On going wobbly

By: American Decency Staff

 

Just the other day I received a Dr. Jim Dobson article entitled “This is no time to go wobbly.”  In the article he spoke about visiting Berlin with his wife Shirley several years ago.  The Dobson’s were trying to understand how educated, cultured people of that day could so foolishly fall prey to Nazism and Adolf Hitler.  

In a similar way, many of us are troubled about America today.   It was a wake-up call for me personally when Bill Clinton was voted into office the first time.  When he was re-elected after Monica Lewinsky, I knew that something was drastically wrong. 

Many years have quickly passed by and most recently we have experienced Barack Obama, as he strategically prepared the ground for Islamic penetration and diversity.  Why, if not for perverse reasons, it’s still not yet clearly understood today?

Now we are in the days of President Trump and many of us believe that God gave us a reprieve.  Did he?   Many of us think so.  We wonder why and if, indeed, this is the case.  At any rate, he is so hated, resisted and undermined by forces that have been strategizing since day one to impeach him and destroy his presidency. 

Reading out of Zechariah 1.  The following verses and application from the Reformation Heritage Study Bible are very timely and instructive.

Quoting: 

And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.  Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.  Zephaniah 1:17-18

1.  The great gospel themes of salvation are always attractive, but there is another side of the gospel that is hard. But the hard message of just judgment against sin and sinners highlights and intensifies the beauty of saving grace. God’s sovereign love for sinners is understood to be all the more gracious in the light of His just wrath and condemnation of sinners. Zephaniah begins his preaching with the hard message and provides some key points of meditation. (1) Judgment is just because of the heinous nature of sin (1:4–13). (2) Judgment is terrible because of its divine source (day of the Lord) and its fearful features and consequences (vv. 15–17). (3) Judgment is inevitable (v. 18). It is the hard and certain message of God’s wrath that transitions so wonderfully to the message of salvation in Christ.  It points to the cross where Christ took the full blow of God’s justice and wrath in the place of His people. His people can escape judgment, not with silver or gold, but by the precious blood of Christ.

2.  Zephaniah’s judgment on Judah specifically is a sobering warning to those who have an association with and show of religion without the reality of religion. Judah, as the covenant nation, had many spiritual advantages yet they mixed what they knew about the truth with the paganism of the world and thus were far from God. There is a danger that those who have been long in the church can be in heart insensitive to the reality of God and truth. The high level of spiritual advantage increases the responsibility, and it is impossible to fool God who knows infallibly the heart of everyone. Remind the children of the importance of personal faith and repentance and not just association with the church. Judgment begins at the house of God.  (emphasis mine)
Thoughts for Personal/Family Worship
Reformation Heritage Study Bible
Zephaniah 1

I’m concerned for our beloved America.   There are forces within and without that have every intention of destroying our country and the many freedoms that remain on the backs of those who have given their lives that we might be free. 

When one considers that elected officials pledge to uphold the U.S. Constitution all the while permitting those who are Shariah compliant political nominees to run for office, it is but one evidence of the vulnerability that our nation faces to one day succumb to those who mean to destroy us, “using our own dirty hands against ourselves.” (from The Explanatory Memorandum)

But wait; the blame doesn’t solely belong upon the politicians. Each of us have internet available to us and should be researching these political candidates, what they believe and stand for, and speak out for or against them depending on where they stand constitutionally, legislatively, and most importantly—Biblically. You and I have a responsibility in the political process; we must take it seriously. Before we vote we must do our due diligence and have conversations with others. It’s not just about who holds what position; it’s as serious as freedom for those who come behind us.

This is not a religious battle but an ideological one.  It isn’t about racism or Islamophobia but about spiritual deadness and darkness, substituting the truth for a lie.

We each need to examine our own hearts and minds in these days of encroaching darkness.  Zephaniah 1 is a good place to start. 

God bless you and may God bless America.

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