Don’t Focus On Your Situation, Focus On Your Path

We all have goals. There’s something we want to do, someplace we want to go, someone we want to be. It appears that we don’t intentionally plan to be stagnant.

But are you progressing towards your intended destination? Or are you drifting away unknowingly? That’s okay, because in reality not everything is measurable. Objectives are difficult to come across for every situation, and are often inconvenient.

The problem is that we consciously choose not to take action despite being fully in control of our situation. We would rather take the past of less resistance because we’re programmed that way. We avoid pain and maximize pleasure, to our detriment.

My pastor would say “you gotta get your flesh out of the way.”

One of the reasons why we don’t do what’s best for us is because we don’t immediately feel the consequences of our actions. Pleasure in the present becomes pain in the future.

Consider how most people gain weight. Ice cream in the present seems fine because you’re not over weight. It makes sense then, that you have an occasional treat. But over time, this treat becomes a caloric surplus that leads to weight gain. Fitness experts recommend counting calories and e exercising to lose weight. But life doesn’t work like that. It’s not possible to always measure the impacts of your actions. Once you’ve set into motion a series of events, it becomes impossible to immediately stop the effects from coming into play. It’s like a spouse cheating on you, once they’ve done it, they can’t retract what they’ve done, they will have to deal with the consequences.

We judge ourselves and base our action on the present, but we should really be looking into the future (What are the consequences going to be if I do this?) Any time our life is on a path that is trending either upwards or downwards we are the ones who decides where it will go.

We’ve all heard the phrase “Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day.” One small problem will alway become large one over time.

I learned this the hard way. When I was younger I thought I had all the money in the world, I never saved any. I had a few bills and a few credit cards that I could pay off every month with no problem. But then kids came and emergencies happened. With medical bills along with credit cards and necessary bills. Money was gone fast I couldn’t pay my bills off every month so I just paid with credit cards plus of course with interest. I found my self deeper in debt and no way to pay. I had to file bankruptcy. I lost everything, my car and 4-wheelers. No car meant I couldn’t get to work. I had to bum a ride for awhile and save to buy another, but I couldn’t get a loan because of the bankruptcy.

In life we have to be certain where you’re headed. Being off course put me, in a mess I never thought I’d be in. It cost me dearly in the long run. Trying to figure of things while not thinking of the consequences sounds like a great idea at the time, but it doesn’t pan out in the long run.

It’s a fundamental irony of most people’s lives. They don’t quite know what they want to do with their lives, yet they are very active in looking for instant pleasure.

Contrast this method of mindless living with the alternative of discipline and purpose. While it takes infinitely more effort, it certainly pays off in the long run.

You can decide where you end up a year from now.

Are your values aligned with who you want to be? Are your habits aligned with what you want to do? Are your actions aligned with where you want to go?

These are the things we have direct control over. At any point in time, we have the power to alter out life path by making small adjustments to ourselves. Unfortunately, we often aren’t thinking far enough ahead for ourselves.

Every move we make has a residual impact on where we’re going to be. The most important thing you can do for yourself is to invest in yourself. That is an investment that will pay for itself many times over; it is by far the most profitable business to be in. Make sure that youare becoming the strongest version of yourself. When making decisions always think about the consequences of your actions.

Why’s ever you do, hold yourself accountable to it. Self-justification is a portrayal of the brain that, despite its stated goals or desires, is not interested in truth, but in self-preservation. It will distort the number of mistakes you’ve made in order to protect the narrative about yourself. Don’t give in.

Make sure you know what you want and actively chase it. Don’t go through life simply reacting to your circumstances. If you don’t know where you’re going then stop, find your bearings and think about the consequences to your action (the path you are taking- where does it lead?)

The Helper

I want to share with a story about The Helper Train in a small railroading town named after the Train – In Helper Utah. In 1870 this railroad train needed helper locomotives to help push the heavy coal trains and freight trains up to a summit that was west of town. The helper locomotives would detach from the from the train at a place called Soldier Summit and then would return to town of Helper to wait for another train. That was there sole purpose.

The Helper Locomotive

In the Bible there is another Helper called the Holy Spirit and His role as a Helper. While there is no connection to the two. It’s interesting.

There’s a saying that goes “It sure is hard to find good help now days.” But we do have a Helper, the Holy Spirit, one who walks along side of you.

D.L. Moody said, “You might as well try to hear without ears, or breathe without lungs, as you try to live a Christian life without the Spirit of God in your heart.”

There is a Ministry of the Holy Spirit, but it’s not what someone thinks, it’s what the Bible says.

The truth are a lot of people who are skeptical concerning the Holy Spirit and I understand why. When I started becoming interested in the Holy Spirit I approached the subject with my guard up, because I had never felt Him or heard much teaching concerning the Holy Spirit.

I want to tell you a story about how I learned who the Holy Spirit is. A story of a certain guide who lived in the Arabian Desert who never lost his way. Because he carried with him a homing pigeon with a very fine cord attached to one of its legs. (The “Cord” represents Faith in the pigeon)

When in doubt as to which path to take, he threw the bird into the air. The pigeon quickly strained at the cord to fly in the direction of home, and thus led the guide accurately to his goal.

Because of this unique practice he was known as “the dove man.”

So, too, the Holy Spirit, the heavenly Dove is willing and able to direct us in the narrow way that leads to the more abundant life if in humble self-denial we submit toHis unerring supervision.

The Holy Spirit -The Helper

Who Is The Holy Spirit?

Too many times the Holy Spirit has been referred to as an “it” rather than a “Person” that He really is.

The very first glimpse of the Holy Spirit is right at the beginning of the Bible. “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved up in the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2),

Again “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…”

The Holy Spirit is a “Person.” Not just a “feeling“ or goose bumps.”

Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as “He” “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.”

The Holy Spirit is a “Third” part of the God head, “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit And His Ministry.

During the Old Testament times, the Holy Spirit was particularly related to service rather than salvation – Only a “Few” had the anointing (enabling) presence of God’s Spirit upon their lives.

But in the New Testament the Holy Spirit takes the “Place of Jesus’s ” physical presence. – Have you ever wished Jesus were here in “Person?” (He is – By the Holy Spirit).

And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another (Just like Me – Jesus) a Comforter, that He may abide with you forever;”

John 14:16

“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, He shall testify of Me.”

John 15:26

“And when He comes, He will convince the world of it’s sin, and of God’s righteousness and of the coming judgment.” The worlds sin is unbelief in Me.”

John 16:8-9

John 16:13 says that “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not be presenting Hid own ideas, He will tell you about the future.”

He will disclose to you what is to come. Therfore He will be your Helper.

These things include the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection (which the disciples did not fully understand) as things yet in the future concerning His resurrection, the Christian life, and His return.

“ He will bring Jesus glory by revealing to you whatever He received from Me.” (John16:14).

The Holy Spirit gives us the “Assurance” that we are saved. – “For His Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:16),

The Holy Spirit is our helper, He guides us in the direction in which way we should go.

Why So Mucb Opposition To The Holy Spirit?

To answer this question we need to state the reason for Jesus coming into this world in the first place. – “For the Son of Man is come to seem and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Getting people (Saved) is my Jesus came into this world!

Every truly born again Christ owes his experience to the “Witness” of some other Spirit-Led Christian. The natural result of being filled with the Spirit is “Witnessing.”

“When the Comforter (Helper) comes, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceeds from the Father, He shall testify of Me” (John 15:26).

Satan knows when we allow the Holy Spirit to fill us then we will become “Effective” in winning people to Jesus. ( Satan hates this).

Train Your Brain To Be Happy

There’s a lot to be said for being happy. It makes you healthier, better at your job, more likely to have good relationships and you can even extend your life. If you’ve been happy you already know what unhappy is like. Being happy is much more fun.

Yes, there are times in our lives when it’s normal be feel sadness and we shouldn’t try and talk ourselves out of it. If you’ve lost a live one, gone through a breakup, lost a job, or some other adverse life event, feeling unhappy is natural. But being unhappy for a long time isn’t.

Happiness is a habit that we can cultivate. That’s because, thanks to evolution the human brain is designed to pay more attention to negative thoughts and stimuli that positive ones. We can learn how to pay more attention to the positive thoughts in our brains and stimuli in our lives because our natural tendency is to down play them, and that makes us unhappier than we should be,

I will show you some tips I used to change my negative thoughts and increased my positive ones.

1. Ask Yourself If You’re Thinking Positive

Every time no matter how often, Ask yourself “Am I thinking positive?” If a negative thought pops into your head, think of a positive one. This simple act will help you start thinking more positive thoughts. It’s a phenomenon called metacognition, a fancy word for thinking about thinking, which is a powerful memory aid. Asking yourself regularly whether you’re thinking positively will help you remember to focus on the positive. Which is a huge first step.

1. Memorize A List Of Happy Words

It may sound silly that simply memorizing a list of word associated with happiness would be enough to make you happier, but it can.

Because when you force your brain to use positive words frequently you make these words and their meanings more accessible, more connected, and more easily activated in your brain. So when you go to retrieve a word or idea from your memory, the positive ones come to the top more easily,

I’m guessing you can come up with plenty of words that you associate with happiness. Use words like love, joy, blessed, excited, pleasant, optimistic.

3.Use Associations

Ivan Pavlov famously trained his dog to drool whenever he rang a bell, by associating the sound of the bell with food. You can train yourself the same way, creating associations that you can use to your own advantage.

Here’s one I use. I am not a morning person, I usually stay awake until 1 or 2 AM and then sleep in. When I have an early morning meeting. It’s sometimes tough. I began buying my favorite flavored coffee that I enjoy drinking. So, I have learned to associate this delicious coffee with getting up early. You can learn to associate words or things to change your mood. I have a fascination with crows, I love watching these intelligent birds. Seeing them makes me smile.

4. Practice Gratitude

There’s plenty of evidence that being grateful for the good things in your life makes you happier. Everyday think of 3 things to be grateful for,if you have to write them down, for those especially tough days. I used to every night at dinner ask my children what they were grateful for that day. And then I would tell them, what I was grateful for.

5. Spend A Few Minutes each day writing about something that made you happy.

Write in a journal every night about a positive experience you’ve had that day. This exercise gives you greater levels of happiness. So it’s well worth the time to spend a few minutes writing about something that made to truly happy. I used this when I facilitated a mental health group. Each day they would write down what made them happy, and then on the day of the group they would bring what they wrote to the groups and shared it.

6. Each Day Look For Beauty Around You

Even though times are tough right now, we can still look and find something beautiful in our lives. Whether it’s the sunrise or sunset, the flowers in your yard (or your neighbors). When your having a hard time being happy you can bring to your attention back to the beautiful thing you saw and dwell on that .

7. Celebrate Your Successes, Even The Small Ones

We often do not appreciate ourselves enough. Our human tendencies is to berate ourselves. Say you went to the gym today, or went for a nature walk. Celebrate that you did that, fix yourself a healthy smoothie. I set a goal each morning and if I meet that goal for the day, then I celebrate. Some days there will be detours or missed opportunities and we will fail to meet our own expectations. But don’t stop celebrating those successes.

Do Miracles Like Jesus Performed Still Happen Today?

The answer to this question must begin with acknowledging that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is unchanging.

The word miracle is difficult to define. What exactly counts as a miracle? A better way to recognize a miracle is to make a distinction between the natural and the supernatural. The natural ways Jesus uses to heal us can be found in places like a hospital. But when Jesus heals someone supernaturally, it means that He does something doctor’s, nurses, medicine, and science are unable to do and are unable to explain. Keep in mind that God still gets the credit whether healing is trough medicine or a miracle- that’s why we should never stop praying.

In scripture, miracles are often associated with the words “signs and wonders., A sign is a physical manifestation that points to something greater than itself. In other words, the healing ministry of Jesus recounted in scripture confirms that Jesus Christ is the Som of God and the Savior of the world (Acts 2:22). A miracle never exists only for itself; it always serves a greater purpose. When I was healed of Bladder Cancer 14 years ago, It was done for a greater purpose. God had a plan for my life, He was not done with me. You know it’s a miracle when the supernatural work of God increases your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior,

The word “wonder” can also help us recognize a miracle. Miracles cause us to be amazed, in awe of the power of God. When we witness a supernatural work of God, we are left speechless as we marvel at the glory of God.

There are 4 positions regarding miracles today, they are:

Cessationists

They believe the kinds of miracles we see in the New Testament do not happen today because they were a special manifestation of God’s power that ceased to exist after the generation of the apostle passed away.

Continuationists

They believe all kinds of miracles we see in the New Testament continue to happen in the world today with the same frequency and intensity.

Semi-cessationists

They believe only some New Testament type miracles continue to happen today, and not at the same degree as in the New Testament God is free to work supernaturally today, but the frequency and intensity has diminished in the modern era.

Semi-Continuationists

The believe all kinds of miracles seen in the New Testament continue to happen today. Like the semi-cessationists, they believe the frequency and intensity of God’s supernatural work has diminished in the modern era, but Continuationists are much more open to describing events as miraculous, supernatural works of God.

Reflecting on the three aspects of Jesus’s ministry (preaching, teaching, and healing) and the events taking place around the world, now more than ever we need a great outpouring of Christ’s healing ministry.

We desperately need Jesus to heal our world by both natural and supernatural means, As He does so, make He increase our faith and our worship of Him.

I have seen miracles in healing of Cancers, Lung diseases. Depression, and even seen people be healed of addiction. I believe all the miracles in the New Testament are being done today, we are just as too busy and distracted to notice them.

Fight, Flight, Freeze, Or Fawn?

Fight or flight is a well known stress response that occurs when hormonal released in the body, prompting you to stay and fight or run and flee from danger.

Freeze and fawn are a broader collection of natural bodily reactions to stressful, frighting or dangerous events. This sympathetic nervous system response dates back to our ancestors coming face to face with dangerous animals.

Fight, Flight, Freeze or Fawn

Fight, flight or freeze are the 3 most basic stress responses. They reflect how your body will react to danger. Fawn is the 4th stress response that was identified later.

The fight response is your body’s way of facing any perceived threat aggressively. Flight means you body urges you to run from danger. Freeze is your body’s inability to move or act against a threat. Fawn is your body’s stress response to try to please someone to avoid conflict.

The goal of the fight, flight, freeze, and Fawn response is to decrease, end or evade danger and remain in a calm, relaxed state.

Signs of a fight response include:

  • Tight jaw
  • Grinding your teeth
  • Urge to punch someone or something
  • A feeling of intense anger
  • Needing to stomp or kick
  • Crying in anger
  • A burning or knotted sensation in your stomach
  • Attacking the source of danger

Flight is your body believes you cannot overcome the danger but can avoid it by running away, you’ll respond in a flight mode. A surge of hormones, like adrenaline, give your body the stamina to run from from danger longer than you typically could.

Signs of a flight response include:

  • Feeling fidgety, tense, or trapped
  • Constantly moving you legs, feet, and arms.
  • A restless body
  • A feeling of numbness in your arms and legs
  • Dilated darting eyes

What is freeze or Fawn?

Freeze and Fawn are also stress responses but they don’t involve decisive actions.

Freeze. The stress response causes you to feel stuck in place. This happens when your body doesn’t think you can fight or get away from a danger,

Signs of the freeze response include:

  • A sense of dread
  • Pale skin
  • Feeling stiff, heavy, cold, and numb
  • A loud pounding heart
  • A decreased heart rate

Fawn. This response is used after an unsuccessful fight, flight, or freeze attempt. The Fawn response occurs primarily in people who grew up in abusive families or situations.

Signs of a Fawn response include:

  • Over-agreeing
  • Trying to be overly helpful
  • Primary concern with making someone else happy

What Causes the Fawn Response?

The Fawn response often covers up distress and the damage someone is feeling inside due to trauma. It’s a common reaction to childhood abuse. The Fawn response is your body’s emotional reaction that involves becoming highly agreeable to the person abusing you.

The Fawn response can cause confusion and guilt if you have PTSD. Even if you’re being treated poorly, your instinct drives you to soothe over your abuser instead of resorting to the fight or flight response.

Signs of fawning behavior include:

  • Over dependence on the opinions of others
  • Little or no boundaries
  • Vulnerability to narcissists
  • Being easily controlled and manipulated

The Fawn response is believed to occur in people who grew up with narcissistic parents. They may have been neglected or rejected constantly as a child. Being helpful and agreeable was their only means of survival.

Ways Our Culture Is Rejecting Biblical Morality

As our culture moves further from biblical morality, we are increasingly rejecting eternal truths revealed in the Bible.

As we look at society today, we see a cultural landscape that has veered further and further from any semblance of biblically based morality. The slide into secularism – the idea that human can define morality apart from any divine spiritual guidance – has accelerated rapid in the last two decades.

As we consider where the cultures of the Western nations (particularly English nations and the democracies of Western Europe) are today, we must consider the words by two prophets who lived over 2,500 years ago.

Jeremiah’s Warning

The prophet Jeremiah, who prophesied not only to ancient Judah but also to nations far off into his future, recorded this prophetic message from God:

Hear, O earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people -the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not heeded My words nor My law, but rejected it.

Jeremiah 6:19

Hosea’s Warning

The prophet Hosea, who prophesied to both ancient and modern Israel, deliver these words from God:

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge. I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children. The more they increased, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame.

Hosea 4 6-7

Don’t just read over those prophesies and move on without giving them focused thought. Consider what exactly God was saying through these prophets:

  • “They have not heeded My words nor My law.”
  • “You have rejected knowledge.”
  • “You have forgotten the law of your God.”
  • “They sinned against Me.”

God was warning Israel (ancient and modern) of a total breakdown in morality from top to bottom. That breakdown was based on a National rejection of the laws of God.

Are our nations today making the same mistakes? Consider these 5 biblical principles and laws that are being openly ignored and rejected by our culture today:

1. “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3).

Of course, this is the first of God’s 10 commandments. It is a very basic, yet powerful law: Do not put anything- not a statue, nor a picture, not your own ideas, not your own pleasures, not your own desires, not anything before the one true God.

In ancient times, God’s people continually failed to obey this law. Ancient Israel was surrounded by people who worshipped statues and images of made-up gods. Those “gods” had many different names- Asherah, Baal, Dagon, Molech, Tammuz, etc…but they are represented the same thing. They represented human-made affronts to God’s basic law to put nothing before Him.

By rejecting God’s standards of morality, we have, in a sense, placed ourselves in authority over Him.

It was a temptation Israel struggled with from the beginning of its nationhood until it’s fall and captivity. And is was a temptation Israel usually gave in to.

Today, pagan gods aren’t the primary challenge to this law (though they are still a problem). The primary challenge to God’s command to have “no other gods” is ourselves and our stuff. By rejecting God’s standards of morality, we have in a sense, placed ourselves in authority over Him. We’ve also placed our materialistic pursuits of pleasure over God and His laws.

We live in a culture characterized by men and women who are “lovers of themselves, lovers of money… lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God“ (2 Timothy 3:2-4). The sin of idolatry- the second commandment.

2. “Do not kill the innocent and righteous” (Exodus 23:7).

Proverbs 6:16-17 declares that “hands that shed innocent blood” are among the seven things that God hates. God hate’s violence and the taking of human life – especially innocent life. It is an affront to Him because He is the giver of life and made man in His image and likeness (Genius 9:6). God desires a culture that honors and protects life.

From movies. TV shows and video games that glorify violence to the recurring nightmare of mass shootings, the United States is a nation with violence deeply embedded in its culture. Though mass shootings get the most headlines, regular violence on a smaller scale occurs every day. In 2017, according to the CDC. 19,510 people died of homicides.

The practice of abortion also is responsible for the death of more than 800,000 innocent babies every year in the U.S, The abortion rate has actually been dropping slightly in recent years (likely due to more effective both control methods), If you total the number of abortions performer in the United States is just the last decade, week over 9.3 million innocent human lives were denied the right to live due to this practice.

3. “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication” (Galatians 5:18).

These are two sins are both infractions of God’s Seventh Commandment forbidding adultery (Exodus 20:14).

In today’s culture, set outside of marriage (fornication) is not considered taboo I. The slightest A 2017 British government study found that 75% of British people view premarital sex as “not wrong at all.” Another poll studying Americans found that 7 to 10 Americans deem sex before unmarried men and women acceptable.”

What makes that statistic even more striking is that over 70% of Americans identify as some sort kv Christian. So identifying as a “Christian” does not necessarily mean that people believe in biblical moral standards.

We need to look at the limits God has placed on sex and understand why those limits are thr best not only for us, but for our children and society in general.

This problem inseparably linked to the issue of abortion. When you study the issue, you find that 83% of women who are unmarried and 16% are separated, divorced or widowed. Married women account for a minuscule number of total abortions. The simple fact is that sex outside of marries the root cause of abortion.

It’s easy to understand why many religious people try to fight abortion through politics. But limiting or banning abortion will not solve the root of the problem. . It’s the consequence of this much larger sin that has settled deep into the fabric our culture – sex outside of marriage.

The real solution to the abortion problem is for our people to repent of this and to limit sex to marriage (Hebrews 13;4). The problem of unwanted pregnancies, that result from abortion cannot be solved by politics, but only by changing the hearts and minds of human beings to see the benefits of God’s laws and committing to obey them.

We need to look at the limits God placed on sex and understand why these limits are the best not only for us, but for our children and society in general.

4. “God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him male. (Genius 1:27).

Just a few years ago this basic biblical truth that God created two genders, male and female – was wisely accepted as a fact backed up by basic biology. But within the last decade, we’ve witnessed this basic truth being challenged and attacked by those claiming that gender is not binary. A very small segment of society that desires to live outside of the normal of their birth gender have pushed an entire cultural teams do of the meaning of the word sex and gender.

Regardless of how the words sex and marriage are defined by today’s society, God’s definition has not changed.

But I just under 30 words, justice Neil Gorsuch, writing the majority opinion m redefined “sex” from the basic meaning it’s help for 1000’s of year’s: “We do not hesitate to recognize today a necessary consequence of that legislative choice: An employer who fires an individual merely for being gat or transgender defies the law.

So the U.S. Supreme Court now has ruled that “sex” also means one’s sexual preference and gender of choice. Some people are identifying with themselves as cats,. Geez I’m a lot afraid to ask what’s next).

Regardless of how the words sex and marriage are defined by society today, God’s definitions, which go all the way back to the first book of the Bible; it has not changed,

Sex: Male and Female He only created.

Marriage: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, as they shall, become one flesh” (Genius 2:24).

5. “Put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth” (Colossians 3:8).

Our culture is rejecting biblical truths and some of the most basic standards of conduct found in God’s Word. The Bible provides much guidance on how to govern our minds and tongues, God tells us that we are not driven by anger and all that flows from it. Instead, biblical morality teaches us to “give place to wrath” (Romans 12:19)- in other words, replace anger and wrath with positive, uplifting thoughts.

But we live in a world that seems to be increasingly fueled by anger. Angry is rampant everywhere – the news, social media, entertainment, politics, social movements, etc…

One of the most discouraging things you can do today is wade into the “comments” section of any news article shared on social media. What you’ll find is comment after comment of unbridled vitriol and contempt spewed by people against other people. And this anger is not limited to one end of the political spectrum. It exists across the spectrum, from the far left to the far right,

Sin is never solved by angrily multiplying other sins

Tragically, we have seen extreme anger in some U.S. cities through protests that turned violent, destructive and in some cases, morphed into all-out rioting. Regardless of how legitimate a cause may be, acts of unrestrained anger and violence always lead to more and more suffering and injustice. Sin is never solved by angrily multiplying other sins,

We also see angry and demeaning communication displayed by our national leaders. Instead of engaging in respectful debates and attempts to work together for the good of the people, we find name-calling, mocking, insults and character assassination, And again, this takes place across all parts of the spectrum. It seems as if virtues of civility and respect are dead-replaced by venomous anger and hated.

This is not behavior God approves of – regardless of the political cause one claims to represent.

God’s standards of conduct, in all areas of life, remain unchanged and represent a stark contrast to the culture we see around us today:

  • “Lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence” (1 Timothy 2:2)
  • “Speak evil of no one.. be peaceable gentle, showing all humility to all men” (Titus 3:2).
  • “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” (James 3:17).

Can our culture be reversed?

If we wanted to, we would add scores and scores of other example of our cultures rejection of biblical principles. But the question you may be asking is what can we do about it?

Ultimately, the solution is simple, yet profoundly vital, It’s repentance. Repentance is recognizing when our ways are wrong, feeling deep remorse, and asking for God’s forgiveness, and striving to turn around and live the right way. Nothing short of national repentance is needed to change our culture.

But the sad reality is that national repentance really occurs. History shows that when a society degrades and tomorrow depravity, it really reverses course.

The history of ancient Judah is a case in point. Like the northern kingdom of Israel, Judah’s history what is mostly a downward slide into and mortality. They did have two major reforming kings, Josiah and Hezekiah, who tried to lead movements of national repentance from the top down. But both attempts to revive national faithfulness to God or short-lived. Simply put, the downward slide into a mortality was too ingrained in the lives of the people to be permanently reversed.

We have likely reached that point in our modern nations today which means national punishment may be the only way to get our attention.

But that doesn’t mean you have reached that point. The Bible shows that individuals, no matter how wicked and corrupt the society around them might be can reject the corrupting morals of their culture and lives differently.

The apostle Paul quoted these words to the Corinthians, who lived in one of the most morally bankrupt city in Roman Empire: “ come out from among them and be separate” (2 Corinthians 6:17).

Instead of going in the way of the culture around us, we can come out of it and be spiritually separate, just as:

  • Noah came out of his violent pre-flood world.
  • Abram came out of the society of Ur.
  • Lot came out of Sodom.
  • Daniel remain spiritually separate from the adulterous and violent Babylon in which he lived.
  • Jesus Christ’s disciples came out of a “faithless and perverse generation” (Matthew 17:17).

The list goes on and on of people who live in evil cultures- but chose to be different.

You can be that person today.

But that’s just part of the story. The ultimate good news is that an even bigger change is coming. Jesus Christ will return to this world to save us from destroying ourselves both spiritually and physically and to establish an entirely new society and culture- based on God imputable unchangeable law.

That establishment of His Kingdom on earth will reverse the downward moral slide of this world through the eternal truths of God’s law

The prophet Isaiah wrote out this future time: “Many people shall come and say, comr and let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in His paths, For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3),