If MY People…………….

“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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

It is plain to see that we are a nation in crisis, maybe some reading this have homes in crisis. There is much blame being tossed around on just whose fault the crisis belongs to. It seems everyone is blaming someone. Bitterness and hostility spews from the hearts of those disappointed and disillusioned with government and those they thought would save them or bring some form of relief. 

My perspective is that the government is not our problem but rather a reflection of our problem. Before we can see integrity and righteousness in the White House it must first be in GOD’s house. 

Many seem shocked at some of the decisions being made by those in authority. It seems hard to understand the thinking and reasoning. Could the reason be that we as GOD’s people have wandered from the Fear of the LORD? His Word is pretty clear in Proverbs 9:10 where it says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,  and knowledge of the Holy One<sup class="crossreference" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(B)”> is understanding.” And in Psalm 111:10,”The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding.” When the Fear of the LORD is absent, so is wisdom. Decisions made without GOD’s wisdom will always bring disaster.

Could the root of our problems stem from the fact that we have strayed from the Fear of the LORD? Could it be that we have been so busy blaming that we haven’t looked to see our own responsibility? Blame always casts the responsibility at someone else feet yet GOD’s Word never said He would heal our land if the politicians acted right or if the world quit sinning. If we desire integrity and righteousness we have to begin with ourselves. The Fear of the LORD is what GOD spelled out in 2 Chronicles 7:14. 

We must humble ourselves…….”Humility and the fear of the LORD bring wealth and honor and life.” Proverbs 22:4 It takes humility to allow the LORD to lead instead of going our own way because many times, most of the time, His way won’t be the popular what everyone else is doing way.We want to avoid pain at all costs forgetting that JESUS learned obedience through the things he suffered. We want to fit in and many times have what everyone else has.Having things is not wrong and the LORD does delight to bless us but we can be sure the LORD is never a part of inflating our ego.

And pray……To pray acknowledges our need for Someone greater than us.  Prayer looks up rather than inward or outward. To sincerely pray requires humility and a realization of an awesome and faithful GOD. (Hebrews 11:6)

And seek My face…… When we seek we look for~ we must seek GOD for His will, His way, His answer, His solutions. It is realizing that His ways are higher than ours and that He knows best (Isaiah 55:8-9). While His way won’t always feel good to our soul, it will always bring Life to our spirit. (Romans 8:2)

And turn from their wicked ways……..The dictionary defines wicked as, evil or morally bad in principle or practice; sinful. It is not enough that we pray or that we seek GOD, we must also do what He says. One walking in the fear of GOD understands that GOD loves them and His grace is bountiful towards them but to walk in their own way has consequences~ and they are very unpleasant. As a whole the church in our nation has walked in it’s own way and the consequences are here. We must turn, walk towards our LORD, for when we do He has promised and He is faithful to His Word…..

I will hear from heaven…..He has promised to listen but there are conditions~ the conditions are there because we all know GOD doesn’t bless sin, selfishness, greed, unrighteousness. So we must ask ourselves, are we in position for GOD to hear us?Do we have His attention? (Psalm 138:6) He has promised to hear and His promises are yes and amen! (2 Corinthians 1:20) We should be excited that the LORD GOD of the universe would hear us people of earth! (Psalm 8:4)

And forgive their sin……Once He has heard us, He forgives us. He was never withholding His love or forgiveness, we were just going down our path rather than following His (Proverbs 14;12 and 16:25). Our path always leads to the things we don’t want while His always leads to Life and life abundantly! (John 10:10)

And will heal their land….. Our land sure needs healing, maybe your home needs healing, or you need healing in your life~ He has promised it. But we must not lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6) we must trust the LORD and walk in His way. 

Heavenly Father, we come before you with humble hearts realizing we are in desperate need of You. We have made a mess of things and only Your intervention can turn it around. We repent for wanting our way and for forgetting You when things seemed to be going well. Help me to humbly walk in Your way of righteousness, holiness and the fear of the LORD. Please hear us, forgive us and heal us in JESUS’ name. Amen.