America's Choice

"Again and again the Lord had sent his prophets and seers to warn both Israel and Judah: 'Turn from all your evil ways. Obey my commands and decrees - the entire law that I commanded your ancestors to obey, and that I gave you through my servants the prophets'...They rejected all the commands of the Lord their God and made two calves from metal. They set up an Asherah pole and worshiped Baal and all the forces of heaven. They even sacrificed their own sons and daughters in the fire. They consulted fortune-tellers and practiced sorcery and sold themselves to evil, arousing the Lord's anger" (2 Kings 17:13 and 16-17, NLT).

It was a tragic day for God's people when the two nations, Israel and Judah, were eventually wiped out and exiled to the Assyrian empire. A people - a nation - that had once known God and served Him became slaves to their enemies and their enemies ended up occupying the Promised Land. The land that had once flowed with milk and honey and served as a promise from God to His people was now reduced to rubble with pagan shrines marking every passing town. The land was now occupied by people from all different nations who had one foot in, one foot out so to speak. These new residents had heard of the God of Israel and all His mighty acts. How He rescued the former occupants from Egypt and made a way where there was none through the Red Sea. They had heard about how the walls of Jericho fell and God's people defeated enemies greater than they. These stories were enough to make them believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob but just like the Israelites, they couldn't help themselves from their former practices. "They worshiped the Lord, but they continued to follow their own gods according to the religious customs of the nations from which they came" (2 Kings 17:33, NLT).

So what went wrong? How did all these people end up that way? You read through these stories, real stories, of kingdom after kingdom falling. You read all the warnings and all the chances they were given to turn around and do the right thing, and they don't. It's like watching a scary movie and yelling at the screen, No! Don't go that way!!! Turn around!!. But has anything changed since 724 BC? King Solomon had it right when he penned, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9, NIV). When I read these stories of long ago, I can't help but think about America and the direction we are going. What was once a Christian nation who knew God, served Him, is in the process of being reduced to rubble with pagan shrines marking every passing town. And just like the seemingly blind, deaf, and dumb actors on the tv screen, we are walking in the complete opposite direction of where we should. You might be thinking, but I'm not. My family and I do all the right things. We go to church every Sunday. We help people. We volunteer and serve here and there...My response is this: I imagine this is exactly what the Israelites said and thought as their homeland was stripped away from them and they were being carted off in cages.

The condition of the human heart is just that - a condition. It's an illness that was brought on long ago when sin entered the world through one man and woman's decision. They had the choice to obey their Creator and live a life of peace in His presence or disobey Him and live a life of hardship that led to not only physical death but separation from their Creator - God. Life is full of choices. You hear this all the time, but it really is! Deuteronomy 11:26-28 tells us we can choose the blessing by following God's commands and obeying Him or the curse by not following Him. There is absolutely zero middle ground. America, as a whole, has made her choice. We've chosen to continue in our evil ways and reject God and His commands. We've chosen to set up temporary pleasures for ourselves that are enjoyable in the moment but create a future of devastation to ourselves and our families. We worship ourselves through things like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and all the other social media outlets where authenticity goes to die. We set up Asherah pole after Asherah pole in the form of our accomplishments, our "to-do" lists, our cute little messages and hashtags - and then we do something really stupid - we ask God to bless it. While we think we're serving God, we're actually serving ourselves. We sacrifice our own sons and daughters in more ways than one: First, the obvious being abortion, letting 5 year olds "choose" their gender, taking them to drag parties, etc. How about the not so obvious? Sacrificing your child(ren) for your ministry, giving your child everything he/she wants, not disciplining them in the fear of the Lord, foregoing prayer at night for video games and movies, allowing them to listen to music that is literally demonic...do we even realize we are sacrificing them for something else when we make these decisions? What's more is we consult fortune cookies more than we consult God. Churches hold enneagram conferences so their congregants can "know" who they are. We read daily horoscopes to find out when we're going to meet our spouse. We think things like Ouija Boards, Magic 8 Balls, and Tarot cards are harmless and ok to have in our houses. Do we not realize those things are demonic and literally set up strongholds that can last for generations? All of these things and more and we wonder why our nation is the way it is!

He's given us warning after warning! We have a book written by God Himself that has enough warnings in it to make the hair on your neck stand up. Do we read it?He lays it out very clearly and is incredibly transparent about what happens when your heart is not fully devoted to Him. But for some reason, we either just don't care or we're too happy doing things the way we want to do them without a thought given to if we're pleasing God or not. Just look at our nation and what it's become. One of my favorite quotes is, "The definition of insanity is to continue doing the same thing but expecting a different result". By this definition, we are insane. We continue to not follow God and we expect Him to bless us. You and I have made a trail of bad decisions, and our nation has become the product of our poor choices. I believe we are on the precipice of something huge. A turning point is coming for our nation and this world. Do you know how that turning point is going to happen? It's going to happen by the next decision you (personally) make. If you're wondering what the next decision you should make is, I'll tell you. It should be to repent. Repentance is genuinely saying you're sorry to God because of (you fill in the blank). "Genuinely" means not just saying it - giving God lip service - but meaning it. It has to come from your heart. God knows our hearts. Then, you turn from "that" thing. I don't know what that "thing" is for you, but God does. At the end of this, I have a prayer typed out that you can pray. I've said all that to tell you this: You can choose the blessing or the curse. Your decision has the ability to impact the world around you creating a ripple effect that changes the direction of our country.

I asked at the beginning of this post, "Has anything changed since 724 BC"? The answer to that question is yes. Jesus changed it all. Jesus repaired the condition of our heart and reconciled us back to God. Anyone that puts their trust in Him is no longer separated from their Creator, but instead have become a child of God. Romans 10:9-10 says, "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved". Saved from what, you might ask? Saved from eternal separation from the presence of God, which by all definition is Hell. Hell is a very real place that many have gone. Make no mistake about it, you do not want to go there. The fact of the matter is none of us know when we will physically die. This could be the last thing you read before your time is up. I'm begging you to choose Jesus, now.

I'd ask that you would pray this out loud right now:

Jesus,

Thank you for giving me a choice. You loved me so much that you made me with the ability to choose. You didn't force me into loving you or choosing you, but you loved and chose me from the beginning of time. Lord, forgive me for the decisions I've made that don't honor you. Forgive me for not serving you wholeheartedly and following other gods. Please reveal the areas in my life that I've been blinded by that I need to repent from, and then help me turn from them. Let this repentance have a ripple effect in the hearts of those closest to me. Break the generational strongholds that have been set up for far too long in my heart and in my mind. Please send me the Holy Spirit to teach me and guide me. Help me hear your voice louder than I hear the world's. Help me change. Transform me from the inside out. It's in your name that I pray, Amen.

If you just prayed this prayer and you meant it, get ready! Choosing the blessing is an adventure and you're about to go on one. Following God and walking in His ways is the most incredible experience life has to offer. Be forewarned though, this way will look completely contradictory to the world's ways. Get ready for people to not understand you and maybe even criticize you. Get ready to lose some friends, lies to be exposed, and your eyes to be opened like never before. Get ready for an abundant life and a Kingdom that never falls with a King that will rule and reign forever.