That your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:5
Today in America we have some seemingly insurmountable problems. The economy is in the tank despite what the "Talking Heads" keep telling us, our President may be about to light a fuse in the Middle East which could cause serious repercussions which haven't even been considered, the number of people "giving up" on finding work is growing and an air of "gloom and doom" can be felt in the heartland. This is particularly noticeable as you get farther away from the New York -Washington corridor and the direct influence of a bloated national government.
As I look at the problems of our land, I must confess that sometimes I feel like it is hopeless and that our society has given up. I search for answers to why we Americans, citizens of the greatest nation on earth, have allowed our wonderful country to lose direction and slowly lose our competitiveness and even our soul. And then it hits me, the problem has developed over time gradually and we have lost sight of what is important.
What is important is is our faith in God. Faith in God is central to every aspect of our life. When I have my doubts, I must turn to my faith in God. He will see me through, give me the answers and direct my way. Try it yourself, ask God to restore or enhance your faith in Him and the Spirit will infect your soul and change you and the way you look at things.
So many of us have been convinced to substitute belief in man and government for our Faith in God. We delude ourselves into thinking that man has all the answers. We in effect make government our God, treating our leaders like they are our elders and know what is best for us. How is that working out for you today? Can we honestly believe that government is the answer when we see the mess it has helped to create with us blindly following along? Some of the problems are endless: increased unemployment and homelessness, degradation of the family with open immorality and huge increases in out of wedlock birth, continuous wars with no end and no clear reason for them, increased animosity between races and differing groups, and open and outright hostility, often on the part of government itself, to our Christian heritage. The government is a tinkerer, but it is never a problem solver.
While there are both good and bad people in government, the overall problem is that man is a sinner and if left solely to his own devices he will repeat his sins over and over. I fear that is what happens in government when those continually retaining office begin to see themselves as a special class of citizenry, afforded a much better lifestyle with special rules and assuming they know better than we what is best for us. So when we substitute faith in government and its leaders for God we are doomed to failure and the corruption and waste of men, money and material only gets worse.
We also have to be very careful about our love of money. Now we all know that everything we do on earth requires money such as food, clothing and shelter, but when we begin to put money first, to put it ahead of God again we are headed for abject failure. Remember what our Savior said in Matthew 6:24:
"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."
It would do us well to remember this. There is nothing wrong with having money, but when it serves the central purpose of a totally self-centered lifestyle our faith in God is sure to crumble. We must always remember that our God is our be all and do all, and we were placed on this earth to serve Him. Jesus didn't die on the Cross for our sins so that we could live a selfish life devoid of all else. We can't make our personal responsibilities a job for a godless government or focus our lives on pure wealth accumulation. For one thing, if we do this what is to stop the government from then coming to take all of our earned resources and for what purpose? An all powerful government lacking the guidance of a loving God will use all the resources at its disposal primarily for retention of power.
No, in addition to our own needs, we need to put our wealth to work for God, doing His work and not that of a mindless bureaucracy. God expects us to do this and we should focus on building a society where we all live free and determine our own destiny under God, not under a bureaucratic edict. Help others to see this light and make it shine brightly for all to see.
Active faith in God will also result in giving us faith in ourselves and our abilities to do His work. It will lead us toward meeting His challenge of loving our fellow man, even those who have wronged us. It will also lead to a government, where it is needed, which is limited and always subservient to His power. This is hard to do but it is expected. Remember the verse from 1 Corinthians 13:
So now faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
You don't have to love what is being done, but you have to love the sinner. You have to keep your heart open to forgiveness. But remember, ultimately, the choice for us all is free will. We can't make someone come to God or believe in Him, but we are charged with trying to do so.
Put your faith in God and apply the "Golden Rule" to all aspects of daily life. Live well but not just for yourself and never let a government body or the almighty dollar become a deity in your life. There is only one Almighty God and He in three persons, The Father, Son and Holy Ghost, constitutes all that you need to truly be successful. In fact, His personage is the only force that can infect your soul and lead you on the proper course to success. Hallelujah!
Today in America we have some seemingly insurmountable problems. The economy is in the tank despite what the "Talking Heads" keep telling us, our President may be about to light a fuse in the Middle East which could cause serious repercussions which haven't even been considered, the number of people "giving up" on finding work is growing and an air of "gloom and doom" can be felt in the heartland. This is particularly noticeable as you get farther away from the New York -Washington corridor and the direct influence of a bloated national government.
As I look at the problems of our land, I must confess that sometimes I feel like it is hopeless and that our society has given up. I search for answers to why we Americans, citizens of the greatest nation on earth, have allowed our wonderful country to lose direction and slowly lose our competitiveness and even our soul. And then it hits me, the problem has developed over time gradually and we have lost sight of what is important.
What is important is is our faith in God. Faith in God is central to every aspect of our life. When I have my doubts, I must turn to my faith in God. He will see me through, give me the answers and direct my way. Try it yourself, ask God to restore or enhance your faith in Him and the Spirit will infect your soul and change you and the way you look at things.
So many of us have been convinced to substitute belief in man and government for our Faith in God. We delude ourselves into thinking that man has all the answers. We in effect make government our God, treating our leaders like they are our elders and know what is best for us. How is that working out for you today? Can we honestly believe that government is the answer when we see the mess it has helped to create with us blindly following along? Some of the problems are endless: increased unemployment and homelessness, degradation of the family with open immorality and huge increases in out of wedlock birth, continuous wars with no end and no clear reason for them, increased animosity between races and differing groups, and open and outright hostility, often on the part of government itself, to our Christian heritage. The government is a tinkerer, but it is never a problem solver.
While there are both good and bad people in government, the overall problem is that man is a sinner and if left solely to his own devices he will repeat his sins over and over. I fear that is what happens in government when those continually retaining office begin to see themselves as a special class of citizenry, afforded a much better lifestyle with special rules and assuming they know better than we what is best for us. So when we substitute faith in government and its leaders for God we are doomed to failure and the corruption and waste of men, money and material only gets worse.
We also have to be very careful about our love of money. Now we all know that everything we do on earth requires money such as food, clothing and shelter, but when we begin to put money first, to put it ahead of God again we are headed for abject failure. Remember what our Savior said in Matthew 6:24:
"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."
It would do us well to remember this. There is nothing wrong with having money, but when it serves the central purpose of a totally self-centered lifestyle our faith in God is sure to crumble. We must always remember that our God is our be all and do all, and we were placed on this earth to serve Him. Jesus didn't die on the Cross for our sins so that we could live a selfish life devoid of all else. We can't make our personal responsibilities a job for a godless government or focus our lives on pure wealth accumulation. For one thing, if we do this what is to stop the government from then coming to take all of our earned resources and for what purpose? An all powerful government lacking the guidance of a loving God will use all the resources at its disposal primarily for retention of power.
No, in addition to our own needs, we need to put our wealth to work for God, doing His work and not that of a mindless bureaucracy. God expects us to do this and we should focus on building a society where we all live free and determine our own destiny under God, not under a bureaucratic edict. Help others to see this light and make it shine brightly for all to see.
Active faith in God will also result in giving us faith in ourselves and our abilities to do His work. It will lead us toward meeting His challenge of loving our fellow man, even those who have wronged us. It will also lead to a government, where it is needed, which is limited and always subservient to His power. This is hard to do but it is expected. Remember the verse from 1 Corinthians 13:
So now faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
You don't have to love what is being done, but you have to love the sinner. You have to keep your heart open to forgiveness. But remember, ultimately, the choice for us all is free will. We can't make someone come to God or believe in Him, but we are charged with trying to do so.
Put your faith in God and apply the "Golden Rule" to all aspects of daily life. Live well but not just for yourself and never let a government body or the almighty dollar become a deity in your life. There is only one Almighty God and He in three persons, The Father, Son and Holy Ghost, constitutes all that you need to truly be successful. In fact, His personage is the only force that can infect your soul and lead you on the proper course to success. Hallelujah!
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