2 Chronicles 7:13-16 ESV
God speaking: “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name 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. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.”
A Personal Example
There was a time in my life when I got lost spiritually and
I wandered in a spiritually devoid desert for a while. I had known the Lord
since the age of seven, and I had walked with him in obedience for many years.
But Satan had been working on me for some time to get me to go his way, and I
was being pressured strongly to go the wrong direction, and at some point I
finally caved to the pressure and I gave in and I gave up who I had been and I
became someone else I did not recognize.
I tried many times to get the “me” back that I had known
myself to be only to have more pressure piled on top of me with a lot of people
pushing me under, trying to make me drown, and I came close to fully drowning
and to never coming back. But finally one day, when I was working my way back
again, and I was praying, and I was asking the Lord if there was anyone I had
not yet forgiven, he gave me the name “Jesus.” And immediately I understood
what he meant.
For, you see, I had been abused physically, emotionally, and
sexually by my father when I was growing up, and the Lord, although he
comforted me in my suffering, he did not rescue me. And then I went through
years of all sorts of mistreatment and persecution at the hands of others, some
of them pastors and elders, and some of them family members, and “the hits kept
coming.” But still I was walking with the Lord, and I was following him in his
ways and in his truth, although not perfectly.
But finally I caved to all the pressure, although not for
many years, and I did the unthinkable. So, when the Lord told me that I had not
forgiven Jesus, I realized then, at that moment, that I had been bitter against
the Lord, though not consciously, for he had not rescued me from all of that,
but he had allowed it in my life. So, although Jesus had done me no wrong,
still I had to let go of that bitterness and I had to accept his sovereignty
over my life or I would never be at peace. And that is when I got “me” back.
And when I say “me,” I don’t mean the old sin nature, but
the me, the who I am in Christ, in practice, the servant of the Lord, the woman
of God who loved and served Jesus with her life and who believed him with a
childlike faith. And he rescued me from that person I had become who was not
like me at all, but who was of the sin nature, for sure. For, again, I had
become someone I did not recognize until Jesus Christ rescued me out of that
wilderness journey I was on and he put me back on a solid rock again.
But I had to humble myself, and pray, and seek God’s face,
and turn from my wicked ways, and then I heard from heaven and God forgave me
of my sin and he healed me spiritually and emotionally. But I had to be willing
to let it all go and to forgive anyone I had not forgiven, and to accept God’s
sovereignty over my life. For life is not going to be fair, and we will go
through difficult times, and some of us will be abused and taken advantage of
and misused and persecuted, too.
Where are You?
So, if you are someone who has been hurt by others, and who
has been treated unkindly, and perhaps you have even been abused, and therefore
you feel as though God has forsaken you, and that he was not there for you when
you needed him to rescue you, please don’t let it turn to bitterness. And
please don’t rebel against the Lord and go the opposite direction from what he
has called you. Humble yourself before God, pray, seek God’s face, let him show
you what’s wrong, then turn from your sin and follow him.
I can assure you that there is no joy and there is no peace
like when you are delivered from your slavery to sin, and when you are set free
from all bitterness of spirit and unforgiveness towards God and towards other
humans, and when you are now following the Lord wholeheartedly despite all
persecution and mistreatment. Going the opposite direction never makes anything
better, but it only makes things much worse! So, let go and let God take
control, and trust him with your life no matter what comes your way.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom
2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2
Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal
5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col
3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb
3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs
are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus
Christ is gently calling
You
to follow Him in all ways.
Trust
Him with your life today.
Make
Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn
from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He
will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse
your heart, made new within.
Men
betraying: Our trust fraying.
On
our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking
God to give us answers
That
are only found in Him.
God
is sovereign over all things.
Nothing
from His mind escaping.
He
has all things under His command,
And
will work all for good.
Jesus
Christ is gently calling
You
to follow Him in all ways.
Men
deceiving: We’re believing
In
our Lord, and interceding
For
our nation and its people
To
obey their God today.
He
is our hope for our future.
For
our wounds He offers suture.
He
is all we need for this life.
Trust
Him with your life today.
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