Healing America Calling Hearts Back To God

In discussing America’s turn away from God, the influence and power of the spiritual realm cannot be overstated. In our effort to heal America, calling hearts back to God, it is critical to remember it is a spiritual battle. It is not people we are fighting, but spirits. When I look around at the current culture and see the proliferation of hatred and anger, discord and violence, and all kinds of wickedness and sin, it’s hard to believe such chaos could come only from the minds and hearts of men and women. Certainly, all have sinned and most would admit it. But, notwithstanding the sin nature of all of us, it seems that most people simply want to live and let live, provide for their families and, generally, get along. So, what’s going on? Why all the hatred and discord? What’s behind it all, driving it with what seems to be increasing intensity and coordination? Could it be that one of Jesus’s own parables, which we will look at here, might in fact be playing out this very day? Could it be the work of evil spiritual forces? And, if so, who could they be? In Matthew 12, after Jesus healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, the Pharisees questioned him about driving out demons. Jesus responded with this parable: When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation. (Matthew 12:43-45). The house Jesus was talking about was a person, but it could be applied to a group of people - a nation. When a person - a nation - is filled with Jesus, demons are cast out by his power. But, if the house is ever swept clean - that is, if God is ever taken out, swept out of the person, out of a nation - it would open the door for the demon to return. And not only return himself, but bring more with him. Is it possible that this parable has played out in America and Western culture, and if, in fact, we are living in the midst of it playing out around us right now? Have demons from the past returned and, finding the house empty of God - …swept clean… - now returned to take up residence in even greater numbers, greater influence and with even greater destruction than in ancient times? It’s hard to pinpoint where and when spirits would have returned. America’s turn away from God started gradually and without fanfare. But turn away it did. And with the house being swept clean, the spirits had their opportunity. It would have started quietly, on the fringes of culture. But with wicked determination and the power of Satan with them, even the slightest of footholds would be enough for them to begin their invasion. And from there they would begin a steady progression into American culture - deceiving, lying, tempting, influencing and, finally, dominating the lives of people, institutions, and organizations across the spectrum of mainstream culture. On September 01, 2022, President Joe Biden gave a prime-time televised speech, titled The Battle for the Soul of a Nation. The sentiment could not have been more true, but the target was terribly misguided. The message was pointed primarily at Donald Trump and his political allies, so-called "MAGA Republicans". He was pointing to people as the problem when, in fact, it is spiritual. We are in the battle for the soul of the nation, but the enemy isn't people, it's Satan and his legion of demons.