For a period of about three months, I would drive by a Jesus statue.  It was sitting on a four-lane highway, at an intersection. Twice a day, I would see this statue and God would deal with me to write about how America has forgotten Jesus.  This statue probably was carried over to the highway from a nearby graveyard.

     I don’t know who sat the statute in the median at that intersection.  I don’t know where the statue went when it disappeared.  All I know is that it spoke volumes to me. Just as a relationship with Jesus is treated with care when we first become Christians, this statue was carefully and meticulously painted. At one time, the statue had been painted with a purple robe, brown hair, and olive skin.  Over time, it became faded and chipped by the elements. We are careful to pray for strength and guidance. We care about how our walk reflects on Jesus. We do all the things we think are required of us. This doesn’t keep us from growing cold. Our perceived duties do not keep us on the straight and narrow.

     How do we know we are on the right path?  Are we doing what is really required of us as Christians? Are we following a laundry list of what is perceived to be our duty? Hopefully, we are doing what is necessary to build our relationship with Christ. It is not about our lists of Christian things.

AMERICA AND THE CHURCH WORLD OF TODAY

      Many of the churches in America today have given over to the idea of Christianity without Christ.  Jesus’ blood is not preached anymore for fear of offending someone. They watch slasher films and true crime complete with blood and gore, but the message of the cross is too bloody.  The message of the gospel is as forgotten as the Jesus statue.

     If we can make radical changes in our lives and walk with Christ according to the word, we can change our world. Being a Christian is not about following a bunch of rules.  It is about a relationship. It is not about judging one another, but following Christ’s example by walking in love.

     Forgotten Jesus reminds us of how we have moved away from the old landmarks to a modern (wrong-thinking) liberal congregation.  We as Christians are not meant to be judgmental critical people.  We are supposed to walk in love.  However, standing for what is right and biblically true is not being judgmental.  If we handle it the right way, we can gain someone.

     For example, walking up to someone you know is living in sin and telling them, “If you don’t change you will split hell wide open.”  It may be true, but it puts them on the defense and they will feel attacked.  When a person is being defensive you will never get them to see your point of view.  It is much easier if you find common ground.  Try to build a relationship with them, for the purpose of showing them, love.

       Often, we don’t appreciate what we have until it is gone.  I am afraid that America is on that path.  The liberals that hate us so much will someday wish we were there to hear our sermons. There was a time that people made a conscious decision to turn their back on God. Many were raised in the church by God-fearing parents.  It was impossible to get away from a grandma’s prayers.  So, people had a basic idea of what it meant to be a God-fearing person.  Even if people chose not to follow Christ, they at least had respect for Christians.

      Then society started breaking down. Fewer and fewer people started attending church. In turn, their children were not raised in fear of the Lord.  They were never taught what it means to walk by faith.  Left with no choice they learned to make the best of their life on their own.

     2Tim 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

2Tim 4:4  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.  

     Today we even have a worse situation; the watered-down gospel. We have the mega-churches with all their “happy” doctrine.  God never promised that this life would be peaches and cream.  He never said the road would be easy.  He never promised the mountains would not be hard to climb.  He promised to go with us every step of the way.

     When people preach that God wants us to have this overly happy life, I wonder if they really buy that snake oil they are selling.  Do they believe it or are they up to something else?  It is all a part of the all-roads lead to heaven, do what makes you happy doctrine.  This doctrine is not accurate according to the bible.   

     If we are meant to be happy all the time, with no problems or struggles, then there would be no need for most of the Psalms, as well as a lot of other scripture.  We need to learn to navigate this life in order to be prepared for the next.  In other words, these people have forgotten the real message.  They have forgotten Jesus.

The old hymn says, “Oh How I Love Jesus because he first loved me.” I was thinking today about God’s love for us. As a teenager, I would hear the older saint testify about how much they loved Jesus. He was their whole world. They would say how they couldn’t make it without him. Some would say things like they couldn’t breathe without him. They didn’t want to live even a second without him. At the time, I couldn’t relate and wondered how they got to that place in life. After all, I didn’t have any worries. My parents took care of me and I had a good life.

As an adult, I know what they meant. When we walk through some storms in life, we realize we cannot make it without him. The more things we walk through, the stronger our bond to our Lord. Hard things we face in life can kill us or make us stronger. They will help us grow or make us bitter. I choose to live with the hope that God is in control. He wants us to love him with our whole hearts.

( “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” Jer 29:13 KJV ) I believe this is what happens as we walk through life. We learn how to pray and to Love God.

We are not born knowing how to love God. That is something we learn as our faith grows.

That reminds me of something that happened years ago. We were having a family dinner. My oldest nephew was around four years old. They had been teaching him the little kids prayer, “God is great, God is good and we thank him for our food…”

He wanted to say grace, He didn’t do that prayer he said, “thank you for our food,” then he paused for a moment, so long that my mom finally asked if he was done. He then shook his bowed head and said, “help me love God. Amen.”

That was such a sincere prayer from the heart. I changed it a little, now I say, “help me Love You More God.” He honors that prayer daily.

Until next time, BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS.