Today I have an extremely heavy heart. I usually do when I write but today is different. God has given me such a burden for this subject or subjects that most likely will not be completed in 1 post. These are the subjects that cause friends to part, families to disagree and a country to split. Having said that I am very concerned with how I come across. I first must clear the air that I am a woman of very strong convictions. I feel God expects His children to be set apart (Romans 12:1, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.) When we become Christians we become the home of Christ himself. Many of us have heard this in church but do we really understand what it means? I heard a pastor recently ask the question, "What is the #1 problem with Christians today?" I thought for a second and he said " You can not tell who they are". The very truth of this broke my heart because there is no way to deny it; which brings up another question, who really is a Christian? When we say a prayer but never turn from our ways... where truly is our heart for God? I could wonder off a long time about this subject but the details we can save for another day..These questions I ask my self daily and daily I am right back to a great fear of mine, that we have gotten so far from God, so far from the truth (scripture) that we are not even sure anymore what is right and what is wrong... oh the great absolute truth question comes into play! Many question this as well, I personally believe there is an absolute truth, there is an absolute black and white and most importantly there is a distinct good and evil.
Today, as 5pm came, I stood, watched and pledged with others as they pulled off the road to show their respect while the daily revelry was played here at Fort Rucker. As I stood there many thoughts crossed my mind. For a while now I have been worried about our Nation but today I was so down about our countries current status that it almost got the best of me. My attitude was terrible and honestly I am still upset about where we are. Yes I have my own opinions about things but the thing that I feel we honestly need to take a real look at is right in the mirror, yes, ourselves. More than I am mad, my heart is crushed. As Americans we are spoiled, please understand that I know we have poverty and I know that just because we live in America it does not mean life it great, life is life no matter where we are. What I am saying is that if we were to visit other countries, we would see no one has it like we do! Our Government pays for more than it ever should, like I said we are spoiled.(and yet another topic for another day). What I have realized though, is that our priorities are very much out of order. We appear to be so lost as a nation that we have gotten our focus off of what IS important and what the problems are and we focus on things that to be perfectly honest are not the real issues. I believe it was last week, I was out and about and it seemed like at every cash register there was a jar to take up money and support some sort of animal shelter, or animal foundation... At first I thought awe poor puppies and kitties, Yes I LOVE my animals and every time I go to Pet Smart I make sure to donate; when I was younger and even today I will take in any stray that comes up but seriously, when we have more support for the battered animals than the murdered innocent babies,. our issues run much deeper....
Today we live in a time when our moral compass appears to be completely broken. We support people, foundations and groups that are pulling our country so far from what we were founded on, the Bible. We now have decisions being made that will impact this country for ever; decisions that if you consider yourself a Christian you should be very broken hearted about. Yes, it is a difficult subject and I never want to offend anyone but the fact is, no one seems to care if we as Christians are offended. I know many think we are all about love and acceptance but in these days we must take a stand for something and when we do people are going to disagree, they are going to get hurt and they are going to get mad. Heck, I would venture to say we will most likely be called mean and narrow minded. Coming from someone who wants to keep the peace and always keep everyone happy, I deep down know that it's okay and does not matter what others say when it comes to the convictions my Lord has laid on my heart; at the end of it all there is only one opinion that matters. I want to encourage and challenge us all to get up to date, to know what we believe and why we believe it and to find someone that lines up with our beliefs as much as possible and support them 110%. The days we live in are crazy and call for us to stand up. Protestors are everywhere. protesting our soldiers funerals, protesting for certain rights they want passed and much more, so what will we stand up for as children of God? Will we be passive bystanders that never help lead others in the right direction or will we sincerely take an interest in this country and think about a time when we are long gone.... what will we do when things do not end like we thought or when Christ holds off on coming back for a while? Will our children grow up in a better world or will we leave this earth in so much confusion that we never see our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren make eternity because we forgot the name of Jesus Christ and what He stood for? I am in constant prayer over our nation and I encourage you to do the same. Pray for our leaders, that they will see the way our country should go and that God will direct them to make the right decisions. Pray for our nations future and lastly pray that we will be used as the body of believers for whatever God calls us to.. There is strength in numbers and I believe it is time for the Body of Christ to form up.
"Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the peoples who do not call on your name" Jeremiah 10:25
I pray that we are not that nation..
God Bless and God Bless America,
Leslie
