BBD 06.29.15 America's Downward Spiral (New)
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The Burning
Bush Devotional
06.29.15
America's
Downward Spiral
Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people.
- Proverbs 14:34 NKJV.
Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear
from among the sons of men. - Psalm 12:1 NKJV.
Ben Carson says
America is in a downward spiral because “we have abandoned God.” Carson also said: “It was
our Judeo-Christian values that allowed this to be an exceptional country, that
allowed us to move forward so incredibly quickly and as we abandon God, you can
see that we are spiraling downward just as quickly.” (A Google search for this will give results for multiple
articles.)
Justice Antonin Scalia said
this in 2013: “To
the extent that the country is in a downward spiral, it’s not because of the
law, it’s because of the people. You can’t have a good country without good
people. I fear we have lost some of the virtues that characterized Americans in
the past.” (The Daily Revielle 10.13.13 - Q & A at Baton Rouge
Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society)
According
to the Christian Examiner (07.01.2012) polls
show morality in America is on a “disappointing downward spiral." Gallup
polls revealed that more than 50% of America believed homosexuality was morally
acceptable, believed having a baby outside of marriage is morally acceptable,
and 38% believed abortion was morally acceptable.
An article by Carol Brooks, “What Happened When the Praying
Stopped” gives statistics as
to the moral downward spiral in America since 1962. Here are a few of them:
“Since 1963 violent crime has
increased 544%. Illegal drugs have become an enormous and uncontrollable
problem. The nation has been deprived of an estimated 30 million citizens
through legal abortions just since 1973.” Read
more at: http://www.inplainsite.org/what_happened_when_the_praying.html
Billy Graham wrote this in 2012: “Some years ago,
my wife, Ruth, was reading the draft of a book I was writing. When she finished
a section describing the terrible downward spiral of our nation’s moral
standards and the idolatry of worshiping false gods such as technology and sex,
she startled me by exclaiming, ‘If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to
apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.’” In the same letter Graham wrote: ‘Yet the farther
we get from God, the more the world spirals out of control.’”
Psalm 12:1 describes what is
occurring in America with those faithful to the God of the Bible disappearing, “Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful
disappear from among the sons of men.” Without faithful believers who
are the “salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” immorality is without
restraint.
America
has been exalted among the nations and along with that exaltation has come
God's protection. As sin has become more and more a “reproach”
there is less of God's protection. As sin increases, evil increases and more
attacks upon America are successful. It is the same in an individual's life. If
we turn away from God we will find ourselves in a downward spiral with our
lives falling apart. The solution for our country and individually is to turn
back to God. When we turn back to God, He will begin to bring healing, putting
things back together in our country and our lives.
How low
do we have to go? How bad does it have to become before we turn back to God?
What can we do if we personally are in a downward spiral?
James 4:7-8 tells us what to do, “Therefore
submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw
near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you
sinners; and purify your
hearts, you double-minded.”
What can we do to stop the downward spiral of America? As
Christians, to the best of our ability we must stand for what is right, what is
the straight principled way of God. Will we fear what man can do? Or, will we
stand up for our God? They hate us, because they hate God. They hate the light
that exposes the evil, which condemns them. May we do all we personally can to
shine the truth of God across this country. May we pray without ceasing for the
people to turn back to God, for there to be revival before it is too late,
before judgment comes, and our future as a nation is destroyed.
Copyright © 2015. Ed Wrather. The
Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998
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Please continue to pray
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back home and chemo treatment began last week. Thank you for your prayers for Michelle!!!
Please continue to pray for
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sister). Please pray for those affected by the earthquake in Nepal and for
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