June Newsletter- Looking Out After the Welfare and Well-being of a Land and it's People

I’m writing this letter to all the devoted believers who have been made holy by being one with Jesus, the Anointed One. May God Himself, the Heavenly Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, release grace over you and impart total well-being into your lives.

Eph. 1:2 TPT

The following is an excerpt from Gary and Thelma’s book, Looking Out After the Welfare and Well-being of a Land and Its People. It is coming up to be about 5 years since dad passed. Many of you will be celebrating Father’s day this month. We honor them with sharing their teachings and what is now needed for America post re-dedication. Enjoy the teachings of Rev. Gary and Thelma Hess.

God’s Expectation

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sing, and will heal their land” 2 Ch. 7:14.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lords, thoughts of peace, and not of evil to give you an expected end” Je. 29:11. Some translations say, “future”.

“Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest” Mt. 9:38.

“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men; For kings and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” 1Ti. 2:1,2.

 

If we look at these four Scriptures, a common denominator appears. That common denominator has to do with the welfare and well-being of a land and its people. Therefore, when we look at the above Scriptures from a big-picture perspective, we believe that God expects us to look out after the welfare and well-being of a land and its people and give it and them a future. Looking out after the welfare of a people involves causing favor, success, and prosperity to be the norm. Looking out after the well-being of a land and its people involves our creating a positive lifestyle environment, one that can stand up to tests and trials without giving in or giving up, along with the emergence and development of a promising future that produces increase. Prayer has a part to play in all of this.

These End Times

Because these are the end times, times have grown worse and worse. Our society and its culture have embraced secularism, humanism, and hedonism as a way of life. What is in it for me, and how will it serve my interests, dominate the motivations, attitudes, and responses our society pursues. Pride, lust for power, the almighty dollar, sexual aggrandizement, and sensual pleasure supersede the kind of morality we as a nation once knew. Furthermore, society wants to shut God out of public areas of life.

This shift in the morals and values of society has come about for three big-picture reasons. Firstly, the sheer number of Christians in the country has declined. Christians no longer have the influence in the public arena of life they once had. Secondarily, a shift in leadership occurred not to long ago, and the Christian leadership that exerted a great deal of influence upon America’s society and her culture no longer exists. Thirdly, the vast majority of the body of Christ walks in the pathway of the Laodicean church John refers to in Revelations 3:14-22. John’s description of the Laodicean church being lukewarm fits us. Even though we have the Word available to us as well as Christian radio and TV, we still have a maintenance mentality rather than a mission mindset to do exploits for Christ. Moreover, there are significant differences and a lot of disunity within the body of Christ that keeps the body from working together effectively.

This phenomenon is consistent with Paul’s words to Timothy. “This know also, that in the last days, perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than God. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” 2 Ti. 3:13. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned into fables” 2 Ti. 4:3,4.

Thus, the morals and values we expected to remain the norm have been cast down and laid aside. In the past what was evil and has now been labeled good, and what once was labeled good has been labeled evil. That means that the moral fiber of our nation has suffered a moral breakdown, creating problems, challenges, and issues we need to address in order to change the ethical and moral beliefs and behavior of our society.

Authority, Power, and Responsibility

The Father sees us as the solution to the challenge of looking out after the welfare and well-being of a land and its people. The body of Christ has been given both authority, power, and responsibility to change things for the good.

The following Old Testament Scripture and the lives of the Old Testament heroes illustrate this:

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over everything that moveth upon the earth” Ge. 1:28.

“The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth He has given to the children of men” Ps. 115:16 AMP.

“When the [uncompromisingly] righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked man rules, the people groan and sigh” Pr. 29:2 Amp.

“See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant” Je. 1:10.

Joseph developed a plan of action to save Egypt from the ravages of famine, having given the Pharaoh the answer to his dreams. Moses and Joshua delivered the children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt and brought them into the Promised Land. David killed Goliath, thereby, saving Israel from the Philistines. Solomon built the temple, which promoted Israel’s spiritual welfare. Later on, Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, and in doing so, restored to Israel her capital and gave them a new hope as a nation. Esther went to the king to save her people from physical annihilation. Although the prophets prophesied against the sins of Israel, they were doing so because God wanted Israel to once again be His.

As we examine New Testament Scripture, we should recognize that it too declares that the body of Christ has authority, power, and responsibility for the welfare and well-being of a land and its people. We see this when we examine Jesus’ teachings and life.

“And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business” Lu. 2:49.

“Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work” Jn. 4:34.

“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil: for God was with him” Acts 10:38.

“…For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he

might destroy the works of the devil” 1Jn.3:8.

Jesus gives His disciples authority to trample upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy (Lu. 10:19). Moreover, Jesus gave us the power and ability to do the greater works (Jn. 14:12). In addition, Jesus gives us authority and power to make disciples of all nations (Mt. 28:18-20). Therefore, what Jesus teaches and what His life illustrates to us is that we have both authority, power, and responsibility to look out after the welfare and well-being of a land and its people, that is to change things for the good.

Thus, the Old Testament and the New Testament examples have a common thread. While the detail differs, each of the Old Testament heroes looked out after a land and its people in one way or another. When it comes to the New Testament, Jesus in effect empowers the body of Christ, individually and corporately, to make it its kingdom business to look out after the welfare and well-being of a land and its people to cause deliverance, empowerment, increase, and glory to take place in the life of the land and its people.

Our Motivation

In order to effectively look out after the welfare and well-being of a land and its people, we need to understand what motivates us to take on such an assignment. Love has to be the motivating force in our lives that causes us to make ourselves available to the Father and causes us to be willing to look out after the welfare and well-being of the land and its people. Why? There can be no greater satisfaction and fulfillment than advancing God’s kingdom. For when love is involved in the things we do, it transcends our selfishness and self-centeredness. Moreover, if love is involved in our choices and decisions, we will do things that we would otherwise not do. Therefore, our willingness and availability to look out after the welfare and well-being of a land and its people cannot be based upon obligation or duty alone, but rather, it must be based upon love- that leads to passion, compassion, and commitment to Christ and His cause. Once again, prayer has a part to play in all of this.

Thank you for your continued support of this ministry. We are believing for more monthly partners to pray and sow into DHM. We ask you to seek the LORD are you a Covenant Partner for this season.

Blessings,

David and Kelly Hess