America:

 

 

Climb up and look around you.   America the Beautiful! 

 

In 1800 our forefathers saw the lush praries, the majestic mountains, the huge redwoods, the gushing rivers and so much that it was hard to take it all in.  There was, as yet no roads, no railways, just land, the Mississippi and the Ohio.  Men had to walk the trails through the forests, or on horseback.  It took many weeks, even months to go from one place to the other.  A great majority never saw anything beyond 20 miles of where they were born!  But those who ventured into the unknown West brought back stories that stirred a young nation to fufill their dreams.

 

But of course, all of nature is but a thing of beauty unless it brings hope to a human heart.  And all hope is governed by the liberty to pursue a dream. And that is exactly the reason we exist at all as a nation.  Because years before, men and women left the oppression that fought hope and dared to crowd a creaking wooden ship to sail across the Atlantic to touch and taste freedom's shore.  If they arrived safely, they would honor God as the one that had made it possible.

 

 It wasn't easy to arrive on the shores of this country.  Many would die for their dreams, wars would be fought even on the foreign lands they had left.  They did not abandon their roots. And because they came to know just how precious was freedom, they gladly died for others on beaches  thousands of miles from home.  Those who could not bear arms, gladly sacrificed aid to those in need, for whatever reasons. 

 

Freedom is the choice we make to purse it.  But we can take it for granted, and to claim it as the result of our own efforts.  When we do that, we forget that there are consequences to refusing to acknowledge Him.  No matter what idiology or lack of it, as long as we honored God, we prospered above all the nations of the world. 

 

But this Thanksgiving is perhaps the most crucial time in all our history.  There has been a great "falling away", predicted in the scriptures.  We are fast seeing the walls of liberty crumbling, because we neglected "so great salvation" and men and women who once knew the Lord now have become lukewarm and neglectful to preserve this nation "under God".  And that is why we are in the troubles we see now. 

 

But it is not too late, America!  It is when we acknowledge our sins, we have forgiveness.  But don't take that as a light thing.  We as a nation must uncover and expose our failures and chart a new course.  For only by His grace will we make it through the spiritual tsunamis, the icebergs, the killer waves, the hurricanes that are forming to keep our ship from completing the journey ahead. 

 

We must prepare our hearts and minds....now.

 

Do we realize that deep inside ourselves could be a hidden weakness that would surface at some crisis moment to

destroy your chances of escape? 

 

It is hidden behind a false mask that appears to be righteous and totally committed to God, yet it is seldom exposed

until a great disappointment or a tragic event occurs in the life of a person. 

 

At what degree does water boil?  At what point does it freeze?  We all know those answers, but we should also know

what we would do when faced with a devastating disease, a loss of a loved one, or when circumstances leave us, like Job, with nothing but dust and ashes and sores upon our body. 

 

Paul wrote about it: "Don't harden your hearts against him as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested God's patience in the wilderness...make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.  You MUST WARN EACH OTHER EVERY DAY..so that none of you will be deceived by sin and HARDENED AGAINST GOD" (Hebrews 3:8,12) Amplified

 

Not me!  I would never do that!

• Charles Darwin was once a believer.  But he rejected God because of the death of his daughter.
• Another famous agnostic once got saved and wanted to be a missionary.  But turned from God at the death of his sister. He said he prayed for her one hour a day.  But did he mention that he had a spirit of lust and had been kicked out of a university for having a woman in his room?
• Even Pope Benedict 16 went to a Nazi death camp and said aloud to God: "How could you tolerate all of this? Why did you remain silent? Where was God in those days?  How could you permit this endless slaughter?"
• Adam was the first to do it. "..the woman YOU gave me, she did give me to eat!"

 

Were those outbursts spontaneous slips of the tongue, or were they hidden thoughts that had simply been suppressed for a long time just waiting for release with an angry tongue lashing out at God?

 

David wrote: "You have tested my thoughts and examined my heart in the night.  You have scrutinized me and found nothing amiss, for I am determined not to SIN IN WHAT I SAY." (Ps 17:3 Ampl)

 

The story of Job is an example of this.  God had declared him a righteous man.  But Satan attributed that to God's blessing him. "Take away the blessings, and he will curse you" he said to God.  So God allowed Job to be tested.

All that he possessed was taken away..his children, his cattle, all his substance.  But "in all of this, Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly".  He rent his clothes and lay in dust and ashes and said, "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked I will leave.  Blessed be the name of the Lord!"  Read the story.  He passed the test. You will find that God restored him everything--his latter days more than his beginning!

 

People today are even suing God!  A Nebraska State senator sued God over "natural disasters, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, and pestilences.  A Romanian pastor (serving in prison for murder) sued God because He "failed to save him from the devil!"

 

We may think these are silly, but they reflect what lies deep inside of so many people today. 

• Where was God on 9/11?
• How come God let Katrina happen?
• How come God didn't stop the Tsunami in Asia?
• If He is so powerful, why didn't he stop Hitler?
• How come the fires in California? Why didn't God do something!
• Where is God when I lose my job and my house?
• How come?  How come?

Perhaps that is best explained when we understand that sin has consequences.  Jesus was himself questioned about the 18 men who died in the tower of Siloam. "Those 18 who died, do you think they were sinners above all the others living in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no.  Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish". 

 

Jesus himself prophesied of all these things coming on the earth.  Things would wax worse and worse--men's hearts failing them for fear.

 

Today, America is fast outlawing even the mention of God.  People want God to keep them from harm and evil, yet  do not want to honor  and live in Him.  And when He looks down from heaven and sees the decadence in our streets, the abortions, the ponography, the wickedness and murder that occur daily, we must remember that God cannot be righteous without also judging unrighteousness.

• New Orleans has long been known as the murder capital of America.  Its annual celebration of homosexuality is paid for by public coffers.  Preachers have warned, have prophesied what will eventually happen. 
• San Franscisco has its celebrations too. Recently they posted a billboard depicting the Last Supper, with Gays at the table in their attire.  Soon after, a Catholic priest gave communion to some of them.
• The California governor has signed a bill that would require public schools to teach children from kindergarten on up all about "alternative lifestyles" and it is said that there is to be no mention of the words "mother and father" allowed!
• The Orange County chapter of the Red Cross recently honored the 9-11 volunteers who went to New York with a celebration.  A group of singers were not allowed to sing any songs mentioning "God".  Orange County is where the most fires were located in California.
• Tsunami?  When I was in Puket, Thailand before the great tsunami you wouldn't want to go out beside the hotel swimming pool.  People were naked in the water, as well as the beaches.  Pedophilias and deviates roamed everywhere.  On the day that it happened, Christians were told  by the Muslims they could not celebrate Christmas, so they went to the mountains...where they were all safe!

The prophet Jeremiah warned the Jews in Jerusalem that the longsuffering of God had come to an end. They would be taken captive when the Babylonian army was approaching.

 

Are you prepared for the days ahead?  I do not mean have you laid up a store of goods and have built a cabin in the deep woods.  I mean, are you ready to have your faith tested beyond anything like ever before?  What will you SAY  when the dollar collapses, when new diseases rage across the land perhaps killing one of your loved ones, when you lose your job, then your house, and anarchy rules the streets of your beloved country?  What words will come out of your mouth then?

 

It is imperative that we prepare our hearts that the words of our mouth be acceptable in His sight...

 

America, and all Christians on this planet: God has not rescinded His Words:

 

 

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves

and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways;

 then will I hear from heaven and forgive

their sin, and heal their land." (2 Ch 7:14)

 

 

 

Mary E. Adams