Tuesday, August 28, 2012

The Judgement Of America - Part 1

Leviticus 26:14-39
14But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, 15 and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant…

Doesn’t this describe America?

We haven’t obeyed Him. Our society barely observes any of God’s commandments, let alone all of them. Our culture reeks of drunkenness, pornography, perverted speech, dishonor toward parents and violence toward everyone. We’ve supported laziness and punished honest work. We’ve abandoned marriage – only insisting on it in the case of homosexuality. In its place, our young people are trying to live the married life while still outside of the covenant of marriage.
Our culture despises God’s statutes and ridicules the precious Book that contains them. Open your ears and listen to the way the Bible is being talked about in this nation. It’s the butt of every joke, the laughing stock of our “higher education”, and even the embarrassment of many churches!
That’s right, even in churches we’ve broken our covenant and haven’t performed all of God’s commands. Our preachers have used God’s love and grace to excuse perverse and immoral lifestyles. American Christians have grown shallow in their commitment and cold in their love.
This is not a good place for any nation to be!

16 I also will do this to you:

God isn’t playing games anymore. We should’ve done our research before we told Him that we didn’t want Him in our country!
What follows is more than just a prophetic message to the nation of Israel – it's a wake up call for this country. As you read this warning, notice how current it is! Christians, repent and pray for your country!

I will even appoint terror over you…

The very first part of God's judgment on a backslidden nation is fear.
And right now, it seems like fear is everywhere.
“Don’t fly in a plane because it might be blown up.”
“Don’t go see a movie because you might be shot”
“Don’t walk alone at night time.”
“Don’t walk alone during the day.”
“Don’t leave your house door unlocked – whether you’re away or at home.”
We’re facing fear like never before!
“What if a meteorite smashes into earth?”
“What if a super-volcano erupts in Yellowstone Park?”
“What if California sinks into the ocean?”
“What if tornadoes and hurricanes demolish our cities?”
“What if I lose my job tomorrow?”
“What if we lose our house this month?”
“What if the wrong person gets elected this year?”
Why are gun sales are at a record high? Why is freeze-dried food flying off the shelves? Why does our government have websites to prepare people for disasters and enemy attacks? It’s because of fear!
Fear is the first stage of punishment for a disobedient nation – and we’ve been steeped in it for a long time now. Worry and stress (really, fear in disguise) are two of the leading causes for medical conditions and mental disorders.
Luke 21:26 describes this gripping fear that strangles the disobedient: “men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming…”

…wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart.

God warns His backslidden nation of diseases being poured out if they refuse to repent.
AIDs, swine flu, bird flu, bat flu are just a few of the many disease scares we've had in this country.
Other diseases that we thought were under control, such as measles, malaria, and tuberculosis have recently been making a comeback. What's going on?
Why do kids have to immunized to twenty-one diseases before they turn six years old? Why is America spending 75 billion dollars a year to care for cancer patients? Why are flu shots being given out like candy every year?
I propose that we're seeing the beginning of what God has been warning us about all along. As Romans 1:27 says it this way, they are “receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.”
I'm not saying that people catch a disease because of their sin...I'm saying that we as a nation have opened the door for disease to run wild in this nation. God is Yahweh Rapha – the LORD our Healer – so what would you expect to see in a nation that turns their back on Him?

And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

Let me ask you, how much of your salary or wages are actually paid to you? Now, how much of what you worked for is being taken from you and given to others? This is the modern-day equivalent of what God is saying here. In other words, you're going to work but not see the benefit from it.
The average working American pays about 12% of their pay in income taxes. This means that for 30 work days out of every year, you're donating your paycheck to the federal government.
But the income tax isn't the only tax we pay! You also pay your property taxes, state income tax, state sales tax, social security tax and even a service tax in restaurants! This isn't including the “hidden taxes” that we pay when businesses and corporations wrap their own tax burdens in their prices.
Adding all of these taxes up, Americans will have to work an astounding 107 days to pay! If you started on January 1st – you would have to work until April 17th and hand over every single paycheck! (although we have it good right now – once Obamacare's taxes are enforced, that date moves back even further, to May 14th!)
Where are all these tax dollars going?
1 – Washington. This was the only city in the country that wasn't hit by the current recession. Why? Because this is where the wealth of the nation is going! It is an incredible fact that nearly one in ten D.C. residents are lawyers (in the rest of the country it's closer to 1 out of 300)! Per capita, Washington D.C. is the wealthiest city in the United States. Do you really think that the high tax rates and wealth of Washington are coincedence?
2 – Handouts and freebies. In 2011, almost 46 million Americans received food stamps – AKA SNAP benefits. This is a staggering number – one out of five adults! Modern statistics show that between 30 and 50 million Americans are receiving welfare benefits.
Can you see this judgement in effect? You work, you spend your time and energy, but someone else is eating the benefits. This is the result of a nation that turns away from God.

17 I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies.

Thankfully, we haven't been defeated by our enemies yet...but we've lost a lot of ground! We've become the scorn and ridicule of many third-world dictators and oppressive governments. Nations that should be shaking in fear have been shaking their fists at us instead.
Terrorists are free to come and go through our borders as they please. Drug cartels have actually seized control of many towns and counties on the southern border – terrorizing US citizens on U.S. soil!
Islamic fundamentalists have been steadily progressing in influence and authority. Entire towns are subjecting their own laws to Islamic Sharia law.
I pray we wake up before the total realization of this judgement – I do not want to see this great nation defeated by its enemies. I pray that repentance and revival will sweep through this land before things get even worse!

Those who hate you shall reign over you...

In the past, we would have to go overseas to listen to leaders who hate our nation and oppose what we stand for. Today, we only have to tune into some of our Godless politicians to hear this type of rhetoric.
Here are just a few examples from the highest office in the nation – the office held by President Obama:
"Whatever we once were, we're no longer a Christian nation."
"As a student of history, I also know civilization's debt to Islam."
"The United States is still working through some of our own darker periods in our history."
"My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy. We sometimes make mistakes. We have not been perfect."
"While the United States has done much to promote peace and prosperity in the hemisphere, we have at times been disengaged, and at times we sought to dictate our terms."
"It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
"Too often, the United States has not pursued and sustained engagement with our neighbors. We have been too easily distracted by other priorities, and have failed to see that our own progress is tied directly to progress throughout the Americas."
In the delicate language of politics, these are very strong words. We now have a man ruling over us who doesn't particularly care for us! But President Obama isn't alone!
Rev. Jeremiah Wright proclaimed from his pulpit “God d—n America!” Professor Ward Churchill proclaimed from his podium “Get the United States out of the Americas...and out of mind!” Both men could barely finish their sentences due to the overwhelming noise of standing ovations. Something has gone drastically wrong.
Our leaders, from the government to the pulpit, hate this country, and its people. We do indeed have our haters ruling over us.

 

and you shall flee when no one pursues you.

Cowardice.
Frivolous lawsuits and pushy activists have brought us to the place where we bend over backwards to avoid offending people. We're so afraid that someone will get offended by us that we opposes ourselves and restrict our own freedoms of religion and speech.
We're afraid that a prayer in a graduation will offend someone, so we cut it from the program.
We're afraid that a Christian t-shirt will upset someone, so we make kids turn them inside-out.
We're afraid that the name of Jesus will make someone uncomfortable, so we cut it out of the speech.
And we do all of this based on assumptions! We're so afraid of offending anyone, that we're fleeing when no one is chasing us!
After seeing God's first six warning, it's clear that this country has begun to see the consequences of our disobedience. From here, it only gets worse!

Christians, we need to repent of our sin and turn back to our first love! This nation will rise or fall based on the spiritual lives of believers. Many Christians claim to love this country, but they fail to realize that their half-hearted commitment to God is largely to blame for the spiritual climate throughout America. God holds us responsible for the fate of our nation – it's time to wake up!
2 Chronicles 7:14 “...if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

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