How Do You Like Being the Tail Rather Than the Head?

"The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.” --- Deuteronomy 28:43-45

At the risk again of referring to that book called the Bible, at least a few would agree that there are interesting and at times very disturbing statements made by God

A large number would deny that Deuteronomy 28 has anything to do with the United States. In immediate context the statements were made to ancient Israelite people who were on the threshold of entering territory which God had promised centuries earlier to their ancestors.

There are those who are quick to point out that this only applied in a historical setting to a different culture and has no application whatsoever to the United States in 2009.

But there may be a few dozen at least – but that matters not – who would agree when it is said that there is an eternal principle in the 28th of Deuteronomy which applies to all humans and all nations – it is called obedience to Almighty God!

Of all countries which have had light and revelation since the beginning of their days, the United States has been most privileged. This republic has had constant exposure down through its decades of history to what God expects of a people on an individual basis as well as a corporate basis as a nation.

You can try to split hairs if you wish over this issue, but a simple question can bring a bit of focus to where we are at. Do we resemble the head or the tail more, when God used a graphic illustration as to how it would be for a nation of people, depending on the choice to obey Him or disobey Him?

Just looking at the financial scene alone tells us quite a bit, does it not? Are we lending out millions upon millions of dollars at the present time to other nations of the world? Read closely the closing reference at the bottom of these comments about lending and not borrowing.

Now read again the opening reference above about an alien who is going to be lending to a people who thought they could ignore the laws of God and still prosper – and the sad consequence is that He will make that people the tail as they plunge deeper into debt!

The nation of China alone holds nearly a trillion dollars of U. S. debt, not to mention many other countries that also hold portions of our debt! And with B. O.’s irresponsible spending patterns, there is not going to be any improvement in this situation.

Someone tried to describe how to picture a trillion dollars, since these amounts in trillions are being tossed around repeatedly these days when government finance is discussed. He said a trillion dollars in $1 bills stacked on top of each other would reach 68,000 miles into the sky – looks like you have to have one of those fancy astronaut suits if you would try to sit on top of the stack, would you not?

Read again how it would have been if we, as a nation, would have been obeying God through the years and our leaders would have demonstrated in personal conduct and conversation that obedience to Almighty God is to be the top national priority. Notice what God says He will specifically do for such an obedient people.

Once again, I rest my case – if you disagree, have a long serious talk with God about it and ask Him if He is going to overlook all of our national transgressions!

It’s no Sunday School picnic being the tail! Do you think that President Obama would heartily agree?

"The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.” --- Deuteronomy 28:12, 13

Always Be Positive in Thinking, Speaking and All You Do Otherwise!

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.' Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city......" --- words spoken by Jesus Christ in Matthew 23:27-34

Books have been written on the subject -- seminars have been held -- therapy sessions get into it -- talk show hosts/hostesses will hammer on the subject -- and psychologists/psychiatrists have a field day with it as they underscore the need for a healthy sense of "self esteem" -- church leaders really take this ball and run with it and sometimes it appears that United Methodist bishops try to corner the market on the issue!

And just what is the issue? Why it's this thing of always being positive -- be positive in your attitude and thinking -- and when you speak (and presumably when you preach, so far as church leaders are concerned) always be positive. Don't be negative or critical of anyone or anything! And by all means, back up your positive attitude, thinking and speech with the way you act. Seems that some are convinced (or deluded, you pick out which) that if this positive thing goes far enough and spreads among the population like a measles epidemic, then we will have ushered in a paradise on earth! Yea, I already know -- someone is going to say I have a negative and sarcastic attitude about this thing!

But hang on for a bit longer -- a question or two -- is there no place for negatives in our country and in our world at all? I remember an irate email received one time from a news anchor person at a TV station. I had written in about an issue, and yes, I had been negative in some statements I made. In his reply he made reference to the fact that I was quite negative in what I had said. So I replied in a few statements and reminded him that it is necessary to have some negatives in this world -- "...try starting your car with only a positive post on your battery and see how far you get!" was my parting statement.

It is an extremely rare occasion if a church leader or pastor makes reference to certain actions and statements on the part of Jesus. Or they may just bypass that section of Scripture altogether because it isn't something very soothing to sleep on at night! A brief quote from Jesus is mentioned above. Did you notice the "labels" He used and the persons to whom those labels were applied? If He were being considered for the position of pastor of a large suburban church and the committee responsible for determining the hiring (and firing) of a pastor knew Jesus had said the above things to very religious people, do you think He would get the job? Or in an episcopal system such as the United Methodist Church, do you think a bishop would appoint Jesus to serve a church when it was known that He was so critical and labeled persons in such negative terms? Or maybe Jesus would be put on probation on the condition that He undergo psychiatric counseling for an extended period in order to get this negative stuff out of His system!

If you chopped all the "negatives" out of the Bible and shredded them, you would have a rather thin book left -- or maybe it would more be like a booklet. You would have to eliminate major portions of the Old Testament prophets and once you got done with John the Baptist, there wouldn't be much information remaining about him either.

But why those negatives in the Bible anyway? Everything would have been positive if sin had not invaded the human race. Then came God's revelation as to what He expected by way of human performance and human relationships. Since humans are born with an inclination toward self-centered motives, defiance and rebellion so far as God is concerned, then the negatives come into play. It just isn't sufficient to say, "Now boys and girls, God is good, and we ought to listen to God and mind Him all the time." For a good example as to how the positives and the negatives are spelled out, read Deuteronomy 28, which was referred to in an earlier post here. God spells out the positives -- the blessings which will come for total obedience to Him. But then He takes nearly 4 times as much space (or statements) to spell out the negatives -- the cursings and calamities which will come upon the people for disobedience to His laws and standards!

Must a Christian be always positive -- all the time every day of every week of every month of every year? Think on this -- must your doctor be always positive? Suppose he finds some cancer growing inside you and you ask him what he is going to do. He says he will do nothing -- he is being positive and the cancer cells have as much right to live in the body as those considered to be "normal" and they should be treated with the same respect as the "normal" cells! Would you accept that, or would you insist that those cancer cells must be destroyed -- cut the body open and cut out every cancer cell because if it isn't done, you will die! But that is being a bit negative on your part, isn't it?

A parting question -- if you are a Christian, what are you attempting to do about the spiritual and moral cancer that has invaded the church and those who are infected, including church leaders? What do you think ought to be done about a church leader who says we ought not to send missionaries to foreign countries to convert people to Jesus Christ -- those people over there have their own religion and we ought not to disrupt that? Come on now, let's hear it in this day and age when we are pressured to sit down to the table and "dialog" with those of other religious expessions, put Jesus Christ on the shelf, and say in so many words, "Your religion is just as good as mine -- there are many paths to the top of the mountain, and I am committed to being absolutely positive about all religions in today's world!"

And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" --- Jesus performing in John 2:14-16

Blessing or Cursing...Which? It's Our Choice!

"Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:..........But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country......." -- Deuteronomy 28:1,2,15,16

The United States is unique in a number of ways, one of which is its origin.

From the beginning when a few settlers migrated here from England and Europe the nation has always had access to God's miraculous revelation, the holy Bible.

Woven into our nation's early historical documents were statements which openly acknowledged God and the need to obey and trust Him. In time this was later confirmed by placing the inscription, "In God We Trust," on the currency and coins of our republic. Leaders in the earlier decades of the republic were not hesitant in speaking out of the need to not only acknowledge God, but to be obedient to Him for the ongoing well being and future survival of the nation.

Deuteronomy 28 in the Bible explicitly defines the conditions for experiencing an abundance of blessings (the full and rewarding life) or an abundance of cursings (the fearful and chaotic life) depending on the choice to obey or disobey God on the collective level.

However, there are objections that Deuteronomy 28 has nothing to do with us -- that it only applies to the Israelite people in a very ancient historical time frame. Really? Then are we to conclude that it doesn't matter whether we listen to God or not on a collective basis as a nation? And are there no consequences whatsoever no matter what our choices may be as it pertains to spiritual, moral and ethical responsibility?

There seems to be a kind of revival of the view of deism from out of times past. That approach may say that there is a God but He doesn't really interact with any facet of His creation! In fact, He resembles a little boy who winds up a toy and then sits back and watches it run down without touching it in the process of the activity. So it makes no difference what we do -- God is just a kind of spectator as to what goes on in this world, in each nation, and in the life of every single human being wherever he or she may live! Yea, sure!

If you dare -- take a slow look at Deuteronomy 28 in which God takes about 4 times as much space to detail the calamities that will come upon the nation for disobedience as He does in describing the blessings for obedience -- in which category is our republic best described -- the blessing side or the cursed side at the present time? And if you were to place a picture of our nation with its leaders and its citizens over one side or the other, which one of those two categories most accurately reflects this nation's present relationship with Almighty God and would be the one most qualified to display such a picture -- the blessing side or the cursed side?

Statistical evidence suggests that the majority of our 300 million citizens couldn't care less one way or another. Obedience to God is definitely not a priority issue!

How about you?

Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us." He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the LORD shall hold them in derision. -- Psalm 2:1-4