I recently finished reading a wonderful book written by a man from Indonesia who has served God for many decades. In the late 1960s he visited the United States for the first time as a young man. He had a fifty-cent piece in his pocket, given by a friend. He looked at the words, “In God We Trust”, and thought the “US must be like heaven on earth. The government and its people trust in God. Every time they spend money, they are reminded of God.” He was very excited to come here and serve the Lord. Joy filled his soul, he wrote. “America, America, the land where all the people trust in God!” He thanked Jesus for allowing him to come to this “heaven on earth”.  He said he could hardly walk he was so excited as he left the plane and walked down a long hall to a large room where people were sitting and there were things for sale. “Oh, no! This isn’t America!” He felt the plane must have landed at the wrong place. Everywhere he looked he saw “dirty books, bars with liquor, and everyone seemed to be smoking.” He thought, “What’s wrong?” and then “God help me”.

My heart broke as I read his words, reflecting on how far America has fallen. Pornography has escalated exponentially and permeated every area of society, corrupting souls and destroying people and relationships. Addiction is rampant, wrecking lives and families. We have allowed evil to remove God where we once honored Him. We have placed many idols on the thrones of our hearts, yet God has been merciful not to turn completely away from this nation.  

I do not believe America can recapture her innocence of decades past when we acknowledged God in our daily lives. Life was threaded with simplicity and a sense of order, until the lukewarm church through complacent compromise and loss of her first love allowed evil to spread. The Word of God describes the fruit of the Spirit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. By contrast, the fruit of the devil, our enemy, is hatred, despair, anxiety, rage, anger, selfishness, envy, greed, destruction, deceit, every sort of wickedness. 

Jesus is, was, and is to come. He is the Savior of the world. I pray for a holy hunger to fall on America, for the Holy Spirit to open blind eyes and soften hardened hearts, for people to turn to Jesus for repentance and salvation. Time is growing short. We do not know when we will draw our last breath. Decisions affecting our eternity have to be made while we are alive on this earth. God is Now. He is always present, moment to moment. Discovering His radical love and allowing Him to work in our lives to reveal Himself and the truth of His Word is a fascinating journey, unlike any other relationship. I praise Him, in awe of His love and grace.

John 10:10 (NLT) says, “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! ² But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.” ⁶ Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, ⁷ so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. ¹⁰ The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. ¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. ¹² A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. ¹³ The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep. ¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,¹⁵ just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd. ¹⁷ “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. ¹⁸ No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”

Come to Jesus, and live.