Until We Return To The Lord, We Will Weep!

“I myself said, “ ‘How gladly would I treat you like my children and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’ I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me. But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to me,” declares The Lord. A cry is heard on the barren heights, the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel, because they have perverted their ways and have forgotten the LORD their God. “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” “Yes, we will come to you, for you are the LORD our God. Jeremiah 3:19-22 NIV

In the wake of sadness because of the hatred and violence across the land, we must realize that nothing is a surprise to God. Since the days of the prophets (the true prophets), we have been warned that if we willingly forsake God’s ways, our crying would be heard from every corner. And here we are–crying–foul, injustice, hatred, bigotry–and souls are lost because we have turned from God.

Not all of us are guilty of perpetuating violence and hatred, but there are so many who are that the most the rest of us can do is to pray–appealing to God’s merciful nature--while submitting to His Ways and interceding for all who turned from Him.

I don’t know of any one person who would celebrate the lives lost–through gun violence–and yet–our legislators would rather spend time and money on a witch hunt–simply to hinder a person from being elected. It would appear to me–and I’m not serving in Washington–that it would take far less time to legislate sensible gun-control, provide the financial assistance for law enforcement agencies to train personnel not to overreact in situations than it has taken investigating Hillary Clinton. And they think–all the pointless time and money spent–tax payer money–is money well spent! How sad for our country–we have elected leaders who are spending more time and money promoting their agenda than in serving the needs of the people.

Personally, I think every person who has been sitting on their thumbs, refusing to work for the people–should be removed from office and they certainly should not be paid. If anyone else–hired to do a job refused to do it–they would be fired, so it’s time to fire the obstructionists legislators and hire those who will work for the people–not a party.

Until we get things right with God–in our own lives, in our communities and exercise common sense (exercising Godly Wisdom) when electing officials who make decisions, we will continue to hear the cries of those weeping, and we will continue to see the violence because without God guiding us–love is swept aside, so hate reigns.

There are some who think we’ll be brought to our knees if Hillary wins the election and there are some who know we’ll be brought to fall on our faces, prostrate–seeking God’s grace and mercy if Trump wins. We have seen in the past how fearmongering results in foolishness with a president who started a war–over misinformation–and the number of lives lost because of it and the trillions of debt incurred behind it. I knew then, if Bush won the second term, we’d be praying–like never before.  I wasn’t wrong, then and I’m not wrong now. We need a leader who cares about the people–all of us–regardless of our skin color, religious affiliations, ethnicity or gender–every human being in America and knows how to love–unconditionally.

Lord, forgive us and give us a heart of flesh, filled with a desire to please You and not people so love will overflow, drowning the hate and bigotry. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen!

Weeping For The Lost!

Jesus wept. John 11:35

Why did He weep? In the scriptural record, He wept because of the death of a friend–Lazarus–at least that’s what we see on the surface.

If we delve a little deeper, we understand that He was not weeping because Lazarus was dead–He knew He would rise again–He wept because He loves us and knew that even though He was willing to give His life for us–some of us would be remain lost due to our refusal to accept Him and all He has done for us.

When Lazarus died–it was part of the plan to reveal who Jesus really is–and the power He holds over life and death. The religious leaders got it and feared Him. Though they claimed to serve God, they did not know Him and were simply going through religious traditions in order to make themselves feel superior.

Amazing how some of us still have a need to feel superior to others. We are not! We all live and breathe the same way (unless we’re using artificial assistance) and our blood runs red–no matter what color our skin, no matter what our beliefs are–no matter what our gender is (male or female) and He loves us all! It is because of love that He wept then and is still weeping–because so many are lost and will never enter into heaven.

While journeying on earth, He told us, “No man (or woman) comes to the Father (who is in Heaven), except through Him.” John 14:6 (explained) Until we accept Jesus as Lord of our lives and our personal Savior, we will never see The Father in Heaven.

And for that–He is still weeping–for all who are lost–in this world and in the world to come.

For those of us who are filled with the compassion of Christ, we also weep for the lost–both naturally and spiritually–knowing that those who died without having received His love will not get a second chance. We may weep in mourning for those who have died, but we can rejoice in the knowledge that if they had accepted Christ as their personal Savior, they will rise again to live with Jesus forever.

So, while we yet have a chance to turn to The Lord–repenting from sin and choosing to live according to His Word–let’s do it and encourage others to live for Him so He won’t have to continue weeping for them.