DAY 25 PRESSING IN ON BEHALF OF OUR NATION
2 Chronicles 7:11-14 God’s Promise and Warning
Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s palace, and successfully completed all that he had planned on doing in the house of the Lord and in his palace. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, 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.
Keeping things in context here. This scripture is written as Solomon has finished constructing the temple. But there is an amazing life principle we can take from this. The Lord showed Solomon that when people were disobedient, He would punish their sin. He also made it very clear that if they would humbly seek forgiveness, he would restore them.
According to John we have the same access to restoration.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
There is great perspective to glean from this passage as we pray for our city and our nation. Gods people have responsibility for the society that we are engaged in. We cannot and must not shake our fist at the “sinfulness” all around us and let that be it. We must verbalize our prayer, “Lord, forgive us”. We are to be salt and light. We are to live as genuine followers of Christ.
Matthew 5:13-14“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;
To say that our country is going down hill fast, is an understatement! As Christians we MUST rise up and take responsibility. We must first take responsibility for the sin in our own lives. Seeking Gods forgiveness as soon as that sin is revealed. Then take action against sinning again. Then we are responsible to bring healing and shine a light on the path that leads to Christ. All you have to do is turn on the TV or surf social media and you will see that we are in a difficult time in our nation and it is getting worse. As followers of Christ we have to ask the questions. Have we been missing it? Have we failed in our duties? Have we been a playing church and not been a praying church? Have we been fervently praying?
Lord forgive us and help us engage as a Spirit filled follower of Christ. May we truly be salt and light…let us be a people of prayer, praying rather than being arm chair quarter backing, judging and complaining “Christians”!
Let’s work together bringing hope and change to our families and communities.
We serve a mighty God and He will hear our cries.
Prayed for you all this morning.
Much love and blessings! Pastor Scott