The Walls We Wage

Proverbs 25:28 'He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.'

America has a problem. If we listen to politicians and pundits talk we might hear a variety of problems expressed.

"We are out here on the battlefield getting the impact of all this illegal immigration and all the crime that comes with it." - Jan Brewer / Governor of Arizona

"America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof, the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud" - George W. Bush / Former President of the U.S.A.

Hebrews 11:30 'By faith the walls of Jericho fell down. . .'

Your sins are showing. This great desire to fence yourself off from the world, your fear of who they are and what they stand for - of this impending peril is the work of the devil.

Psalms 55:21 'The words of his mouth are smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: His words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.'

They speak of peace yet they are always ready to fight. They do not mark the steps of the peacemaker.

Ecclesiastes 9:18 'Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroys much good.'

There are many spirits in the world and to believe a nation possesses a spirit is foolishness.  People possess spirits, and only people, as individuals can make decisions and be held accountable for those decisions.  Every word in the Bible is pointed like a sword at your heart.  The words and commands of Yahweh are meant to divide your soul from your flesh - to make you a carnal man no more - but a spirit man.

I cringe everytime I hear and read opinions that want to return to the good old days, to the days of our grandparents, to the days when America had true patriotism, truth and justice.

I cringe because it is all a fantasy.  Americans have been erecting walls of division since the earliest days of its inception.  They wrote that all men were equal and free - but they weren't and they knew it.  The days of our parents were filled with race wars and hatred.  The days of our grandparents were filled with inequality and injustice for everyone but a white man.  Civil rights was only a dream that began to take shape in the 60's.  When was this past grand spirit of American history everyone wants to return too? 

2 Corinthians 13:5 'Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith, prove your own selves. . .'

This is not about your country but you.  This is about you taking steps to stop sinning, to stop standing outside the will of the Lord.  Nations want you to believe that we are all in this together, that this is a struggle we must fight as a united people.  That is a lie.  Examine yourself.  One sinner destroys much.  A person that cannot control their own spirit, is a broken down wall. 

Hadrian's wall and Antonine's wall were built to keep peace and order, to improve economic stability in a region thought to be unstable. Borders often are unstable because this is the place where two opposing forces meet, two opposing ideas clash.

"From the beginning of our history the country has been afflicted with compromise. It is by compromise that human rights have been abandoned." - Charles Sumner

Borders simply remind us that there are differences. The world's biggest problem is exploiting apparent differences. By drawing a line, by erecting a fence, by building a wall, we shut people out. We also shut people in. We say "You belong here, and you belong there." I ask, WHY? Who are you to determine where my place is? Am I owned because of where I am born? Can someone really say to me that I am free, yet draw lines in the sand that prevent me, for my own good? The commercial I included here (Ally Bank - Bike) shows you exactly where we are headed as a people. Pretty soon, out of fear, we will be a safe nation of prisoners.

Maybe we really need to start examining our sins more closely.

One of my favorite lines of all time actually comes from a politically minded movie and that is 'Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.' Jimmy Stewart, facing disgrace and ruin, his hope and energy nearly extinguished steps up to his accuser and reminds him that there is no compromise with the truth. And anyone who knows one little rule, Love Thy Neighbor, is greater than all the laws and administrators of law in the world. It's not that America has forgot that. It is that people have forgot that - Christians have forgotten that.

When some Christians saw people enslaved and oppressed, they didn't compromise like those who wrote the Declaration of Independence did. No, they faced disgrace and ruin, even threats of peril and violence to love their neighbors who were of a different complexion.

How do politician's think?

"I am a compromiser and a maneuverer. I try to get something. That's the way our system works." - Lyndon B. Johnson / Former President of the U.S.A.

Nations all work this way. You can call it capitalism, or democracy, or republic, or communism, or tyranny - but they all depend on those with power compromising and maneuvering. Every Caesar who did not compromise and maneuver well, got assasinated. Every tyrant that did not compromise and maneuver well, got ousted. Every president that did not compromise and maneuever well, was not re-elected. It's a big game - and Christians should not be part of this game.

Proverbs 12:3 'A man shall not be established by wickedness: But the root of the righteous shall not be moved.'

Hebrews 10:23 'Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for He is faithful that promised.'

Without wavering in Christ, is making no compromise with the truths He preached.

How can you compromise with His word in yourselves?

Hebrews 10:26 'For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins.'

Yahshua has commanded you to overcome evil with good. He has commanded you to love your neighbor as yourself.

If you draw a line, put up a fence, erect a wall between you and your neighbor, what are you saying to your neighbor?

Don't forget the story of the Good Samaritan. Samaritans were not trusted people. They were alien and foreign to the people of Yisrael to whom Yahshua preached. To hear Him tell a story where a Samaritan was more neighborly than the people of their own tribe was nearly blasphemous. It is like telling Governor Jan Brewer that FBI crime reports from 2009 show that violent crime in the southwest border towns are actually among the lowest in the nation per capita.

"The border is safer now than its ever been." - Lloyd Easterling / Spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

"Politicians are hyping up this incredible fear across the country about the border, but the numbers show these are lies being perpetrated on the American public." - Isabel Garcia / Immigrant Activist

There is a wall already erected and it stands between the Democrats and the Republicans. Jan Brewer and other Republicans have said they will not support any immigration reform until the border is more tightly secure. In other words - there is a wall.

As a Christian, you cannot be part of that wall. You have a duty as a Christian to love your neighbor, which includes the illegal immigrant. In fact, you, as a Christian, have a duty to love your enemies. You as a Christian have a duty that forms a wall between you and the nations of the world unlike any other wall every created.

Romans 12:17 'Recompense to no man evil for evil. . .'

"I just want you to know that, when we're talking about war, we're really talking about peace." - George W. Bush / Former President of the U.S.A.

Isaiah 5:20-21 'Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!'

And the only way you will ever have peace in your own Christian thoughts, is to stop compromising with the truth - stop making compromises between your spirit man and your carnal man. You have to allow one entity the victory.

If you concern yourselves with lines drawn in the sand, with ethnic disparities, with culture differences and racial profiling as a means of cleaning up your people - you have missed the whole point of being a Christian.

John 9:41 'Yahshua said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see, therefore your sin remains.'

I think it is time we closed our eyes to all this evil we think we see. It is time we acted on faith and let the walls of Jericho, of Hadrian, and of Arizona come tumbling down. In Christ we are not Christian-Americans. There is no hyphen in the Kingdom of Heaven.

There is only one wall, one gulf which we need worry about. Choose your side and choose your side wisely.

Romans 6:23 'For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of Yahweh is eternal life through Yahshua the Messiyah, our Lord.'

And don't you ever forget it.

Amen