"He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls."
Across the nation, city halls, much like Washington, have become petty, polarized and powerless to deal effectively with the problems they face. Voter engagement is driven down as a result. Mainstream churches are losing worshippers. Overburdened, crumbling and unruly public schools are prompting parents to pull their children out. Businesses are shuttering their factories & warehouses, leaving behind in its wake, unemployment and helplessness. Labor unions once credited with creating the middle class are now often blamed for the demise of industry. Even the local daily newspapers, once venerated for reporting the news and not editorializing it, have become polarizers in the culture wars.
The bygone days of American institutions holding sway & influence in American culture are things of Norman Rockwell wishful thinking.
In a survey of a Main Street Town in the U.S.A., seven in 10 Americans believe that the country is on the wrong track; eight in 10 are dissatisfied with the way the nation is being governed. Only 23 percent have confidence in banks, and just 19 percent have confidence in big business. Less than half the population expresses “a great deal” of confidence in the public-school system or organized religion.
“We have lost our gods,” says Laura Hansen, an assistant professor of sociology at Western New England University in Springfield, Mass. “We lost [faith] in the media: Remember Walter Cronkite? We lost it in our culture: You can’t point to a movie star who might inspire us, because we know too much about them. We lost it in politics, because we know too much about politicians’ lives. We’ve lost it—that basic sense of trust and confidence—in everything.”
And there is the rub. In that quote - "We have lost our gods" - everything we need to know about the demise of America is encapsulated. God was replaced by Government. People thought that they could govern themselves better without God than with Him.
Please take caution: This attitude of removing God from public life did not begin at the P.T.A. meeting or in the public schools or in the courthouses or in city halls or even in the church. The desire to remove God from public life and private life began in the home.
You see, when God is not the center of your life then you are left to fend for yourself, interpreting the day's blessings and trials through your own lenses, philosophy, mental aptitude, etc. But, the Bible admonishes us, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil." (Proverbs 3:5-7)
So when people trust their institutions more than they trust God, or, seek to remove God from private life and public life altogether, is it any surprise that the institutions they've chosen to trust are crumbling?
Government is crumbling, civic life is crumbling, churches are crumbling all because the family is crumbling. And the source of this moral dry rot is the absence of God. By the way, don't think for one minute that we, as a culture, are living in a vacuum. Satan runs right in to that void in your life and public life and fills it with distractions that pertain to lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life (I Jn. 2:16). That's exactly what's happening.
If you want a case study of a nation in decay, study the nation of Israel in the Book of Judges. You'll see what decadence, depravity and destitution look like in all its glory. Sadly, it leads to captivity.
When you are spending more time on Facebook than in the Good Book, then you're bound to find that the fruits of your labor result in nothing. Even your own thoughts come to nothing. Why? Because if it's trash you put in your mind then it's trash you'll get out. You reap nothing but the wind. And then people have the nerve to say, "In nothing we trust"?
In Proverb 25:28, the picture I want you to see is that of a city whose walls have been so nearly destroyed as to be without defense against an enemy; so is the man who has no restraint over his spirit, the source of man's passionate energies. He has no defense against anger, lust, and the other unbridled emotions that destroy him. And the family, culture and society around him.
Dear Reader, if you're American, the time is now to turn back to God. II Chronicles 7:14 states, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall 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."
Before Nations change, Governments must change.
Before Governments change, people must change.
Before people change, you must change.
And before you change, you must surrender your entire life to the Lord Jesus Christ. Friend, there's no other way (John 14:6). If you're ready for change, if you want to trust in someone other than your Government, if you are tired of the nothingness & meaninglessness of life, then click here: I Want A Real Change In My Life.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is peace
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is love
There is comfort in life's darkest hour
There is light and life
There is help and power in the Spirit
In the Spirit of the Lord
No comments:
Post a Comment