I am sure many of you have been getting the e-mail forwards lately about the election and praying for our nation. While it is a good thing to pray for our nation, there are even more important things we need to pray for, and ponder on. My husband Ron wrote a response to those forwards with some serious questions we all need to ask ourselves. Please take a moment to read it:
I’ve been getting these kinds of forwards lately and they’ve got me thinking. There are some interesting things going on in our world for sure. When I was out on the road a few weeks ago traveling for work, I heard callers on some of the Christian talk shows say that morality didn't matter to them in this election because their pocket books were more important. This isn't really much of a surprise these days when you look at the state of Christianity in America . The reason that people who claim to be Christians aren't voting with Christian values is because they are not really Christians, it’s just that simple. I realize that is a strong statement to make but how could someone who has truly been born again and changed by God's spirit not care about the morality?
And just to be clear, supporting morality doesn’t make someone a Christian either.
In response to the email, sure we can pray (and we should) but that doesn't mean that God will answers us according to what we ask. If we read and understand the bible, this economic crisis may very well be His plan and purpose for the end to unfold. We would do well to read and understand what the bible says about the end times. We must also understand that maybe God is going to judge America . We have had many warnings over the years. I think back to 9-11 for example, when the country all of a sudden got “spiritual” (which doesn’t necessarily mean people turned to God) for many people were praying to the God of their own choosing. Even though America was founded on biblical principals, it is clear that since that time we have moved further away from that foundation and have become a much more secular nation. Therefore it is no big surprise that we have come to the place where people who claim to be Christian would support a candidate who supports abortion.
The only good news is that God is still in the same place He has always been, and that is on His throne calling ALL the shots. What is ironic is that these world leaders think that they are scheming in secret behind closed doors in private meetings about the financial markets, but in reality, they are playing right into Gods hand and they don't even know it. Some of the reports I hear are very grim and surreal. I’ve been reading up on this economic crisis that we are in. I don’t think that the general public has a clue as to how serious this really is. I’ve read reports that the world is on the verge of economic global meltdown resulting in worldwide devastation.
Now is a real good time to take a strong look within at our spiritual health. We need to seek God- not out of fear for what is coming- but instead for salvation from our deeply wicked and sinful hearts. If we think that what is coming down the road for this world is what is most to be feared, then we'd better think twice. Why? Because each of us will stand individually before God who will judge each and every man and woman according to His perfect standard. And guess what, we all fail by His standard. God demands perfection.
So what is a Christian? Does being born in America make someone a Christian? Does attending church regularly make someone a Christian? Does making a profession of faith and being baptized make someone a Christian? Does voting Republican make someone a Christian? The answer to all of these questions is simply no. We must all ask ourselves this question. Am I a good person? Or even better yet am I perfect, which is what God requires to get into heaven? God will not cut any of us any slack when we stand before Him. Let’s look at it like this. If God were to judge us based on the 10 Commandments how would we fare? Let’s just look at a few of them…. Have you ever told a lie? (even a white lie), Ever stolen anything? (even a piece of candy), ever used God’s Holy name as a curse word? Ever looked at someone with lust? If so Jesus says you have committed adultery with that person in your heart - OUCH!!!!!
Truth is we’re ALL guilty of breaking God’s Commandments, we have all broken every single one of them many, many times over throughout our entire lifetime. Think of the mountain of sin that we build over a lifetime. And we must understand that we cannot do enough good works to make up for our failure, doing good works does not take away the penalty of our sin. Our only hope as lost and sinful people is to repent of our sin, and to trust and acknowledge that Christ’s death upon the cross is the only payment that will meet God’s demand. God is a righteous judge and He doesn’t grade on a curve. If the weight of living a sinful life has burdened us down the only hope we have is in Christ. Only Christ has the power to change us and give us the power to turn away from living a life of sin and instead follow Him.
The question is not do we want to go to heaven, Jesus didn’t die for us simply to go to heaven. We don’t seek God for benefits, that’s not the point of Christ’s cruel death upon the cross. The question is this, does this understanding of our sin against God truly sorrow us? Do we understand that our actions put Christ upon the cross? Each of us are guilty of nailing Him to the cross. Does it bother us that we have offended God by our sin? We have sinned against Him and we must repent, which means to turn from our sin and walk in a different direction.
I think we should be alert and pay attention to what is going on in our world. This is a serious event of the likes we have never seen before. We are seeing scriptural events unfold right before our eyes. Are you ready to meet the Lord? Do you know where you will spend eternity?
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