Bloom Where You are Planted

 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” The Apostle Paul echoes this instruction in his letter to the Romans 12:12 saying, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” 

 

The statistics show that in my lifetime tribulation in our nation and in the world has been increasing with ethics on the decline and unethical behavior on the increase, morality on the decline and immorality on the increase, law-abiding on the decline and crime on the increase, decency and sexual boundaries on the decline, while indecency and promiscuity increase. All of these are based on a standard by which they are measured against, and in the nation where “IN GOD WE TRUST” that criterion is the Word of God, the Holy Bible. The laws set forth in the U.S. Constitution did not emerge out of a moral vacuum unrelated to the writers' own beliefs, but rather are the product of the reasonings of those who created it. By their own words, the Founding Fathers were not neutral on the question of religion as the basis of government and society.

 

Noah Webster , writer of the 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language stated, "The moral principles and precepts contained in the scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws. All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible." All Americans of that era held to the commonly accepted morals, ethics and standards of behavior derived from English Common Law, which drew from biblical law given to the Hebrews by God. The Word of God in the Holy Scriptures provided the standard by which all was measured against for Civil government. 

 

Founding Father, First Vice-President and Second President of the United States John Adams stated, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." This remark captures the belief that virtues like honesty, industriousness, and piety were essential. Without these, the safeguards of liberty could not stand. That is why John Jay, the First Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court  “Providence has given to our people the choice of their ruler, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers. 

 

But, the circumstances are that not everyone knows the living God, believes in God or follows His standards of life, given in His God-breathed Book of Life, and atheistic secular humanist will cause tribulation in rebellion against the standards of their Creator. As Judges 21:25 says, “every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Without God to set the standards by His commandments, statutes and Law, they are a law unto themselves. And since the Lord Jesus explained to us in John 3:19-20, “this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed, we see evidence of the unregenerate sinner actively working to oppose, challenge and criminalize the light of truth in the Word of God. It is a war of God then and now that battles on daily in this fallen world.  

 

The Greek word for “tribulation” is “thlipsis” meaning pressure, oppression, affliction, tribulation, distress, straits, trouble, anguish, persecution and burden. In John 16:33 Jesus tells us, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Ephesians 2:8-10 proclaims, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” The world is disintegrating morally, ethically and spiritually, and needs to find salvation at the foot of the Cross. 

 

Jesus came to save the world from There is no greater need then to bring the light of truth in Jesus Christ into the darkness of this lost and dying world. Everyone sees the cultural chaos and the loss of society’s moral compass. Despite tribulation because of conviction, keep ministering the Gospel of forgiveness and salvation in Christ alone as Savior and Lord. No matter what the circumstance, bloom where you are planted. Eternal souls are at stake.

 

In Christ, Brian