Emotionalism at the Ball Games

I was sent a video of a sailor in uniform singing some of our favorite songs, at a recent ball game.  The songs we grew up on that gave us good feelings, often to tears. 

I wonder if the singer understands that we are under judgment?

That no matter how much we ask God to bless our country, it will fall on deaf ears because we are not repenting from our sins as a country.

Psalm 66:16-20

"16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, And I will declare what He has done for my soul. 17 I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue. 18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.

19 But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me!"

Our prayer ought not that "God bless us", but that we learn to bless God.

I used to love to hear these things, but I realize that all this wonderful emotionalism, isn't going to cause people to repent, they need the gospel and a spirit of brokenness over their sin.

Emotionalism only causes pride and solidifies our elevated opinion of ourselves.

Christianity in our country is not dedication to Christ but an emotional high that we look for, we like to feel good about ourselves.

2 Peter 2:18-22

"18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error."

19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire."

If those people in the stands would take their focus off of their pleasurable ball games and begin to pray for forgiveness, we might have a chance at further blessing but of  righteousness, not freedom and material prosperity, but the blessing of a changed heart.

Psalm 51:17 "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."

I wonder how many in the stands at those ball games, are on second and third marriages, how many have had abortions, how many are dressed in immoral clothing and will hit the bars after the game?

You see, that song was beautiful and the soldier’s decorum was commendable, but we have to look beyond the emotion to the reality, otherwise we may become prideful that we have changed our hearts by merely listening to a song that made us "feel good."

When our Christianity, in many Pentecostal and Charismatic churches is based on how emotional we can appear to others, then we have a fallacious, misleading and deceptive Christianity based on personal gratification.

This is not the Christianity of the Bible, nor does God desire it. He wants our hearts, quiet and gentle devotion to Him planted firmly in the foundations of the Word of God, motivated by love and desire to obey Him. Growing in grace daily as we seek His will not our own.

Emotionalism leads us astray, it causes us to think things are wonderful when they are not, it causes us to think things are bad when they are not.  We must ignore them, enjoy the song, but do not let it override our good sense based on Scripture.  

Political Swaggering

Swaggering and boasting about "lifting our voices" to change the political climate in our country has little or no effect. Our vote has no power, if you know how this system works, it is controlled by those of an elite group, that make sure that no one Christian or conservative makes it in power without lots of compromise.

The conservatives at the top, have little influence and power, we see that right now. When the powers that be, can shut down all our parks, not pay military and other forms of extortion, and end up getting their way, then we know that the conservatives are figure heads and no more.

The animal that runs our government is not just those we see on the evening news, there is a huge world wide machine that orchestrates things that never come to the surface.

All things are on schedule for the culmination of the one world government and the one world religion. You, can stand all you want and work real hard, but it will all come to naught because prophesy is in motion, there is no stopping it.

I say all this show that our efforts to "save our country", ought to be better spent praying for individuals, persecuted Christians around the world and witnessing Christ.

Our freedom in not very important in the vast configuration of things, but obedience to the Great Commission is.

Satan said "Self Esteem" but God said "Others Esteem"

2 Timothy 3:1-5 "3 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,"

Abortion rights, did not cause women to get abortions. When the Roe v Wade decision came down in 1973, as soon as the restraints were removed for abortion, the industry exploded with business.

The decision to allow it did not cause people to rush out and get abortion, they did rush out to do it, but it was their evil hearts that wanted the freedom, in the first place.

Had the women been moral and loving godly women the new law would not have been an issue, they would not have gotten abortions. The law would have been irrelevant.

When we give people freedom to sin, their hearts will reveal them by what they decide to do with that freedom.

We see now just how wicked the women were in our country by their response to the freedom to kill their own babies.

I can't think of anything more heinous, than murdering by torture innocent helpless babies for the sake of personal gain, the gain on the part of the doctors and the gain on the part of the mothers who want the freedom to be immoral without the responsibility that comes with it.

This mentality of freedom to kill for personal gain is no different from that of Hitler and many other wicked leaders down through history.

I didn't know what abortion was when the decision was made to allow it. I was innocent in these things. When the news caster came on the televsion to announce this new law, I turned to my husband and asked him, "what is abortion."

My husband told me that is was the killing of the baby in the womb, if the mother didn't want it. I was horrified and told my husband, "that law won't go anywhere because no woman would do that to her own child." I was 19 at the time and knew that a baby was a human being , no one had to tell me that.

How innocent and wrong I was. I had no idea that there were women in the world who didn't want their baby. I wasn't yet born again when I knew the principle of women naturally loving their babies. It was a God given inner instinct almost, to protect your baby.

55 million murdered people now, from this "freedom." And we think that God should bless us?

We have lost all natural affection for children, parents, elderly and the infirmed.

Parents are splitting their families because they cannot get along with one another any better than spoiled children get along with other children.

Watch how many people will fight and argue with you over divorce and remarriage and that alone will prove my point. Too many people are living a completely self absorbed condition to be able to submit. They are fighting for all the wrong things, their rights, not righteousness toward God but for their personal rights.

Ephesians 5:21 "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."

When we are clamoring for our personal rights, we have no time to think of others. When we are thinking of only self, then we will not humble ourselves before a holy God and even less with another person.

In our culture manipulation is the norm, to get what we want and we will stop at nothing including murdering tiny helpless babies.

We no longer have self control in anything.

God says in 2 Peter 1:6 "and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,"

Without self control there can be no deference to others or to God. Self control means ignoring our own feelings and desires to do what is right for others.

We need to change our mantra from "self esteem" to "others esteem." The devil was very cleaver in using self esteem to manipulate an entire generation into loving themselves above others.

Luke 10:27 "And he answering said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."

Where in this verse does it say to love your self first? It does not, the devil lied to us for the last 40 years when he said to love yourself first.

Many people who claim to be Christians would say the don't believe in "self esteem", but at closer inspection, we see by the way they indulge their children, lacking Biblical ways of discipline, that they infact, have bought into the self esteem teaching hook, line and sinker.

Manna or Quail?

God gave us our freedom and that very freedom that we wanted is destroying us.

Do you want quail like the Isralites demanded? Or do you want the manna that God provided?

We are so busy worrying about what might not be on the grocery shelves in the future, that we have little time to praise Him for what is there now, with all the fear mongering that is plaguing the internet.

Our grocery shelves are full, with every kind of food possible, and what do we focus on?  What might be,  some time later?  How completely ridiculous is that, and such lack of faith that God will continue to provide. If He took away half of our plenty, we would still be swimming in blessings!!!

Recently I have been grieved a so many believer focusing on the things of this world, especially politics.  So many things have occurred in our country that are unjust, that we think we can change or effect it by our complaining about it. Some will accuse others of not doing enough to “bring our country back.” 

I would like to address this in a different way, other than speaking only about the paranoia that comes with continual overdose of politics and end times fear.  Let’s look at how God views us and our concerns and perhaps our perspective will take a turn.

1 Corinthians 10:11 “Now these things happened to them (Israel) as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”

All that the nation of Israel went through was for our learning.

“Not all Scripture was written to us, but all Scripture was written for us.” Randy Amos

The Instructions to the Israelites were those of warning, that God’s anger not be kindled against them.

Israel displayed 2 rebellions against God, the first was their complaining, and the second was the place they complained, in the presence of God.

Numbers 11:10 “Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was greatly aroused ; Moses also was displeased.

You see, among the Israelites were the mixed-multitude Numbers 11:4, who were the non-Israelites, who were there by marriage or were just tagging along.  They were not of the house of Israel. These were the ones complaining about the manna, wanting meat and because they complained the people of God began to complain too.

God said to the people of Israel, fine, you want meat, I will give you meat.  That pile of meat, quail,  that God gave them, that they so desperately wanted,  was three and a half feet high for twelve miles.  They were excited and began to gather their cherished quail.  There was so much for an entire month that the people couldn’t stand it anymore.

Numbers 11:20

“but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, ‘Why did we ever come up out of Egypt.”

Numbers 11:32-34

32 “And the people stayed up all that day, all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten homers); and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague. 34 So he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving.”

Quail is not bad, it was that it was not what God wanted them to have and He was angry that they were not grateful for His provision!

The things we crave that we think we want, God may give to us, and, it will not only become loathsome to us but may be of great harm.

I think of the mentality of “freedom” in our country. We holler continually about our freedom of speech, our freedom of religion and our freedom of the press.  We worship our freedom as if it is the beginning and end of all things. At close inspection,  what we have fought and died for all these years is the very thing that will ruin us.

The mentality of freedom has pushed out God’s principles from our hearts.  We think continually more about our freedom and taxes than we seek God. Our clamoring after our material wealth and our freedom to do as we please, is destroying us from within.  We need no other country to destroy us we are doing it to ourselves.

We as a country have worshiped freedom instead of God, we have elevated our rights and our desires above the principles of Christ so much so, that we can no longer distinguish between right and wrong.

Churches today are shouting “we want flesh”, just like the Israelites did.  The churches have allowed the “mixed multitude”, in other words, those who come to our gatherings but are not born again, to influence us with their whining and complaining about music and delivery of the messages, their desire for ungodly and fleshly programs that only drive us from the worship of God.

Israel wanted a political leader like all the heathen nations, they wanted to be like the world, and we can see in God’s Word, how that brought them grave troubles. Had they been satisfied with God as their leader, then they would have enjoyed the peace that comes with honoring Him. 

Israel thought that they would be stronger with a political leader than with God as their head.  They became obsessed with politics as our nation has today.  Every believer should desire God to be their head and God to do their fighting for them. But today’s modern believer thinks we must fight in the flesh to protect ourselves and that politics can protect us better than God can. 

We have spurned the Holy Spirit by our desire to rule ourselves.  When God rules in our lives, the culture and the politics have no power over us.  Those who trust the politics are in bondage to their fears and ultimately will reap the consequences of their fleshly thinking.

The Lord wants us to speak of His righteousness, and sometimes that will include in voicing our beliefs that others will become born again, through the realization that we are deeply in sin and headed for hell without Christ.

God never told believers to take over any governments, nor did He tell us to force non-believers to do what we do.  Our mission was given to us by God and that was to spread the gospel and obey God ourselves. 

Luke 10:27 “So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the  Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”

Proverbs 3:5-8

 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. 8 It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.

Do we have enough faith to trust God in all that we have to encounter here on earth, or are we looking for an earthly savior through politics?  An important question to ask God in our prayers.

Please beloved, stop praying for political victories and begin to pray that God will work mightily in the hearts of every believer that we may be that light that God told us to be, the light that testifies of the Lord.