Where did it all go wrong?
I write this two days after our country celebrated it's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of independence. It should have been a nationwide celebration with neighbors bonding over BBQ and fireworks, instead it was another reason for hate and mistrust. I've never seen our nation more polarized than what it is right now. There's those who are patriotic and church going folk, then there's those opposed to everything American. There's a growing unrest and hate for everything this country was founded on and it is like a disease. Minds are infected with mistrust and hate to the point they want to murder anyone who doesn't share their opinions.
When did it get to the point where people celebrate and openly say death is the best solution to a disagreement. There used to be intelligent conversations that would take place between opposing issues. Debats and discussions would echo across campuses and minds would be opened. Now, there's no debate, only hate spewed like vomit. Uncontrollable heaving of anger and emotions has replaced a curiosity for truth.
Before, you could talk civil with someone over differing view points. However now, you'll likely be met with uncontrolled rage. When did this get so out of control? It's not just those on the left who have become full of hate either. Those standing on the right side of the isle have also spewed hate in the other direction as well. The love that the church was supposed to display to all, has faded and has become cold.
Like scripture has said, the love of most will grow cold and if the church's love has grown cold, it's opened the door for extreme hate.
The church was supposed to be a beacon of hope, a shinning city on the hill. It was supposed to lead the nations into the light of Christ by example. Love for all was supposed to flow forth from it's heart and embrace those who were hurting and lost. Yet, division and differences of opinions on how to interpret God's simple words caused rifts and chasms. A divided nation cannot stand and it is true for God's church, it is collapsing. The power of the Holy Spirit has faded, the truth has been replaced with lies, divisions and mistrust has replaced Jesus’s commandment of love your neighbor.
No wonder hate spreads like a plague across a once God fearing country. In the weakened state of the church, Satan has influenced the minds of the youth. Choice and rights to "what I want" and the "Me" revolution has replaced traditional values and moral compasses. It's left our country vulnerable to attack from Islamic ideology. Whole cities and states are slowly being infiltrated by Islam. Again, a country divided will fall and as we fight amongst ourselves, we are being taken over. The church of God has failed to keep the enemy out.
I'm not here to spread more hate. Everyone with an opinion thinks they are correct. Those standing in the liberal extreme, the conservative extreme, the hundreds of Christian church denominations, the Islamic religion, the Agnostic or Atheist, all belive they are right. Hate, division, distrust and anger have all obscured the way to God.
I really am saddened by the state of things. Love was supposed to be expressed outward to envelope the world. It was supposed to liberate the captives and set them free from their prisons of unforgiveness and mistrust. It was supposed to heal and bring prosperity to the hearts of the world. Yet, here we stand, in an enslaved world, bound by the very things they were supposed to be liberated from.
What is the solution? The abandonment of religion, the abandonment of ideologies, the abandonment of opinions, and the abandonment of us. God cannot and will not force himself upon anyone that doesn't want to be ruled over. He will not force Himself into a place where self sits on the throne. We must abandon our current trajectory and go back to the basics.
What are the basics? Yielding to the Spirit, yielding to Him. We cannot carry ourselves before Him, instead we lay ourselves on the Altar to burn ourselves away before we enter His presence.
Our opinions, our thoughts, our contaminated belief needs to be left and a willingness and humbleness for an injection of pure life needs to be given to us. Raw and unfiltered, naked and humble, is how we approach Him. We must abandon our old ways and seek the new.
I'm talking about a new wave of authentic believers that are not tossed around or influenced by the world but are the influence. We must rid ourselves of ourselves and humbly renounce how we have approached Him before, to open us up for a true Spiritual awakening of His full presence in us.
Each one of us are a piece of the puzzle. We must resurrect the dying world by resurrecting ourselves first. Bury the old and embrace the new.
My message today is very personal and written mainly for me. However, if someone out there is feeling like God is not as near to them as He once was. You are not alone. God requires very little of us. Faith in Him and for us to not get in the way. Our hearts hold too much of the world's ideologies and our own high opinions of ourselves. If our hearts are overcrowded, there's no room for Him. I myself have a need in me to reconnect, abandon my old habits and totally change how I approach Him. I have to let go of my insecurities, my past failures and not approach Him with an outcome mentality. I must relinquish myself over, no expectations, no outcomes, no perfectionist views, just be present. Like a child sitting next to His father on a park bench, I must learn to be satisfied with only Him by my side.
To God Be The Glory!
