel’s BLESSING had nothing to do with them being special or holy or being a chosen nation but it’s all because of just this one righteous man…
Psalms 105:40-42 NLT They asked for meat, and He sent them quail; He satisfied their hunger with manna—bread from heaven. (41) He split open a rock, and water gushed out to form a river through the dry wasteland. (42) For He remembered His sacred promise to His servant Abraham.
Exodus 2:23-25 NLT Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. (24) God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (25) He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.
In fact, God wanted to wipe the Israelites :-
Exodus 32:10 NLT Now leave Me alone so My fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation."
But Moses reminded God about this one man (and his children) :-
Exodus 32:13-14 NLT Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You bound Yourself with an oath to them, saying, 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.'" (14) So the LORD changed His mind about the terrible disaster He had threatened to bring on His people.
I once attended a party of a girl that I didn’t like and after the ceremony, her father shook my hand saying “ thank you for supporting us!”. The girl may be proud that “celebrities” attended her function but her father knew the fact that it was all for him (loyalty).
Matthew 5:13 NLT "You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.
In the absence of refrigerators salt was used as a preservative during those Bible times. Some evil people may ignorantly be proud and even mock you not knowing that they would have been dead and rotten if it were not of you (around).
With this offering, I just want to encourage you never to feel insignificant or give up doing good because your children and nations would inherit blessings from your commitment.
We have been hearing too much of generational curses but life is based more on generational blessings... we will tackle this more on the next offering.
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