11/19/2008 Psalms 11:4

11/19/2008

Psalms 11:4 - 7 (HCSB) ⁴The LORD is in His holy temple;
    the LORD’s throne is in heaven.
    His eyes watch; He examines everyone.⁵The LORD examines the righteous and the wicked.
    He hates the lover of violence.⁶He will rain burning coals and sulfur on the wicked;
    a scorching wind will be their portion. ⁷For the LORD is righteous; He loves righteous deeds.
    The upright will see His face.

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The United Kingdom reported in 2008 that violent crime had increased 22%. Violent crimes include “homicide, attempted murder and grievous bodily harm.” This is not some third-world country, but what we would consider an advanced, civilized society much like our own. What’s more, in Britain, citizens, and even police officers do not carry guns. Citizens are prohibited from carrying guns at all, and officers do not carry them on their person, but keep guns under lock and key only for use in serious tactical situations.

Violent crime is increasing. There may be a lot of explanations for it. Some may argue that video games or lack of discipline in our schools, or this or that may be to blame. But I think we overlook a very fundamental cause. A cause that we ourselves are guilty of dismissing as trivial.

We have tried so hard to erase God from our lives; perhaps not you specifically, but society in general. We have taken God out of schools and out of government and pushed Him to the recesses of the churches, never to be seen outside its doors. We have decided that men know best how to handle things and declared that God is only for the week or foolish. We only need God to placate our guilt and soothe our mourning.

But God knows what is best for man and when we dismiss His plan, we see things like violent crime increase without end. Domestic violence is increasing, crimes committed by younger and younger children are occurring with shocking frequency.

God hates violence – and furthermore, he hates those who practice violence. But sadly enough, we have brought this plague upon ourselves by relegating God only to Sunday mornings. And unfortunately, we cannot at this point simply insist that prayer be brought back in schools. That will not fix the problems as schools – and government for that matter – will be forced to allow ALL prayer, including Moslem, Hindu, Wiccan, etc. We need *God* back in our lives, in our schools, in our governments, in our workplace, and every other aspect of our lives. We need His principals to rule over our daily lives, but not just as a set of do’s and don’ts but we, as a society, need to love God and let Him be our supreme Lord.

What we need to do is fall before God and plead with Him to change the hearts of men and women and draw them to Himself. We need to live a life where people know something about us is different and the result of our love for God. We need to spend time with Jesus in prayer and in His word so that we become more like Him daily.

Just like the Great Awakening, a spirit of change can sweep this nation like never before, bringing masses to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. But that change begins not with the pastors or evangelists, but with the common people – you. Everyone expects the pastors and evangelists to be “churchy.” But when they see God in *your* life, it impacts them much more deeply.

Will you be the agent of change?

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