By: Dale Weckbacher
Joshua 1:7
7 Only be strong and
very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which
Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the
left, that you may prosper wherever you go.
NKJV
The context of Joshua 1:7 is the death of Moses, and Joshua
finding himself with the task of leading the Nation of Israel into the Promised
Land. Having already visited the land
and being only one of two to return with a positive report (Numbers 14:6-10),
Joshua knows what the people are about to face but he has a courageous faith in
God that knows God is with them and will bring them victory.
In addition to facing what appears to be a formidable
physically powerful enemy, the people of Israel are also about to move into a
land dominated by the pagan worship of the Canaanite people. (1) However, once again we see Joshua standing
strong in his faith, believing God will trump the pagan beliefs of the
Canaanites. The remainder of the Book of
Joshua records how God enabled the People of Israel to victoriously take
possession of the land God promised them and gives us guidance today as we
observe the cultural rot in our society.
Today’s cultural rot includes,
1)
The cheapening of life – The atrocious actions
of Planned Parenthood doctors demonstrates how some working in the medical
profession today have cheapened the value of lives they took an oath to
protect. (2) (3) (4) They justify their actions by claiming their
research may come up with a cure for some disease. I am not against medical research to discover
cures for disease but that research must not come at the expense of taking the
life of anyone, including an unborn child.
God values all life, including the life of the baby in the mother’s womb
(Psalm 139:13) and does not consider it a mass of tissue but a viable living person
for which He has a plan. We must therefore
stand courageous in defending the sanctity of life for if we do not, it will
not be long before some government official may cheapen the value of our own
lives.
2)
The erosion of liberty in favor of the illusion
that government can create utopia – The idea of utopia was first postulated in
Plato’s Republic. The idea of utopia is
desirable for all of us but the belief that fallen sinful men and women can
somehow create it is biblically flawed.
As a Christian, my desire is to live eternally with God by professing my
belief in Jesus as my savior (John 3:16) and urge everyone reading this who has
not already done so, to take a moment and pray with me,
Dear Lord Jesus, I
know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death
(Romans 6:23). I ask you to forgive me
of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9). I believe you died, was buried, and
resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.
Join me in supporting the protection of our God given liberties as
expressed in the founding documents of the United States instead of allowing
culture to have us seek utopia brought on by government led by flawed
individuals.
3)
The abandonment of sound fiscal policies
favoring increasing deficits and debt threatening everyone’s financial future
and pursuit of happiness – In their efforts to create utopia, government
leaders have created numerous failed government programs resulting in massive
debt. The day of reckoning will come
some day in our not too distant future when this massive debt will have to be
repaid. When this occurs, government
will need to increase taxes, reduce tax credits and deductions, and reduce
benefits. All of these will result in a
reduction of personal discretionary income for all citizens of the country
threatening everyone’s financial future and pursuit of happiness.
We must like Joshua stand courageously and not allow the cultural
rot in society to rob us of our God given rights to life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. Instead we must,
1)
Pray – Our prayers are powerful (James 5:16)
even though we may not see any visible results.
This is because we are in a spiritual battle, but a battle we will
win. Our battle today is no different
from the battle Michael fought in bringing an answer to Daniels prayer in
Daniel 10:13. We must therefore do as
Joshua did, stand courageously praying knowing that our God will prevail.
2)
Encourage fellow Christians to get out and vote
– Christians in the United States have a unique opportunity to select their
leadership through elections held every two years with the opportunity to
select our President every four years.
Unfortunately, however, thousands of Christians do not exercise this
powerful privilege, which is why we continually elect leadership that does not
share our Christian values.
3)
Support the convention of states process in
order to build constitutional firewalls to protect our freedom of speech and
religious liberty – The first amendment to the U.S. Constitution does protect
religion. However, through the years
government that does not share our Christian values have passed legislation or
made judicial rulings curtailing the free practice of religion, especially for
Christians and Jews. Unfortunately,
leadership in Washington DC is more interested in protecting its political
power and not the Constitution they swear to protect. This is why the authors of the Constitution
provided the convention of states clause in Article 5 of the Constitution (5) Most of us have firewalls on our computers to
protect us from some cyber-attack. Article
5 is a firewall provided by the authors of the Constitution to protect citizens
from an out of control Federal Government.
We therefore must implement the Article 5 Convention of states in order
to stop further attacks on the liberties protected by the Constitution.
Will you join me in becoming a Joshua by standing strong for
the Lord in this time of cultural rot?
1. Ray Vander Laan. Fertility Cults of Canaan. www.thattheworldmayknow.com. [Online] That the World May Know. [Cited: February 19,
2016.] https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/fertility-cults-of-canaan.
2. Ertelt, Steven.
5th shocking Video Catches Planned Parenthood official selling "Fully
Intact Aborted Babies. www.lifenews.com. [Online] LifeNews.com, August
4, 2015. [Cited: August 9, 2015.]
www.lifenews.com/2015/08/04/5th-shocking-video-catches-planned-parenthood-official-selling-fully-intact-aborted-babies/.
3. McLaughlin, Steve
Almaxy and Eliott C. Planned Parenthood exec. fetal body parts subject of
controversial video. www.cnn.com. [Online] CNN, July 15, 2015. [Cited:
July 19, 2015.]
www.cnn.com/2015/07/15/health/planned-parenthood-undercover-video/.
4. Otto, Amy.
Don't Let Planned parenthood Use 'medical Research' to Whitewash Its Baby Body
Parts Atrocities. thefederalist.com. [Online] The Federalist, July 22,
2015. [Cited: December 26, 2015.]
http://thefederalist.com/2015/07/22/dont-let-planned-parenthood-use-medical-research-to-whitewash-its-baby-body-parts-atrocities/.
5. Legal Information
Institute. U.S. Constitution. www.law.cornell.edu/constitution. [Online]
Cornell University Law School. [Cited: June 19, 2012.]
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution.
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