God Shed His Grace On Thee
Thinking about our country this morning, the thought occurred to me that what was once a line in a song, meant to praise God for what He has done for our country, has now become a PLEA. I'm afraid if God were to pass His final judgment on us as a nation today, He would not call us "America the Beautiful." We have become a nation of excess, whose god is our own belly. Sad, but true. Those who see that and accept the truth of it, know exactly what I'm talking about. Christian people look and see and cry out for change--but I don't know how badly we want to see it. We want the quick and easy fix. We think that if we just elect the right leaders--the ones who will fulfill political agendas that are in keeping with God's Word, God will come in and heal our land. The problem is that we can't find leaders we want to follow, so we cry out for God to raise up leaders . . .and we aren't willing to answer the real question. Why aren't there any leaders in which we can put our confidence?
The problem begins in us first and then the circle widens. If we can't see that and admit that, God cannot bless us because we are a stiff-necked people who are neglecting our first and most important duty. We lament, "What is wrong with young people today?!" but we aren't willing to take responsibility for the culture we have created and allowed. We have taught our children that the world revolves around "stuff" and around pursuing our own agendas. We have taught them to chase after satisfaction in acquiring things or fulfilling our most immediate wants. We have not taught them to desire what is the most needful thing . . . We may say that we do, but we negate our own teaching when we continually pursue "stuff" ourselves or do everything we can to give them more "stuff," while neglecting to do our part to instill in them a servant's heart--THE VERY HEART OF CHRIST THAT WE SAY WE WANT THEM TO HAVE!
If I sound like I am pointing fingers--I am, but rest assured, I'm pointing at myself, too! Change in America is not going to come because we elect the right leaders. Change will come if we yield ourselves, first, to THE ONE who is able to change our culture. If we aren't willing to allow change in our own hearts and lives, how can we expect the circle to widen? How did Jesus completely change the culture? He chose twelve men and gave them a job to do. He sent them out to people with GOOD NEWS--with a message of hope and healing. So, I wonder how badly do we want God to bless our nation? How diligently do we SEEK HIS GRACE? Are we willing to let Him work in us first to change our own foolish desires to fill up our bellies with all the wrong stuff? Then, are we willing to invest in the lives of our own children and other young people around us, fully committed to pointing them to THE ONE who has THE ANSWER for healing our land? The answer for America doesn't begin at the top and trickle down. The answer begins in the smallest circle first and then widens AS THE GRACE OF GOD ALLOWS IT.
And that's what I have to say about that. :-)
The problem begins in us first and then the circle widens. If we can't see that and admit that, God cannot bless us because we are a stiff-necked people who are neglecting our first and most important duty. We lament, "What is wrong with young people today?!" but we aren't willing to take responsibility for the culture we have created and allowed. We have taught our children that the world revolves around "stuff" and around pursuing our own agendas. We have taught them to chase after satisfaction in acquiring things or fulfilling our most immediate wants. We have not taught them to desire what is the most needful thing . . . We may say that we do, but we negate our own teaching when we continually pursue "stuff" ourselves or do everything we can to give them more "stuff," while neglecting to do our part to instill in them a servant's heart--THE VERY HEART OF CHRIST THAT WE SAY WE WANT THEM TO HAVE!
If I sound like I am pointing fingers--I am, but rest assured, I'm pointing at myself, too! Change in America is not going to come because we elect the right leaders. Change will come if we yield ourselves, first, to THE ONE who is able to change our culture. If we aren't willing to allow change in our own hearts and lives, how can we expect the circle to widen? How did Jesus completely change the culture? He chose twelve men and gave them a job to do. He sent them out to people with GOOD NEWS--with a message of hope and healing. So, I wonder how badly do we want God to bless our nation? How diligently do we SEEK HIS GRACE? Are we willing to let Him work in us first to change our own foolish desires to fill up our bellies with all the wrong stuff? Then, are we willing to invest in the lives of our own children and other young people around us, fully committed to pointing them to THE ONE who has THE ANSWER for healing our land? The answer for America doesn't begin at the top and trickle down. The answer begins in the smallest circle first and then widens AS THE GRACE OF GOD ALLOWS IT.
And that's what I have to say about that. :-)
A Question of Liberty
I’m writing this NOT so that I can be labeled a religious freak, a bigot, a narrow-minded lunatic, or a judgmental hypocrite. I’m called those things all the time to my face and behind my back, whether or not I publicly invite such criticism. I’m not even writing this so that I can create further division in our country. The division already exists, and it wasn’t created by me or anyone like me. I’m writing this letter to exercise two of my basic human rights, as outlined in the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of the United States of America: my freedom of speech and my freedom of religion. We, as a people in these United States, are standing on the brink of giving away those rights under the disguise of an argument that is being called “hate speech.”
The way I see it, our country is at a crossroads . . . AGAIN. It is almost as if I can hear the voice of Joshua from the Old Testament saying, “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.” Today, I have the right to publicly proclaim what I believe. Today, I have the right to say that I believe if we want to return to being a nation under God, we better examine who that God is and what He says in His Word. Today, I have the right to say that Jesus is the answer for every problem our country faces--every social ill, every economic ill, every unanswered question. The Jesus who had compassion on the woman caught in adultery and saved her from man’s punishment also told her, “Go thy way and sin NO MORE.” This same Jesus harnessed his anger against man’s invented religion and used it to drive from the temple the money changers who were defiling God’s Dwelling Place. Today I have the right to pen a letter to my local newspaper and say that this Jesus is the Jesus we need. This Jesus is the Jesus I need in my personal life. The Jesus I serve delivers me from sin’s punishment AND SIN’S REIGN IN MY LIFE. That is the Jesus I would love for my country to embrace. That is the Jesus of the Word of God, not man’s version of Jesus—the weak Jesus who loves people but leaves them exactly as they are. If we are fine the way we are, why did Jesus have to suffer our punishment for being unable to fulfill God’s definition of holiness? Perhaps, that part of His story will one day be re-written by men, too . . . especially, if those of us who know the truth remain silent.
Who am I to say such things? I am a sinner in need of deliverance herself, saved from her own foolishness by the Grace of a Merciful God who sent His Son to man that man might borrow from His Holiness in order to earn a place at the Throne of God Himself. I am also a citizen of a country that allows me to freely proclaim my faith and my belief—to freely exhort others to the Truth that I see. I do not have the right to hold my fellow citizens at gun point and force them to accept something they do not want to accept, and I hope NO ONE ever has that right. The Jesus I serve never forced Himself on anyone, but He publicly and openly declared who He was and why He was sent. It seems to me that what is at stake today in our nation is our religious freedom. I have just as much right to point to my God as someone who disagrees with me. I am not willing to give that right away by being silent. Someday that right may be taken from me against my will, but not yet—not yet. I’m not willing to give up on my country yet. I’m not willing to believe that we will forget our God and the Principles upon which we were founded. My heart echoes the words of Micah 6:8: “He hath shown thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” The Jesus of the Word of God is justice and mercy and humility. Through acceptance of Him and the Grace afforded us through His death, burial, and resurrection, we who were once the children of disobedience are now children of THE MOST HIGH.
Jesus’ own words, said openly if front of Pilate and all his accusers, are best: “Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” (John 18:37) Jesus didn’t fight his accusers with man-made weapons or violence. He spoke Truth and pointed to Truth and overcame evil by laying down His life so that we would see all of our God: His judgment against sin, His Love for us in spite of our sin, and His Resurrection Power over sin’s death. That, my friends, is the God I believe America needs, that is the God who spoke my name and made me His own, in spite of all my failings—that is the God that I’m hoping, we, as a country, will choose to serve. If we can’t all choose this God, surely . . . surely, we can at least protect the rights of others to freely proclaim and choose Him.
The way I see it, our country is at a crossroads . . . AGAIN. It is almost as if I can hear the voice of Joshua from the Old Testament saying, “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.” Today, I have the right to publicly proclaim what I believe. Today, I have the right to say that I believe if we want to return to being a nation under God, we better examine who that God is and what He says in His Word. Today, I have the right to say that Jesus is the answer for every problem our country faces--every social ill, every economic ill, every unanswered question. The Jesus who had compassion on the woman caught in adultery and saved her from man’s punishment also told her, “Go thy way and sin NO MORE.” This same Jesus harnessed his anger against man’s invented religion and used it to drive from the temple the money changers who were defiling God’s Dwelling Place. Today I have the right to pen a letter to my local newspaper and say that this Jesus is the Jesus we need. This Jesus is the Jesus I need in my personal life. The Jesus I serve delivers me from sin’s punishment AND SIN’S REIGN IN MY LIFE. That is the Jesus I would love for my country to embrace. That is the Jesus of the Word of God, not man’s version of Jesus—the weak Jesus who loves people but leaves them exactly as they are. If we are fine the way we are, why did Jesus have to suffer our punishment for being unable to fulfill God’s definition of holiness? Perhaps, that part of His story will one day be re-written by men, too . . . especially, if those of us who know the truth remain silent.
Who am I to say such things? I am a sinner in need of deliverance herself, saved from her own foolishness by the Grace of a Merciful God who sent His Son to man that man might borrow from His Holiness in order to earn a place at the Throne of God Himself. I am also a citizen of a country that allows me to freely proclaim my faith and my belief—to freely exhort others to the Truth that I see. I do not have the right to hold my fellow citizens at gun point and force them to accept something they do not want to accept, and I hope NO ONE ever has that right. The Jesus I serve never forced Himself on anyone, but He publicly and openly declared who He was and why He was sent. It seems to me that what is at stake today in our nation is our religious freedom. I have just as much right to point to my God as someone who disagrees with me. I am not willing to give that right away by being silent. Someday that right may be taken from me against my will, but not yet—not yet. I’m not willing to give up on my country yet. I’m not willing to believe that we will forget our God and the Principles upon which we were founded. My heart echoes the words of Micah 6:8: “He hath shown thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” The Jesus of the Word of God is justice and mercy and humility. Through acceptance of Him and the Grace afforded us through His death, burial, and resurrection, we who were once the children of disobedience are now children of THE MOST HIGH.
Jesus’ own words, said openly if front of Pilate and all his accusers, are best: “Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” (John 18:37) Jesus didn’t fight his accusers with man-made weapons or violence. He spoke Truth and pointed to Truth and overcame evil by laying down His life so that we would see all of our God: His judgment against sin, His Love for us in spite of our sin, and His Resurrection Power over sin’s death. That, my friends, is the God I believe America needs, that is the God who spoke my name and made me His own, in spite of all my failings—that is the God that I’m hoping, we, as a country, will choose to serve. If we can’t all choose this God, surely . . . surely, we can at least protect the rights of others to freely proclaim and choose Him.