THE KEY TO BUILDING A GREAT NATION

From the desk of Pastor Tunde Daniels

Friday 16th October 2015

LIGHT FOR THE WAY
(Daily Devotional)

"They stood and confessed their sins" (Nehemiah 9:2 NCV).

THE KEY TO BUILDING A GREAT NATION

Upon hearing that Jerusalem lay in ruins, Nehemiah prayed ' I confess the sins we  Israelites have done against you' (Nehemiah 1:6). The most powerful man in the country is saying that before they rebuild, they must repent. Meaning they must lay the right foundation, knowing that righteousness exalts a nation...and sin is reproach to any people . Nehemiah knew that they cannot build on the spiritual foundation of sin laid by their fore fathers, he knew if the nation must experience a rebirth and a renewal, they must change the way things have been so they change their final outcome. The key then is to repent before God. What a picture! Multitudes spending hours in prayer before God not making excuses or requests but making confessions. Can you imagine the leaders of government, industry, law, entertainment and education doing that? Could it happen? Yes it can if it begins with us. 'If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then...I will heal their land (2Chro. 7:14). The nation changes when God's people change. We are vocal when it  comes to what's wrong with the country, but silent when it comes to what's wrong with us. Forgetting that a nation cannot be greater than the quality of the people within it. Many are like the man in a prayer meeting, who prayed ' God I thank you that this country has people like me. The man in corner needs welfare,  I dont. The prostitute in the street has AIDS, I don't. The drunkard over there needs alcohol, I don't. Next to him was a broken man who humbly whispers, ' Lord like my brother on welfare, I am dependent on your grace. Like my sister with AIDS, I am infected with mistakes. Like my friend who needs a drink, I need something to ease my pain. Have mercy on me a sinner'. After telling a story like that  Jesus said, ' I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God' ( Luk 18:14NIV). Arrogance points at others. Humility points at self and acknowledges that change, revival and building a virile nation must come and it must first begin in me.

Prayer Point

Father, thank you for what you are doing in our nation. Lord, change me so I can be a positive change agent in Jesus name.

Daily Bible Reading
Jeremiah 24-25; 1 Thessalonians 4; Proverbs 24:23-34