If My People ….(7)

Just as you must live to eat, there are some things that need to be continually applied throughout life.

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2 Chronicles 7:14-15 – 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.  Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

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Again today, I write to you about the command of the Lord to “turn from their wicked ways.”  Yesterday I wrote that for repentance to be fully effective, the repentant person must be a thinking person.  Today, I write about one of the two constants that must be in the life of a truly repentant person, and that constant is the continual application of the Word of God and the moment-by-moment decision to walk according to that Word. 

Take time again today to read the passages in our Manna for Today.  As you read, consider the words as you sound them with your own lips.  Allow faith to arise in you in the greatest way you’ve ever known.  Remember, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  The Lord spoke through Joshua saying that the Word of God should never depart from your mouth, but that you should meditate in it day and night.  That is a constant, moment-by-moment consciousness of the Word of God living in your life.  The Lord adds that when you do this, you will observe how to walk in that Word in a manner that causes your way to prosper and brings you good success.  Repentance is a process, and everyone needs to prosper in it and have good success.

Note the words of Paul when he declares that God’s Word has been set in the church that He might sanctify and cleanse the church by the washing of the water of the Word.  Our Text for Today cites the need for God’s people to turn from wicked ways.  The implication and call are clear.  It’s time for the church to be made clean so the Lord can work through it.  For that to happen, we need the constant application of God’s Word to make us clean by its continual washing through application. 

And I draw your attention to yet another strong passage addressing this matter – 1 John 1:7.  There John clearly declares what that constant application of God’s Word, and our walking in obedience to it, does in our lives.  As a child of God, you have access to the Word of God.  You can read it for yourself, and hear it declared by others in many so many modes.  You have no excuse for being low in faith, or lacking knowledge of what the Word of God says.  You have no excuse for not walking in the light of God’s Word.  And when you do, the constant application of and obedience to the Word of God sets you in a place where the blood of Jesus continually cleanses you from all sin.  And that, dear reader, is the ultimate aim of and fruit of true repentance; turning from your wicked ways.

Manna for Today – 2 Chronicles 6:3 – 7:15; Romans 12:2; Philippians 2:5 & 4:8; Joshua 1:8; 1 John 1:7;  Ephesians 5:26; Ephesians 6:10-18; 1 Corinthians 14:4; Jude 20-21; Proverbs 23:7

If My People …..(8}

Applied long-term work at a given task requires strength for that task, and the strength required is great.

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2 Chronicles 7:14-15 – 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.  Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

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Have you ever observed someone doing strenuous work over a long duration of time and wondered where they got the strength to continue for long periods of time?  I have.  I can remember watching my dad, a man raised through the Great Depression, working in tobacco fields, engage in work at which I would quickly become weary.  I would watch and wonder, “How can he continue do this for so long without rest?”  I learned that he was conditioned to it.  It is the same for some sports, for soldiers involved in combat, and even medical personnel I times of great stress.  Many of them seem to be able to work tirelessly with little if any consideration for their own weariness or well-being.  It is truly amazing. 

This principle of readiness for the long hauls of life needs to be applied in the truly repentant heart.  Let’s examine the means given us by the Lord to achieve such a high goal in life.  Consider Paul’s writing to the church at Ephesus.  In Ephesians 6:10, Paul commands that we be “strong in the Lord, and the power of His might.”  Then in verse 18, after listing the items of the whole armor of God, Paul tells us how to be strong in that armor.  You see, while the armor does protect us, it does not strengthen us.  It is what we do in that armor that brings about the strengthening.  And what is it we are to do?  We are to be “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.”  Did you see that?  PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT.

Paul also tells us in 1 Corinthians that when we speak in tongues, and praying in the Spirit is speaking in tongues as you pray, that we edify, or build up, or strengthen ourselves.  And when we then add Jude 20 and 21, the need for praying in the Spirit becomes even more obvious.  There, John states that when we pray in the Spirit, we BUILD OURSELVES UP ON OUR MOST HOLY FAITH, PRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST.  It could not be made any clearer.  Praying in the Spirit is praying in tongues; that is praying in a language given by Holy Spirit, and by which we speak mysteries to Father.  When the believer engages I this wonderful work of the Spirit, he builds himself up on his most holy faith.  Do you pray in the Spirit?  You should, and that daily, and as often as you can.  When a weightlifter consumes a proper diet, and works out in the gym properly, he gets stronger, building himself up.  When the believer consumes the proper diet (God’s Word), and works out properly (praying in the Spirit), he gets stronger, building himself up, thus enabling himself to stay strongly on the track of true repentance to which he has turned.

Manna for Today – 2 Chronicles 6:3 – 7:15; Romans 12:2; Philippians 2:5 & 4:8; Joshua 1:8; 1 John 1:7;  Ephesians 5:26; Ephesians 6:10-18; 1 Corinthians 14:4; Jude 20-21; Proverbs 23:7