A Word on Citizenship<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
by Heidi Swander
 
It's been many years since I've been able to sing The Star Spangled Banner without choking up.  Given the opportunity to do it today, I doubt I could actually enunciate the words for sobbing. 
 
America is sinking fast. Chuck Missler, in his new DVD, Twilight's Last Gleaming, says, "America is in moral freefall.  We are victims of spiritual warfare."  Only too true.
 
How did this happen?  For that answer, I refer you to Jan's recent interview with Brannon Howse (you simply must hear this broadcast!!!), where they discuss cultural and political Marxism and how it snuck into our country many years ago.  It explains a lot.  Brannon also points to a period in Israel's history when the sins of the nation became so abhorrent to God that He told the prophet Jeremiah, "Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you" (Jer. 7:16).  Has America become this abhorrent to Almighty God?
 
We cannot know the mind of God, but Romans 1:18-32 shows a series of judgments that God will bring to a society that forsakes Him.  John MacArthur expertly clarifies this passage in his sermon, When God Abandons a Nation.  A glance at your favorite news source these days will confirm that our country is well down this path of destruction.  We are not only in moral decline, but headed toward political, financial and social ruin.
 
Our founding fathers, though saddened by this turn of events, would have gravely nodded their heads at what is taking place in America today.  Thomas Jefferson once wrote, "God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated, but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever."
 
Jack Kelley, founder of www.gracethrufaith.com, recently wrote an excellent article about this very thing.  The title of the article stings a bit, but the truth in the text is beyond question.  In it Jack says: "According to no less an authority than our President (and he's right) America is not a Christian nation. The only connection between God and America today is that a bunch of us who believe in Him happen to live here. . . America is a secular gentile nation that will soon be no more comfortable a home for the Church than pre-war Germany was for the Jews."
 
When I think of my beloved America, I grieve.  But God has recently made poignant to me this truth:  I am not a citizen of this country.  I am an ambassador to this country and a citizen of another.  So are you if you are a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ!  Paul told the Philippians, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ," Phil. 3:20. 
 
Can you, today, get your mind around that concept?  If you can, it will make a world of difference in how you view the news, how you respond to the dangers of our world and how you look to the future.
We are actually commanded to set our mind on things above (Col. 3:1-3; but also Matt. 6:33), not on things on the earth.  Now would be a very good time to recognize and obey this command!
 
Thinking of myself as an ambassador does three things for me. 
 
First of all, it gives perspective to the freefall that America is in.  I am still saddened, because I've lived here a long time and America has been a wonderful place to reside.  But America isn't really Home, so I find that I'm often looking at all that is going on with a kind of emotional/spiritual detachment.
 
Secondly, it reminds me that I have a job to do and that I may not have much longer to get it done!  Our "special and temporary diplomatic assignment" (from Webster's definition of "ambassador") is to introduce as many people to the Lord Jesus Christ as possible (II Cor. 5:20).
 
Lastly, as I see all that is happening around me, I anticipate being recalled to my Home Country!  There are many reasons for an ambassador to be recalled, not the least of which is the anticipation of a declaration of war.  One day – perhaps very soon – war will be declared on this earth (Rev. 6:4ff), but before that takes place, the Lord's ambassadors will be recalled to Heaven!
 
So what do we do with all the horrible events that are swirling around us that seem to spell the demise of our beloved America?  We pray (Eph. 6:18), we witness to others of the love of God in sending his Son (Matt. 28:18-20), we encourage one another (Heb. 10:24-25), and we look forward to going Home to the City God has prepared for us (Heb. 11:16; Rev. 21:2, and 21:9 – 22:3).  We have no idea how great it's going to be to be Home (I Cor. 2:9)!  Even so, come, Lord Jesus!