October 2002

Christ:
The Landscape of Life

Part Thirty-three

“LO and BEHOLD”

(Q)

Peace....but not at any price!!

               Believer in Christ, what price are you willing to pay for peace of mind? Sadly, unbelievers forfeit their self-respect, integrity, and relationships with families and friends to gain a false peace! They are deceived into thinking that peace comes with the acquisition of MONEY AND SUCCESS! They believe financial freedom, and the amassing of material possessions, is the pathway to peace; but are disillusioned when it turns into a trail of tears! The end of the rainbow is not a pot of gold as they had hoped! The peace that this world affords, is not a permanent peace! How can it be when 1 Jn 2:17 says, “The world will pass away- along with its lusts; but whoever does the Will of God shall abide forever!” For this reason, verse 15 exhorts us, “Do not love this world, nor the things in the world; for the Love of the Father is not in any man who loves this world (of sin and death)!! For all that is in the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father; but it is of the world!”
                The Lord gave me a dream recently where a woman was carrying a richly dressed infant into a day care center. Suddenly the precious babe in her arms transformed into a big bag of cash; then it changed into a large bag of jewels; then it changed into a sack of ownership titles to a fine house, with fine furnishings, and a fine car! I heard the Holy Spirit ask, “Would she be as willing to trust her riches to the care of strangers, as she is her child?” Then He said, “Where your treasure is, there is your heart!” (Mt 6:21) When I awoke, I knew God was going to deal severely with parents who have deferred the rearing of their children to strangers! These innocents are being turned over to “care-givers” of uncertain character- whose “bottom line” is money they get paid to teach their set of values- or lack thereof- to their own offspring! Years ago the Lord made me work in such a place for two years. It was one of the better day care centers here in my city; yet after a few weeks, I called it a “children’s concentration camp”! Those beloved babies were so forlorn and heartsick away from their parents, they would reach out to me for attention, affection and authority. Many would cry when they were being dropped off early each morning; but if parents were late picking them up, the crying would turn to desperation! It so vexed my soul, it took all my faith in Christ to overcome the pain and return another day.
                In 1955 a gentleman came to my parents’ home to discuss a grave situation he saw looming on America’s horizon. He asked us to assemble as many friends and neighbors as possible to hear his presentation. I was struck by his quiet earnestness and paid close attention to all he had to say. He began by reading excerpts from the Communist Manifesto which stated in concise language that the United States was too powerful a nation to ever take over by force; so they would take us over through our youth by: corrupting their morals; encouraging drug and alcohol addiction; inciting rebellion against authority- especially parental- even to the point of violence; gradually removing all influence of God from their lives; promoting sexual abandon and the abortion solution; breeding discontent in young women toward the sacred role of wife and mother; instigating women’s liberty; motivating young mothers to abandon their nests in pursuit of careers in the work force; and finally, substituting day care centers as surrogate child custodians! Then he played a tape of a debate that took place at Harvard University between the head of the American Communist Party and the head of the American Anti-Communist League. What things they had to say wasn’t as shocking to me as the response from the student body. When the Anti-communist leader made a valid point, there was no audience reaction at all; but when the Communist leader made a point, there was applause and cheering! The final shock was learning that the American Communist Party leader was not a “Gestapo” type of individual; but a little, old owner of a popular “mom & pop” grocery store in San Diego, Ca.!!
                We scoffed at the idea that American mothers could go the way of Russian women who left their children in state-owned day cares to be indoctrinated in communism while they went to work! We said our country could never abandon its children like that; but today, all we were warned about that day has come to pass! Our nation is now nearly a police state while its people are narcotized by their quest for “peace at any price”! Our precious children are abandoned, abused and exploited- even in their own homes; if they are not executed en masse inside their mothers’ wombs! Parents have turned their backs as Elementary schools force-feed their children “instructions” on sexuality, homosexuality, witchcraft, sorcery, evolution, and social anarchy- yet denying them their God-given right to learn about, and pray to, their Creator! What a terrible price our nation shall continue to pay for their rabid pursuit of temporal peace! What folly! Men must learn that Eternal Peace can never be found in the increase of wealth, the elimination of hardships, or the warm, fuzzy feeling when all things go our way! Rather, PEACE IS FOUND IN THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST!! Only when the Life of this “Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6) Who is the “Fruit of God’s Spirit” (Ga 5:22) rules in the hearts of all men, shall there be a true and lasting “Peace on earth, good will to men!”

[TO BE CONTINUED]