From His Heart Daily Devotional 29 September 2022

WHEN A NATION FALLS

Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down,” says the LORD.
Jeremiah 6:15

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When I was in high school, I had a summer job working for Cypress Fairbanks ISD Maintenance Department. It was a very hot and sweaty gig, mowing lawns at school campuses and such, but it was steady work and decent pay for a high school student.

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I remember an interesting item in the break room at the Maintenance Building. It wasn’t a conventional vending machine filled with snacks, untouchable until you paid the price. It was an open display filled with snacks. You could freely take a snack—provided you deposited the right amount of money in the cardboard drop box. This vending method operated completely on the honor system and the eighth commandment, “You shall not steal.”

Have you noticed how the Honor System Vending boxes are a thing of the past? The reason why is simple: they no longer work. Put one of those out in the average break room and see how quickly you lose money. We have become a society of dishonorable people who think little of lying and stealing.

AMERICA IS IN SERIOUS TROUBLE

Our Founding Fathers were not dishonorable people. In fact, the culture in the colonies was one of honor. Men and women feared God, respected man, and had a shared moral compass based on the Ten Commandments and the tenets of Scripture. That moral culture of yesteryear birthed the Constitution of the United States. That moral culture is what America was based upon. Framer John Adams shed light on this fact of history by stating, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

In Touch Daily Devotion 29 September 2022 – Standing Strong and Tall through Prayer

Why is America in such moral, social, and political turmoil today? It is because we are no longer moral and religious. We no longer fear God, respect man, or have a shared sense of even the most basic morality. We are aptly described in Romans 1:21-32: spiritually depraved, sexually depraved, and socially depraved. We wear Hester Pryne’s scarlet letter “A” as if it were a badge of honor. We proudly don T-shirts that read, “I had an abortion… and I don’t regret it.” We sing songs that glorify abuse, rape, murder, necrophilia, and blasphemy.

We are a nation that has no idea how to blush. We are a nation on a collision course with judgment.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

Nineveh, the capital city of the wicked Assyrians, was a place where the people did not know how to blush. As such, the people were in the cross hairs of rightful judgment. God sent reluctant Jonah to let them know their lease on life was up—”Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4). Surprisingly, the people received the message, humbled their hearts before God, and repented of their sins. And when God saw their contrition, He graciously spared their lives and their land.

The only hope for America is in repentance. Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5). May we as believers walk in the light and speak the truth in love before all hope is gone. Sin cannot and will not ever win. God’s ways will endure forever and ever and ever.

Pastor Jeff Schreve,
From His Heart Ministries