Isaiah 59:14-21 Desperate Need
Man is in desperate need of a Savior! Man cannot save himself and, at the time Isaiah is speaking of, anything godly is seen as perverse or wrong. Sound familiar?
This whole world NEEDS Jesus. But they are pushing as hard against Him as they can. They believe they can ‘take care of themselves’. ‘One more self-help book away from perfection.’ ‘If we learn to get along with one another and accept each other there wouldn’t be any more problems.’ ‘There is no such thing as abnormal.’ ‘Justice is subjective.’ ‘Morals are relative to the situation.’
I don’t know what is going on in the other societies around the world, but my corner of the globe is in TROUBLE. It is a trouble that has been slowly growing over the years and is now at a tipping point. I’m going to go out on a limb and probably saw it off behind me. I’m disturbed with the direction my nation is headed.
There are a couple of areas that are more troubling than others. I’m going to stick with them. To help me order my thoughts, I’m going to start by listing them.
- Everything in the name of tolerance
- Selective laws and justice
- Gender confusion
What I mean regarding “everything in the name of tolerance” goes beyond allowing your neighbor to listen to his kind of music while working in the yard. EVERY boundary is being pushed! The words you say have to be just right or you will offend someone. You can’t complain or disagree with anyone for fear of being called a bigot. Tolerance only extends to those who are speaking what the world wants to hear. Speak about limits or God and you invite criticism and hate. ANY kind of authority is seen as oppressive. There are VERY FEW standards or limits regarding relationships. The only “off limits” in sexual relationships I can think of today are adults sexually interacting with children. I’m wondering how much longer it’s going to be before even that is challenged!
Our legal system is breaking down when it comes to the ‘smaller crimes’. Would you believe that there is NO stopping a person from walking into a store, picking up what they want, and walking out with it WITHOUT paying for it. Probably not in every state yet, but California is refusing to prosecute shop lifters who take items worth less than $950. Businesses are literally being robbed blind and they can do NOTHING about it. “Porch pirates” (those who steal packages off other people’s porches) are growing in number and seldom receive ANY punishment. Even auto theft doesn’t generate much more than and insurance claim. If the police find the vehicle it is returned but little else happens to the individual who stole it. Those who do try and stand up for their property can get in more trouble than the offender if the offender is hurt in the process. Even the police have to be VERY careful when making arrests for fear of being sued or charged with a crime if the event doesn’t go the way the offender believes it should.
The ”gender issue” really has me shaking my head. Our society has decided that gender is a matter of choice and can be changed at will. They claim that one can even be an ‘other’ gender if they choose. Not only are people being allowed to choose their ‘gender’ but medical science is employed in mimicking gender changes. Hormones and surgeries are outwardly transforming individuals to appear as the opposite gender from their genetics. Gender vocabulary is VERY touchy and loops back to the “everything in the name of tolerance” issue. And they are promoting this ‘choice’ (confusion) in our schools and to our children.
Ok. I’m out here on the limb now. It’s time I saw it off under myself.
God gave us limits. Man has chosen to throw them in the trash. No society is perfect, but there have to be some hard and fast rules. Without rules we are headed for chaos.
God made man. Then He made woman from man. He brought the woman to the man and the two were completed by one another. The two halves became one again. God didn’t give Adam a choice in his sex or the sex of his partner.
With sin, Satan began working on the hearts of men and women. He has fostered in them a feeling of discontentment so long that it has brought us to the point of anything goes. But God is NOT in this anything goes camp. He calls anything outside of what HE created, sin. He doesn’t change His mind with the times. He holds fast to His standards, no matter what man thinks or does. This goes for sexual relations and gender issues.
God also does NOT sugar coat or tone down His language to make it palatable to man. Jesus had people turn away from Him when He spoke the hard truths. But it did NOT stop Him from speaking them. And it doesn’t, and won’t, stop God from enforcing His truths either.
This DOES NOT mean that God doesn’t love those who are confused by Satan. His heart breaks over what Satan has done to the hearts of man. He calls out to those who are hurting and searching. He wants to wrap them in His arms and comfort them. THEN He will help them learn of Him and His truths and discard Satan’s lies. It is a work that only He can do for HE made each of us and knows us intimately. He knows what it will take to reach that broken spot in each of our hearts and remove whatever He needs to.
I am His work in progress too. He is mending my broken places. The parts of me that He is working on are no less out of alignment with His perfect will than those identified today. We ALL have sins we are in process of conquering, with His help. And that is EXACTLY why He had to send us Jesus. For we cannot do it on our own. We NEED a Savior. We NEED JESUS.
One day Jesus will stand again on this earth and conquer sin. ALL men will see Him and watch as Satan falls. Don’t wait until that day to turn from your own sin or to ask Him to be Lord of your life. Time is short and tomorrow is not promised to any of us. There IS a point where it is too late. Turn to Him now and stand with Him on that day. Don’t be one that is forced to his knees in recognition. Be one who rejoices instead because of the relationship grows even closer on that day.
Father God, this world is in a MESS! I pray that the words I shared today are the words You would have me say. If not, feel free to touch this entry with YOUR Spirit and turn it into what You want. Keep love in my heart at all times. Especially for those Satan is twisting. Let me love them without loving their actions. This goes even deeper for those in my own family who are being deceived. Open their ears Lord and help them to listen. Open their eyes and let them see the truth before them. Open their minds to understand how deceived they are. And open their hearts to receive the truth of Your word and Your love.
