A common Bible verse that Christians and Patriots use at
this time of the year is Second Chronicles, chapter 7, verse
14. It's read and recited by many in their celebrations of
our country's birthdays, in the hopes of inspiring a return
to God and godliness by our fellow-citizens.
"If my people", it begins - the question here being, WILL
God's people? So many good, church-going, decent,
upstanding citizens want to be known as God's, but I
fear that their reputations belie their true character.
God is looking for a people who will, indeed, be HIS!
He doesn't want pretenders. In fact, He warns us about
"having a form of godliness" without the true nature to
back it up.
"If my people, who are called by My name," - To bear
and carry the name of Jehovah God is a heavy thing!
It's not a passport to Heaven. It's not a guarantee of
presumptous forgiveness. It's not a "good business
practice" to be known in the community as a church-
goer. It's not enough!
To be called by His name means that we have to
act as He would act in every situation of life! We
sin if we act any other way! TO BE KNOWN AS
GOD'S MEANS TO ACT LIKE GOD'S!
"If my people, who are called by My name, shall humble
themselves," - this is a hard thing to do. Our sinful
human nature wants us to advance our desires, push
to get our agendas accomplished, retaliate when we
feel we are wronged, and take pride in accomplishments
which we feel are worthwhile or worthy of notice.
HUMBLE? Are you? Am I? What is humility, and
how should we "wear it"?
Basically, as I see it, humility is GIVING GOD THE
CREDIT for anything that happens or that we appear
to have succeeded in doing! Give God the glory! Give
God the attention! Give God the praise! As John the
Baptist proclaimed, "He (Jesus) must INCREASE, and
I (you/me) must DECREASE." That's humility, friend.
"If my people, who are called by My name, shall humble
themselves..............and pray," - DO YOU PRAY? I don't
mean do you recite "The Lord's Prayer" with your
fellow-attendees on Sunday mornings. I'm not talking
about beseeching God when an "emergency" arises in
your life. God is not "flattered" when there's something
you feel you "need" or "deserve" and you ask Him to
provide it for you. PRAYER is soooooooooooo much
more than that!
To PRAY is to spend time with God. It means to shut
yourself in, away from the busyness of the home, store,
office, street, etc., and CONCENTRATE on the
"business" at hand, namely that of talking to God in
earnest, "listening" to Him, contemplating words of
Scripture, and spending invaluable time in worship and
praise. Prayer time is "escape" time - to shut the world
out, and BE ALONE IN GOD'S PRESENCE!
"If my people, who are called by My name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek My face," - SEEK HIS
FACE! Wha? What does this mean? The prophets and
spiritual leaders of both Old and New Testaments asked
and sought to "see the face of God", and never
succeeded. How can we?
What our Creator-God is saying here is that if we can
be serious and sincere in our prayers and intercessions
that we will "have His attention"! HE WILL TURN HIS
FACE TO YOU, giving you His "undivided" time and
attention, not looking away to other parts of creation.
Be honest with God, and He'll be honest with you!
He will "give you His 'face'"! WOW!
You don't have to be a reverend, or minister, or pastor,
or deacon, or teacher or prophet or anything of the
sort, YOU JUST HAVE TO LEARN TO SEEK HIS FACE!
He will turn his attention towards you!
"If my people, who are called by My name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from
their wicked ways," - Whoa! Our "wicked ways"? Us?
Who is He talking to? What is He talking about? How
can God's people be "wicked"?
My take on this is that you know how that sometimes
we get "caught up" in the affairs of this temporary,
sin-laden existence - to the point that we soon find
ourselves of "no Heavenly good"?! Methinks that
our Heavenly FATHER is cautioning (warning) us to
order our priorities properly, and not let "the cares of
life" interfere with our eternal mission - that of
representing our Saviour, Jesus Christ, and not
allowing ourselves to be "entangled" in temporal
matters.
What's most important to you? What's next? How
is your "list of priorities and objectives" ordered?
Take the time soon (now?) to write down the most
important things and activities in your life, and tell
yourself that you intend to honor those items
according to their importance! Please. Life is so
short, death so certain, and eternity so "eternal"!
What does God promise if we do these things? WOW!
".....I will hear from Heaven, I will forgive their sin, I
will heal their land."!! WOW! SWEET! AWESOME!
To think that the God of Heaven and of the Universe
will hear us......will forgive us.....will HEAL OUR LAND!
How we need that to happen! At the risk of being "too
political" (who, me?), I offer to you that our Creator-God
wants to improve our nation's situation! Of course, the
first "matter of business" is to restore us spiritually!
Then politically, economically, morally, socially, and
every other way you can think of!!
"IF.........I WILL............." What is it that you want your
Maker/Saviour to do for you today? Follow the simple
formula herein described, and WATCH THE MIRACLES
HAPPEN - individually, in your family, on your job,
in your neighborhood, your city, your state, in our
nation's capitol, and around the world.
God bless you, Bill.
this time of the year is Second Chronicles, chapter 7, verse
14. It's read and recited by many in their celebrations of
our country's birthdays, in the hopes of inspiring a return
to God and godliness by our fellow-citizens.
"If my people", it begins - the question here being, WILL
God's people? So many good, church-going, decent,
upstanding citizens want to be known as God's, but I
fear that their reputations belie their true character.
God is looking for a people who will, indeed, be HIS!
He doesn't want pretenders. In fact, He warns us about
"having a form of godliness" without the true nature to
back it up.
"If my people, who are called by My name," - To bear
and carry the name of Jehovah God is a heavy thing!
It's not a passport to Heaven. It's not a guarantee of
presumptous forgiveness. It's not a "good business
practice" to be known in the community as a church-
goer. It's not enough!
To be called by His name means that we have to
act as He would act in every situation of life! We
sin if we act any other way! TO BE KNOWN AS
GOD'S MEANS TO ACT LIKE GOD'S!
"If my people, who are called by My name, shall humble
themselves," - this is a hard thing to do. Our sinful
human nature wants us to advance our desires, push
to get our agendas accomplished, retaliate when we
feel we are wronged, and take pride in accomplishments
which we feel are worthwhile or worthy of notice.
HUMBLE? Are you? Am I? What is humility, and
how should we "wear it"?
Basically, as I see it, humility is GIVING GOD THE
CREDIT for anything that happens or that we appear
to have succeeded in doing! Give God the glory! Give
God the attention! Give God the praise! As John the
Baptist proclaimed, "He (Jesus) must INCREASE, and
I (you/me) must DECREASE." That's humility, friend.
"If my people, who are called by My name, shall humble
themselves..............and pray," - DO YOU PRAY? I don't
mean do you recite "The Lord's Prayer" with your
fellow-attendees on Sunday mornings. I'm not talking
about beseeching God when an "emergency" arises in
your life. God is not "flattered" when there's something
you feel you "need" or "deserve" and you ask Him to
provide it for you. PRAYER is soooooooooooo much
more than that!
To PRAY is to spend time with God. It means to shut
yourself in, away from the busyness of the home, store,
office, street, etc., and CONCENTRATE on the
"business" at hand, namely that of talking to God in
earnest, "listening" to Him, contemplating words of
Scripture, and spending invaluable time in worship and
praise. Prayer time is "escape" time - to shut the world
out, and BE ALONE IN GOD'S PRESENCE!
"If my people, who are called by My name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek My face," - SEEK HIS
FACE! Wha? What does this mean? The prophets and
spiritual leaders of both Old and New Testaments asked
and sought to "see the face of God", and never
succeeded. How can we?
What our Creator-God is saying here is that if we can
be serious and sincere in our prayers and intercessions
that we will "have His attention"! HE WILL TURN HIS
FACE TO YOU, giving you His "undivided" time and
attention, not looking away to other parts of creation.
Be honest with God, and He'll be honest with you!
He will "give you His 'face'"! WOW!
You don't have to be a reverend, or minister, or pastor,
or deacon, or teacher or prophet or anything of the
sort, YOU JUST HAVE TO LEARN TO SEEK HIS FACE!
He will turn his attention towards you!
"If my people, who are called by My name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from
their wicked ways," - Whoa! Our "wicked ways"? Us?
Who is He talking to? What is He talking about? How
can God's people be "wicked"?
My take on this is that you know how that sometimes
we get "caught up" in the affairs of this temporary,
sin-laden existence - to the point that we soon find
ourselves of "no Heavenly good"?! Methinks that
our Heavenly FATHER is cautioning (warning) us to
order our priorities properly, and not let "the cares of
life" interfere with our eternal mission - that of
representing our Saviour, Jesus Christ, and not
allowing ourselves to be "entangled" in temporal
matters.
What's most important to you? What's next? How
is your "list of priorities and objectives" ordered?
Take the time soon (now?) to write down the most
important things and activities in your life, and tell
yourself that you intend to honor those items
according to their importance! Please. Life is so
short, death so certain, and eternity so "eternal"!
What does God promise if we do these things? WOW!
".....I will hear from Heaven, I will forgive their sin, I
will heal their land."!! WOW! SWEET! AWESOME!
To think that the God of Heaven and of the Universe
will hear us......will forgive us.....will HEAL OUR LAND!
How we need that to happen! At the risk of being "too
political" (who, me?), I offer to you that our Creator-God
wants to improve our nation's situation! Of course, the
first "matter of business" is to restore us spiritually!
Then politically, economically, morally, socially, and
every other way you can think of!!
"IF.........I WILL............." What is it that you want your
Maker/Saviour to do for you today? Follow the simple
formula herein described, and WATCH THE MIRACLES
HAPPEN - individually, in your family, on your job,
in your neighborhood, your city, your state, in our
nation's capitol, and around the world.
God bless you, Bill.
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