Faith Through the Journey

God’s Judgments, Requirements and Blessings

Looking back through history, there has never been a civilization as privileged as America is today. Even the most advanced ancient societies have not had the comforts and lives of ease that we enjoy. How spoiled are we that having to be without air conditioning, cable TV, internet, or cell phones is a major crisis! And please, don’t make us do without more than one car per family! Yes, we have been blessed in ways that we take for granted, ways that so many people envy. And because we as America have been a nation who acknowledges that all we have and are as a country are because of God’s blessings, He has continued to give us so much more than we deserve. Yes, we have had national crises: wars, assassinations, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, 9/11. We live in a fallen world; there will always be evil in the world because Satan is still the prince of the power of the air and the god of this world. Through each of these national tragedies, we have been quickly brought back to our knees to acknowledge that we need God’s protection and mercy to spare us and our families from utter destruction. Yes, America has been an exceptional country, exceptionally blessed by God.

What, then, could cause us to be reduced to a third world level economy and civilization? It’s really quite simple: we as a country will have to turn completely away from acknowledging the God who gave us life and every privilege we enjoy. And sadly, we are coming dangerously close to having that happen. The covering of godly leadership has all but disappeared in our land. As we continue to sweep God out of our culture, His hand of covering and blessing will continue to pull back from our beloved land. Having read a number of novels which have been based on the Bible, we as a non-Christian nation could be in for a drastic shock if God does withdraw His hand of protection.

The Bible deals extensively with God’s relationship to His chosen people Israel. Because He had chosen them and set them apart for Himself, His expectations of them were higher than other people groups. He promised the people of Israel unlimited blessing if they would keep His commandments and live according to the spirit of those commandments. If they failed, there would be severe judgment and even destruction upon their nation. Many Bible scholars have likened the United States to the nation of Israel because our origins are similar and the guiding principles of our country are based upon His Word.

God’s holy standards require obedience, but nations have walked away from God’s Word and His requirements. There has been, down through the ages, what God calls a “remnant” of people who have not followed the ways of the world but have sought to live according to God’s principles. When God went to judge those nations who had disobeyed Him, He rescued those who wanted to follow Him. God rescued Lot from the fiery destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, He rescued Noah and his family from the Flood, and even though Israel was taken captive by the Babylonians, God rescued Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego from death in their land of captivity. The land and the lifestyle with which they were familiar was no longer in existence, yet their lives had been spared. They had to learn to live in a country with which they were not familiar, and the customs and ways of those people were probably very strange in comparison to their former lives.

I wonder what we as the American church would do if it ever came to the destruction of our country’s infratructure and the end of life as we have known it. How would the “remnant” be preserved? Would we be carried into captivity by another nation or would we just be left here in this land but with all former conveniences destroyed? Or would we be put into prison, persecuted by the enemies of God and eventually forgotten? It’s not a very pretty picture, is it? I’m reminded of the definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. God has a very long track record of holding His people to a higher standard, because they know what God requires of them. If they choose to disobey, God will have to discipline them; no one who has ever received His free gift of salvation will lose that, but the discipline God has to administer to His children who disobey will not be pleasant.

Daniel spent time praying for his countrymen during the time he was held captive by Babylon. These are some excerpts from Daniel 9: “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with all who love Him and obey His commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from Your commands and laws. We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. Lord You are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame…The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him; we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws He gave us through His servants the prophets…Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your Name.” Thinking of our early history as Americans, the brave men who signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution gave their very lives so that the country in which we live today would be the very best they could give us.

Every great civilization has fallen from within; “when America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” But there is still hope; where there is life, there is hope! God is still calling us, His people, to listen to His voice once more, to turn away from the places where we have compromised His standards, to repent and lay our lives before Him and walk in His ways. I Peter 4:17 says: “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

How Should We Live?

Since 1987, I have had the opportunity to be involved with Precept Upon Precept Bible Studies, children and health permitting! Kay Arthur is a marvelous teacher, and the Bible studies are inductive in nature. All that means is that, before any commentaries or other teachers are consulted, the students must study only Scriptures and listen to what God is teaching them through His Word. Time spent in God’s Word is never wasted and gleaning truths for yourself is one of the most meaningful experiences a person can have. The important lessons learned in personal Bible study are ones that will stick with you, coming back to you when you need them the most (and sometimes when you wake up in the middle of the night!).

With the political climate of our country and our world, there are SO many Scripture passages that I’ve been able to study over the years that pertain to our lives today! As I said, they come to me in the middle of the night (yes, I’ve reached the age where sleeping through the night is a rare occurrence). During the days following the 2000 presidential election when the outcome was still being decided, I woke frequently during the nights to pray and read my Bible. Those nights were priceless in my walk with Jesus, as I continued to claim the promises of the Word and pour my heart out to my Heavenly Father. What God continued to remind me of was that, throughout history, there were times when His people had to take a stand, to trust Him even when the culture all around them was collapsing. In the days of Noah, God was grieved that he had made men and determined to destroy mankind from the face of the earth through the Flood. However, there was one man who was righteous, who walked with God and found favor in His eyes. That man was Noah, who listened to God’s voice and not the culture in which he found himself. He was ridiculed and laughed at when he told the people among whom he lived that God was going to destroy the earth and everything that lived on it. When God had shut Noah and his family and all the living creatures from upon the earth (2 x 2), the rain came and the people suddenly realized that they should have listened to Noah. Every living thing outside the Ark perished, and God preserved only Noah, his family, and the creatures that would repopulate the earth once the floodwaters had receded.

In I Chronicles 12, David had just become king of Israel and was still fighting against some of King Saul’s family who believed that the throne of Israel belonged to them. David gathered men from the tribes of Israel with specific assignments for each group. When the author of I Chronicles 12 records the contribution of each group, the tribe of Issachar was described as “men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do”. How important was the gift of this group of men, having understanding of the times in which they lived.

The prophet Ezekiel was another man of God who listened to His voice and wrote what God told him to write in His Word. God was once again going to have to bring judgment on His people Israel because they had strayed far from Him. In Ezekiel 9:4, God’s words to his servant were: “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.” The messenger of God was told to destroy everyone in the city, “but do NOT touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at My sanctuary.” The people who called themselves by God’s name but who had not received the mark of loyalty were the FIRST to be judged.

The whole counsel of God, beginning with the Old Testament teachings, is replete with examples of times and people groups who did not follow His leading. This began in the garden of Eden, when Eve disobeyed God and encouraged her husband Adam to do the same. Disobedience to God’s plan is the very nature of every human being ever born on the earth! Romans 3:10 says “There is none righteous, no not one.”

So how do all of these eternal truths come together? The answer is as simple-and as complicated-as the thread that runs throughout the Word of God. In every generation, God preserves people who want to follow Him, who love Him with all their hearts, souls and minds. We can pray (and SHOULD pray!) for the world in which we find ourselves, beginning with our leaders and going through every level of society down to our families. When given the opportunity to impact our world, we should not shrink back from those places of influence open to us. We never know whether or not God has opened a door for us to speak for Him in a way that can impact the life of another. If we can be people who “find grace in the eyes of the Lord,” who “understand the times” and know what our nation should do, and who “grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it”, we will find ourselves solidly on the side of the God of the universe. The words of James 4:17 are a sobering warning: “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” God’s Word is unmistakably clear, from Genesis through Revelation, that God loves the people whom He has created. He does, however, have a standard of holiness that cannot be compromised: those who wish to follow God with their hearts, souls and minds must come to Him through the saving blood of Jesus Christ, receiving the priceless gift of eternal life with Him, and then live their earthly lives with the help of God’s indwelling Holy Spirit according to the standards He has established. Micah 6:8 lays out the simple plan of the earthly life of the believer: “do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God”. “He who does these things will never be shaken” Psalm 15:5.

If My People…

As with the just-concluded Olympics, you would have to be living with absolutely no contact with the outside world not to know what is happening in the political arena in the United States. There is also an extreme drought going on in the center of the United States which will most likely impact all Americans in the form of rising food prices. Having spent a little bit of time in Wisconsin recently, with agriculture being such a major part of its economy, the drought was front and center in that state. It prompted my recollection of a prophetic Scripture found in II Chronicles 7:13; the most quoted verse of that chapter is verse 14, but verse 13 leapt out at me as I thought about the dire predictions we’ve heard regarding the extreme drought plaguing our country. II Chronicles 7:13 AND 14 say: “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land, or send a plague among My people, if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, THEN will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” This passage absolutely places the responsibility for the disaster being visited upon the land on the shoulders of God’s people. The Bible is apolitical, not favoring one group over another, with the exception being the greater responsibility placed upon the people of God. For those who know the right thing to do and don’t do it, their responsibility is greater because they understand the truth and yet choose not to obey. Proverbs 14:34 says: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”

There is no doubt that our country–founded upon such principles as religious freedom and a deep trust in our Creator–is in deep moral trouble. As we have watched the decline of traditional values, widespread disregard for human life in all its forms, compromise of even the most basic ideals of goodness and decency, there is no doubt that we are far from the principles upon which our great country was founded. And who is ultimately responsible for the decline of American society and values?

The blame lies squarely at the feet of the people of God. Every time we compromise the standard set forth in the Word of God about how we are to live, we weaken the fabric of decent society and move ever closer to the place where the American church looks exactly like a society that has NO moral compass whatsoever. When there is no difference between the way believers live and the way non-believers live, we have given our society over to the enemy of our souls. The people of God hold the future of our country in their hands. IF we are willing to stop compromising the absolute standards of God’s Word in every area of our lives and seek God’s face and forgiveness, then national healing can begin. If, however, we as believers have become so ingrained with the values espoused by a culture that runs opposite of the way God intended America to follow, we will crumble from within.

God is TRYING to get our attention one more time in the hope that we’ll listen to Him and save our country from ruin on every front. Repenting of our sins is the first step for the American church, which will require putting aside our pride and agreeing with God about how He wants us to live. Are American Christians really willing to walk closely with our Savior, living our lives as though we truly believe that Jesus is walking beside us and our lives are being lived with an audience of One? Our desire to walk in step with the ungodly world must end; we must lead the way to transforming our culture with godly standards or we will see it collapse from within. As long as there is a remnant of Christians still seeking to live by God’s Word, there is still time for America to return to the foundation upon which the United States was built.

Our country’s worst problems are beyond politics; they are moral and spiritual ones and the sooner God’s people recognize this, the greater the opportunity for real change. We pray that God will have mercy upon us one more time and restore our country to its place of moral leadership in the world. It’s not too late!

An Unexpected Gift

Today I was driving from College Station, Texas, to my home in San Antonio. It was a rather poignant trip, having watched our youngest child graduate from Texas A&M University yesterday, thus closing a chapter of 10 years of frequent trips between those two places. I found a Christian radio station with a clear enough signal to be able to listen for a number of those miles. In addition to some uplifting music, the radio host was basing thoughts and music on the letter “N”. At first, I thought I might have been listening to Sesame Street, but when she began to expand upon the Scriptures she wanted to share, it made sense and was so incredibly uplifting.

Too often, we as children of God and joint heirs with Jesus forget all that is ours because of the finished work on the Cross and the shed blood of Jesus. What a wonderful gift to be reminded of who we are in Christ. Very simply, we are “N”ever forsaken, “N”ear to God, and “N”ot given a spirit of fear. The Word of God states these truths very clearly: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you”, Hebrews 13:5; “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you”, James 4:8; and “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”, II Timothy 1:7. How often do I forget these things that are already mine, not because I’m good enough or deserve them, but just because my Heavenly Father wants to give them to me!

So what does that mean as I live my life daily? First, there will never be a time when I am separated from God; He cannot leave me, because He has promised that He won’t! It’s as simple as that; I need to remember that every time I feel afraid or uncertain. Second, God will draw near to me as I draw near to Him. Sounds simple enough, but on my drive home I also saw a quote on a church sign: “If God seems far away, guess who moved?” God always wants to be near to me, but He won’t force His attention upon me; I have to let Him in. There is nothing sweeter than knowing that there is no distance between my Savior and me! And the greatest thing is, all I have to do is come to Him; He’s always waiting. Third, God has not given us a spirit of fear; therefore, if I am afraid, I know the source of that fear is not God. My God has given me a spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Power, love and a sound mind are already mine!

I wasn’t expecting to receive such a gift as I drove home today. Actually, for the past few days, tears have been very near the surface as I’ve thought of the closing of this chapter of our lives. Texas A&M University will always hold a special place in our hearts, because it’s been a place where all three of our children grew from uncertain teens/twentysomethings to confident, capable adults. Their walks with the Lord have been strengthened as they’ve tested His promises and found them faithful. Leaving there for the last time as official “Aggie Parents” was pretty emotional, even as I remembered leaving there for the first time 10 years ago, with  my firstborn learning to make his way. No longer “Aggie Mom”, but continuing to figure out how to fit into my adult childrens’ lives, still learning when to just stand back and let them do things for themselves as adults now, not my babies. So when a radio announcer began to remind me of who I am in Christ, apart from any human relationship, it was nothing short of heaven sent, a loving reminder from my Heavenly Father that I am important to Him just as I am!

No Regrets

At the end of last night’s television coverage of the Olympics, I watched an interview with Michael Phelps. He’s a remarkable athlete, the most decorated ever in Olympic history with 22 medals, 18 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze. He was emphatic in stating that he was definitely done competing in the sport of swimming. He also made the statement that he had accomplished every goal he had ever set for himself and that he could truly walk away from the sport with no regrets.

That’s an incredible statement! I’m sure there must be something in his life that he regrets, but as far as his swimming career there are none. Unfortunately, there are way too many things I have done or said that I now regret, and I think the saddest words in the English language are “if only…”. I’m sure I’m not the only human on earth that has something that they regret saying or doing. If I can change those things, I do everything in my power to go back and “fix” whatever it may be that I said or did and now realize that it was wrong or that I could have done better.

But what about the things we can no longer change? A situation has changed or a person is no longer alive in order to make things right? Honestly, there is no human way to deal with the regrets and “if onlys” that can never be made right. The only answer to the guilt that can accompany regret is the forgiveness that only Jesus Christ can give, through His sacrifice and His blood that was shed to forgive our sins. If we do not accept the forgiveness that He gives, we can go through life weighed down by a load of guilt that will eventually crush us and make us bitter and angry. Once we have taken care of our sin of guilt and regret, how do we then go forward to live a life relatively free from regret?

Micah 6:8 tells us what God’s requirements are for our lives: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” If that is what God requires of us, should we require more of ourselves? If we do each of these things to the best of our ability and with the help of God Himself through the power of His Spirit within us,God expects nothing more from us. And if we are doing this, we can live without regrets!

The Medal or The Journey?

Unless you’ve blocked out all outside communication, you probably know that the Summer Olympics have been taking place in London, England. If you’ve watched any of the games, you’ve seen what is commonly known as “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat”. Which of us has watched and not teared up over the excitement of those who win those coveted medals, and also at the heartbreak of those who fall short of this noble goal? The disappointment the athletes and those who love and support them feel is very real and will probably last for a period of time. As with every tough experience of life, those who are involved have to figure out a way to get through it and let it become something that can bring life lessons.

Having mothered three children through major and minor disappointments, as well as experiencing them myself and helping my husband through some of his, I know all the standard pep talks. “You’ll get through this”, “Things will be better tomorrow”, “This was a good experience for you”, and other such nonsense!!! For the most part, those are extremely useless and unhelpful for anyone to hear. I’ve learned that there is nothing wrong with feeling badly after a major disappointment, and everyone has the right to do that. However, there is a time to mourn and a time to go on with life. Those who don’t get lost in the “what might have beens” will come away better. As someone wiser that I has said:”That which does not kill us only makes us stronger.” At the end of the Olympics, I venture to say that every athlete, or the vast majority of them, will come away saying that they would not trade their experience for anything and that any medals they might have won are just icing on the cake. The years they have spent preparing were worth it because of what they were able to do in representing their countries and in the people they met. For those who offer up their athletic performance as a gift to the One who gave them their abilities, the experience will be even sweeter and eternally rewarding.

These athletes will press on with whatever goals they have set for themselves after the Olympic torch is extinguished. Very few, if any, will see this as a negative experience, but rather, one of the greatest times of their lives. But their lives will go on, and the Olympic Games will be a stepping stone for them to use as they go on to the rest of what life holds for them. The Apostle Paul said it well, for he lived in the time of gladiators and races run for crowns of laurel leaves. In Philippians 3:14, he writes: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” I truly hope many of the Olympic participants understand that there is still a race to be run, a contest to win that will be an eternal one, and I hope they do offer up their lives and their abilities to their Creator.