Anyone remember the "good ol' days"? I remember my favorite Sunday School teacher in elementary school, saying the pledges to the American flag, Christian flag and the Bible in Vacation Bible School every summer. I remember clips about the Vietnam War and Watergate as I would leave the room when the news came on in the evening (because I was bored with current events at the time). I remember watching re-runs of Leave it to Beaver, Gilligan's Island and the Little Rascals in the summer time, then Scooby Doo and Looney Tunes on Saturday mornings. Those were much simpler times...
I know that even those days had their troubles. I remember dragging brush and loading it in the truck as far back as grade school as my dad trimmed trees on weekends to help pay the bills and make ends meet. Those were the days when a handshake was more than just a sociable gesture. Those were the days when the saying "a man's word is his bond" meant something. Those were the days when everyone removed their hat when the National Anthem was played, and you didn't dare wear a hat into a church building!
Gone are those days.
Today we read and hear about protests about this and that. We see people who call themselves Americans degrading and demeaning the very foundations of this nation. We see the elevation of un-Godly religions and the supression of Christianity in the name of tolerance or political correctness. Truth and morality in society have been replaced with civil rights. We see capital punishment for convicted murderers viewed as barbaric, but the killing of the unborn touted as a woman's choice.
It's enough to cause a person to question - How long, God? How long will You have patience with the foolishness of man?
God isn't surprised by any of this. He saw it coming from WAY back.
2 Timothy 3
Difficult Times Ahead
1-5Don't be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They'll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they're animals. Stay clear of these people.
I don't know about you, but I have a difficult time not interjecting myself into the arguments of the day. I get so frustrated with the State of the Union that I want to scream... God, through Paul, had something to say about that as well...
2 Timothy 2:22-26
The Message (MSG)
22-26Run away from infantile indulgence. Run after mature righteousness—faith, love, peace—joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God. Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. God's servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey. You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth, enabling them to escape the Devil's trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands.
Ouch... I got nailed on that one. While we can get bogged down in the muck of the world around us... we have hope! In respect to "the good ol' days", the Bible assures us:
Hebrews 13:8
New Living Translation (NLT)
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
To myself and anyone else who "the shoe fits", God doesn't require us to defend Him. Remember...
Ephesians 6:12
New Living Translation (NLT)
12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
AND...
2 Corinthians 10:3-4
New Living Translation (NLT)
3 We are human, but we don't wage war as humans do. 4 We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.
If nobody else needed to be reminded of this... I did.
God bless and have a great day!
