Faith Filled Family Magazine September 2016 | Page 39

By Rev. Tammie D. Croft
“Sweet land of liberty…” Liberty? What is liberty? We know
it as freedom or independence.
It began as a freedom that was
given to us by our forefathers
that allowed us to be independent and exercise our faith in
the one true God. Sounds great,
right? So what has happened?
How has the land of the free and
home of the brave become such
a misconception? The sweet
has turned bitter, the bitter has
become sweeter even to the
church, and it seems to be getting worse with each day.
For years, our ancestors encouraged a home of biblical values
and they raised their families
by sinless morals. Right was
always right and wrong was
always wrong, and anything
that appeared to compromise
“In God We Trust”, would be
dealt with in order to prevent a
decline in the country’s stability.
When this country was focused
on the family unit and raising
children was the highlight of life,
our forefathers led the home and
the family according to the principles of God’s Word. As long
as life was lived in this manner,
life was good for the most part.
Even in lack of material goods,
life was still good because of
family love and the unsurpassable peace of God. Those were
the good ole days that we mention today, when parents loved
their children, children loved and
respected their parents, everyone respected the law and the
government was for the good of
the people. Neighbors loved one
another and everybody loved
God, but somewhere through
the years, the love began to

fade. People lost respect for
themselves, each other and
anyone in authority over them.
The family unit become of less
importance to many because
life become so hard to keep up
with. With parents working more
and being home less, the kids
became more rival and rebellious their parents and other
authority figures.
Our country began a downward
spiral that has been swirling
out of control for many years
now, and this generation is less
aware of what to do than any
before. Because of the lack of
knowledge of God’s Word and
his desire for us, people are
now living in fear of the future
and they are grasping at many
false perceptions about what is
going on. Confusion and chaos
has plagued our world now like
the thick darkness spoken of in
the book of Exodus. Can we get
back to the ways of God or are
we doomed to fall?
Should we be concerned over
the direction that our country is
headed?

As the human race, our biggest concern should always be
whether or not we are prepared
to stand in judgment before God
Almighty, and as we consider the
world today and all that is going
on around us, we should be
more aware of His coming now
than ever before. Most people,
however, are so wrapped up in
the everyday responsibilities of
life, that they have put very little
thought into their eternal future.
With so little concern for eternity,
it is easy to see how people are
not as consumed with our failing
country as they should be. Yet
the direction in which our coun-

try is headed means only one
thing for our children, defeat. If
we choose to put our head in
the sand about the issues taking
place all around us, then we
have no right to complain about
the things that are destroying us.
We need to wake up in America
and realize that we have put so
much emphasis on Political Correctness, and spent so much
time worrying about offending
those around who are obviously
living in sin against God’s Word,
that we no longer recognize
what the problem is. You can’t
fix something if you don’t know
that it is broken, and when we
as a country have allowed what
is bitter to be sweet, and tried to
shut down the sweet and turn it
bitter, our morals get turned to
the point that we truly don’t know
right from wrong any longer.
Yes, we should definitely be
concerned about the direction
in which we are headed. Our
leaders have got to make the
decision to do what is best for
its people in the eyes of God.
2 Chronicles 7:14 says: “If my
people, which are called by my