2 Chronicles 7:13-14
If I shut up heaven that there be no rain,
or if I command the locusts to devour the land,
or if I send pestilence among My people;
If My people, which are
called by My Name,
shall humble themselves
and pray
and seek My face
and turn from their wicked ways
THEN
Will
I hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin
and will heal their land
Notice the first part of this passage….
IF God sends or allows these
certain things to happen….no rain, locusts to devour the land, pestilences
(anything that destroys)
Also notice that it says “among My people”
THEN IF we, God’s people will do certain things
HE WILL hear us, He will forgive us, and He will heal and
restore.
**For every promise in the Bible,
there is also a clause of things God requires of us.**
Many like to claim the promises without the clause.
They want the blessings without
the contingencies or requirements made for them to do their part.
The first thing God instructed
was for His people to humble themselves…
Humility is the opposite of pride. Pride is a hard thing to
swallow but…
We’ve got to cast off all pride when we stand before our
Maker.
We have to become as the publican
who smote his chest and cried out for God to forgive him, acknowledging that he
realized he was a sinner and needed God’s mercy and forgiveness.
Fasting is a way to humble
ourselves before God.
Fasting when done with a right
heart and for the right reasons submits the will of the flesh to the will of
God.
Fasting is one of the hardest
things for this flesh to do because it means we have to deny it what it wants.
The second thing God instructed for His people to
do is to PRAY…
Jesus said in Matthew 21:13 - It is written, My
house shall be called the house of prayer…
In this passage of verse, Jesus
became angry when He came into the Temple and saw that the Temple had become a
place to buy and sell. People were
conversing and making God’s House a place of merchandise rather than a place to
pray and talk to God as was God’s original design.
Jesus became so angry at what He
was seeing as He entered the House of God that He cast out everyone who was
buying and selling in the Temple. He
grabbed the tables of the moneychangers and overturned them, causing money to
spill everywhere. Then He grabbed the
seats of those who sold doves and turned them over as well.
If that scenario was to happen
today, Jesus would have been judged to have not handled that situation very
‘Christ-like’.
He would have been condemned and
told He should have handled that in a more loving manner.
But Jesus was not sinning when He became angry
over what He was seeing…rather it was a righteous indignation.
The House of God was supposed to be a Holy Place…
a place of worship…
a place to talk to the One
who created all things….
a place to come and get into
God’s Presence without all the
distractions and
without all the hustle & bustle of everyday life with
its cares…..
a place where our focus can
be completely on HIM.
And the birds or animals that a
person brought to be sacrificed were not to be bought but rather brought from
their own flock. It was supposed to be
their own sacrifice….not someone else’s.
MY HOUSE
SHALL BE CALLED THE HOUSE OF PRAYER….
When we hear this phrase, we
often think of it as referring to a building such as the Temple in the Old
Testament or the modern day Church building in which we gather to have service
on certain days of the week.
The word “house” can be defined as “a dwelling place”. (see Strong’s G3624)
God wants the place where He dwells
to be a place filled with prayer.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the
Spirit if so be
that the Spirit of God DWELL in you…
The Greek word for “dwell” comes
from the Greek word for ‘House’ and means “to occupy a house, to reside”. (see
Strong’s G3611)
WE are
God’s House, His dwelling place, if we have the Holy Ghost living inside of us.
2
Corinthians 6:16
…For ye are the Temple of the Living God; as
God hath said,
I will dwell in them, and walk in them;
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
WE are the Temple of the Living God.
WE are to be the House of Prayer.
We need the Holy Ghost! The Holy Ghost is Christ in us (Rom
8:9-10) We need Christ residing in us,
and walking in us! **not too late to receive
Him**
LORD,
TEACH US TO PRAY
Sometimes we don’t know how to
pray or what to pray. Even Jesus’
disciples felt that way at times.
In Luke 11:1, we find where Jesus
had been praying.
His disciples knew the importance
and necessity of prayer,
They had been taught it from
birth (Deut 6:4)
but after listening to Jesus
pray, one of His disciples may have felt his prayers were falling short or were
inadequate so he said to Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray….”
They knew John the Baptist had
taught his disciples how to pray, and Jesus had instructed them not to pray
using vain repetitions (Matthew 6:7 ) meaning, not to repeat the same things
over and over, and use idle words such as repeating “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus –
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah” etc over and over again.
That is drawing near to God with
our mouth and with our words, but if a person’s heart is not in it, they are
just using vain repetitions. (Isaiah 29:13)
He wants the words we pray to be
sincere and from our heart. He wants
true, heartfelt worship and adoration.
He wants us to have a meaningful
conversation with Him just as we would have with a close friend or family
member.
If you don’t know how to pray or what to pray, ask
Jesus to teach you or come to the Pastor or I…we’re here to help direct
you. We want to help you draw closer to
God.
The third thing God instructed was to SEEK HIS
FACE….
Too many seek God’s hand instead of His face.
They want what God can do
for them but don’t think anything should be required of them in return.
The crowds were thick at
the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. They
wanted the miracles, loaves, and fishes. But once Jesus began to preach a
little stronger and a little harder, the crowds began to thin.
I’ve been in Church all my
life – I’ve seen many things.
I’ve seen those who will
run to the Church when there is trouble and strife happening in their lives.
They want the pastor and
saints to pray, pray, pray….pray for this need, pray for that situation, pray
for healing, pray for blessing….and you’ll see them be faithful in Church
attendance UNTIL the storm is past. Then,
you won’t see or hear much of them until the next need or crisis arises.
Have you ever felt used by
someone? Can you imagine how God feels?
Are you seeking His
face? Or are you seeking His handouts?
Seek His face! Through prayer, Bible reading, and
fasting! Seek His face!
The fourth thing God
requires of us is to TURN FROM OUR WICKED WAYS…
We have to forsake sin-
turn away from what is bad and evil…. everything that displeases God.
We are too close to the end and we never know when
God may require our soul to be returned to Him.
We need to stay in an attitude of repentance.
Pray and ask God to show
you anything that you need to repent of… anything that HE considers a wicked
way.
I started doing this about
5 years ago and whatever He brings to my mind, even if it was when I was a
child, I take time to truly repent.
Whether it is anger,
gossip, slander, backbiting, hate, bitterness, offenses, etc
Even Idle words…. We’ll
give account for those. (Mt 12:36)
God tried to use Jeremiah to warn the people to turn away from unrighteousness
but they would not listen. They
justified their actions, their words, and their sin.
Jeremiah 35:12-17
12 Then came the Word of
the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying,
13 Thus saith the Lord of
hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to My words? Saith the
Lord,
God was angry because they
were listening and obeying the instructions of a man, but would not heed or
listen to HIS voice of instruction.
14 The words of Jonadab
the son of Jonadab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are for
performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s
commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and
speaking; but ye hearkened not unto Me.
15 I have sent also unto
you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying,
Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after
other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to
you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, not hearkened
unto Me.
16 Because the sons of
Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which
he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto Me:
God was not angry that the
sons of Rechab listened and obeyed their father. He actually blessed them for
their obedience to him (read Jer 35:18-19)
But He was angry because
they would not listen to the voice of God, therefore, judgment was pronounced…
17 Therefore thus saith
the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and
upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced
against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and
I have called unto them, but they have not answered.
I’ve found that most people
only want to hear about the love of God but do not want to think or hear when
you start talking about the other side of God…the God of judgment.
It scares them. It upsets them. They don’t understand this side of God. And they don’t want to hear it. Because the movie makers have tried to portray
Jesus as only love, love, love….kinda like a permissive parent.
God is not unjust or
unfair because He warns against sin.
Rather, God is a holy God and requires His people to be holy as
well.
Sometimes we get too
comfortable and justified in our sins and carnality just as they did in the
days of Jeremiah, therefore, at times, the distresses He sends on the land and
on His people are actually for our good.
How can that be true?
Jeremiah 36:1-3
1 And it came to pass in
the fourth year of Joiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came
unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 Take thee a roll of a
book and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against
Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations from the day I spake
unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.
3 à It may be that
the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that
they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity
and their sin. ß
That’s the heart of God!
God’s desire and purpose
was not to destroy them but rather to bring them to a place of repentance and
turning from all unrighteousness.
Jeremiah was unable to
deliver this Word from the Lord to the people in person so he asked Baruch to
read it before the people in the house of the Lord on the day of fasting
in the hopes that it would cause the people to turn away from sin and repent
once they heard those words.
Jeremiah hoped they would
realize how great the fury and anger of the Lord was toward His people for
their wicked ways and make supplication before Him. (Jer 36:4-7)
Some trembled with fear
when they heard the words (Jer 36:16) but some were hard hearted and unrepentant. The king and his servants were not afraid,
nor did they rend their garments, they were unrepentant when they heard the
words of the coming judgment. (Jer 36:23-24)
We are seeing times of
trouble as we’ve never experienced before. People are afraid of this virus that
swept the world and killed many. They are afraid of the all the turmoil and
strife we are seeing and have been seeing over the past couple years. They’re fearful of the looming famine, food
recalls, and now another disease that is sweeping the globe once again.
Jesus said it would happen
in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.
These are the beginning of sorrows.
These are signs shaking the earth trying to wake people up and let us
know “Jesus is coming soon! Get ready!”
Some are trembling and
humbling themselves before the Almighty God.
It’s a time of spiritual awakening for some. Some
are turning back to God. Others are
tightening up and trying to get closer to God than ever before.
Unfortunately, some are
like the king and his servants in Jeremiah’s day – they’re refusing to hear,
they’ve hardened their hearts and are not listening to the voice of those
crying out warning them to get right with God, turn from sin and turn to God.
The greatest lie ever
perpetrated by the devil is that you can
live in sin and still be saved.
Just like in the days of
Jeremiah, many only want to listen to those who are speaking good words to
them. (Jer 37:19 + 38:4)
Just as it is today. People are living sinful lifes, committing
fornication, adultery, cussing, smoking, drinking and such like and see nothing
wrong with what they’re doing. They’re
unrepentant.
If anyone tries to
admonish them against these things and tell them what they’re doing is sin,
they become angry and say “you’re judging! God knows my heart!”
Yes, God knows your heart
better than you do. And, there’s a
difference between judging and warning!
Those flashing speed signs
are not judging you, they’re warning you to slow down.
The police officer is
judging you as he writes you a ticket….but he is not wrong in doing so. You
knew the laws and chose to break them.
The judge is judging you
based on the evidence and citation given…he is not wrong in doing so.
The preacher and Word of
God are issuing warnings before it’s too late and you stand before the Judge of
all the earth.
These signs happening in our world are a warning to stop, turn from our wicked ways, and seek God’s face!
More than God trying to
get the world’s attention, He is also trying to get His Bride’s attention. He wants a bride who is pure and without spot
or blemish.
-> Some are as the 5
wise virgins keeping their lamps trimmed, burning bright and bringing extra oil
so they’ll be ready when the bridegroom appears.
Some are as the 5 foolish
virgins who have oil in their lamps, their lit…for now…but they have no extra
oil.
They’re not praying as
they should, they’re not reading their Bible as they should, they’re not
fasting…actually, they’re making excuses for why they can’t. They’re lulled into a slumber, cradled in the
arms of entertainment and are completely unaware that their oil is getting low
and their flame is about to go out.
We can’t let down on our prayer life…in fact we
need to intensify it!
We need to read our Bible more than ever before!
We need to fast more than ever before!
Don’t let your oil go out!
Prayerlessness and lack of Bible reading are a sin. Because you are putting something else before
your time with God!
We have to repent and get sin out of our heart! (Mt 24 + 2 Tim 3)
THEN God said He….
Will
hear us from heaven
and will forgive our sins
and heal our land
But WE have to
Humble
ourselves
Pray
Seek
His face
Turn
from our wicked ways.
Jesus is coming soon. We want to be ready!
We want to be as the 5
wise virgins, oil in our lamps, burning brightly, and extra oil to get us
through the dark nights until Jesus returns to take us with Him.
We need to be shining our lights as a city set on a hill that
cannot be hid.
This world needs us to help them to find their way to God…
They’re scared,
they’re worried, they’re feeling hopeless
We can’t be that light to show
them the way if our light is dim or gone out because we’re not praying, we’re
not reading our Bible, we’re allowing
unrepentant sin to remain in our heart.
We need to get as close to Jesus as possible so we can lead
others to Him.
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