He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. Isaiah 49:10

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

FACING DESTRUCTION!


There is without a doubt our country has undergone a time of deep division and strife during the last two years.  We are at the crossroads of reconciliation and moving forward or continued anger, hate, and a destructive mindset of slander and denying our way of life is so similar to those of the Prophet Jeremiah's day.

As I prayed and mediated over what I "wanted" to write about, I believe I was lead back by The Holy Spirit consider the issue of the Mueller investigation and not only the socio-political implications, but the deep religious consequences facing our country.

Not only has our political heritage suffered by the political hermoraging, but religious institutions and movements have been shaken to the very core of  religious beliefs and principles by a sense of tribal anger and hate! Deep religious polarization has in many instances replaced our spiritual traditions with a fake news gospel.

In the Book of Lamentations, the Prophet Jeremiah, "the crying Prophet" wrote the lamentations on the fall of Jewish religious social way of life.

In the Introduction to The Lamentations, commentators of the Bible describe the falling away of Judah as one of the most impactful events that had long term influence on God's relationship to His people.

"The occasion of these Lamentations was the complete and total destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldean army and the dissolution of the Jewish state both civil and ecclesiastical thereby".

Let that truth of Judah's sin of idolatry and disobedience slowly sink into the depths of our hearts. Do we stand at a similar crossroad today?

Matthew Henry Commentary lays out the grief and mourning of Jeremiah as a warning to our day. "We cannot but be concerned, in the reading of Jeremiah's prophecies, to find that they were so little regarded by the men of that generation but let us make use of that as a reason why we should regard them the more for they are written for our learning too, and for warning to us and to our land".

In the Book of Jeremiah, the Prophet wrote of the coming day of reckoning and judgment that Judah and Jerusalem would face for their falling away from God and failure to change from their disobedience and outright rejection of Jeremiah's message for repentance .

As is usually the case, the Prophet Jeremiah was persecuted and treated as an outcast for his prophetic message by the people of Judah. No one would accept his message against idolatry.

Jeremiah wrote the five poetic lamentations of grief and mourning after the fall of Judah and Jerusalem - as an eye-witness of the time of judgment that God's people suffered. The total destruction of the city of Jerusalem.

Jeremiah witnessed the actual destruction of The Temple, the grand and most glorious Temple built by King Solomon. As you may recall, God did not allow the Great King David to build this temple. The privilege of building the Temple would fall to King Solomon and it would be the most beautiful and world renown building!

This must have been a terrible consequence for Judah to witness and to suffer as the most scared place for the  indwelling of God's Holy Presence in the Holy of Holies.

I sense from reading God's Word and the same message of Jeremiah to Judah, we too are being warned about the American destruction by an army of resistance to the Word of God and the dissolution of the American state "both civil and ecclesiastical thereby".

While the destructive events our country has gone through are related to a political narrative, all related to implications of collusion, insinuation, and intimidation. I believe if we do not change course, we will all share the ramifications and aftershock of the pending destruction of our Republic based on desire to seize unlawful power and forfeit the election of the 45th President.

Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, said this past week that an indictment of President Trump by special counsel Robert Mueller  could have eventually “led to civil war.” 

“If [Trump] had been indicted for conspiring with Russia to interfere with and affect the outcome of our elections, it would have precipitated a terribly divisive crisis that could have even led to civil war,” Gabbard said in a statement posted on Twitter.

That is a powerful statement for any politician to make, much less from a Democrat, that many Americans may have comtemplated if the alleged deep state coup had played out.

You can discount my words, you can say I am favoring one political party over the other, but all I am asking for each of us to stop and consider the danger we are facing if we forfeit our freedom and the right to vote for our leaders.

The damage created by an effort to discount the election of a President by alleging that the President was not fit to serve, a narrative created by top officials of the FBI, CIA,  other political operatives and many "journalists" in the main stream news media has shaken the very foundation of our government.

Isaiah 5:20 & 23 apply to the situation we find ourselves. "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter"!

But please stop for a moment before saying I am some religious zealot. I also believe Christian believers have sat back and ignored the red flags that our religious heritage is also at stake. If we are looking for whom to blame for this dangerous predicament we face, we must first look in the mirror. I have at times, also been guilty of the anger and blowback from the political gamesmanship.

We must be committed to righteousness and justice. That also means we must not remain silent when we see injustice or hateful bigotry. Let the Word of God be our guide.

We are at the breaking point of decisive decision time regarding the radical change and repercussions from the fallout of the deep divide we suffer. Try to remove the political and news organizations narrative to report lies as truth, and ignore truth as lies. Can we pray and mediate as we contemplate the following Scriptures while seeking righteous change?

Lamentations 3:40-41 (KJV)  "Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens" .

You can believe in what political beliefs you hold, that is a choice you have or will make.

What I am asking is for each of us to evaluate where we stand in relationship to God and His teachings found in The Lamentations of the Crying Prophet, Jeremiah.

If you can stand without a doubt and state we are not living in idolatry and disobedience to the ideals which our country was founded, that is your right and free will.

I feel deeply within my heart and spirit, our country... is at a very significant decision point.

Can we accept the Mueller Report and stop these needless investigations and intrusions in the life of every politician? Can we all just get along?

There are many important and critically significant issues affecting the well being of the people in our country. The issues are many, immigration, homelessness, mental illness, healthcare, hunger, poverty, veteran issues, and so many other issues.

Why can't we put our efforts and desire for a better life in these issues as some are placing in endless investigations and innuendo.

May we take the mourning and grief in Lamentations as our warning to change our lives of idolatry and mourn for God that He would change our hearts for good of all. 

What a sad state of affairs if we like the Crying Prophet, Jeremiah, we would witness the destruction of our Constitutional Republic, and end up mourning the loss of God's Grace upon our country.  

Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old—Lamentations 5:21

LFI~LATINO FAITH INITIATIVE
Rev Fidel "Butch" Montoya
Remember : "God Listens"!

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