Is America Still Beautiful? (Part 6)

Is there any hope for America?  The cross on which Jesus died is our only hope as a nation.  We must come back to the cross (Acts 3:19 – “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”)  The Greek word for repentance is metanoia.  It has the basic meaning of changing one’s mind about sin, from loving it to renouncing it and turning to God for forgiveness, accepting the blood that Jesus shed on the cross for our sins!  Everyone is talking about feeling patriotic and loyal to America.  We’d better be loyal to the One who predestined this nation to be a light to all nations.  We’d better come back to the God of our forefathers.  The National Day of Prayer and Remembrance on Friday following the attacks of 9/11 should be renamed The National Day of Repentance and Prayer.  You repent of your sins and then you pray.  Psalm 66:18 states: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”  If you have sin in your life, the Lord will not answer your prayers.  The only prayer of a sinner that the Lord hears is “Lord, save me.”  David, the man after the heart of God, committed adultery and murder and tried to hide it.  He didn’t just automatically reinstitute the deep communion he once enjoyed with Almighty God.  Psalm 51:1-4 – “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.  Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight – that you may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.” Is America Still Beautiful? She is when she repents! Prov. 14:34 – “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” Reproach means a shame, a disgrace. 2 Peter 3:9 states: “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”