TALK LESS! PRAY MORE! The Choice

"If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve." Joshua 24:15a

May 9, 2012 POTUS used the office entrusted to him by the people of the United States as the platform for a presentation of a statement on his personal evolution. He took pains to share his angst and feelings over the process of making a difficult decision. He made it clear it was based upon personal reflection, private conversation with his wife and profound counsel from his two young children. He went out of his way to clarify that his choice was based on his Christian convictions. In one brief statement he made a metamorphosis from a follower of Christ in sync with God's view on marriage to one who was more comfortable with being in touch with his own feelings and those closest to him. In one breath he blew away the authority of God's Word, but expressed His allegiance to the same God who wrote it.  It was a glib swan song to Christian orthodoxy and must have sounded eerily like the tune Nero played while Rome burned.

Reaction to his announcement has been swift. Remarks have ranged all the way from faint praise indeed to blubbering congratulations to benign contempt to moral outrage, and given rise to hostile condemnation. One leftist blogger referred to him as an empty suit making a play for a financial windfall from the very community that would prove to be the recipient of his support. Others on the right were equally cynical about the political nature of the announcement. They decried his decree as a diabolical design to create a firestorm of moral outrage that would cause a smokescreen large enough, loud enough and long enough to cover his economic record until election day.

The simple truth is relatively clear, even if his motive is not.  He made his choice. It remains to be seen whether his evolution will launch a new revolution.  Those who support what he said are already clamoring for more. Those who oppose what he said are shouting, "Enough is enough." Time will tell which will win the day. All things being equal, those who are able and willing to shed more heat than light on the issue will win the day in the political arena. The result will be a country of divided people and a scorched earth political landscape regardless of who claims victory. This battle for the "Soul of America" is a long way from over and it is not going to be pretty. This national turnaround will require a tumultuous Spiritual upheaval of the status quo at every level of the contemporary culture. The next Great Awakening is not restricted or enhanced by the party in power. It's power comes from a higher level of authority, and it can begin in the home and overflow into the church. The choice is yours. Awakening begins with the next step of obedience.

"SOUL OF AMERICA" SURVIVAL KIT 

1. CHALK: Take a piece of chalk and draw a circle around your family and recognize the God given arena of responsibility for your obedience.  Choose to follow the teachings of God's Word regardless of what the bullies of political correctness try to coerce you to do. Courage is the triumph of the fear of God over the fear of man.  When you allow the fear of man to influence the choices you make, it always evolves into disobedience to God's Word. Don't be surprised when your "Christian" friends bale out on God's Word and start making it up as they go along. In search of a fix, they have chosen to go along to get along, but left God out of the mix. There is no law stopping you from transforming your home into a slice of Heaven. Circle up!

"...But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15b

2. KNEE PADS: The finest fruit is produced from the foulest fertilizer. This most recent announcement from the current POTUS is the first of many truckloads of cultural compost that are lined up and ready to bury you under an onslaught of false accusations and personal humiliation. Don't forget. You were called for this and you were born for this. When you are knocked to your knees by the weight of the manure, ask God to release the fragrance of the fruit of His Spirit in your life. God does not waste any tear or any trial that is brought to Him in prayer. Knees down. Prayers up. It is harder to hate those you pray for. It is not impossible, just harder. Wipe the spittle of moral outrage from your lips. Cough out the bone of resentment that is in your throat. Shake out the rock of retaliation that is  in your shoe. Get on your knees, and pray for them anyway. TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

"You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you may ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you." John 15:16

3.  REAR VIEW MIRROR: It doesn't hurt to look back once in a while and remember where you have been, and where you were headed before your life was turned around.  "Such were some of you" is one of the most profound statements in God's Word. The ground is level at the foot of the cross and a reading of this laundry list of the great unwashed is a gentle, but firm reminder that except for the grace of God you would still be trapped in your sin. Don't get on your high horse to look down on those who are in need of a turnaround experience with God. You were saddled up on a fast horse to hell until  Jesus transformed you into a child of God.  Dismount!

"Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, not adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you.  But you were washed...sanctified...justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." I Corinthians 6:10-11

Gary Miller
TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
gmillerlight@gmail.com
garydonmiller.com