I was asking the Lord what to write about today and hoping it would have some tie-in to my "Psalm of the day" which was Psalm 79 but I was puzzled because it went on and on about God's people being destroyed by the nations. This actually happened to the Jewish nation as accounted in the Old Testament. Jerusalem was destroyed, the land was pillaged, countless were killed, and the majority of the survivors were taken away to live in a new land. I couldn't figure out how recounting this could have any value in a blog article.
Honestly what I wanted to write about, and I hope to soon, is how the online world is like a whole new land - and how we can all be missionaries in this new land whether that be through social media sites like Facebook/others, through blogs and Websites, through Twitter, or through email messages.
As I sat here scanning over the Psalm again I realized there was an important message in there- but it wasn't something that would be attractive or popular. It would definitely bring some heat if I wrote about it... so anyway here we go.
Here is how Psalm 79 starts:
1 O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance;
Your holy temple they have defiled;
They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.
2 The dead bodies of Your servants
They have given as food for the birds of the heavens,
The flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.
3 Their blood they have shed like water all around Jerusalem,
And there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors,
A scorn and derision to those who are around us.
5 How long, LORD?
Will You be angry forever?
Will Your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You,
And on the kingdoms that do not call on Your name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob,
And laid waste his dwelling place.
Most of the visitors to this blog are from America. There are a few around the world (by the way hello- or "howdy" as they say here in Texas!). But in America we have a problem which this Psalm addresses. Remember the first verse..."O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance; your holy temple they have defiled; they have laid Jerusalem in heaps." The issue I want to point out is that we've let the nations come into us- instead of us going to the nations. Its not so much that we've been invaded however- its that we've sucked-in like a sponge the philosophies, priorities, and standards of the world around us - but what we've allowed in has begun to poison us.
Psalm 79 goes on and on about how God's people have been invaded, their temple has been destroyed, and the nations have taken over their land. The parallel I will bring up today is its possible to be a Christian, to have repented and given one's life to follow Jesus Christ, but to become very slowly corrupted by the influences of this world. No one ever woke up in the morning and said, "You know what, today I am going to backslide". No, its a very slow process. If you put a living frog into a pot of boiling water it will jump out immediately. If you put a living frog into room-temperature water and slowly turn up the temperature it will not perceive the change- and it will eventually die from the water as it begins to boil. The frog didn't mean to die- it was tricked. There are at least 4 issues that are slowly ruining the faith of many Christians in America:
Issue #1:
We've been tricked. We too are placed in an environment that seems safe- but can slowly kill us spiritually. Its easy to lose your spiritual identity, uniqueness, freshness, and fervency when living in America because we have a lot of freedom, a lot of resources, and an independent attitude as a country. In America we believe in freedom, we don't like people to restrict us, and we believe everyone has rights. Due to this, as a culture, we feel we can -and should be able to- do anything we want. So, our freedom is wonderful but it creates an attitude that no one should restrict us. So, we live in a culture that despises any restriction- that is issue #1.
Issue #2:
We are prosperous. In America, even those who have less- have generally plenty. When people have resources and an ability to acquire what is needed there is a tendency to forget the Lord and not depend on Him. If we have what we need we are not driven to pray and seek the Lord for needs. We have to seek the Lord because we want to and choose to- nothing external compels us to seek the Lord in America- that is issue #2.
Issue #3:
We are so busy. Stress, work, family, kid's activities, finances, chores, bills, and worries fill our lives- those things are VERY loud in our ears and they FILL our eyes and our mind. It is difficult to spend time on an invisible life, faith, and God - when visible things are overwhelming you- that is issue #3.
Issue #4:
Voices and images surround us with pictures and ideas of things that promise to satisfy us. When you're tired and stressed and need an outlet you have every product you could think of, every type of television show to fit every interest, every kind of Website you could imagine, every kind of shopping you could need, and a song or movie for every occasion or interest. In America you can't even use a restroom without seeing an advertisement for something. We are absolutely drenched with ideas, images, and offers of things to relieve stress, bring pleasure, or entertain us. Since America is free, doesn't believe in restricting freedom, and its competitive -- we find that the voices and images get louder, bolder, and edgier in order to continue to satisfy and attract people. This same approach works with selling perfume, a computer game, a TV show, or anything. The world continually looks for the next thing to get attention or shock as a competitive edge. So we find we are surrounded by choices that continue to push into stronger and bolder areas all the time. As a result of this escalating push the things that we accept as normal are the same things that before would have bothered us. So, issue #4 is we are surrounded by ever-escalating voices, images, and choices that dull us to things that should shock us and they pollute our minds and lives.
The Answer:
So, what is the answer if we are in a culture that doesn't believe in restricting itself, we are prosperous and don't need to pray for our needs, we're too busy to have time for God, and we are surrounded by things that continually pull away our eyes, ears, and minds into things that get worse all the time? How do we avoid having our faith in God shipwrecked in this environment? What can we do to avoid being a boiled frog? The answer is to work with the Lord to un-do the invasion of the temple we saw in Psalm 79. The answer is to cleanse the temple and restore its true purpose. We are God's temple when we accept Christ as Savior and Lord. The purpose of a temple is to worship God, draw near to God, know God, and learn from God. A temple is something that is special, set apart, and pure. We are not going to receive motivation, encouragement, or help from the culture around us to cleanse our temple and put God back in priority. We are going to have to go to God ourselves and ask for His help to make things right.
The great thing is, as loud as the culture is, we can still get quiet with God. As busy as we are- we have the choice of what we do with our time. As much freedom as we may have in America- we can choose to restrict ourselves from things that may not bring us closer to God. As much prosperity as we may have- we can still seek God as urgently as if we had to ask for our daily bread.
Here is the great thing- if we decide to choose to seek the Lord, prioritize prayer, read His Word, have a strong filter on what we allow into our eyes, ears, and in our home we can certainly have a personal revival. I heard a preacher once say, "Do you want a revival? Draw a circle on the ground, stand in the circle, and say 'Lord revive me'". The Bible says "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you"- this WORKS. And when we draw near to God he actually fans the flames of desire for Him within our hearts so we find that we actually want Him more.
Its not about figuring it all out- its about coming to Him.
Let's GO God!
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