July 8, 2013
II Chronicles 7:14
(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)
Last Friday, the day after Independence Day, I wrote about our part that we must accomplish to return our country to where it should be – nay, must be! – if we are going to survive as a nation. We are under attack! The foundational principles of our society are being undermined – traditional marriage and family, Christian morality, education that will prepare our next generation to face life successfully, and many other facets of our building blocks of life.
The Key is II Chronicles 7:14 – key to solving the problems of ancient Israel 2,500 years ago, and key to healing our societal wounds today:
If My people, who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray,
and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from
heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
We looked at the four things God calls His people to do. And this is Key – it is a call to His people “…who are called by…[His] name….” God is not speaking to people in general – people who do not know Him as their Savior – people who are not born again by His Holy Spirit! The Lord is calling out today to Christians! We are the ones who carry His name! And He tells us to do four things. I will simply identify them here. If you want to study them more in depth, then read again the blog from July 5:
• If My people, who are called by My name will humble themselves…
• If My people, who are called by My name will…pray…
• If My people, who are called by My name will…seek My face…
• If My people, who are called by My name will…turn from their wicked ways…
Now, if we do our part, what does God promise to do? God will do three things:
• …then I will hear from heaven…
• …then I will…forgive their sin…
• …then I will…heal their land.
This first one leads me to I John 5:14 and 15:
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything
according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us,
whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we asked of Him.
God will hear from heaven and do His part because we are asking according to His will – IF we have fulfilled our part – the four things we are called to do. But don’t expect Him to hear and answer our prayer for the healing of our nation if we are just going to continue on in our own selfish ways!
Second, He “…will…forgive their [our] sin….” As I said in Friday’s blog,
In Mark 12:30, Jesus said the greatest commandment is, “…love the Lord your
God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and
with all your strength….” And in John 14:14 He said, “If you love Me, keep
my commandments.” So you are to obey “…the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your
strength…” – all the time! And who does that? So if we break the greatest
commandment, are we not then committing the greatest wickedness?
And, as the scribes questioned when Jesus, in Mark 2:7, was dealing with the paralyzed man brought to Him by four friends, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Only God can forgive the sins of His people!
And only God can do the third thing: He “…will…heal their [our] land.” It doesn’t matter what the difficulties are in our society, God has the power – and only God has the power – to heal our land!
So if we want a revival – God’s healing and renewing power upon our nation, our society – then let us, His “…people, who are called by…[His] name…” do our part: humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways. God will do the rest!