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We Messed Up

I believe that the Lord has moved me into a new place regarding my devotional reading; the book of the Judges. Today in chapter 2 the Lord gave me pause in 2 verses:

Judges 2:10 - Also, all [the people of] that generation were gathered to their fathers [in death]; and another generation arose after them who did not know (recognize, understand) the Lord, nor even the work which He had done for Israel. (Amp)
Judges 2:20-21 - So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed (violated) My covenant (binding agreement) which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to My voice, I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left [to be conquered] when he died.  (Amp)

One of the things that frightens me is that people have adopted the 'come and see' approach to church.  Pastors and leaders often treat is as they would an entertainment venue, focusing on the presentation so as to compete with the 'show' or the feature at the theater.  Jesus never intended this for the church.  His desire was to practice the 'go and do'.  In short, we are called to take that which we have received and practice it and talk about it.  Christians actually living the faith is what makes God look glorious.

Do you wonder how the Israelites went from God having the Earth literally open and consume the walls of Jericho to a generation not knowing the Lord, nor his works?  The speculation of this alone gives me pause.  I wonder if its because:

A.  Israel became comfortable in possessing the land they had, so they quit focusing on the land they didn't.  Let's call this the "We have enough mentality."

B.  Israel became so busy possessing the land that the focus on continuing to hear from God became lessened.   A generation watched as their parents focused heavily on the business of life instead of the giver of the blessing.  Let's call this the "We are busy and don't have time for everything mentality."

C.  Israel became so mis-prioritized that repeating the story took a second place to achieving the goals of life.  What had been a practice of each house soon was related to holy men and leaders of Christian education.  Fathers focused on making money.  Mothers focused on the business of making sure their kids were fed and clothed.   Let's call this the "We can get someone else to do it mentality."

Whatever the reasons - a generation grew up and they didn't know the God who had so influenced their parents and grandparents.  They watched their parents and grandparents focus more on self that pursing the greater things of God.  When their time for leadership came - THEY HAD LEARNED EXACTLY WHAT THEY HAD BEEN TAUGHT.

God help us if this isn't a living picture of the Church of America today.
God help us if we don't change this paradigm as fast as we can.

Because if we do not - how can God look the Israelites in the face, having removed His blessing from them yet not from us?   He will have to consider us the same as them - and if He does, it doesn't matter how many times we sing "God bless America" - His answer will be NO.

Consider us warned...

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