November 22, 2024

Have You Been Found?

When Christ was preparing His original twelve world-changing pioneers, He made the cost clear to them: 

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues.” (Matthew 10:16-17) 

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.’” (Matthew 16:24-25) 

What price did these first disciples eventually pay to partner with Christ? Were Christ's words simply symbolic, not to be taken literally? Surely, He wouldn't actually ask His followers to lay down their lives, would He? History answers these questions: 

● Andrew was crucified. 

● Bartholomew was crucified. 

● James was stoned to death. 

● James, the son of Zebedee, was beheaded. 

● John was tortured and banished to the uninhabited island of Patmos. 

● Peter was crucified upside down. 

● Philip was crucified upside down. 

● Thomas was martyred in India. 

● The Apostle Paul and John the Baptist, not part of the original twelve disciples but two of Christ's early leaders, were beheaded. 

To be a true disciple of Christ – and nation-changers – we must be willing to lay down our lives. This mindset should permeate and influence all we do and live for. And if we are to see America saved, it is one of the non-negotiables: no cost is too great. 

William Wilberforce, who led the efforts to eradicate slavery from Great Britain, understood and demonstrated this. In the great movie about his life, Amazing Grace, based on the outstanding book by Eric Metaxas bearing the same name, Wilberforce’s butler surprised him in a moment of private prayer. When asked if he had found God, Wilberforce's poignant reply was, “I think He found me.”(1)

Indeed, God “found” Wilberforce, who became so joined to His heart and desires that no price was too great for the cause. This reformer’s passion to see the ending of slavery caused him stomach ailments, nightmares, ridicule, and four decades of tireless work. 

Days before Wilberforce’s death, however, the decisive vote came to eliminate slavery from England. Amazingly, when the law became formal three days after the vote, Wilberforce's spirit left this world! Thomas Buxton, a personal friend and member of the House of Commons at the time, said of him, “The day which was the termination of his labors was the termination of his life.”(2) 

Have you been found? Does the cause of Christ possess you? 

When God led the early settlers to this land – He was obviously involved in the process – they came with hearts willing to pay whatever price the dream would cost. A part of their stated cause was, “For the Glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.”(3) These pioneers arrived on a cramped and dirty ship in sloshing water filled with human waste and vomit. Ill-prepared for the trials of this new land, including a brutal winter, more than half would perish before the end of their first summer. 

These settlers weren't failures, however. Planting a cross on the beach at Cape Henry and dedicating this land to the gospel and the glory of God, they created a holy and enduring legacy. Heaven still honors the trail they blazed and the prayers they prayed. Buried in the soil of freedom, they became a vital part of the heritage we now enjoy. Pioneers all, their legacies live. 

The price they paid to create an international outpost for the gospel created a debt for those who followed, including us today. The debt we Americans owe is not only to preserve freedom, but also to preserve this land as a light of truth – a beacon, a city on a hill – to all other nations. If we pay our debt today, the difficult trail we blaze back to our destiny will become the glorious path our children walk tomorrow. 

America was formed with the blood, sweat, and tears of many price-paying pioneers. When John Adams was elected as a Boston delegate in 1770, he knew it was considered treason to the King of England; Adams believed the decision would cost him everything. He informed his wife Abigail, “I have accepted a seat in the House of Representatives, and thereby have consented to my own ruin…”(4)

How many today would accept a seat in Congress if they knew it could cost them everything? Adams wasn't finished with his declaration, however. After informing Abigail that he had consented to his own ruin, this patriot pioneer continued, “...to your ruin, and the ruin of our children. I give you this warning, that you may prepare your mind for your fate.”(5)

Incredible. But Adams, like Wilberforce, had been found! His love of liberty and belief that God was raising up the United States of America meant that, to him, no price was too great to pay. How did Abigail feel about this? Betrayed? Horrified? Did she threaten to leave him? Not even close. She, too, had been found. According to Adams, Abigail burst into tears and cried out, “Well, I am willing in this cause to run all risks with you, and be ruined with you, if you are ruined.”(6) 

At the signing of the Declaration of Independence a few years later, Adams, along with his fellow signers, again accepted the potential and probable cost of freedom: 

“For the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of the Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”(7) 

Adams would later state to Abigail,

“I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration and support and defend these states. Yet through all the gloom, I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is more than worth all the means.”(8)

Some accuse me of inappropriately marrying the love of God and country, but I too, have been found; it is my love for God and His cause on the earth that fuels my passion for seeing America restored. Like Adams and our other Founding Fathers, I realize God chose to raise up this nation as part of His plan to redeem the human race. America wasn’t established solely for Americans. Partnering with God in His great dream is our privilege and destiny. For this, no cost is too great. 

Let’s cry out for another generation who will lose their lives to find His; believers who will accept their debt to the cross and pay any price necessary to lead America back to the old road. 

“Go stand at the crossroads and look around. Ask for directions to the old road, The tried-and-true road. Then take it.” (Jeremiah 6:16, MSG)

Pray with me: 

Father, we are grateful for those in the great cloud of witnesses who have paid such high prices for our freedom and Your cause. We are humbled by the sacrifices so many of them have made. We ask You to forgive us in the American church for watering down, even abandoning, our commitment to You and Your cause. Forgive us for preaching watered-down messages, a human-centered gospel, and an absent-from-the-culture theology.

We agree in intercession today that hearts in the church will be awakened. Passion for You and Your Kingdom will outweigh our devotion to self. Revival has begun, and millions will give their hearts to You; millions more will have their first love restored, and the church will rediscover her voice. You are worth our full devotion.

Heal our broken nation. Lead us back to the old road of truth, integrity, righteousness, and common sense. Lead us back to servanthood, loving our neighbors, and the golden rule. Give us leaders who love and honor You and Your ways. Deliver us from evil rulers. We ask You for this in Christ’s name. Amen.

Our decree:

We decree that the purpose of God for America will not be lost - the recovery has begun!

Portions of today’s devotional were taken from my book The Way Back.(9)

Click on the link below to watch the full video.

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1. Apted, Michael, director. Amazing Grace. Roadside Attractions, 2006.

2. Dyer, Steven G., Transforming a Nation: How England Turned Back to God in the Eighteenth Century. Can it Happen in America? Steven J. Dyer, 2010. p. 54. 

3. “Mayflower Compact: 1620.” Avalon Project,     https://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/mayflower.asp. Accessed 16 July 2024.

4. Bennett, William J. Our sacred honor: Words of advice from the Founders in stories, letters, poems, and speeches. Simon & Schuster, 1997. p. 40. 

5. Ibid. 

6. Ibid. 

7. Ibid., p.64. 

8. Ibid.

9. Sheets, Dutch. The Way Back: Break Out of the Status Quo and Find the Wild in You. Dutch Sheets Ministries, 2016. pp. 33-37.