Corona Devo 3045
We must pray. Today.
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I can recall my Papa sitting in his La-Z-Boy recliner and watching the nightly news. He would mutter, "Terrible, terrible, terrible" under his breath...and that was almost twenty years ago. What would he think of our headlines today?
People kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere—one murder after another (Hosea 4:2).
Is there anything we can do?
To quote Franklin Graham this week, (the son of the world-evangelists Billy and Ruth Graham) "you bet there is": Pray.
We can pray today, Friends,...and we must.
Our Nation and most nations across the world have strayed from God and His Word and His ways. We (as a people) are living in active-sin. There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in our lands, and just as erosion occurs on objects at the beach that are constantly pounded by the waves...erosion has occurred in nations across the globe, including ours, and we must repent, and re-center our hearts on our Lord and His Word (the Bible) and on His call over our lives and our nations.
We must pray. 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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ~2 Chronicles 7:14
Franklin Graham has noticed the decline and decay of marriages, families, institutions, and nations that are not being based on Biblical principles and truth. And Franklin isn't the only one who has noticed.
The Lord has noticed our sin also. And today He brings charges against us for it.
These verses speak of the "people of Israel" (God's original "chosen people"), but remember that once we put our faith in Jesus, you and I become sons and daughters of the Lord also (Romans 8:14-17). We are His people, and He loves us. But--He hates our sin.
And before we can pray about change and revival in our hearts and nations, we must first accept and own our sin...and repent of it.
We must pray. Today.
Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel! The Lord has brought charges against you, saying: “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land.
(2) You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere—one murder after another.
(3) That is why your land is in mourning, and everyone is wasting away. Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea are disappearing.
(4) “Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! My complaint, you priests, is with you.... ~Hosea 4:1-4
WE are God's priests! (But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ~I Peter 2:9)
WE should be modeling and teaching and learning and living out the Bible! God says to us today: “Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame!"
We, and our Nation must pray and repent. Today.
My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.
(7) The more priests there are, the more they sin against me. They have exchanged the glory of God for the shame of idols...
(11) ...“Wine has robbed my people of their understanding. (12) They ask a piece of wood for advice! They think a stick can tell them the future! Longing after idols has made them foolish. They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God...
(13) ...“That is why your daughters turn to prostitution, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. (14) But why should I punish them for their prostitution and adultery? For your men are doing the same thing, sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes.
O foolish people! You refuse to understand, so you will be destroyed. ~Hosea 4:6-7, 11-14
(15) Then I will return to my place until they admit their guilt and turn to me. For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for me.” ~Hosea 5:15
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Loved ones: unfortunately, regrettably, shamefully--aren't these verses US?
It's true: our people are being destroyed because they don’t know God--seeking fulfillment and purpose in everything else BUT our Lord, who is the only One who truly satisfies.
It's true: our people have exchanged the glory of God for the shame of idols. We worship money, status, and stuff, and mainly: we worship ourselves, instead of our God.
It's true: “Wine has robbed my people of their understanding." We resort to substances and they rob us of everything eventually.
(For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ~2 Timothy 4:3)
It's true: our people have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God...
It's true: our daughters and sons have turned to prostitution, and adultery. Just look at our young people: What they wear, what they watch...what they have accepted into their minds as acceptable. None of this prostitution and adultery are acceptable to our holy Lord.
It's true: We have become foolish people when it comes to God's ways. We refuse to understand that we cannot please ourselves and please Him. And if we do not repent and pray, we will be destroyed.
~~~
We are no longer "one Nation under God"...but we can be once again.
We must pray. 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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ~2 Chronicles 7:14
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