Lost and Found
Barbara Henderson
It is election time in the United
States. Right now the two parties are
choosing their candidate. It appears
that no one is happy about anything.
America is furious. Liberals are
furious because America is not swinging left at a fast enough pace. Conservatives are furious that the nation is
going left at an alarming pace.
Truly, the swing to the left would not
be possible if Christianity had not been marginalized in society. No matter what is being pushed as the truth
today, Christianity was the foundation of this nation. God Almighty raised up this nation, and in turning
from Him there are certain things that are gradually lost, things that make the
world better. Christianity could only be
marginalized or trivialized when Christians do not show their faith by their actions. There are some false-Christians claiming to
be Christians; but there are also a great number of real Christians who are
trying to get along with the world instead of be separate from the world. This has caused a great loss to our culture
and our nation.
Things
that are lost include:
Love
of God
‘And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy might.’ Deuteronomy 6:5
People who don’t know the Lord don’t
love Him. Unfortunately, even many Christians
are often very casual about their love for God.
When we love a person we want to please them. We try not to do things that will cause a
rift between us. I have two friends
outside family that I would rather eat glass than offend. They are very dear to me. I have friends inside my family that mean the
world to me. I love them. I don’t make every decision based on whether
or not it will offend them, but I do take it into consideration. But with God every decision should be made
regarding whether or not our actions will offend God. When dealing with imperfect people we sometimes
have to do something that a friend or loved one will consider offensive. But with God there is no choice. If it offends God we should not do it. God is righteous all the time. He loves us all the time. He does what is best for us all the time.
Fear
of God
‘Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour
the king.’ 1 Peter 2:17
‘Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged,
yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which
fear before him:’ Ecclesiastes 8:12
Have you ever made a decision based on whether or not it will make
someone mad? If you spend a lot of time
fearing someone’s reaction to you actions then that person is probably not a
real friend. If that person is a family
member then you may need to get some professional help regarding how you deal
with them.
But, with God it is different.
God is merciful, slow to anger, but ultimately He will not be
mocked. God is eternally continually
righteous. What we sow we will
eventually reap. Besides loving God, we
are to fear His reaction to our bad behavior.
My concordance says we could translate ‘fear of God’ as ‘reverent awe of
God’. Either way, God’s voice is the one
that counts.
In today’s world, there is no fear of
God in the world. The world, its leaders,
its people deny the existence of God so they certainly have no love for God or
fear of God.
A
sound mind
‘ For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of
power, and of love, and of a sound mind.’ 1 Timothy 1:7
When watching the world leaders reveal
plans regarding how they plan to make everything equal they appear totally
insane. In their minds, the government
is god. The citizens are worker ants. They want only a few elite people such as
themselves to have the power and authority to give everyone an equitable
existence. No one will have more than
another person. No one will have
less. All things will be equitable or
exactly the same. Equality is a thing of
the past. Equitable is the thing they
are seeking now. The problem with
equality is that some people will rise above others in education, pay scale,
housing, ability to spend wisely, and even ability to enjoy life. The person who works and saves should have no
more than the person who doesn’t work and doesn’t save. It is ‘from each according to
his/her/gender-neutral ability. To each
according to his/her/gender-neutral needs.’
Of course it is the elite who decides who needs what and who is able to
work at what. No one but lazy people,
thieves, or lunatics think that is a good idea.
Families are required to look after family members. It isn’t the job of the government to provide
for people. It is the job of the
government to work toward an environment that allows people to work and keep
what they work for. Christians know that
it is God Almighty who supplies all our needs.
It is God alone who loads us with daily benefits.
Family
structure
‘Therefore shall a man leave
his father and his
mother, and shall cleave unto his
wife: and they shall be one flesh.’
Genesis 2:24
Today people are not getting
married. Even Christians are not getting
married. They attend church on Sunday
and go home to whoever they are shacked up with for the rest of the week. I do understand the government has set it up
so that couples who do get married face an economic hardship that those who
don’t marry do not face. The very sad
fact is that whenever the government ‘gives’ you money they are massive strings
attached. Regardless of the government
God tells His children to get married.
Don’t behave like you are married when you are not!
Christian
work ethic
‘ Servants, obey in all things your masters according to
the flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but in singleness of heart,
fearing God;
23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as
to the Lord, and not unto men;
24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall
receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.’
Colossians 3:22-24
Have you personally been around
co-workers who are so afraid of doing more than their fair share that they
spend half their time making sure everyone else does more than they do? Christians should not worry about what others
are doing. They should just concern
themselves with what their personal duties include and make sure they are doing
more than is required of them. This work
ethic should be used in every situation including home, work, and volunteer
situations. Right now there are
businesses who want to build a work force that could continue productivity in
an event where a good portion of the staff is suddenly unavailable for
work. I have news for them. They might be able to do this on paper, but
in reality it will not happen. Too many
people are so afraid of doing more than is required of them that they refuse to
learn additional job skills or learn to do someone else’s job. If in the case of a natural disaster or
epidemic that takes out 25% of the work force the business would probably have
to close its doors. The current work
ethic for most employees is do as little as possible, learn as little as
possible, and spend as much time as possible making sure you don’t do anyone
else’s job. There have always been
slackers at work and at home, but that does not change a Christians duty to
work to please God. If they get no credit for what they do at work that does
not mean God Himself is not fully aware of what they are doing. Ultimately everyone will reap what they sow. God is not mocked.
Modesty
‘Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the
glory of God.’ 1 Corinthians 10:31
I chose this verse because it covers a
lot of territory. Seriously, Christians
of either gender should not dress to attract attention only. Christians are to be an example to the
world. We are to be different on the
inside first and foremost. But, what is
on the inside does show up on the outside.
Dress appropriately for the occasion.
If you are working at a soup kitchen where the hungry are fed it is best
to dress in a manner that will not make those coming for a meal feel
uncomfortable. If you are going to fancy
ball then you should wear something that is appropriate for the occasion with
the idea that the more skin covered up the better. You can still be elegant and attractive. I hate to use the ‘What would Jesus do?’
phrase, but in some cases it is appropriate.
Or what would the virtuous woman in proverbs do? Seriously, at church a while back the woman
in front of me turned around facing me to pick up something. When she bent over I had a full view of what
would be called pornography if it were a photograph. She hadn’t been coming long and probably
didn’t know any better. But, if
Christians don’t set an example then new Christians will have a hard time
learning. I do not subscribe to the idea
that women cannot wear pants, cut their hair, wear makeup, or simply dress to
look nice. Attracting attention by our
outfit should not be our prime objective.
These are just a few things that are
lost when a nation turns from God. The
sad thing is that many Christians follow the example of the world instead of
following the instructions God gives us in the Bible. When God tells us to love Him, obey Him,
marry and raise a family, work to support our family, attend church, and to do
all things heartily as if the Lord is our overseer, then that is what we should
be doing. It doesn’t matter what the
world is doing or thinking. The Lord is
the One who matters!
‘For
the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he
will save us.’ Isaiah 32:22
Whatever happens on the political scene,
both nationally and globally, does not change that our future is secure with
the Lord. He is our judge. God will judge us on our actions. God is our law giver. We are to obey the laws of man unless they
conflict with God’s law, but our ultimate laws are based on God’s word. God is our King. Hallelujah!
We have a righteous King. One day
He will rule the world. In the mean time
we have to put up with earthly rulers.
Our salvation is of the Lord.
That salvation is both spiritual and physical. It is easy to get caught up in the political
and social scenes of this world. But
ultimately our salvation comes from the Lord.
It is time for the Christians to look at the things lost to our
countries and make sure that nothing is being lost due to our own actions.
For Christians to ‘find’ the things that
have been lost in our nation we need to mentally put God back on His
throne. This begins with individual
Christians setting their hearts and minds to do the things God says to do. God should be the King of our lives. Our actions should be pleasing to God. He is number one. If your actions please God then they will
ultimately please those who love God.
They really will probably never please the non-Christians in your
personal life or your national life.
The truth is that most of the liberal
politicians are not Christian even though they may claim to be. They are just acting like
non-Christians. That is the way almost
all of the world acted before Jesus came.
How non-believers act is not supposed to affect how Christians act.
True Christians actually know the Jesus
Christ of the Bible. They don’t follow a
made up Jesus such as those mentioned in Islam and Mormonism. Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God,
eternal, sinless, and part of the Triune God of the Bible. The Jesus of Islam is just a prophet. They accept their Jesus as a prophet and
nothing else. To Mormons Jesus is not
eternal deity. All Mormons are on the
road to becoming a god like Jesus was once on the road to becoming a god
according to Mormon theology. Jesus is
the one and only way into heaven. Jesus
does not need any help from Mary or anyone else to get you into heaven. He personally paid the price that opened one
door into heaven. I have no desire to
hurt anyone’s feelings regarding their faith. My goal is to encourage people to
read the Bible and apply Bible teachings to personal actions.
Mormonism, Islam, and Catholicism adds
to what is written in the Bible. The
Bible says, ‘For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the
prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add
unto him the plagues that are written in this book:’. Revelation 21:18
Just read the Bible and learn Bible
doctrine. Don’t be led astray because of
ignorance on your part or fear of violating some ritual.
The
Bible teaches that Jesus is the only way to God the Father.
‘Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me.’ John 14:6
The
Bible teaches that He is the Son of God.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of
the Father,) full of grace and truth.’ John 1:14
‘
‘For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ John 3:16
The
Bible teaches that Jesus is eternal, having no beginning and no end. ‘Jesus
said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.’ John 8:58
Don’t you love the song ‘Amazing Grace’? The line that says, ‘I once was lost but now
am found’ is wonderful. As believers and
followers of Jesus Christ we were once lost, but now we are found. Of course God never ‘lost’ us, but we were
separated from Him by our sins. Once we
have been saved, or ‘found’, we can never lose our salvation. However, we can stray from God. He doesn’t ‘unadopt’ us when we sin, but He
is not pleased with our actions. Like a
loving father, God will take the time to correct our bad behavior. Instead of waiting for a dire ‘correction’ it
is better to look at our own lives and see what corrections need to be
made.
Applying Bible teachings to personal
actions is not something that Christians should take lightly. John 14:15
says,
‘If
ye love me, keep my commandments.’
The beginning of finding what has been
lost in our families and in our countries is to show our love for God by
keeping His commandments.
