Poll: Americans Angry, Worried Over State of Nation

Even though many Americans do not know God or understand His ways, the vast majority of us do know that something is seriously wrong with our nation. It’s now getting to the point that we can see everything going against us – our finances, our security, the wars in the Middle East, the weather (floods, hurricanes, wildfires, drought) – it appears to most Americans that things are no longer going our way. You don’t need to be a Christian to see this process happening – but you do need to be a true Christian to understand why it’s happening. As I’ve said before, to truly understand what is happening in the world, you need to understand God’s ways and His character. The reason that all of these things are happening is because we are no longer blessed by Him as a nation – we are cursed.

The Old Testament is full of stories of empires that fell. Why did they fall? Was it because they didn’t plan for the future? Was it because an enemy destroyed them? Was it because they didn’t manage money/finances well? What does the Bible say about this? The Bible tells us that the world’s many empires fell because they walked away from God and His laws – their fall was not due to worldly problems. They stopped following God and embraced the world and its evil. When this happens, God warns first. A nation will begin to see problems develop with regards to weather, finances, enemies, etc. In Israel’s case - since they were God’s covenant people – the Lord sent His prophets to warn in an attempt to turn them around. When a prophet is sent to warn – you’ve reached the end of the line. What happened to Israel when they rejected the final message of repentance from Jesus? Rome invaded Jerusalem and the 2nd Jewish Temple was destroyed. Finality. It does not matter who you think you are - your position, your wealth, your worldly power, your lineage – if you walk away from God, you have no protection in this world. From a spiritual standpoint, a nation should recognize the seriousness of the situation when things begin to turn against them – history records that most nations have refused to acknowledge God and His warnings – to their ruin.

What do we see in America today? We see widespread destruction due to weather. We see our nation’s finances in disarray. We see powerful enemies rising up at a time when we are declining. We see an evil entity (the Bible refers to it as a ‘beast’) infiltrating our government, our financial system and our corporations. We even see our enemy infiltrating and corrupting Christianity itself – and very few are left in the world who can even identify what is happening. Evil is taking over because this is what we have chosen. We are all wrapped up in the world – and are on a path that will eventually lead to our ruin – just like every other world empire before us. You would think that we would have learned the lesson that God has taught us throughout human history. How soon we forget. When all of our worldly possessions are stripped away – we’ll see ourselves as we truly are – poor, blind and naked.

All of the bailouts, stocks, bonds, financial derivatives, cash, etc. in the world cannot save us from financial ruin. All of the military hardware in the world will not protect us from our enemies. All of our intelligence will not allow us to see our enemy infiltrating the world’s political, financial and religious systems. Worldly wealth, power and intelligence won’t get us where we need to be. All worldly roads eventually lead to one place – destruction. If you pray for forgiveness and ask God what is really happening in America – you will begin to see as I do – you will see our enemy systematically destroying this nation. Don’t deceive yourself and let your pride blind you into thinking that God would never let this happen. He’s letting it happen because of what we’ve become.

My personal belief is that our wealth will be taken from us – this is a certainty. We have worshipped wealth – and so we have a very hard lesson to learn. Once our stock market falls and our economy collapses – where do we go? What will we do? There are two roads from here. We can curse God and continue to ignore Him and His ways – or we can sincerely ask for forgiveness and turn this ship around. We need to ask Him to forgive and help us get out of the abyss. If we are truly sincere – He will draw near to us and heal us – but His help is conditional. We cannot continue to do evil and then ask our Holy God for help without making major changes within our hearts.

Will the United States of America return to God or will we choose to become just another part of world government? Will we stand for God in the face of overwhelming odds or will we choose the way of the world – and eternal punishment? Will we ask for the faith and courage necessary to stand up against evil or will we give in when the going gets tough? This starts with the heart of everyone reading this. You can’t look at your neighbor or your relatives or your friends – you must take a hard look at your own heart and see where you are and where you need to go spiritually. Are you afraid of what is happening? This is the first indication that you have some spiritual work to do. For the true believer – there is nothing to fear in this world with the Lord standing with you.

I receive a daily devotion email on God’s promises. I received the following yesterday:

This week's promise: God blesses humble people
God as house-builder
"Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is useless. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.
Psalm 127:1 NLT

"Benjamin Franklin is best known for his inventions (lightning rod) and his aphorisms ("early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise"). But he was also a key figure when the thirteen colonies were giving birth to a new nation.

At the age of 81, Franklin was the oldest representative at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Weeks after the convention began, representatives were still haggling about the relative voting power of large states and small states. Then Franklin stood up and said,

"In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered.…Have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? Do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance? I have lived a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proof I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men.…We have been assured, sir, that 'except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it,' and without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel."

The verse from Psalm 127 had its effect. A compromise was soon worked out, and a Constitution ratified by the states the following year.

jg – Oct 21, 2008
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Poll: Americans angry, worried over state of nation
STORY HIGHLIGHTS:

CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll finds widespread dissatisfaction
Poll reports 75 percent say things are going badly in United States
Similar numbers say they are angry and stressed out; two-thirds scared
More than 70 percent dissatisfied with President Bush's performance

From Paul Steinhauser

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A new national poll suggests that only a quarter of Americans think things are going well in the country today, while the rest of those questioned are angry, scared and stressed out.

Two-thirds of those questioned say they're scared about the way things are going in the U.S.

Seventy-five percent of those surveyed in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Tuesday said things are going badly in the United States.

An equal portion of those polled said they are angry about the way things are going. Two-thirds of those questioned said they're scared about the way things are going and three in four said the current conditions in the country are stressing them out.
"It's scary how many Americans admit they are scared," said Keating Holland, CNN's polling director. "Americans tend to downplay the amount of fear they have when facing tough times. The fact that more than six in 10 say that they are scared shows how bad things are getting."

The 25 percent who said things are going well in the country is another indicator of the negative mood among Americans.

"Prior to 2008, we have seen that level of dissatisfaction only three times in the past four decades -- during Watergate, the Iranian hostage crisis and the recession of 1992," Holland added.

The survey also suggests that most Americans are not happy with President Bush. Seventy-two percent of those questioned disapprove of the president's handling of his job.

The war in Iraq also continues to be unpopular with Americans, with 32 percent of those questioned favoring the war.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll was conducted Friday through Sunday, with 1,058 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.