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Archive for the ‘Unity’ Category

Heal Our Land

Posted in Healing, Jesus, Knowing God, Peace, Prayer, Salvation, Sin, The Father, The Righteous, The Word, Unity on November 9, 2018|

Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; Acts 3:19 NASB

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In my last blog, I discussed that when we see pestilence in the land, we are told what we are to do by God.  In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God asks us to do the following:

HUMBLE OURSELVES

As Christians we should not think so highly of ourselves.  We should not look down on others and think we are better than they are. We must remember the only thing that saved us is Jesus Christ.  Our salvation has nothing to do with any work we did.  We have been adopted as God’s children because we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  We are able to walk in holiness because of the Holy Spirit.  Salvation is a gift.

We should not put all the blame on the wicked.  We must be willing to have our own hearts examined by God to see if there is any wicked way in us, confess our sins, and received God’s forgiveness.  We must be willing to own up to our own sin and stop pointing the finger at others.

PRAY

We don’t pray the way we should.  We don’t pray corporately and we don’t pray for our nation.  We may throw a prayer up every now and then but we are not strategic in our prayers.  I remember years ago there was an event where men went to Washington DC, repented of their sins, prayed and asked God to help them be better fathers, husbands, sons and men of God.  Today when we see tragedy in our land we look to blame someone or something else.  Now we are beginning to accept these events as a way of life.  We are supposed to pray effective prayers and effective prayers involve us opening our hearts and minds to God’s will and purpose and being ready to obey His word. Often time we use “thoughts and prayers” as an excuse not to really seek the face of God in prayer.

SEEK GOD’S FACE

It takes time to seek God’s face.  In order to come before God we have to deal with our own hearts.  This is not an easy thing to do.  It takes humility and prayer.  We can’t seek God’s face with a spirit of pride or entitlement.  If our land is suffering we are seeking Him to help us and we have to be in a posture of humility and trust.  We don’t seek God’s face to just see if we like His plan, but we seek Him so that we will obey Him.  God knows our heart so if we are to truly seek Him then our heart must be right with God.

REPENT (Turn from Our Wicked Ways)

We are told to turn from our wicked ways.  This is the most profound request in 2 Chronicles 7:14.  We are God’s people and He is asking us to turn from our wicked ways.  Notice God did not say to confess our sins.  He is telling us to turn away from wickedness.  This is what repentance entails.  Repentance is not a feeling of that we are sorry for what we did.  Repentance is a willingness to turn away from the thing that separates us from God.  In this case God is asking us to turn away from wickedness and to turn to Him.  We surrender our will and agree to follow His will for our lives.  All Christians have given their life to Christ and called upon His name for salvation.  Not all Christians have surrendered their will for God’s will.  Many of us still want to live in both the world and be accepted into God’s kingdom.  We cannot serve two masters and to serve God may cause us to lose favor with men.  God promised in Isaiah 1:19 that if we are willing and obedient we will have the best of the land.  So we must turn our will toward Holiness and obey God’s word pertaining to our nation.  The ultimate commission we have been given is to love and to share the good news of the gospel.  If we do this we will see things change in our nation.  First we must repent of our own hatred, fear, the lies we tell and believe.

By meeting these conditions God has promised to heal our land.  We do not fight against people but we fight against the principalities of this world.  People are not our enemy, Satan is the enemy.  We must surrender ourselves to God’s hands to see our land healed.  We have to be the ones to cry out to God and repent of our wicked ways.  Then God will be attentive to our prayers made to Him.

and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 NASB

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

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Justice is Perverted!

Posted in government, Jesus, Knowing God, Love, Prayer, Salvation, The Holy Spirit, Unity on March 27, 2018|

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To turn aside the justice due a man

Before the face of the Most High,

 Or subvert a man in his cause—

The Lord does not approve.  Lamentations 3: 35-36 (NKJV)

4Therefore the law is ignored

And justice is never upheld.

For the wicked surround the righteous;

Therefore justice comes out perverted. Habakkuk 1:4 (NASB)

 

Justice is perverted!  For that reason we are seeing a wave of protests in our country over the last couple of years.  There has been the rise of Black Lives Matter Movement, the Women’s March, #MeToo Movement and the March for Our Lives.  There is a cry for justice.  This cry is being heard by God.

As Christians we often focus on one leader or a nation to gauge the next move of God.  Yet what we are witnessing is God awakening the hearts of the people.  They are crying out for Him whether they realize it or not.  God is justice.   Justice describes the very nature of God.  God’s throne is established on righteousness and justice.

The push back these movements are experiencing are rooted in fear and hate.  Some would argue the protests are rooted in hatred but they are not.  Those who oppose the movements do not realize that what they are opposing are justice and God.  You oppose justice, you oppose God.

In the church we have heard about the next Great Awakening and it is prophesied that we will see the greatest soul harvest in the history of the church.  That is what is happening in these movements.  People are not only asking for justice but they seek compassion, love, understanding and they despise all the hate and unrighteousness that is taking place.  People are getting away with murder and they are literally pleading for their lives, asking to be saved.  It is time we listen.

Will our government listen?  Will they find justice in our society?  Many doubt they will, but I believe that God is setting the stage for Justice to be served.  “Many seek the ruler’s favor, but Justice for man comes from the Lord,” Proverbs 29:26.  People will get their justice and their souls will be saved as well.  It is God’s desire that everyone will come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Jesus also said that no one can come to Him unless prompted by the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is at work exposing sin, convicting the world of sin and drawing people to God.

There is also unity in these movements.  Even though each group is addressing a different issue in our society, their request is the same.   They are united by their search for justice, equality, peace, safety, love and hope.  God is listening.  Great things will be accomplished through unity.  Is the church paying attention?

We can no longer be silent from the immorality and the injustice we see.  We must turn to God and pray that Justice and righteousness will be established in the earth as in heaven.  We must also see the harvest is ready and the people are crying for the sons and daughters of God to be revealed.

Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.  John 4:35

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The Price of War

Posted in government, Love, Peace, Prayer, The Body, Unity on November 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in Me.” Jeremiah 49:11

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.  James 1:27

Today we celebrate Veteran’s Day in the USA.  It is a time that we honor our soldiers who have served this country and the many wars we have faced.  We know the high price of war is the lost of our soldiers lives; prisoners of wars; wounded soldiers; and broken families.  Unfortunately, the current wars that we have been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan may have lingering effects for generations to come.

We have been fighting these two wars for 10 years now.  Even though the death toll has not been as high as previous wars; these two wars have taken a great toil on our soldiers, their families and our society.  Our soldiers have faced multiple deployments and we have seen a record number of women soldiers serving in these two wars.  Many children have been left behind and these children may be the greatest price we pay for these wars.  Children need their parents, if they are raised apart from their parents it has a lasting effect even into their adulthood.

I can’t even imagine a child that loses a parent to war.  Everyone knows the risk but we all hope that our soldiers return home safe and sound.  But the other tragedy facing children are the multiple deployments.  Imagine seeing your dad or mom going off to war; they return home to only be sent back again – leaving a child to face the separation again and again.  This can cause fear, anxiety, anger, and hatred to build in a child’s heart.  Where is their safety and who will care for them?

We may not know the impact of this until years from now even after the wars are completed.  Truthfully we are seeing more and more homes losing the fathers as they go off to fight in these wars.  There are also mothers being sent but the majority of those serving are men and many of them are fathers. 

We cannot ignore the impact that these wars have on our children.  They need our love and support.  As the bible tells us we are to care for the widows and orphans and we do not have to wait for our soldiers to die to take notice of the needs of the families that are left behind.

God has a special place in his heart for orphans and widows.  He has a heart for the fatherless and so should we.  I honor the men and women that have serve our country, but I pray that by God’s grace and wisdom that He can pave a way that these men and women are separated from their families as little as possible.

We may not have the resources or knowledge to prevent multiple deployments of soldiers but we can stand in the gap for those that are away and serving our country.  We can pray and we can care for their families.  We as a society can do this.  It is not only our government’s responsibility but it is also ours. 

Whether or not we agree with the wars, the truth is our soldiers are fighting and we need to support them in any capacity we can.  The holidays are approaching and there are many families that will be without their dads and moms as they serve overseas to fight for our freedom.  Let’s see what we can do  to help these families cope and enjoy this holiday season.

As Christians let us continue to pray for peace and victory in these wars so we can bring our soldiers home and these children do not have to be orphaned any longer.  Let’s believe God for a supernatural act on behalf of our soldiers.

I pray God’s blessing, protection and grace to every soldier that serves this country.  I pray for unity in our nation as our military fights for our freedom and safety.  Theirs is a great sacrifice; but their children do not have to be the casualty of war.  The African parable says “it takes a village to raise a child’; so let’s help raise this generation of military children.  We all have a part, so let’s each do our part in raising up the next generation.

Happy Veteran’s Day to all our soldiers and their families, THANK YOU for all you do. God Bless our Veterans and God Bless the United States of America.

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Unity!

Posted in government, The Righteous, Unity on May 3, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.  Matthew 12:25

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!  Psalm 133:1

How wonderful it was to see on Monday May 2nd the unity that America showed when we learned the news of Osama Bin Laden.  It was great to hear that people everywhere where unified on this issue.  There was no democrats, republicans, black, white, class, etc.  It was just Americans celebrating the strength of this nation – the United States of America. 

For the past few years we have been so divided over so many issues and that divide seemed to be getting greater and greater.  Since the economy has been in bad shape we as a nation have been pointing fingers and blaming each other.  The rhetoric that has been spoken has been full of hate and very divisive.  But yesterday we showed that we can be better than that.  We can be a better nation.

Last week I was reading that China may soon pass the US as the global superpower.  Many continue to predict the demise of the US.  It was not like that just a few years ago but our division has taken a great toil on this nation.  It is this division that will destroy us, not another country or even a terrorist group.  If we are divided against ourselves we cannot stand.  The problems we are facing in this nation effect everyone and we must be united in solving our problems.  We may disagree on many issues but that disagreement does not need to divide us.

When the forefathers founded this nation many of them had differing opinions and ideals but they were united by one common cause – freedom.  It was that unity that founded this country and made it so great.  Unfortunately, these past couple of years there is talk of some states wanting to secede.  Some saying we have to take our country back (not sure from whom?).  The division amongst races and classes is getting worse.  It would be a great tragedy if this nation is laid to waste because of our division.

We are better than this, yesterday was proof.  We can be united once again by a vision of a better future, and coming together to solve our nation’s problems.  The naysayers are saying we will be laid to waste, but we don’t have to accept this.  We should not accept this.  The United States is still a very young country especially compared to many other nations.  The one thing that has always defined us from all others is that we were and still can be “One nation under God.”  There is power and blessing in Unity.  God bless the United States of America.

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