Time
to Choose!
July
5, 2015 AM RBC
With
all the flag flapping and monument movers; the marriage issues and the
offending of political correctness going on in the nation, it has made me do so
thinking..
Yes,
I have thought about moving to some island and letting the liberals have it all
to themselves. I have also thought about
hunkering down, barricading myself and my family in our palace and daring
anyone to “Tread on Me.” Yet, with those
and many other thoughts, I have come to a conclusion.
Read
the following scripture:
“Then Jeshurun
became fat and rebelled— you became fat, bloated, and gorged. He
abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock
of his salvation. They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods;
they enraged Him with detestable practices. They sacrificed
to demons, not God, to gods they had not known, new
gods that had just arrived, which your fathers
did not fear. You ignored the Rock
who gave you birth; you forgot the God who gave birth
to you. When the LORD
saw ⌊this⌋,
He despised ⌊them⌋, provoked ⌊to anger⌋
by His sons and daughters. He said: “I will hide
My face from them; I will see what will become
of them, for they are a perverse generation— unfaithful
children. (Deuteronomy 32:15-20 HCSB)
The
leader Moses, stands before his people, preparing them to enter into the Promised
Land. He has recounted for them the
wonderful blessings God has bestowed on them, how He has cared for them,
carrying them through the wilderness, providing for them both physically,
mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Moses
has now some to a place and time, when they are getting ready to actually cross
into Canaan. The law has been given, the
commands have been sounded and Moses says, “Alright, boys, it is time to
choose.”
He
begins this section of his sermon with the name “Jeshurun.” It is an illustration of great importance,
for the name means, “righteous,” which literally means, “the upright one.” Talking to the people who are chosen by God
as His own special people, Moses refers to the “righteous” in an effort to warn
them that they must choose the right path and walk in it. To turn from the path would be sure disaster.
In
stronger terms, God uses this term to remind Israel of His calling and to
severely rebuke any possibility of apostasy.
If they fail to follow His path there will be consequences, sure
punishment and sorrow laden with sorrow.
We see them as they become blessed beyond measure, affluent with
bountiful provisions. But they become
rebellious against God, unthankful and disobedient.
While
America may not be “chosen” as the special child of God it is a nation that has
enjoyed a bountiful blessing of God’s provision. The laws of our land are laws based on the
Ten Commandments, given by God, yet tossed to the side as if garbage. Resources have flowed like “milk and honey”
in the land, but have any been thankful?
Churches have flourished yet government and liberals have established
barriers and roadblocks have every turn.
Education and social assistance began in the church, the church gave it
away and the government has made it all a laughing stock. History is full of God’s goodness and care,
but are we mindful of it? Rebellion has
become common place among the nation, will we ever learn that God is in control
and not man?
The
scripture speaks of making a choice, choosing God’s ways. Now is the time to choose.
In
Deuteronomy 32:15-20 we see:
God
gives the power to choose (15). He did
not create robots, but individuals with a mind and will. The freedom of choice is ours and we can
choose to love and obey God, which results in blessings (16) or we can choose
to reject God which results in death (17-18).
The
death spoken of is not necessarily physical death. Many have incurred “living death” as they
have chosen their way over God’s way and live in a rotten existence. Some nations have chosen their way, vices,
and plans only to experience the death of nation; Rome crumbled from
within. And the list goes on and one.
When
God is made Lord, in control and bowed to then life comes. Therefore we are to choose life (19-20).
Other
verse come to mind as we celebrate our freedom as a Nation:
“Happy is the nation
whose God is Yahweh— the people He has chosen to be
His own possession!” (Psalm 33:12HCSB)
“My soul,
praise the LORD, and do
not forget all His benefits.” (Psalm 103:2 HCSB)
“My son, don’t forget
my teaching, but let your heart keep my commands…” (Proverbs 3:1
HCSB)
A
post on Facebook got me to thinking clearly regarding all of the things
transpiring in our world today:
“I
want to start this statement by saying I am a Christian...I believe in God the
Father, Jesus Christ as Savior and the Holy Spirit as my guide. I believe in
the inerrant Word of God and know that it is the ultimate instruction book on
how to live our lives. I do not hate anyone...but I do hate sin. I try to live
my life according to God's Word, but also know that I am not perfect...neither
are the ones reading this or anyone else. But we are getting so caught up in
the fact that someone has taken down a flag and sin
is being legalized that we forget that true FREEDOM comes through CHRIST. Sure
they say PRAYER is illegal in certain places and atheist and some liberals have
tried to limit where and when it can be said, but God is everywhere and
listening all the time. The battle we as Christians face is not of the WORLD,
but in the spiritual realm. Wanna fight the good fight? Then pray....not for
the flying of a flag or necessarily for legislation, but for the ones who are
allowed to make these decisions to get right with God! Not their form of right,
but God's. Not our will as we make it, but God's perfect will. Have the
compassion of Christ for people you dislike or don't agree with. Forgive them
and yourselves. Pray for them and yourselves. You cannot out do God. He is
sovereign, still on the throne and will not be mocked. As Christians, we need
to refocus our attention away from the news and be about the Father's business
sharing the Good News in a lost and dying world. Put away our differences and
stop fighting among ourselves. In the past 4 weeks, here in this small Rockford
Baptist Church, God has shown us HIS power despite what is
going on in the world. 12 DECISIONS FOR CHRIST HAVE BEEN MADE...I'm not caught
up in the number, but in the Glory it brings God. See despite all that is going
on....people are still searching for peace and finding it in Christ. We as a
unified Church of the one living God should be together in prayer to save the
world through the power of the cross...not the power of Washington.” (Tina Self
Fuller)
“The President
had the White House lit up in rainbow colors to celebrate the Supreme Court
ruling on same-sex marriage. This is outrageous—a real slap in the face to the
millions of Americans who do not support same-sex marriage and whose voice is
being ignored. God is the one who gave the rainbow, and it was associated with
His judgment. God sent a flood to wipe out the entire world because mankind had
become so wicked and violent. One man, Noah, was found righteous and escaped
God’s judgment with his family. The rainbow was a sign to Noah that God would
not use the flood again to judge the world. But one day God is going to judge
sin—all sin. Only those who are found righteous will be able to escape His
judgment. That righteousness comes through faith, believing on the Name of the
Lord Jesus Christ who took our sins and shed His blood on the cross for each
and every one. So, when we see the gay pride rainbow splashed on business
advertisements and many people’s Facebook pages, may it remind all of us of
God’s judgment to come. Are you ready?
Are your sins forgiven?
Oh, my how we need to be reminded:
“We need to become One Nation Under God again.”
“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my
greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” Attributed
to Abraham Lincoln
“If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under
God, then we will be a nation gone under.” Ronald Reagan
Choosing life means that we will:
Study- Take the Word of God and watch the times play out
before our very eyes. We are to treasure
God’s Word in our heart and study it so that we may be a prepared workman. God’s Word is clearly as timely time as the
Wall Street Journal. Take it in hand,
read it, and meditate on it; it will secure you in the time we live in.
“How happy is
the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked or
take the path of sinners or join a group of mockers! Instead, his
delight is in the LORD’s
instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree
planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. The wicked
are not like this; instead, they are like chaff
that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked
will not survive the judgment, and sinners will not be
in the community of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way
of the righteous, but the way of the wicked
leads to ruin.” (Psalm 1:1-6HCSB)
By the way, God’s Word is God’s Word. It has stood the times and will to the very
end. When this world is in ashes and
exist no more, God’s Word will still stand.
Those in leadership can belittle it, take from it, attempt to change it,
and pay no attention it, but that in no way will diminish that it is the Word
of God. So, take it and hide it; cherish
it and treasure it and be ready.
Pray- We are reminded in the Word of God to pray without ceasing,
at all times, and to allow our prayers to be confessions and transformational
(2 Chronicles 7:14).
The elements to pray are to be reminded we are called, to be
humble, pray and seek His face. In
return He will hear our prayer, forgive our sin and heal our land. That is a promise from the God hand
person-God the Father!
Oh, we need to pray America!
We need to turn our hearts to Him, pray for those in leadership, pray
for our churches and our homes! Pray!
Live- So that others see Jesus. Remember, our lives reflect what we
believe. Therefore it is imperative,
more than at any other time, to live in public what we do in private. Live for Jesus!
Share- The Gospel. The
Good News. Cannot debate. That is something no one can debate. It is clear and a non-debatable issue.
Debates lead to quarrels and in the end anger, bitterness, and
labeling. Debating is what is giving so
many a black eye today. They are so busy
trying to be heard, they are forsaking the main thing of life.
“I am not ashamed of the gospel…” (Romans 1:16)
The gospel is the answer!
It covers all of the problems of life today! It is simply that Jesus was born and lived;
died and rose again; and He ascended and will descend. That is the Good News; it is the Gospel! It saves sinners and sanctifies saints.
Make a choice- Take a stand and stay there. If you find that it is good to stand with the
world, then so be it; if you choose to take a stand with God and right, then so
be it. But as for me and my house we
will serve the Lord!
While we choose life by trusting Christ as Savior (Romans
10:9-10) then may we let others hear the truth.
Elected officials and high courts as we showing the firm ground on which
we stand and that firm ground is the Rock, and that Rock is Jesus!
Amen!