An Outrage!
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put MY LAW in their minds, and WRITE IT ON THEIR HEARTS; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. – Jeremiah 31:33 NKJV.
The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked. Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins. – Proverbs 10:11-12 NKJV.
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like…. – Galatians 5:19-21a NKJV.
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. – James 3:13-18 NKJV.
Yesterday, in Cleveland, Ohio near the Republican National Convention, protesters committed a new outrage. What was this new outrage? Throwing urine in plastic baggies on police officers and others. Someone tweeted asking why anyone would have a baggie filled with their urine? Someone tweeted in response that it was in Chapter 2 of the book, “Things I learned in prison.” It is reprehensible! It is an outrage! It is also an assault, and those throwing urine in plastic baggies on others should be arrested and prosecuted. In fact, if someone is infected with a disease it could be considered an assault with a deadly weapon. It is an outrage that there are unlawful violent assemblies blocking highways, rioting, causing personal injuries, and destroying millions upon millions of dollars in property. That is an outrage! It is an outrage when police officers protecting our communities are targeted for assassination. That is an outrage! To list all of the outrages being perpetrated in our country would take more than the space I have here today.
What is the problem that has created such a racial divide, hate and violence in the United States? John Adams, the second president of the United, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence long ago identified the problem we now see in the United States. Adams said this: “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion…Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Franklin Graham in his essay “America the Beautiful?” in the most recent issue of Decision Magazine writes, “Wherever Christianity flourishes, freedom flowers. Wherever it is marginalized, tyranny, despotism, and eventually anarchy will inevitably follow.”
The solution to the hatred, the racial divide, and the violence is obvious. The people who make up these United States of America must turn to God; we desperately need a spiritual awakening to sweep across America. No presidential change, no amount of new laws, no amount of great speeches will change the hearts of Americans. Only God is able to change and renew the hearts, lives, and attitudes by writing His law upon our hearts.
The Bible tells what we must do in multiple places similar to Galatians 5:16 which says, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” It will take all of us, turning from the godless evil that threatens our freedom, and turning to a real walk with God to bring to an end the outrages we now see destroying our nation. Let it begin with me; let it begin with you, as we seek to daily obey the law of our God which He has written upon our hearts.