America just elected a president. We had two choices, and I believe America was on the brink of judgment. If we made the wrong choice, we would have faded into history. Many Americans felt the same way. Christians prayed – truly prayed for God’s mercy on us. Guess what? Prayer worked. Many people didn’t listen to the liberal news media pushing a Socialist agenda that would give open borders with free room and board to people coming here illegally, less freedom to hard-working Americans, and total acceptance of deviant lifestyles.
As it turned out, God isn’t done with America quite yet. Praise God for His mercy. Mr. Trump was elected and has set about undoing damage that has happened in the last four years and is moving forward to fix this nation.
This isn’t the first time in history that God gave a reprieve to a Gentile nation. Jonah was sent to the very wicked city of Nineveh, and they repented, and God didn’t destroy them. In this modern age, when America is filled with wickedness and deserves God’s wrath, Christians prayed, and God had mercy, so what do we do now?
First and foremost, thank Him, and thank Him again and again. Then, examine your life to see if you deserved His mercy. None of us are perfect, and we all have things we need to change in our life in order to be closer to God. Now would be a good time to do that. I’m not pointing fingers because there is plenty in my life that I need to compare to Scripture and change. This has been true for people throughout history. Remember, it’s those of us who love the Lord who need to draw closer to His ways and not accept as normal the wickedness of the world.
After the Temple was built, God told Solomon, “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” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
It was God’s people who needed to obey God. I don’t know about you, but I would like for this land to be healed. People who don’t know God or who reject Him don’t know or care what He desires from us. So, it’s up to Christians to know Him and be obedient.
The first thing God told Solomon in the above verse was to humble themselves. Humility is something we all need to work on. It’s easy to be filled with pride and filled with our own self-interest. When we bow our knees to God and humble ourselves before Him, we will submit to His will, and we will obey His word. Judgmental attitudes will fall away, but judging in love with a righteous judgment will become natural. Jesus taught that we are to forgive others but also to “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24).
We have to judge things but not judge in order to condemn. We need to judge as to who we will be our friends and what lifestyles we should reject. In choosing to follow Christ in our judgments and decisions, we will love people but not follow them into sin.
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
That perfection can only be achieved through faith in the shed blood of Jesus. It’s His righteousness, not our own feeble attempt at righteousness, that makes us worthy of God’s forgiveness.
The next directive that God gave to Solomon is to pray. Too often, we only pray when we’re in trouble. Then our prayer is earnest, begging for God to get us out of a predicament that we got into through our own lack of obedience to Him. Prayer should be as natural to a Christian as breathing. A prayer of praise, a prayer for wisdom and guidance, a prayer for the right words to say at the right time, a prayer for healing, a prayer for comfort, and on it goes.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “Be careful for nothing: but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6).
Just talk with Him like a friend. If prayer isn’t a part of your life, you need to change that. Prayer doesn’t always need to be formal. When I see an ambulance drive by, I automatically ask God to be with the person who is in need of medical assistance, or when I drive by a funeral parlor where people are gathered, I ask God to comfort the mourners. God hears those prayers, just like He hears those said on bended knee.
Scripture encourages us to pray continually. “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
The next item on the list is “…seek my face.” How do we do that? Get to know God by studying Scripture from Genesis through Revelation. God reveals Himself to us through Scripture. He doesn’t hide from us, but we tend to hide from Him, just as Adam and Eve did when they sinned. They knew they had disobeyed God and tried to hide from Him. We sin and then stop fellowshipping with other Christians. This opens the way for new friends who don’t honor God to influence us to sin more, which causes us to want to hide from God. Remember, there is no sin so great that God will not forgive you. Humble yourself before Him and pray for His forgiveness. Study Scripture and learn all you can about God.
The Old Testament sometimes makes us feel that God is angry and looking for ways to condemn people. If you truly study Scripture, you’ll find that only those who had no love for God and lived life opposed to Him found judgment. Those who tried to please God always found mercy. King David truly loved God. Like all humans, David was a sinner. He committed great sin and seemed to not see his fault. He had a one-night stand with Bathsheba, who became pregnant. To cover his sin, David made sure her husband, a loyal soldier, was stationed in battle where he certainly would be killed. Under the Law, David should have been stoned to death for adultery and murder. When David was confronted by his sin, he immediately admitted his fault and humbly went to God in prayer.
“[[To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.]] Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness; according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest” (Psalm 51:1-4).
David didn’t treat his sin lightly, but he did seek God’s face. He admitted his sin before God and asked for forgiveness. Christians need to seek God’s face in this way. We need to understand that sexual encounters of any kind outside of a one man/one woman marriage is opposed to God. Sacrificing babies and calling it a woman’s right is pure Satan-inspired evil. Lying, gossiping, cheating, and stealing are all abominations to the Lord. When we seek God’s face, our sins will be revealed to us.
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10).
Go to Him humbly in prayer and confess. He already knows your sin and has forgiven you of all sin when you gave your life to Jesus. The prayer for forgiveness is for you to understand the changes you need to make in your life when seeking God’s face.
The next item on the list of things God wanted Israel to do was “…turn from their wicked ways.” What is so appealing about sin? Whatever pleasure it gives is temporary and only brings sorrow. If you’re seeking God’s face, then you will certainly turn from the wickedness of sin. It’s a very sad comment on our society today that sin is taken lightly. Sexual sin is a very common transgression, and it leads to more sin, often in the form of abortion. It’s all wickedness. If all our sins, past and future, are forgiven, then why does it matter if we continue to sin? It matters to God.
Think very carefully about Jesus and what He chose to suffer through in order to forgive you. First of all, He left Heaven where He was worshipped and there was no evil. Yet, He chose to enter His creation as a baby, very humble and lowly. He was humbly born in a manger. He grew up like other children and then began His ministry. He was mocked by the religious leaders, but the common people followed Him. When the time came for Him to lay down His life, the torture inflicted upon Him was horrific. He was beaten, whipped, His beard was plucked out, and a crown of thorns was shoved on his head. The Roman soldiers paraded Him through the streets as He carried His cross, and when they arrived at Calvary, they pounded spikes into His hands and feet and then raised the cross for all to see. He suffered there for hours as His blood oozed out. He shed His blood to take our sin away. Why?
Because “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16-18).
Jesus was willing to do that for you and me, so shouldn’t we humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways? Christians should lead the way in turning from sin.
God promised Israel that if they followed His directions, He would forgive their sin and heal their land. The election that America just had proves that God is full of forgiveness. The sin in this nation is beyond comprehension. Brothers and sisters, we prayed, and God answered even before we turned from our wicked ways. This fact is very humbling to anybody who is paying attention to the signs of the times and the state of the world. So, now what?
Remember that God forgave Nineveh, but they soon returned to their wickedness and were destroyed. America could face that judgment too. It’s time to turn back to God and honor Him by truly seeking Him. We need to love what God loves and shun Satan’s lies. God loves His people, the nation of Israel, and Christians. God loves sinners and wants them to come to salvation.
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
God wants everyone possible to come to salvation before it’s too late. As Christians, we should desire that also. In gratitude for what God has done for us, we need to share the Gospel with others.
What do we do now?
God has given us mercy, so we should show mercy to others. We must humble ourselves before the Lord and pray without ceasing. We need to seek the Lord with all of our heart every day. Brothers and sisters, we need to repent and turn from our wicked ways and live a life that pleases God. It’s not always easy, but it is what we need to do now.
God bless you all
Nathele Graham
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“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).