Is the day of reckoning approaching? Are you ready?
Is the Bride of Christ? Or is she playing church--pressured by every wind of doctrine and withering from the breath of wolves in her midst?
I believe America is going down the path of destruction because Christians have ignored the "wrath" of God. Preachers rarely speak of it or warn of it. From what do we need saving if all sin is tolerated? It seems our tolerance now supersedes God's holiness.
We've whispered the word sin and substituted it with anything and everything to appease the world so it will "like" us better. We're like frightened sheep among the wolves. Have we forgotten we have a Shepherd?
Few of us endure like Joseph, dance before the Lord as David, obey like Daniel, or preach like Jeremiah, or fast like Jesus, or sacrifice like the disciples, or pray all night like Peter, or write like Paul or humble ourselves like the tax collector.
Politicians tell us our country is in turmoil because we didn't make the right "deals" with the world leaders. Because we don't cater to women and support their choice to slaughter babies in a mother's womb. They say we have violence on city streets because we won't hand over guns. They say we're attacked because we don't bow to other gods (or because we offend others who do), when we dare to speak of our allegiance to Jesus and our desire to follow God's Word.
We travel the world over to win the "lost" to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph, but fail to bring the message of "lostness" to the neighbor next door. We're afraid to stand for God and therefore are falling for everything.
We go to our denominational meetings and make decisions based on economics rather than faith. We pat ourselves on the back for making resolutions that water down the Biblical commands and weaken the warnings of God. Is our righteous indignation any better than the filthy rags we once wore before Christ's blood wrapped us in his robe of righteousness if we do not speak out for the unborn, or our own faith?
Unless God's people who are called by His name, humble themselves, seek God's face and confess their own prideful wickedness, the Creator of this planet and universe will not heal our lands. It won't happen. We can assemble and sing praise choruses till the moon turns to blood and the sun falls from the sky. It won't happen. God is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Until people change, the church won't change; until churches change the family unit won't change; until the family unit changes, the community won't change. Until the community changes, the country won't change. Until the country changes, the world will remain a cesspool of hate, of evil, of godlessness and immorality. Why would the Lord need to exact His wrath upon us? He merely has to give us up to our own desires.
Americans have given their wealth to worship American Idols. We've flocked to movie theaters to amuse ourselves and filled the boots of wickedness to press against our own throats and crush our power to make a real difference in society. We've financed our own adversaries. We've nodded sheepishly at the sin and waved away what some call "prudish" and judgmental opposition to attain the goodies they offer in faux humor. As we dip our self-indulgent straws into their porridge of entertainment, we've turned ourselves into the slaves of a new Babylon: Political Correctness. New Age Tolerance. Progressive Acceptance. Liberal Compliance.
Soon we'll bow to the New World Order of silence. Speak now, or forever hold your peace. The Censors are watching, legislating, judging and will soon be imprisoning all who dare stand like the Cathys, the Greens, the bakers in Oregon, the Paul Churches of Boston, or the Sisters of the Poor. The child who writes about Jesus, the Chaplain who preaches Jesus, the officer who writes a Bible verse on his white-board, the churches who display crosses, the communities who seek to keep crosses and nativity scenes in the public square...
How long will it be before we are no longer allowed the freedom of expression and religion? While there is still time...
"Shout aloud!
Don’t hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Declare to my people their rebellions,
and to the house of Jacob their sins.
They seek me day after day,
and are eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practices righteousness
and has not forsaken the justice of their God." Isaiah 58: 1-2
OH BUT THERE'S MORE:
"You seek pleasure on your fast days. Is this not the fast I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice? Then your ruins will be rebuilt."
GOD help us. God forgive us. God give us courage to speak boldly as You would have us speak. Spare us your wrath, Oh, Lord; have mercy upon us-- not for our sake, but for the glorification of your Son. There is but one Answer for the World today.
"Jesus is the Answer for the world today, above Him is no other; Jesus is the Way."
My previous post about saints of old and their lies, mistakes and misleading statements, left out any reference of them repenting. (Intentionally, I might add.) I figured someone would have to bring it up though; they'd have to point it out to me. We've come to accept that these saints repented because of how they lived their lives afterward. However, is there record of Peter, Abraham and others publicly saying they were sorry, confessing and expressing such to the world? Jacob and David, yes; but the others?
We know David repented, for it is written that he did. And we have his beautiful Psalm 51, too, to confirm it. Anyone who has ever sinned against God and been repentant would probably relate well with his humble prayer. Humility is further illuminated for us by our Savior when He tells us of the publican's prayer and the pharisee's. Jesus shows us exactly what the difference is between a humble prayer of repentance, and a proud unrepentant prayer, doesn't He? We are able to take this example and compare it to our own lives, aren't we?
Abraham never said he was sorry. In one account of Abraham lying about Sarah, scripture shows him being confronted by King Abimelech. We see where Abraham explained his actions, but he never said he was sorry for lying to the king and misleading him, did he? And as far as we know, Sarah never said she was sorry, either. Did they repent? [see Genesis 20] I'm sure God knows. And since God instructed Abraham to pray for King Abimelech, and later uses Abraham for good, we may conclude he repented, right?
Jacob actually lived a life of fear even to the day he met Esau in the field. He strategically placed his servants and his first wife in front of his second, most favored wife, in case Esau took vengeance upon him. Jacob made restitution to his brother seeking "his favor". It took quite a few years before he bothered to offer anything to him, though, didn't it? Afterward, they went their own ways, and lived separately. The reconciliation was limited.
Then, there is Peter. Did he repent? Did scripture say he repented? Did he profess his sin before his brethren? Did he go make it right with the servant girls? Did he? Scripture says he was sorrowful and wept bitterly. But did he repent openly? We know that Jesus came to him and emphasized His love toward him. We know that Peter went on to "feed" the sheep.
What is "repent" to you, actions, words, or both? Some people will accept us when we make restitution, when we admit mistakes, when we confess our sins, when we try to reconcile. Others could care less, they have their own agendas, they do not have the ministry of reconciliation. They are offended by our very existence. They cannot be satisfied no matter what we say or do. They have self-made rules of order, legalistic ideas, specific signs they must see before they will accept us. And even if we apologize, they beat us on the head with whatever wrong we committed for the rest of our lives.
Then some people have the grace to forgive us before we even turn around. Just like Jesus did those who crucified Him. That's the kind of grace I want to have for others. How about you? selahV