John Lennon once asked of us to imagine....."no heaven....no hell below us....no countries" and "no possessions." He said it was easy if we would try. Can anyone make such a request? I'd like to try.
I'd like to ask you to picture in your mind for but a few moments a situation. You may very well have already experienced something similar in your life but hopefully not and never will! A loved one develops an addiction, it may be alcohol, or drugs or gambling or anything. You and others around you can see it but trying to warn your loved one is difficult if not impossible for he/she cannot see the danger and continues down that path of destruction. No amount of evidences, no logic or pleas to employ common sense will help! These words were few and do not do justice to the pain and tears one has to bear when in this situation.
It would not be classified an addiction but the American people are as seemingly and hopelessly involved in something that will just as surely bring about their demise. I want to give you one passage from God's Word to us that hopefully may resonate with you. There are literally dozens if not hundreds of other such passages that I could use. I choose this one because Zephaniah prophesied to Judah after the fall of her brethren in Israel, and before the Babylonians came and burned Jerusalem and the temple and took many away captive to Babylon. The people had other gods in place right next to Yahweh! Zephaniah was writing both to Judah, to other nations, and to those in a future time, for the Great Day Of The Lord is prominent in his warnings.
Please consider these words to the people of Judah....."...I will cut off every vestige of Baal from this place, the names of the pagan priests along with the priests..... " I want to interject here that we have our own Baals, our own gods, here in America, every bit as much as did Judah.. We also have numerous celebrated 'priests' of these gods in our entertainment industry. Zephaniah continued in his description of a people " ...who pledge loyalty to the LORD but also pledge loyalty to Milcom; .....(people) who turn back from following the Lord, who do not seek the Lord or inquire of Him...." (Milcom was most probably a god who demanded the sacrifice of children)
These Jews had the same.....addiction.....that we have today in that we incorporate gods into our daily life for the pleasures that we get from them. We don't see them as gods but then we don't really see God as God either so both can be prominent in our homes where neither is really seen as dangerous or... in any way....holy! Nothing Zephaniah said to them could convince them that they were in trouble. This scene is repeated again and again throughout the Old Testament. If you have read this far without having exited then you also may take my advice and read these 53 verses in three chapters of Zephaniah. Once again.....this is only one small section of Scripture where, Old Testament and New, God very clearly warns us of our rebellious condition and of His coming judgements.
I sit here and wonder if an extreme soberness might overtake you as you read descriptions of the great Day of the Lord from the end of the first chapter? I wonder if when you read...."This is the self-assured city that lives in security, that thinks to herself: I am, and there is no one besides me"... if you might see that that is what we think in America.....maybe not you or I but observe what those who rule us say, for they are supremely confident that it is man and not the myth of God that will determine our destiny, and they may see some bumps in the road but certainly no catastrophic judgement from God!
When Zephaniah wrote of that city...."she has not obeyed; she has not accepted discipline. She has not trusted in the LORD; she has not drawn near to her God".....will you see us....even a little bit? When he writes...."The princes within her are roaring lions" will you see our ruling class who threaten us with censure? When he writes..."her judges are wolves of the night which leave nothing for the morning" will you see many of our judges who do not fear God? When he writes, "Her prophets are reckless treacherous men" will you see our godless universities and when he writes, "Her priests profane the sanctuary; they do violence to instruction".....will you see our liberal churches?
Friends, there are great promises, assurances, balm and words of hope in Zephaniah for those who do trust in the Lord so imagine this also.....we all are very familiar with how the smartphone has become an extension of our very being, where we sometimes reference its information while walking and even driving. Imagine a time when Christians in America cannot seem to go from one place to another without stopping occasionally to read another portion of God's very Word to us! Benjamin Franklin described Philadelphia during the First Great Awakening in a similar way in that it seemed to him that one could not walk down the street without hearing psalm singing coming from this house or that house. Imagine Americans referencing biblehub.com more than Google, the Apostle Paul more than the Dow, the Gospels more than Drudge, the Psalms more than Facebook and Revelation more than the sports section! It's easy if you try.
I'm fairly certain that you really didn't want to read a message such as this just as a loved one would not want 'lectured' on an addiction but I thank you for persevering. I want to add this last thing. If this is the first post from this web site that you have ever read you might think that I live with my head down saying "woe is me," or that I carry a sign around that reads "the end is near"? The previous post and many other writings should show that this is not the case. I never knew true joy until I knew Jesus Christ, and I write these things often for the same reason that you would risk bothering a loved one.
I'd like to ask you to picture in your mind for but a few moments a situation. You may very well have already experienced something similar in your life but hopefully not and never will! A loved one develops an addiction, it may be alcohol, or drugs or gambling or anything. You and others around you can see it but trying to warn your loved one is difficult if not impossible for he/she cannot see the danger and continues down that path of destruction. No amount of evidences, no logic or pleas to employ common sense will help! These words were few and do not do justice to the pain and tears one has to bear when in this situation.
It would not be classified an addiction but the American people are as seemingly and hopelessly involved in something that will just as surely bring about their demise. I want to give you one passage from God's Word to us that hopefully may resonate with you. There are literally dozens if not hundreds of other such passages that I could use. I choose this one because Zephaniah prophesied to Judah after the fall of her brethren in Israel, and before the Babylonians came and burned Jerusalem and the temple and took many away captive to Babylon. The people had other gods in place right next to Yahweh! Zephaniah was writing both to Judah, to other nations, and to those in a future time, for the Great Day Of The Lord is prominent in his warnings.
Please consider these words to the people of Judah....."...I will cut off every vestige of Baal from this place, the names of the pagan priests along with the priests..... " I want to interject here that we have our own Baals, our own gods, here in America, every bit as much as did Judah.. We also have numerous celebrated 'priests' of these gods in our entertainment industry. Zephaniah continued in his description of a people " ...who pledge loyalty to the LORD but also pledge loyalty to Milcom; .....(people) who turn back from following the Lord, who do not seek the Lord or inquire of Him...." (Milcom was most probably a god who demanded the sacrifice of children)
These Jews had the same.....addiction.....that we have today in that we incorporate gods into our daily life for the pleasures that we get from them. We don't see them as gods but then we don't really see God as God either so both can be prominent in our homes where neither is really seen as dangerous or... in any way....holy! Nothing Zephaniah said to them could convince them that they were in trouble. This scene is repeated again and again throughout the Old Testament. If you have read this far without having exited then you also may take my advice and read these 53 verses in three chapters of Zephaniah. Once again.....this is only one small section of Scripture where, Old Testament and New, God very clearly warns us of our rebellious condition and of His coming judgements.
I sit here and wonder if an extreme soberness might overtake you as you read descriptions of the great Day of the Lord from the end of the first chapter? I wonder if when you read...."This is the self-assured city that lives in security, that thinks to herself: I am, and there is no one besides me"... if you might see that that is what we think in America.....maybe not you or I but observe what those who rule us say, for they are supremely confident that it is man and not the myth of God that will determine our destiny, and they may see some bumps in the road but certainly no catastrophic judgement from God!
When Zephaniah wrote of that city...."she has not obeyed; she has not accepted discipline. She has not trusted in the LORD; she has not drawn near to her God".....will you see us....even a little bit? When he writes...."The princes within her are roaring lions" will you see our ruling class who threaten us with censure? When he writes..."her judges are wolves of the night which leave nothing for the morning" will you see many of our judges who do not fear God? When he writes, "Her prophets are reckless treacherous men" will you see our godless universities and when he writes, "Her priests profane the sanctuary; they do violence to instruction".....will you see our liberal churches?
Friends, there are great promises, assurances, balm and words of hope in Zephaniah for those who do trust in the Lord so imagine this also.....we all are very familiar with how the smartphone has become an extension of our very being, where we sometimes reference its information while walking and even driving. Imagine a time when Christians in America cannot seem to go from one place to another without stopping occasionally to read another portion of God's very Word to us! Benjamin Franklin described Philadelphia during the First Great Awakening in a similar way in that it seemed to him that one could not walk down the street without hearing psalm singing coming from this house or that house. Imagine Americans referencing biblehub.com more than Google, the Apostle Paul more than the Dow, the Gospels more than Drudge, the Psalms more than Facebook and Revelation more than the sports section! It's easy if you try.
I'm fairly certain that you really didn't want to read a message such as this just as a loved one would not want 'lectured' on an addiction but I thank you for persevering. I want to add this last thing. If this is the first post from this web site that you have ever read you might think that I live with my head down saying "woe is me," or that I carry a sign around that reads "the end is near"? The previous post and many other writings should show that this is not the case. I never knew true joy until I knew Jesus Christ, and I write these things often for the same reason that you would risk bothering a loved one.
