What does it have to do with America?

Brent Riggs has written a wonderful article which gives us a glimpse of Israel and present day America. I think the article is very impressive and challenges everyone to look at  the spiritual conditions prevailing in the United States and Israel with reference to favor, prosperity, material possession and eventually when we fail to live up to God's expectations we see a downturn in terms of blessings, favor, worry, anxiety, social disintegration and disappointment. Is there something that He has withheld from you—a relationship, a job, or a material possession?..........think about it.

 

Brent continues.....

Ever read the book of Hosea?  What does it have to do with America? Well, nothing in context specifically but the parallels of Hosea and Israel are strikingly similar to our national situation today in the United States.

God used Hosea in many visually startling ways to demonstrate to Israel that they had abandoned God. 

They jettisoned their Godly heritage in favor of their right to do whatever they wanted. Every man was determining what was “right for them” and doing it.  Sound familiar?

They were enjoying unprecedented prosperity and as such, materialism was rampant. Sound familiar?

     

As a result, Israel saw an exponential rise in adultery, sexual immorality, violence, social disintegration and political chaos. Sound familiar?

                                                       Israel turned to false gods and multitudes of pagan religion equating each man’s choice of “faith” as equal. Sound familiar?

Child Sacrifice? No Way!

They had even sunk to the depth of depravity by practicing state sanctioned child sacrifice. Sound familiar?  Oh… it doesn’t?

What do you call abortion? Forget all the politically correct nonsense which I have no time or patience for… anyone with a brain and heart knows that’s a BABY growing in a woman’s womb and there is no difference between birthing it and burning it on an altar, or sticking a cannula inside the cervix and sucking its brains out. Or six months earlier burn the baby to death with salt. Or three months before that chopping it up and vacuuming it out.

You can play games with other HUMANS about “choice” and “women’s reproductive rights” but when you stand in front of God, you’ll answer for MURDER because it’s a BABY, a human baby from the moment it starts growing. If not, when?  And because it’s an ideological “right” in our country to murder a baby in the womb, it is the no B.S. equivalent of “child sacrifice” to the god of convenience.  Take it up with God if you want to defend your “right” to “terminate a fetus”. See what He says about it.

God can no more ignore America’s rejection of Him indefinitely than any other country who has been judged by God for the same thing.  Only because of God’s mercy and patience do we still have time to repent and change.  Can we? Yes. Will we? Probably not if history is any indication. In fact, going by history, we most certainly will not.

Hosea is a great reminder of God’s love, His mercy and patience with mankind. It’s also a blaring siren sounding the alarm that God will not withhold judgment much longer.

Not even sure why I’m writing this. I was just floored reading Hosea and seeing the striking parallels of the Israelite nation prior to God allowing them to be destroyed and the current state of America.

Take it for what it’s worth. (1)

Instead, we try to ignore weaknesses, hoping no one will notice. We live in denial, assigning blame to others when we fail. Eventually, we attempt to bury our weaknesses only to find them resurrecting themselves when we least expect it. A powerful life embraces pain, brokenness and weakness and understands that perfection is for Heaven, not Earth. The words of Paul are profound, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27 NIV).

When we are honest about our weaknesses, we are conceding the fact that only God can accomplish anything good in or through us. God’s power is instantly recognizable in obvious weakness. God has always allowed man’s weakness to validate the immeasurable need of His redemption and His sufficiency in our lives. He can and will use us if we allow Him to do so – not despite our weaknesses – but through our weaknesses. We are not the message – just the messenger. Our weaknesses are not excuses to escape God’s plan but divinely appointed opportunities for that plan to work. 

Let us remember that;  

Noah was a drunk.

Abraham was too old.

Isaac was a daydreamer.

Jacob was a liar.

Leah was ugly.

Joseph was abused.

Moses had a stuttering problem.

Gideon was afraid.

Samson had long hair and was a womanizer.

Rahab was a prostitute.

Jeremiah and Timothy were too young.

David had an affair and was a murderer.

Elijah was suicidal.

Isaiah preached naked.

Jonah ran from God.

Naomi was a widow.

Job went bankrupt.

John the Baptist ate bugs.

Peter denied Christ.

The Disciples fell asleep while praying.

Martha worried about everything.

The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once.

Zaccheus was too small.

Paul was too religious and Lazarus was dead!

(Author unknown)

More important than where you have been or even where you are, is where you are headed. Don’t wait until you have it all figured out. That won’t happen, this side of Heaven. Don’t wait until you think you are good enough. You never will be. Step up to the plate and be the imperfect you; allowing God’s perfection to shine through each and every weakness. Do not listen to the doubts and lies of Satan. His goal is to render you helpless and defeated, no longer a threat to him or his kingdom.                  

Let’s quickly review where our nation stands today:

•  God is being left out of school textbooks.
•  Prayer has been banished from the school.
•  Jesus Christ is not found in federal or state educational systems.
•  More information can be found in textbooks about Allah and Mohammad than about the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We also have new names for old evils.

•  Murder is now called abortion.
•  Drunkenness is now called alcoholism—a social disease.
•  Sodomy is referred to as gay rights—an alternative lifestyle.
•  Perversion is now called pornography and adult entertainment.
•  Immorality is now considered the new morality.
•  Cheating is referred to as abnormal social development.

America’s God and the Bible have been obscured. With this dismissal of absolutes, the rapid decline of our nation is easy to see:

• Our crime rate is out of control. A serious crime is committed every 3 seconds. One robbery occurs every 86 seconds and a murder every 36 minutes.
• Drug addiction and alcoholism are at epidemic proportions. More than 800,000 people in the US have sought treatment for cocaine addiction. Forty-two percent of Americans have smoked marijuana. More than 17 million adults in the US are alcoholics or have alcohol problems.
• Suicide is the third-leading killer of people aged 15 to 24.
• An estimated 65 million Americans are living with a sexually-transmitted disease, and 13 percent of all Internet searches are for erotic content.
• Fifty percent of marriages end in divorce, while 12 percent of couples living together are unmarried and 22 percent of first births are to women in a cohabiting couple. 
• Islam is the fastest growing religion in the US, and the Mormonism is the second. At the same time, the number of people with no religious affiliation has grown rapidly to 15 percent as other people turn to atheism and humanism. (2)

Unwavering commitment to trust the Lord in all situations is a cornerstone of unshakable faith. From the vantage point of that foundation, we can focus our eyes upon God alone. It is easy to be distracted by circumstances and allow them to dictate our emotions. But if that's the case, then when life is good, we're happy; when times are tough, we're frustrated; and when hardship pours in, we're downright miserable and looking for escape. And it is a wise believer who claims those promises when enduring hardship. For His Word tells us that our Father is always good, always just, always faithful, and always trustworthy. When we take our eyes off the whirl of day-to-day activity and concentrate on honoring Him and following in His way, we find a consistent peace that carries us through both plenty and poverty.

In order to hold on to God through any trial or temptation, commit to trust and follow Him all of your days. Lay claim to His promises: The unchanging Lord and Savior (Heb. 13:8) is committed to caring for you in all circumstances (1 Peter 5:7) and will never leave or forsake you (Heb. 13:5).

References:

(1) Hosea Can You See By The Dawn’s Early Light, Brent Riggs , www.seriousfaith.com 

(2) Dr. Michael Youssef, The Price of Liberty, Part 4: That We May Return

Blessings,

Raj Kosaraju