The story of America is a prophetic parable to us and to the world. This nation was intentionally raised up and formed as a display of God’s heart for redemption and freedom. Prior to 1726 people came to America for many different reasons. But it was never a place for the comfortable. If you were satisfied where you were, no way would you take on the challenge of the pioneering colonial life. People came here because they were enslaved by debt, by a dishonored name, by a caste system, by servitude, by poverty, by religious persecution. They came because they had no opportunity to prosper where they were. And it was in this hodgepodge of adventurous and desperate people that the Holy Spirit exploded onto the scene in the Great Awakening of 1726, drawing all men and women, race and color to Himself, and conceiving a nation out of revival. An identity of a people was formed out supernatural intimacy with God.

A great revival began in 1726 that drew all people to God in life-changing intimacy and then fifty years later, 1776, the revived became a nation. In Israel every 50 years the slaves would be freed, the debts would be cancelled, and land would be restored. This was one of the many Kingdom principles that separated Israel from every other nation. It carried an innate value for redemption and freedom, and as the Lord drew the people of the British colonies to Himself, they began to embody these same ideas. From the Great Awakening of 1726 a Jubilee Nation was formed in 1776.

“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.”

A common, shared view of Creator God formed the foundation of this nation. And that shared view was birthed out of church revivals. The identity of a nation was being formed from intimacy with God. In a radical relationship with Jesus, His mind (the mind of Christ) and His thinking began to permeate and saturate the people. And His thinking changed their paradigm and transformed their worldview.

The people of this nation had experienced relationship with the very real Lord God, therefore they could not deny that there is a Creator, we are all created by the Creator, this Creator values His creation and gives each one certain rights, three of those being life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Every human being has a right to live, to be free of tyranny, and to eat the fruits of their labor. This was the common sentiment but conviction and inconvenient sacrifice are two separate things, and when it came down to it the people were split on how far to follow the revival principles.

On Sunday we’re going to break into Lab Groups to discuss the message, what it means for us today, and how it applies to our daily lives. If you weren’t with us Sunday or you’d like to see the message again, either click on the image above or click here, Jubilee: The American Parable. Come ready to participate!

Let’s grow together!
Matt

Matt Neese
Wellspring.Live

DAILY WORD FOR JULY 7, 2021

Satan, “the accuser”, sets out to turn people’s hearts, intent on making them his little accusers. He uses his ancient and ongoing tactics of killing, stealing, and destroying to tempt us to shake our finger at heaven and charge the Lord God with wrongdoing. Instead of bowing in worship before the Almighty, we rise up as entitled victims and claim the judgement seat of God for ourselves.

Job refused to accept the bait of Satan. In the New Testament, the word for “offense” is the Greek word “skandalon”, from which we get our English word “scandal”. This word actually meant the trigger of a trap. Satan entices us with opportunities to be offended. If we take the bait, the trap falls around us and we find ourselves in bondage. He will do whatever he can to offend us, and his ultimate goal is to get us to take offense against the very One who made us and has eternal good intentions for our lives.

Later in Job’s story, even his wife says to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” Job points out that her speech is foolish (wilting or falling away). When Peter was used by Satan to attempt to turn Jesus from the right path, Jesus said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap [skandalon] to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” (Matthew 16:23 NLT) Like Jesus, Job refuses to be ensnared by offense, and the Lord blesses him twice as much as previously. He and his wife have ten famously blessed and beautiful children together. She experiences massive restoration and redemption alongside him because he refuses to fall away in his speech or be entrapped by offense.

• 7/07 Job 1, Psalm 38, II Chronicles 8, Acts 13:24-52
• 7/08 Job 2, Psalm 39, II Chronicles 9, Acts 14
• 7/09 Job 3, Psalm 40, II Chronicles 10, Acts 15:1-21
• 7/10 Job 4, Psalm 41, II Chronicles 11, Acts 15:22-41
• 7/11 Job 5, Psalm 42, II Chronicles 12, Acts 16:1-15
• 7/12 Job 6, Psalm 43, II Chronicles 13, Acts 16:16-40
• 7/13 Job 7, Psalm 44, II Chronicles 14, Acts 17:1-15
• 7/14 Job 8, Psalm 45, II Chronicles 15, Acts 17:16-34

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