Read 1 Chronicles 28:7-8
"If he continues to obey my laws and commands I will make his kingdom strong forever." I feel the Lord showed this to me as a warning for America. In this passage he is speaking of Solomon, but I feel it can be spoken to our leaders, and to us as well: " IF he is steadfast to observe God's commands and HIS judgements He will establish America forever." Vs 8 says "So be careful to seek out the commands and judgements of the Lord. (Pray - spend lots of time with Him, listen), so that this good land can remain as it is, and so it can be left as an inheritance to our children". And 2nd Chronicles 7:12-18 tells us how we stay in God's grace and how He will protect us. "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place (America in this instance), for a temple for myself. Things may go wrong, but then if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, and stop their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven . I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land. I will listen to the prayers prayed in this place." Yes, I will always watch over it and love it (America?)
BUT . . . 2nd Chronicles 7:19-22 tells us what will happen if we forsake Him and His commandments. Or serve other Gods. "If you do, I will take the Holy Spirit out of this land. And I will leave this place. All the nations will make fun of it and speak evil about it. This place is honored now, but then, everyone who passes by will be shocked. They will ask, 'Why did the Lord do this terrible thing to this land?" The answer will be "This happened because they left the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God who brought them out of Egypt (captivity to a free land). They decided to follow other gods and worshiped and served them, so he brought all this disaster on them."
Could this be a warning for America? Could He be calling us to pray for our land? I believe so. Be awake! Listen!
Read Romans 15:4 "Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. The Scriptures give us patience and encouragement so that we can have hope."
7 comments:
Good point, Mom, I agree with what you wrote. I, too, worry about the condition of our country as we become more and more tolerant of sin. If professing Christians would stop being complacent and stand up for values and righteousness, what a difference we would see in America. I'm afraid that one day the blessings of God through the Holy Spirit will be taken away, and then watch the destruction. I, for one, will pray and stand up for my beliefs. Thanks for sharing this, Mom.
Wow these scriptures really speak volumes, Mom. Thank you so much for pointing them out. I will study these scriptures more. Thanks again, these are profound messages to pay attention to right nowS!
I believe we are being called to REPENT and pray, pray, pray. I think, Debbie, that professing Christians need to do more than stand up for values and righteousness -- we have to LIVE those Christian values as set down by the teachings of Jesus Christ and from the beginning of biblical times. I fall short many times. But, our God is forgiving and patient. However, I think he is warning us that time is short - we need to get right with Him and we need to focuis on Him, not money and material things, and not the many addictions that we have, and the self-righteousness and selfish motivations that seem to propel us, and so on and on.
God loves us!! He aches to have us return to Him and live within the laws he gave us. He wants us to live within the boundaries of His laws because He knows that is how we will live a happy, healthy, serene life; not because bad things will never happen to us but because when they do happen, we know we are not alone and we know we can overcome!! WOW!! What a wonderful, faithful, compassionate God we serve!
I so appreciate these comments, Debbie, Karen and Sharon. So often I know what to do and say when I see Christian values being trampled on, but I fear speaking up. What if they think I'm stupid? What if they get mad at me? What if, what if, what if . . . so I keep quiet. I have even gone along with the crowd on many, many occasions, rather than be persecuted for what I believe in.
Somewhere in scripture (I'll try to find it and publish it here - or if any of you know where it is, you publish it here) it says: "If you are ashamed of Me here on earth, I will be ashamed of you in the presence of My Father" or, If you don't speak up for Me here on earth, I will not speak up for you in heaven." Not quoted exactly, but that's the general idea. Anyone know where it is?
I am going to pray for boldness. And that Jesus will forgive my fear of standing up for my beliefs. In 2Timothy 1:7 says "God did not give you a spirit of timidity and fear, but a spirit of power and love and self-control". This is what I pray for.
I believe the key thing in the situations that you describe Lonnie, is to remember that it is GOD who wants to speak to these people and God will send His Holy Spirit to speak THROUGH you. We need to totally lose "self" and what "self" wants to say and ask the Holy Spirit to use us to get his message across.
AND, if I ever truly figure out how to do that, I will let you know!! It is just so easy to get upset and blurt out a bunch of UN-Christian angry words, and then who is going to believe anything you say or believe in??
Check out Matthew 10:32-33 to see if it is the scripture you are thinking about.
Mom and Sharon, Thank you for putting this into perspective for me. I need to do just that!!! I will pray for God to help me.
Thank you, again!
Very good, Sharon. I will try to have your words in my head all the time, so that next time I run into this I can be bold because it's not ME, it's HIM! And yes, that is the scripture I was talking about. Everyone should go there.
Thanks for your comments, too, Karen. I'm glad it has helped you.
And your comments are great, too, Debbie. Thanks for sharing, everyone!
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