We are Fools for Christ

1 Corinthians 10-11 "We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless."

      Lord, You hand picked the 12 Apostles.  One would think that these men would be honored, revered, and considered the most strong of all  humans as they had been taught by You personally.  But alas; because sin and Your enemy, the Prince and Power of the Air, rule this earth everything is backward.  Good is considered evil, right is wrong, Your wisdom is considered foolishness.
In our culture today:
Purity is considered "Old Fashioned"
Integrity is expected of others, but not from ourselves
Selfish ambition is see as power
Selflessness is seen as weakness
Arrogance is equaled with strength
Humility and meekness is seen as weakness.
The issues in our country today are not only abortion rights, but now same sex marriage, and the recognition of cohabitational unions, and there is a push for a "Hate Crimes" law to be put in place that would make it against the law for Christians (Pastors, employers, and teachers even in Christian schools) to speak out against these things.  In a poll recently taken 62% of those polled endorse such things.

      Lord, speaking just of my own country; unless America repents and turns back to You, we all will be treated as the believers in Paul's day.  Unless the idea of "Separation of Church and State" that is in our constitution is truly understood, our beloved religious freedoms are in dire danger.
      Lord, America needs a heart transplant, and it is not going to come from Washington or from government!  It has got to come from the church being the church and reaching out through more than the media...although that is wonderful.  Christians...I need to reach out to the unbelievers around me and to share You with them.  We need to wake up, speak up, and stand up while we still have the freedom to do so.  Our time of persecution is coming...Lord, may we all be found faithful.
Help us to remember that, "Greater is He that is within me, than he that is in the world.", and in the end You win!
Reminds me of the old hymn,
"This world is not my home, I'm just a-passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels becken me from Heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore."