Dear Ones,
Hope you are enjoying the weekend! We had a full house for the monthly Birthday party yesterday and another new resident here at Northern Lakes. Today our retreatant is taking us out for dinner and that is a treat!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Every morning as Al and I gather for prayer, I include prayer for our nation and all those in authority over it. More than ever before, we see how far we have strayed from being a nation under God, and He is calling us back. I get excited when I read of places where revival is happening on our college campuses, and more recent things happening, especially that the Bible is being read over our nation in the White House. What immediately came to mind when I heard that was when Ezra, a priest and scribe, stood on a wooden platform and read the law before the people in the square from early morning until midday. In Nehemiah 8, it says the people stood and blessed the Lord as they lifted up their hands and said, “Amen, Amen.” Then they worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground and wept. Their response was one of repentance, and the governor Nehemiah called it a holy day and told them to let the joy of the Lord be their strength. Wow! That is quite a heartfelt response, for the hearts of the people were humbled and repentant, and revival took place.

Last Saturday, the continuous reading of the Bible began taking place in the White House which involves five hundred of our national leaders. President Trump read on Tuesday evening from II Chronicles 7. May we all be praying that revival will spark in our land. As we will celebrate our country’s 250th birthday soon, let us remember how our nation was formed under God. An article by Dutch Sheets tells about four months before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Second Continental Congress made a resolution that Friday, May 17, 1776 would be a day of humiliation, fasting and prayer. It was to be a time for the colonists to be repentant, asking God to bless America and restore peace. How great that our president chose May 17th also for this year’s “National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise, and Thanksgiving.” This will be a day on the Washington Mall to rededicate our nation as “One Nation Under God.” Just as the Lord heard the colonists’ prayers and gave them freedom from Britain, may we repent of how far we have strayed from God as a nation and come back to Him, repent and be formed into a nation under God again.

Challenge for today: Pray daily for our country and meditate on II Chron. 7:14, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy