Crumbling Foundations

Psalm 11:3 - When the foundations are being destroyed," cried the psalmist, "what can the righteous do?

Jesus tells us that the poor will always be here…For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always (Matthew 26:11). How are we to understand such a thing? Could it be another way of God's telling us that the poor include those people without a connection of any kind with Him? I think so.

I wrote about death to life Monday. How much poorer can one be than one who has no hope in their future? One who is dead in their sins right now, today. One who looks to the world for all things? One who can't see their foundation crumbling or the world's foundations being destroyed? How much more alive and fulfilled can one be when Christ is their Foundation? One no longer needs to feel poor. We still have struggles but we can still rejoice; we can be poor and have nothing yet be rich and possess all things, as followers of Christ (2Corinthians 6:10).

When the foundations are being destroyed…aren't the foundations of this country being destroyed? Is there confidence in our leadership? Some would say yes. Is there confidence in our economic system? Same yes answer or others are anxiously waiting for "the system" to turn around again. The foundations will continue to crumble if they are not built up again on a sturdy Foundation. 

We have seen a change take place over the past 60 or so years. Because we have allowed ourselves to lighten up or tolerate those things that are now considered good and once were looked at as evil, we see our society crumbling. We have so bought into lies. I bought into it myself. What happened to waiting until marriage to consummate it? Now it's "get to knowing them first…live with them for awhile to see if it works." Now it's "don't worry about getting pregnant…you can always have an abortion." Alcohol and drugs are now substitutes for therapy...or love. Drown your sorrows or boost your self-esteem. Now it's tolerance for all religions because "all religions lead to God…" And even worse, far right conservatism and Christianity are intolerant...for what? Embracing the truth or not wanting to live a lie? Embracing diversity is a phrase we've coined so that all forms of lifestyles can be accepted even though what once was intolerable (and wrong in God's eyes) now can be. All lies.

Oh, I so realize that people will say God is a loving God and wouldn't disallow anyone access to heaven. But if He says it's wrong, it's wrong. In many cases He calls certain things abominations (dishonesty, arrogant pride, alternative lifestyles, shedding innocent blood, idol making and worship, wickedness, turning away from what was right and good, lying...). You can find many more listed in the Bible. 

The foundations are crumbling. And those who are so fully aware of it realize that this is the way it must be for Christ to return. There was a reason for the passage of scripture that tells us: But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away...always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.  (2Timothy 3:1-5,7) Oh, don't think anyone is immune from one or more of these things! We can brush it off with the thought that times have changed. Yes, they have; they are a sign of the times. A sign that Christ will return for His people...but not all people.

Unless one has their head in the sand, one cannot help but recognize these signs. It's not all about us. We have it so wrong. It's about God and why He created this world and His plan for us for a life well-spent and well-lived because He knows just what we need. What does it tell us when we watch the news and feel nothing about what we see going on? Have we become so hardened? Have we become so complacent? Wait till what we see becomes more personal. This is not the way God wanted things to pan out. And yet He knew it would. 

Lord God, forgive us for getting to this place in our lives. Forgive us for our own hands that prepared these horrid lifestyles. Forgive us for falling for the lies at one point in our lives. And thank You, Lord, that we can have our eyes opened to what once seemed right. I'm far from being a prude or holier than thou, but I do see things differently and I'm so grateful for those eyes you have opened. It so saddens me to se people living without the truth in their lives and believing that this is all there is to life…living the way they want because there's nothing else to look forward to.

Lord, open their eyes to see that what there is in the future is so much more glorious that what is here on earth. We DO have a purpose and it's Your purpose. It's your design for our lives and it's so much more fulfilling than what the world has to offer. Open eyes to see this. Open eyes to see the light at the end of the tunnel of their lives. Open their eyes that they might see Your Light standing there beckoning them into a life worthwhile instead of a life in the world that just plain sucks! 

Father God, lift up Your people. Help us to live the way You want us to. Give us all a voice that cries out in the wilderness, the wilderness that this world is becoming. Let the Church arise out of the ashes of today's humanity. Let the Church remember what it was called to do...speak the truth of God's Word and draw people into knowing a God who is alive and desiring of relationship with each person.

I realize that the days need to become grim for people to recognize the tragedies of life and begin a search for answers and a way out. Jesus is that Way. He is that Truth and the Life. He holds the hope for real life. He is the One who will forgive all your sins and heal all your diseases (Psalm 103:3). A person only needs to get to that place of affliction that cannot be removed with money, alcohol, drugs or sex, to finally seek something more. Jesus is our more. He is our portion. He is our strength and refuge. In Him we are to trust.

Righteousness, as awful as some people think this sounds, can be attained and it is the best thing. It doesn't make one holier than thou. That's just what is perceived when lies take over for truth. We are called righteous and holy when we come to Christ. These are the people who recognize the foundations of this world are crumbling. As the psalmist questioned above, "what can the righteous do?" The righteous can stand firm in the Foundation that is Christ. It's accepting Him as one's Foundation. This Foundation brings hope in a world whose foundations are being destroyed.

1Corinthians 3:9-11 - For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.