Carol J German

The human race is made to know God. All of us have been created to follow the one true God. Every ethnicity and culture exists to worship the God of Heaven and Earth. We are made to live in harmony and unity with God’s love bonding us together.

Psalm 67 reveals what our world would look like if we had a globalized love. God would help us to have international influence wherever we go. You see, God’s love crosses all borders. There are no cultural obstacles when His love is present. Life on earth would be pleasant and serene. We would all desire faith, hope and love, and we would see them lived out.

Look at verse 1, “May God be merciful and bless us. May His face smile with favor upon us.” We know that all good things come from God, see James 1:17. When we have the favor of God upon us, life becomes full, pleasant, serene. Life is good.

Verse 2 continues with, “May Your ways be known throughout the earth, Your saving power among people everywhere.” God has the power to transform lives, and this transformational power is capable of reaching every language and culture. God is capable of this because He is the only LIVING GOD. He walks with each of us 24/7. No one walks alone on this earth.

He not only walks with us, but within us when Christ takes up residence within our hearts.

Unfortunately, man messed up in a big way. Adam and Eve allowed themselves to get side-swiped by a ferocious enemy. Satan approached Eve as a friend, and danced with her emotions. It didn’t take a lot of convincing to get her to bite an apple from the tree that God said to not eat from. She loved what Satan enticed her with. She chose a lie over truth. Then, she turned and said, “Hey, Adam, try some.” He, too, took a bite. This ushered in a painful decision from God, one which caused Him to grieve deeply. Disobedience led to sin and sin led to corrupting our relationship with God. Separation from His presence had to take place.

While it deeply grieved Him, God never stopped loving His disobedient children. Instead of giving up on us, He sent His Son to earth to become our Savior and Lord. When we receive Jesus and allow Him to lead us forward, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our hearts. God now lives within us by His saving power.

While it is as simple as turning around and living a new way, God gives man free will to choose if he wants to follow God’s ways or not. From the day Adam and Eve left the Garden until today, and it will continue until God returns to sentence Satan for what He had done, many choose to ignore His calling. Thus, we live in a world of injustice, death, pain and suffering, and hatred. We endure frustrations, chaos and division.

Satan hates unity and love. He is relentless in breaking up relationships of any kind.

We are capable of loving on a global scale. Look at what verses 3-4 say, “May the nations praise You, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise You. Let the whole world sing for joy, because You govern the nations with justice, and guide the people of the whole world.” This shows that God is a big God, the Living God, the Mighty God, who loves us so.

Look at how we benefit globally when we follow Christ and live by God’s ways, “May the nations praise You, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise You. Then the earth will yield its harvests, and God, our God, will richly bless us. Yes, God will bless us, and people all over the world will fear Him.” We would experience heaven on earth.

It is easy to disqualify this “heaven on earth” thinking, but it is really possible! If every person would look up and see that God walks with us, if every person would stop and realize why God walks with us, this world would be a different place. Nations would work together. Even within a country, people would think of their neighbors more than themselves. People would have servant hearts for each other.

So, how about it? Are you willing to turn around? You will find God waiting. He is dancing around in anticipation, hoping that you will follow His Son. Our world desperately needs you to walk obediently. Don’t allow disobedience to keep you from your one true love.