A Better United States of America

Over the last few years, our nation has been rocked terror, protest,  mass shootings, hate crimes, new laws that interfere with many of American’s core beliefs.  Charleston, South Carolina was the scene of a hate crime where a lone gunman stalked his prey for nearly an hour while Christians were praying and studying the Scriptures before shooting up the house of worship and murdering nine. 

Rioters took to the streets in St. Louis and Baltimore to protest against what they felt was police brutality and prejudice against blacks.  Four Marines and one sailor were murdered at the hands of an Islamist extremist in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Police officers are murdered in Dallas, Texas.  Unarmed black men shot and killed by police officers.  Some National League Football players kneel during the National Anthem in protest against the brutality toward people of color.  School shootings.  Church shootings.  Mall shootings.  And the list goes on. 

“One baby is aborted every 26 seconds. That’s 137 every hour.  Which means there are 3,304 murdered every day; 23,196 every week; 100,516 every month and 1,206,192 every year just in the United States of America.”  http://www.mccl.org/us-abortion-stats.html

While the stats are tough to read and our present-day America is looking bleak in the eyes of millions, never count out God and what he will do next.  He is aware.  He knows our situation inside and out.  He will never leave us abandoned without hope, nor forsake us while we are at our worse.  One of the reasons that Romans 5:8 is my favorite Scripture is because it tells all of us that while we are at our worse, God is at his best.  Look at it… “ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”  God is in the business of redeeming us, saving us and being merciful to all of us.  

Don’t give up on America just yet; instead, let’s look at how we can live the Jesus life and make an impact in our nation that will help rid our towns and States and an entire nation of hate crimes, murders, drunk drivers, prostitution, greed, deception, and liars 

God never created any of us to do wrong; rather, he created us to have a wonderful relationship with him.  1^st John 4:19 says it perfectly, “We can love because He loved us first” (paraphrased)

Also, God would have never made us in his likeness if we were created to be rebellious.  Moses said in Genesis 1:27 that we are all “made in the likeness of God.”  God is love.  God is peace.  God is good.  God is patient.  God is kind.  God gentle.  God is self-control.  God is faithful.  God is joy. 

The way each of us helps change a community for the better is to be better ourselves.  The way to be better is to model God’s likeness and to allow the indwelled Spirit to lead us in our pursuit of godly living.  The way to model God’s likeness is to train our thinking and behavior to be godly.  The Apostle Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:8, "...train yourself to be godly."  The way we train to be godly is by doing four very important lifestyle changes:

Number 1:  Keeping focused on Jesus, not on self!  Hebrews 12:1-2, "...throw off everything that hinders us...fix our eyes on Jesus....” It’s all about Jesus!

Number 2:  Praying and Positive Thinking! Philippians 4:4-9, "...in everything, by prayer...think about such things...." Stinking thinking only gets you a bad attitude and no friends or influence.

Number 3:  Kicking out bad habits!  Galatians 2:17-21, "...I no longer live, but Christ lives in me...." Jesus and the Spirit keeps the bad habits from coming back if you stay connected.

Number 4:  Being around motivators!  Hebrews 10:23-25, "...let us consider how we may spur one another...let us encourage one another....” Church gatherings are the spark to give energy to model godly values. 

When godliness leads our lives, community’s change, crime goes down, hate of one’s color of skin loses out and murderers become life protectors. 

It all starts with YOU!  Will you be the ONE to start making our community a better place to live? 

Remember, Be God Controlled!

Brian