AN IMMEDIATE CALL FOR REPENTANCE BY THE CHURCH

An Immediate Call for Repentance by the Church
This immediate call for repentance is to the church in North America to come before the throne of God, seeking Him for His mercy, long-suffering, loving-kindness in the hopes of staying off His wrath against us, our nation and our families. 

Jeremiah 8:20, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved."

Revelation 2:4-5, "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. v. 5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."

Revelation 2:21, "And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not."


Isn't it 'funny' that it almost always seems to take urgency and emergency for God to get us where we need to be?  For it is, in the most tragic events that unimportant things collapse, but important things rise to the front.  Our nation is in a state of emergency.  And the church should be in a state of urgency.  However, it is not really evident that many in the church have that sense of urgency of pending doom and judgment.  Many use the illustration of being 'lulled' to sleep in the things of God, while the devil comes in and steals our children, our future and our souls.  We hear that most urgent cry from the prophets, 'It is high time to awake';  'Awake, awake'.  And yet the church says, 'Let me sleep.' 

I was 7 years old when I received Christ one Sunday morning.  I still look back at that time of the fulfillment of Christ laying everything out for my great need of salvation and me responding to His great love and great gift.  'To as many as would receive Him(Me), to them gave He power to become the sons of God."  I followed in the waters of baptism and thus began my Christian pilgrimage.  Almost 8 years old, when saved, born again; and almost 16 years old when I began 'growing in Christ'. 

This is one reason I have a sympathetic heart toward King Josiah and his biography.  Josiah was 8 years old when he began to reign; but it wasn't until he was 16 years old, "while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father."  And it was the same spacing of years for me.  Not much in the way of anything to grow in the Lord,until God began to move and challenge me at 15 years old.  I was challenged to read my Bible through in a year from Genesis to Revelation for the first time.  I was challenged to buy and do devotions with Charles Spurgeon's, 'Morning and Evening'.  All of which, I was 15 years old, going into 16, when I did this.  And thus began the journey of reading, studying, memorizing and devouring the Word of God.  Or should I say, it devours me. 

I remember first reading through Jeremiah and Lamentations and being deeply struck those early years.  It was horrifying to me.  I began preaching at 17 and filling in the pulpits.  I was much alarmed at what I saw in the church, in the nation and comparing it much to what I read in the major prophets.  I even considered myself to be a fore runner of being like Jeremiah, 'called before I was born' to bring such a message of sorrow to God's people and our nation.  I remember that as Jeremiah was not permitted to marry, I was fearful I too would be single all my days.  But the Lord allowed for me to marry and have 8 children. 

Not much has changed in my view of the Scriptures given in this letter's opening from Jeremiah and Revelation.  These verses are just as pointed and addressing to our plight now as it was in the 1980's.  And for me, almost 30 years has elapsed.  All those things of ministry, of my own devotional, studying of Scriptures, memorization of Scripture has increased;  so also has my propensity for sin increased.  These 30 years have allowed for my flesh to fail time and time again.  It was not up till the last 10 years that I even understood what true revival of God's manifest Presence coming down and abiding upon His people was.  And for course, the results that bring true repentance to His people in such a time of repentance.  It was meeting those seasoned saints of the Canadian Revival that told their accounts of true revival that burned within my soul.  Men like Ralph Sutera, Bill McCleod, and Henry Blakcaby, that shared their experience in the 1970's of God's manifest Presence and what the Lord did during and after those days.  It is that same experience for my own life, minsitry and for the church today that I seek.   

For the most part it has been my hearts desire to preach, evangelize, pray against these verses coming to fruition and completion.  But now, in these days, we are so close to seeing them fulfilled.  We are coming to some kind of a head; and the conclusion will be revival or final judgment.  Let's look at these warnings and respond to that which, literally, 'the Spirit is saying' to the churches, and to you and me.

"The harvest is past, the summer is ended and we are not yet saved."

It is of the greatest of sorrows for many in North America to see their families and loved ones, yea, society as a whole in this very state of lostness, without Christ and on their way to eternal hell.  And as I have referred to, decades have now past, for some of our greatest opportunities to reach the masses and we have not seen it happen.  But we have seen the exact opposite.  Where masses have revolted from the church, from any kind of Christian impact and are engaging of great, gross sins across this land.  Whole families, great percentages of populations are without Christ and no real desire to know or hear about it. 

The reports of this verse being true rests on such stats as our overall population.  The population of the US is over 300 million.  Reports favor that on most Sunday's,  there are only 30 million in church worshipping.  That means roughly 10% are engaged in religion.  This reflects that 90% are removed from religion, given up on religion and absent from houses of worship.  Out of that 30 million, we are in a major crisis of how many are truly 'born again' in Christ.  This is not referencing false religions, cults or other religious groups; this is referencing Christian houses of worship.  So that out of 30 million only 10% of them are truly Christians --reflecting 3 million out of 300 million are true followers of Christ. 

How impacting is that last phrase of Jeremiah 8:20 now?  'we are not yet saved'
How urgent is the hour if the 'summer is ended and the harvest is past'?
How did we get to such a plight?

The dilemma of Jeremiah 8:20 coming to pass is found in Revelation 2 and 3.

In Revelation 2 and 3 we have Christ speaking to the 7 churches.  He is speaking to His church today with the same blessing and cursing.  The call is still the same for us as it was for them -- 'repent'. 

Let us examine this call to repent in these verses and make the appropriate response for us today.

The first call for repentance is to the church of Ephesus.  We know its spiritual favor of labors by the Apostle Paul and Timothy.  We know the favor Christ speaks of it here in these verses of Revelation 2: 1 - 7.  the words of Christ point out there good works in verses 2 and 3.  But beginning in verse 4 we see their sin.  Christ came to destroy sin.  "Thou shalt call His Name, Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins."  He overcame flesh, Satan and sin to be holy and found without sin.  And as He was, so He requires and commands us to be.  'Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."   This is not a suggestion; this is not a goal; this is a command from our Lord.  And the church at Ephesus had fallen from this.  The church of North America has fallen from this.

"Nevertheless I have this against you, you have left your first love"  Why is so many lost and without Christ?  why are so many lives being destroyed?  Why is the church so powerless?  Why is the nation on the verge of destruction?  Because we have left our first love.

"Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."
Twice is the call to repent in this verse.  Once is the call to do our first works.  This is based upon what we remember that we have fallen from. 
What happens if we don't repent?
What happens if we don't remember?
What happens if we don't redo our first works?
He will come and remove our candlestick.  and He will do it 'quickly'.  I am fond to remind people of Robert Murray McCheyne's words on this passage.  After he left his pulpit for health reasons, he traveled to Israel to be a missionary. And on his trip there, he went through the region of the 7 churches found in Asia Minor.  As he came to Ephesus, he reports finding the church of Ephesus, he only found the foundation of the building in a corn field.  Their candlestick had been removed. 

No matter what we have been; no matter what we think we are; this doom can happen to us all 'quickly'.  And if we don't understand the seriousness of this, then we will only hasten the timing of it; as He said, 'quickly'. 

Three more times in this chapter the call for repentance goes forth.  And one of the most pressing for us is found in verse 21.
"And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not."

He pronounces the blessings and joy over their good works in verse 19.  But in verse 20, He is pointing out their folly and sin.  They have allowed for Jezebel to set up rule over them.  They have climbed into bed with her, committing the sin of fornication. 

Who have you climbed into bed with?
Who have you sold your soul to?
Who have you defiled yourself with?

And God in His mercy gives time for us to hear what the Spirit is saying and to repent.  But let us not be counted as the fools, who think we have forever.  'I gave you time to repent, but you would not'.  Meaning they chose sin over their Savior.  Many a time in my life, I have been found guilty of this very charge of treason, treachery and betrayal.  I chose sin over Him.  I chose self over Him.  And His mercy and loving kindness that reached to my soul and said, 'Repent.  Get rid of this folly and serve it no more.'  "Yes, Lord." is always the response of humble, contrite servants who repents.  How long has it been since you said, 'Yes, Lord'. 

And now we come to this 'immeidate call to repentance' and its response from us.  Let us see wherein our folly lies.  Let us claim ownership for 'leaving our first love'.  Let us get out of bed with Jezebel and her allurements.  Let us restore and renew our vows unto the Lord God Almighty.  He might 'turn and leave a blessing behind Him.'

The 3 areas of repentance for the church today is found in --
TIME
TALENTS
TERRITORY

TIME:
This is the realization that God did not give us life and time for ourselves.  Our society has ingrained within us the humanistic approach to living -- that it is for self.  We know that in Christianity, life and time is given to glorify God.  Now let us give an account of time spent thus far.
There are --
-24 hours in a day;
-168 hours in a week;
How much time do you spend daily for the Lord?
How much time do you spend weekly for Him?
--to read your Bible through in a year, it is around 15 minutes a day -- (rounded up) that is 2 hours a week in the Word;
--hard pressed to pin down moments in prayer -- many don't pray at all; others are engaged in religious rhetoric, which amounts to nothing; but still, there are those that cry out and seek Him;  a standard acceptance is again around 10 - 20 minutes a day -- that is again around 2 hours a week;
Most attend church at most 4 hours a week; average is 2 hours a week. 
Very few spend anytime in meditation or witnessing. 
totaled (on average) that most Christians spend their time per week at 8 hours a week.  This leaves 160 hours to themselves.
What do we do with all this time? 
--8 hours of sleep; total 56 hours;
--2 hours eating; total 14 hours;
--40 hours a week working;
Total - 110 (round up to 120) hours a week for daily living obligations and responsibilities.
168 - 120 = 48 hours a week
48  - 8 hours a week to serve the Lord (average a little more than an hour a day) = 40 hours left to spend for self

Do you see now how imbalanced our time is?
Do you see how much time we spend for self, for sin?
Do you see how little time we spend for our Lord and His kingdom?
And this is the 3 - 5 million that live an active life for Christ and in Christ and seek to please Him.  What do we say of the other 25 million that attend church but have no functioning relationship for Him or in Him?  And what do we say of the 270 million that are completely submerged in sin and self and faithful servants to the devil?

Now praise God for those of you that have more time with Him and in Him.  Praise God for those that live by Pauls' words, "spend and be spent for Him".  But we know the reality that there are few who are found such. 
Do you hear the Spirit to the masses and His people?  'Repent' 

Now we cannot go back and redo time lost in our past.  But we can humble ourselves, acknowledge our imbalance of time for Him and with Him and do the first works of making more time with Him.  Change this imbalance to make it more daily, more weekly for His work and Presence. 
We will give an account of our time before the Judgment Seat of Christ.

TALENTS
Found under this sin that we need to examine is our possessions and abilities.  All that we are and all that we have is a gift from God.  Our nation has been blest beyond measure with talents.  We know the parable to those that had 5 talents, 2 talents and the one talent.  We all have talents to be employed for His work and kingdom.  'where much is given, much is required'.  But we are all required to use our talents for the furtherance of His great Name in all the world.  the widow only had two mites (talents) but she put her all in. 

Do you see what the Lord has blest us with? 
We have multiple talents in this nation of advancement in education, technology, money and availability.  What have we done with it all?  Surely we agree that the United States could have easily evangelized the world with all our talents. 
Did you ever read of David Livingstone, and how much one man accomplished for the souls of the tribal people of Africa? 
Did you ever read of Hudson Taylor and China Inland mission and how much they did to reach the people of China? 
The one, the few, all are called to pitch in and do. 
How many do nothing to promote the kingdom?
How many have wasted literally hundreds, thousands, ten's of thousands and yea millions of dollars on ease, vanity and selfishness here rather than advancing the kingdom? 
Do you not think that these talents are being recorded? 
Yes, we are being weighed in the balances by our lifestyles and choices.
More homes, more clothes, more cars, more, more of everything; while 'the harvest is past, the summer is ended and we are not yet saved'.  Our priorities are wrong.  Our thinking is skewed.  Because we left off our first works .  The first church sold their possessions for the furtherance of the church.  We sell nothing, unless it is a profit for us.  and if we do sell something, we give a portion to tithes, but hold the greater percentage to indulge in more worldly things. 

Do you see the accountability of talents?  Your life, your money, your possessions - are they yours? or His?  And what are you using them for?
Repent of thinking 'you own that'; 'you have this or that'.  And realize it is the Lord's, and let Him have His way with what you own, and who you are. 

TERRITORY

This is the coverage of where we are? and how much is truly His?
We profess that we have given our hearts to Him for salvation and our relationship with Him. 
Remember the sin of Jezebel.  Climbing  into bed to defile yourself with the things of this world and hell.  'Touch not the unclean thing and come out from among them and be ye separate." 
your body, life, occupation is not yours -- it is given unto Him. 
where does the Lord want you to live?
where does the Lord want you to spend your mind, thoughts and intents? 

And again, I believe we can easily hear the Spirit saying to us, 'these are not My thoughts'; 'This is not My will for you'; and we are quickly found in our territory without Him.  He brought us out of Egypt to bring us into the Promised Land.  Do not settle down for the city of Vanity Fair.  Go where He wants you to go.  Be, who He wants you to be.  Live, the way He wants you to live.  Live for His glory. 

And do we see the church now?  Filled with defilement; filled with the world; filled with self.  It is not about Him, its all about us.  The great damning doctrine of humanism is our Jezebel.  Let us go back to the cross, let us die afresh to self, to sin, to the world and let us begin a new to live for Him. 
We have so little time remaining to do this.  While there is time, hear what the Spirit is saying; respond to His great compassion and will and way.  Obey Him in all things, great and small. 

Oh Lord, here we are.  In Your Holy Presence, adoring, glorifying Your great Name and ways.  There is no sin found in You.  But there is much sin found in us as Your people.  O God, how foolish we have been.  How much we have 'given an occasion against Your Name'.  How much we have lived for self and sin, rather than You and Your kingdom.  Oh God, forgive us a fresh this day.  Renew us in You and for You.  Cast away our flesh, it is all vanity and sin.  Let us die to self in order to live in You fully.  Take our whole hearts and make them Yours.  Let nothing reside within us of our old man; but let us be made new creatures in You wholly.  So ashamed, so defiled, so filthy, so sinful we are as Your people, we come to the blood of our Lord and ask to be cleansed completely from top to bottom.  Let no spot be found in Your bride.  We know we have lost time living for ourselves.  And while we was doing this, hell came and took the ground of our nation and families.  Give us back that which we have lost for Your glory.  Give us back the opportunity to serve and gain the victory of this nation for You.  Be glorified in us as Your people for Your great Name's sake.  We know we deserve for You to remove our candlestick.  We lay before You guilty and condemned.  Grant us time; revive us again; fill each heart with Thy love; may each soul be rekindled with fire from above.  Give us Your fullness we ask. 
In the powerful, Holy, and great Name of our Lord and Savior we pray,
IN Jesus Name, Amen

PRAYER GUIDE FOR SUPREME COURT RULING ON SAME SEX MARRIAGE

A Prayer Guide to help lead in prayers for God to direct the vote in the Supreme Court ruling on Same Sex Marriage

1. The first principle of prayer is that it is to be continual, with a spirit to prevail with God for His glory.  All that we undertake should be for His glory.   
"Men ought always to pray and not to faint' - Luke 18:1
"Continue in prayer" Colossians 4:2
"I give myself unto prayer" Psalm 109:4

And it is now, that from the first of March until the end of June, or first of July, when the ruling is made that we should assume a daily petition before Him and seek Him for His favor and help.  That offers to us only about 120 days, 4 months.  Let us be faithful to maintain and prevail.  We have allowed Satan to much ground due to our lack of praying faithfully.  A day without prayer simply surrenders the day and its events to the devil's will.
Be resolved to undertake this prayer daily before the Lord.

2.  The second principle is based on our belief in God and His power.  There is nothing too hard for God.  And most recently so many wrote briefs to support same sex marriage.  I heard of no briefs in favor of traditional marriage or a voice that condemned same sex marriage.  We will bring our briefs before the Lord's throne and there make our petitions known for His power and might to rule and reign. 
"Ah, Lord God, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee."  Jeremiah 32:17
"Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh, is there anything too hard for Me."  Jeremiah 32:27
"Is the Lord's hand waxed short?"  Numbers 11:23
"Is anything too hard for the Lord?"  Genesis 18:14

If you do not believe these truths of God, then you are found without faith and guilty of the sin of unbelief.  Set your mind on His power and ability, that all things are possible with Him and through Him and let not Satan cause you to doubt and stumble.

3.  Share this great burden with others.  Bring others in your family, church to pray daily together or at a set time each day to bring it before the Lord.  Knowing the promise, that if 'two or three of us agree as touching anything here on earth, it shall be done for us in heaven.'
Pass this on to other prayer groups, and others that fear for our future as a nation if this sin is legalized and made the law of the land.  God will not bless a nation that legalizes sin.  We should not carry this burden alone, but have others to bear it with us before His throne.

Let us begin now to take these daily reminders of Scripture, the prayer petitions and its importance in regards to the ruling of the Supreme Court on Same Sex Marriage.  Remembering that we are to 'cast all our cares upon Him, for He careth for us.' 

Day 1
Scripture:  "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."  I Corinthians 10:31
Prayer Petition:  the prayers that follow these next 120 days should be first and foremost for the glory of God to work in the midst of these circumstances.  The actions of the justices, the lawyers, and those affected by this outcome, may it be for God's glory. 
Importance:  if God is not glorified, then Satan is or man's flesh is; our prayers are to be united for God to be glorified in these prayers and actions of the court;
Prayer:  Father, be glorified in all things of Your creation in heaven and earth.  You are great and greatly to be praised for all Your ways.  We now bring before You these most crucial decisions in our nation for marriage.  You know all things, and You know the outcome, be glorified in this and that which follows for Your Name sake.  Allow not men, governments or the forces of hell to rob You of Your great glory, in Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 2
Scripture:  "And He changeth the times and the seasons:  He removeth kings, and setteth up kings:  He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:" Daniel 2:21
Prayer Petition:  our times have definitely changed in the last 50 years of this nation;  No one would have believed that same sex marriage would be up for being legalized in this nation.  But times and seasons change in nature, and among men.  Often times we go from bad to worse to wicked.  And God allows for leaders, governments to be employed in response to men's desires and ways of rebellion and sin.  Let our petition be for wisdom and understanding in these matters for God's glory.
Importance:  if wisdom and understanding is not employed, then foolishness and lack of understanding is the rule of thumb;  This we cannot permit nor allow.  Let us seek for God to employ wisdom and understanding for such a time as this.
Prayer:  Father, all things of time and eternity are found in Your safe keeping and direction.  Even this time and season of our nation is allowed and brought about for Your purposes.  You direct the affairs of men by wisdom and understanding.  It is a gift given from You, and also can be taken away by You.  I ask of You to grant wisdom and understanding upon the justices, lawyers and leaders to see the time and season we are in and how crucial it is for sin not to be legalized nor permitted.  Change the times and seasons to favor Your kingdom to grow and advance in this nation and to the ends of the earth.  Grant times and seasons of refreshing in revival of Your Manifest Presence, In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 3
Scripture:  "If My people which are called by My Name humble themselves, . . .turn from their wicked ways. . . ." II Chronicles 7:14
Prayer Petition:  One of the great needs in a proud nation and a proud church is for us to humble ourselves before Him.  We should acknowledge our wicked ways, that we left God a long time ago in this nation and humbly confess that we have affronted and provoked Him in so many ways, including same sex marriage. 
Importance:  without humbling ourselves, we continue to operate in pride, arrogance and self-righteousness;  Without acknowledging our wicked ways, we continue to permit and allow that which has grieved and quenched the Holy Spirit from our midst.  We cannot move forward without these two points being done by the church, leaders and especially us, in our prayer times. 
Prayer:  Father, Almighty Holy One, how we see our sinful ways before Your right ways.  How we acknowledge that we have turned away from You and forgotten You days, weeks, months and years without end.  And in this our flesh, and its corruption has robbed us of Your mercies and favor.  We are wicked; we have allowed wickedness to be the way of our families, and of our nation.  We beseech Thee for Your mercy to 'turn us, and we shall be turned' back to You and Your ways.  In our flesh dwells no good thing and we have allowed for it to become acceptable in our society.  In doing this, we have provoked You to anger and wrath against our children, grandchildren, and have hazarded our future as a nation.  O God, we humble ourselves before You and ask for Your forgiveness and help in these troublesome times.  In Jesus Name, Amen

Day 4
Scripture:  "O Lord, I have heard Thy speech, and was afraid:  O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy."      Habakkuk 3:2
Prayer Petition:  the great need of these days is that, as we have provoked the Lord to wrath, we seek Him to revive and have mercy on us. 
Importance:  No nation, family, or person can sustain in the face of God's wrath.  But there must be somebody seeking and reminding God of His desire to show mercy and grant a season of reviving.  Let our prayer be to accomplish that purpose, while we have time.  And time is not a luxury any more.  Whereas, we may have had decades and years, now we are down to months, weeks and days in facing God's severe wrath.  No time is to be lost in this most urgent pleading for His mercy rather than His wrath.
Prayer:  Father God, we have seen in most recent times Your wrath against us as a people, a nation, our families and even Your church.  All of which because we took Your mercy for granted.  We believed the lie of Satan that we would never see Your wrath.  Now Father, we know that Your wrath is being poured out on this land with drought, record fires, economic turmoil, family and marriage being torn a part and Your people seemingly without any power to stop it.  Lord, we seek Your mercy in such times.  We know that we deserve Your wrath for our wicked ways, but You are gracious and merciful and we seek you for a Spirit of reviving in these days for Your creation to be saved and brought into Your kingdom.  Oh, how we need You this hour and day.  In wrath O mighty God remember mercy upon us we pray.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 5
Scripture:  "And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins."  Leviticus 26:18
Prayer Petition:  the great need for this hour is for us and the church, as a whole, to realize just where we are in reference to God's punishment on our nation.  The legalizing of alcohol in 1933; the legalizing of abortion in 1973; most recently legalizing drug use in several states and states also embracing same sex marriage all provoke God to punish us for not adhering to His ways of right and wrong. 
Importance:  Our thoughts should govern us to see that this nation has not hearkened unto Him and therefore His judgements continue upon us, each one worst than the last.  The purpose of the judgment is to humble us and acknowledge our transgression and repent.  But if we don't, then the judgments intensify.
Prayer:  Father, You have spoken to us in Your Word and are consistent in that which is pleasing and that which is not pleasing to You.  Our nation has not hearkened unto You, but unto the selfish lusts of its people to promote, legalize and engage in sinful acts.  Each of these legalized sins has affronted You and now we are reaping that which we have sown.  What can we do without You O Lord?  Help Us to turn from our rebellion and give us ears to hear and listen to You.  Give us leaders that we see and acknowledge that we cannot permit legalized sin and expect not to reap the whirlwind for it.  Why would we want 7X worse punishment from You?  WE have seen enough disaster and death due to our folly.  Grant us Your help, mercy and allow for us to do righteously in Your sight lest we have more punishment added to our sin.  We cannot do this without You, O Lord.  IN Jesus Name, Amen. 

Day 6
Scripture:  "Be sober,  be vigilante; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."  I Peter 5:8
Prayer Petition:  the reminder is for us to remember who is behind all this evil of same sex marriage;  our prayers are to be against Satan's purpose and devices;  it is to be for deliverance and protection from his devouring; be faithful in this
Importance - It is to know who our real enemy is and what he desires to do to us as a nation, a people, and as the church - Satan seeks to destroy us.  Many souls, nations and issues have been left unattended in prayer, thus allowing for Satan to destroy.  If we understood that prayer protects and delivers from Satan's schemes of destruction we would more diligent and specific in covering such things.  Let us do this. 
Prayer - Father, our enemy and Your enemy has come to destroy us.  He has lied and deceived, as he always has.  He knows his time is limited and he knows that this nation has great potential to advance and evangelize the world, thus he seeks to destroy us with our lusts and evil laws to anger You.  Do no permit him to have his will and way with us.  Stand forth and protect us and deliver us from the lion.  We do not have the power to deliver ourselves.  He has many followers and servants in these positions.  I pray for the saving and deliverance of them as well.  'Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.'  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 7
Scripture:  "Thou stretchedst out Thy right hand, the earth swallowed them." Exodus 15:12
Prayer Petition:  we are to seek God Almighty, for Him to stretch out His right hand for favor and if He stretches out His right hand to swallow this nation, then let us appeal to His mercy, loving kindness and favor in such time as this.
Importance:  All things are created, sustained and governed by God.  His right hand is a constant image in the Bible of Him directing the affairs of men.  many instances of this is shown that when God's right hand is stretched out, it can be for one of two things: either for mercy or for destruction.  Let us pray for the first and not the latter. 
Prayer:  Father, You gesture Your right hand and the sun, moon and stars were set.  You gesture Your right hand and man became a living soul, as Your hands formed Him and then You breathed life into Him.  But You also gestured Your right hand and smote a curse upon Cain for punishment for murdering his brother.  Father, I know that Your right hand can secure, protect, deliver and save; and I know that Your right hand can strike, punish, afflict and remove men from the earth.  I ask of You to deliver and save the justices and lawyers involved in this case; by Your right hand seek and save them; and by Your right hand deliver us from our own folly and evil.  Please do not strike us down in wrath and anger.  If Thy right hand goes out against us, who shall be escape? who shall be delivered from You?  Deliver and spare us by Thy right hand, but please don't consume us by Thy right hand.  In Jesus Name, Amen. 

Day 8
Scripture:  "And the Lord passed by  before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.  v. 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation."  Exodus 34: 6 - 7
Prayer Petition:  the acknowledge of God to Moses in this passage of His attributes and ways;  It is wise for us to learn and discern in the use of these things for what is happening and what shall happen as we seek Him for an answer to our prayers.
Importance:  this is to clear up a lot of the false impressions about God and prayer.  I believe that there are a lot that pray in the church, but do they pray rightly?  Do we know God? Who He is? and what He can do and will do?  Let us declare His Own Name before Him to implore for His attributes to dictate His response and reactions to our prayers.
Prayer:  O Mighty God, Maker of heaven and earth and all that is therein.  There is no other god in this universe or existence; You, and You alone are God Almighty.  WE come to You, for that which You have revealed in the proclamation in Your Name before Moses.  We know You are gracious, merciful, longsuffering and not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to a saving knoweldge of Thee.  Therefore, hear our prayers and remember that which You have pronounced about Your own self to spare us and deliver us from our own folly against You.  Forgive us and remove our sins and let not evil prevail during these dark days.  Rise up O Lord and save this nation by Thy mighty power.  And not only this generation but the generation to come, for the glory of Your great Name.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 9
Scripture:  "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My Name:  ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."  John 16:24
Prayer Petition:  The very sake of coming to the Lord in prayer about this most urgent need is that we would do it according to the way that Christ instructed us to pray.  Not asking amiss, but asking for His glory, in His Name and that our joy may be full.
Importance;  How can our joy be full, when a nation, 9 justices, a president and numerous others have affirmed that they love evil and hate good?  How can we have joy when a nation's future is at stake for possibly legalizing same sex marriage?  Let us speak His Name as instructed and for His glory, see His mighty ways help us and lead us.
Prayer:  Father, You sent Your Son for us.  We have taken His name upon us as Christians.  Forgive us for not bearing His likeness better and more often.  Yet, we know that through His obedience, You have made a way for us to boldly before You.  And now we speak His Name in utter our prayers against the works of the devil and hell in allowing and permitting same sex marriage to become the law of the land.  We speak His Holy, powerful Name that You O mighty God have promised that if we ask in His name, You would do it.  Hear our prayer now, and in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior we pray against these devices of hell and ask of You to not allow for the Supreme Court to rule in favor of evil.  I ask this,as He taught us to ask, In Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior's Name, Amen.

Day 10
Scripture:  "Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them:  wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?"       Joel 2:17
Prayer Petition:  the great need to prevail with God is when the need is so great, and the flesh is so weak to cry out to God this very petition in this verse for Him to spare us and let not the evil heathen reign over this land.
Importance:  the continual, 'as is' style of prayer will not do;  the leadership of priests and ministers is to set the example of wailing, anguishing and crying out to God for mercy and for deliverance.  To many pastors and leaders confess that their prayers lives are not what they know they should be.  This sin has allowed much of this evil we are combating today.  It is time for ministers to be godly and much in prayer for this supreme court case and leading their people in prayer also. 
Prayer:  Father, forgive the leaders, the ministers for not prevailing in prayer.  Forgive us that we lose sight of the value of powerful, prayer life.  Grant us now a broken heart to weep and cry out for the great need in front of us as pastors and leaders, that you would be intreated for us and this nation.  Let not the heathen rage and boast.  Silence them and put them down and let not their their father (the devil) agenda go forth to legalize same sex marriage in this land.  Show them Thy power in answering these prayers and granting great ability in Your servants prayer lives.  Increase our faith today and grant us this petition, 'Spare us O God we pray; give us not to reproach that they should rule over us'.  In Jesus Name, Amen. 

Day 11
Scripture:  "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth."  Luke 11:2
Prayer Petition:  all prayer is to be according to God's will and not ours;  many prayers ask amiss for their own selfish purposes.  We must be sure that as His will in heaven is perfectly done, so we see it done here on earth.  And by faith, we are accepting of His will whether it is in agreement with us or not. 
Importance:  we are not able to see and know the future, but God sees all;  We must pray according to His Divine purposes for the decisions of the Supreme Court.  I am not looking unto man for this vote and decision, but trusting that God's purposes are being fulfilled and will be done.  We are allowed to ask for the 'desires of our heart' so long as it according to His ways.  God's will and way is against sin, against such things be done which consumes the souls of a nation.  Let us pray, with God, in agreement, on this. 
Prayer:  Father God, You are perfect in all Your ways of past, present and future.  There is no mistakes, no sin, no errors found in You.  All sin and faults are found in us.  And it is not that we seek for You to come down to our level and do our bidding; but, raise us up to Your heights and pray in agreement for Your Divine will and ways to be done for the saving of souls, the removal of evil and the glorifying of Your great Name to the ends of the earth.  Let Thy will be done in this ruling; let not hell, nor men have their will be done.  Speak and utter Your will and it shall be accomplished as it is in heaven, so let it be on earth and in this ruling we pray.  In Jesus Name, Amen. 

Day 12
Scripture:  'Cast me not away from Thy Presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me"        Psalm 51:10
Prayer Petition:  the great need is for God not to withdraw or be quenched from our Presence;  Sin causes such a 'hiddenness' of His Spirit.  We take so lightly the grieving of the Spirit by our blatant ways of self and sin.  Let us seek him for His favor, forgiveness and fulfillment.
Importance:  If the Spirit be absent, removed, withdrawn, quenched, grieved or limited, what hope do we have in prevailing?  None.  "Not by might, nor by sword, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord"  Let us not forget how much we need to be bathed, filled, and overflowing in the Spirit.  Sin is what keeps us away from Him, but in times like this we need Him more than ever.  Praying for Him to not be removed from us, is an urgent, desperate prayer for His Spirit to abide with us. 
Prayer:  Father, and Holy Spirit, we know that we have grieved You by our choices, decisions and ways.  We know that we have offended Your holiness by our selfish, lustful ways.  We come to the cross of Christ and ask for cleansing by His precious blood, so that there be no offence remaining.  Take not Thy Holy Spirit from us, withdraw not Thy Holy Presence from us.  Casts us not away, but grant us a little more time to 'dig around the roots, fertilize the ground and see if fruit come forth'.  Let not evil have its way in this ruling; let not their sin cast away an entire nation.  'Turn us, O God, and we shall be turned' but remove not Thy Divine Presence from this land, lest hell have its victory. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 13
Scripture:  "Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them:  and I will make of thee a great nation.  v. 11 And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth Thy wrath wax hot against Thy people?. . . ."  Exodus 32:10-11
Prayer Petition:  Moses stood before the wrath of God on behalf of a nation and so we must pray before Him as His wrath waxes hot against this nation.  And if we don't stand before Him and prevail, then His anger will go forth and a nation will be removed.  'God looks for a man to intercede' and we must be that one(s).  If He finds no one, then His wrath goes forth, for there is nothing to stop His response to men's sins. 
Importance:  How many times do we see this in Scripture?  During the days of Noah, God was looking for the righteous to stay His wrath; during the time of Sodom and Gomorrah, He was prepared to spare them for 10 righteous; and here during the time of the Exodus, His wrath was provoked by their sins.  You and I are to be before Him, to remind Him of His mercy, grace and plan of redemption.  If He consumes a nation , they have no ability to repent and find Christ as Savior and Lord.  And this great need falls on the shoulders of the remnant that are 'seeking His face' daily for a nation that stand ready to receive His wrath and consume them.  You cannot fail at this!
Prayer:  Lord God Almighty, You made this nation; You gave us all that we have; we blush to lift up our faces to You for what shame and sin we have cause, allowed and done.  We know we have provoked Your great wrath against us, our children and all future generations.  We know that we stand at the point of You consuming us as a nation for our legalizing of sin and affronting You.  But we seek You today, to turn from Thy fierce wrath and remember that Your Son, our Savior, took Your great wrath on His very life and paid the price in full.  Oh, grant us clemency, to seek You not to consume us, but revive us in Your image.  Let not Satan have his way in destroying this nation that could reach the ends of the world with Your great salvation.  Let not him prevail for our destruction.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 14
Scripture:  "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all."  Isaiah 53:6
Prayer Petition:  the reality of our need is that we are all sinners, born  in sin, practice sin and in need of a great Savior, in Christ Jesus.  This verse reminds us of what we are facing by the lusts and selfishness of men to have sin legalized for same sex marriage.  And we have an intercessor in Christ Who died for we wicked sheep and He is able to turn us from our own ways to His Own ways.
Importance:  Truly one of our biggest problems is thinking 'we are okay' as a nation, families, churches and individual lives.  Nothing could further from the truth.  Praying with that false deception only hinders and removes us further from Him.  But looking at Him Who receive the iniquity of us all makes us remember, that for me He died.  He bore my sins, that which I have done that led me astray and turned to my own way.  the same is true for the church, for the nation, for our population. 
Prayer:  Father, Maker of heaven and earth and all that is therein, we all have forgotten You, been contrary unto You, shamed You, gone away from You.  And yet, in Your great love, mercy and grace You have been so faithful to reach out to lost men.  O Christ my Lord You bore my sin, my iniquity on Your flesh and took my sin and shame to Calvary.  Thank You, a thousand times over, for dying for me.  May all this nation see and know that You are the great Shepherd drawing and calling for Your sheep to come and follow You.  May You save a wicked nation from destruction and deliver us from our own folly and sin.  We've gone astray, turn us back to Your Own way.  Remember what Christ did for us all and pour not out Your wrath on this nation.  May those involved in this court case see and know that there is a way for redemption and deliverance from evil through Christ Jesus.  Glorify Your Name in this land once again, in Jesus Name, Amen. 

Day 15
Scripture:  "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Psalm 11:3
Prayer Petition:  the Lord is the keeper of all things of this creation in earth, nations, men and His church.  Nothing is done without His approval or His directing.  Yea, even our own breath is given and taken by Him.  therefore, it is needful for us to pray that the foundations be not destroyed.  The foundation of marriage is at stake, the home is at stake, the ways of our nation is at stake.  If they be destroyed by same sex marriage, edicts by the court, laws by the congress, then what shall the church do in such a plight?  A very notable question for us to pray unto the Lord God.  The answer may horrify us.
Importance:  Every device of Satan is to destroy.  He has sought to destroy every fabric of our society for decency, morality and right and wrong.  Same sex marriage is a device by Satan to destroy the family unit, yea the very foundation of our society.  Destroy this and everything else as a nation plunders to ruin.  He knows this, and this one ruling is historic in that fact that it may be the one ruling that destroys us all as nation.  Pray in regards directly related to this foundation being preserved and delivered from his evil plans. 
Prayer:  O Lord God, men and Satan do not control this universe and all Your creation.  You are creator and sustainer of it all.  Nothing can happen by the court ruling, men's love of sin or Satan's devices to destroy unless You allow it.  I ask of Thee, let this not happen.  Deliver us from ourselves.  Protect and preserve the foundations that You have established, lest they gain the victory over Your creation.  Allow them not to destroy the foundation of marriage and permit such abominations to be employed in the family structure.  What shall we do if You do not help us? nor stand up for us?  What shall we do now, but pray unto You Who hears Your children's cries.  Who is able to do great and mighty things abundantly above all that we ask or think.  Deliver us now from this evil and let not the foundations of this nation be destroyed by 9 justices.  They did much in legalizing murder in 1973, and we stand still defiled in that foundation being destroyed of life, and freedom in pursuit of life for the unborn.  Let not here evil imaginations destroy marriage foundation for the sake of Your ways.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 16
Scripture:  "But deliver us from evil (evil one)." Luke 11:4
Prayer Petition:  We return to the Lord's Prayer, that Christ gave the disciples, when they asked, 'Lord teach us to pray.'  And here is our petition before a holy God, keep us from evil.  The evil one, Satan, has come and is running rampant over the ways of this nation, in our homes and in the church.  Who is able to resist the devil in their own strength?  none.  But in Christ, He Who has the victory can grant us deliverance and victory over our enemy.  Pray this prayer in the different places evil is present: in our nation, in the church, in family, in our own flesh. 
Importance:  The devil's desire is to expose all to evil and cause them to be like him, void of God's love.  The prayer of the church is to recognize this and combat it.  And if the church doesn't get it, then nobody will.  God has granted us an understanding in the Scriptures and by His Spirit to discern and know these truths.  It is a needful prayer for help and victory for such a time as this.  Let us not be guilty of neglect, apathy or understanding these things.
Prayer:  Father, You are good in all Your ways.  WE are Your children, Your people and we live in a world and a nation that has chosen evil over good.  It surround in the work place, in the schools, in society as a whole.  Satan sends his legions against us day in and day out.  WE have no strength in ourselves to prevail.  Our victory is in You alone.  We pray this prayer as our Lord taught us, 'delvier us from evil.'  Deliver us from his plans to destroy Your great Name in this land.  Deliver us from the judgment that will fall if this ruling by the Supreme Court is allowed.  Deliver us from his presence of evil that causes us to fear, doubt, revolt and rebel against You.  Deliver me, deliver my family, deliver Your church, deliver our nation from the evil one and his evil influences and ways.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Day 17
Scripture:  "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient:"  Romans 1:28
Prayer Petition:  the sin of homosexuality is the direct sign that men loved darkness rather than light;  and in this verse we see God allowing men's minds to be reprobate and full of evil.  So it was in the days of Noah, when men did continually work evil in His sight.  And then God gives them up and over to these things of sin and self.  Our prayers are to assault this process and ask for God not to give us up, nor over to the things of hell and evil.  Seek Him in light of these truths.
Importance:  the very fact that men 'did not like to retain God in their knowledge' is enough of a concern to pray for this nation; but when you couple it that God gave them over to evil, there is no hope or rescue in this.  You and I, in our prayers are to counter this and to seek Him for His favor, mercy, grace and restoration.  Give us sound minds, strong faith and help us to overcome this process toward annihilation. 
Prayer:  Father, keep us from this awful verses reality.  WE are steamrolling toward its fateful end.  But You are God Almighty, and there is nothing too hard for You.  Deliver us from an absence of Your thoughts, desires, holiness and ways.  Do not give us over to the devil, evil and flesh.  Let not them prevail over this nation and the outcome of this wicked court case.  Let not reprobate minds be the way of this nation in the courts, legislation or public square.  Let us return to Thee with all our hearts, minds and souls.  Fill us with You from top to bottom for Your glory Name sake; in Jesus Name, Amen

Day 18
Scripture:  "Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not Thy law."  Psalm 119:136
Prayer Petition:  Look and see our condition and see if it does not mirror this verse.  'They keep not Thy law.'  Men are challenging and changing the laws that have been on the books in this nation that condemned and even criminalized homosexuality.  Now before the Supreme Court will be the decision of whether homosexuality becomes legal in this land.  They have not kept His law, they will  not keep His law.  Our prayers will be tears.  What words can be spoken, with a broken heart and sorrowful spirit. 
Importance:  I do not believe that many are even seeing the big picture of what this ruling will have as an impact on our future.  But for those that see where we are heading, and how fast we are heading there, weeping will be our substance.  Who can look at those that have disdained the Word of God and dishonoured Him by choosing sin over righteouseness, and not weep?  And if sorrow and weeping are absent from you, then ask the Lord why.  Ask Him to break Your heart.  See the possibility of this abomination becoming the law of the land.  And then consider what a holy, just God will do to those that have pushed, spoken for and ruled in favor for such evil will be.  Is it not time to weep?
Prayer:  O Heavenly Father, how much we need You this hour.  They have not kept Your law or Your ways for many decades now.  We deserve none of Your mercy or favor.  yet, O Lord You are able to revive, renew and restore us to be a people pleasing unto You.  You are able to undo the works of darkenss and bring forth Your glory into the midst of such a people that have not kept Your law, and make them to love Your law and keep Your ways for Your glory.  Accept my tears as a sign of my godly sorrow unto repentance for Your help, direction and deliverance from Satan's devices and servants.  Let them not prevail.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 19
Scripture:  "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him."  II Chronicles 16:9
Prayer Petition:  it is the need for us to search and see if 'there be any wicked way in us' that would hinder our prayers;  God is looking for one to be crying out so that He might work wondrously, is that you? is that me?  Can and will He find us faithful in our prayers and living? 
Importance:  If God doesn't show Himself mighty on our behalf, then there will be no victory.  It is not on God's part than His work would fail; His eyes are going now throughout all the world.  It is on our part, of whether is able to find one that believes and is crying out to Him.  'And God wondered that there was no man who was interceding. . .'  Let it not be on our failure to seek and find Him.
Prayer:  O Blessed Lord, You are mighty and glorious in all Your ways.  Even now, Your eyes and ears are going forth throughout all the earth, looking and listening, to our petitions, supplications and pleadings.  Lord, may our hands be clean and our hearts pure for the things of Your great work in this nation and the ends of the earth.  Show Yourself mighty on Your children's behalf that where the majoirty are crying out for this abomination to be legalized and made the law of the land; You, O God, speak and command, that our prayers prevail and push back and silence their wicked devices, decisions and directions.  Show Yourself mighty on our behalf and remind us that our prayers to an Almighty God are not in vain.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 20
Scripture:  "No man can come to Me, except the Father, which hath sent Me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:44
Prayer Petition:  One of the great hopes that we have in Christ is the fulfillment of this verse upon each individual involved in it.  The saving of the soul, and bringing them unto Him will undo all the works of the devil.  Pray for the justices, those that spoke in favor of same sex, the lawyers and those in this battle that they would be  born again and serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
Importance:  If we had been winning more souls to Christ in this nation, we wouldn't be in this plight.  Now we are at the last hour, and seek Him for His saving grace upon these agents of the devil that are prepared to destroy a nation.  We must pray them to be brought into a right relationship with Him so that their labors are for His glory and not the devil's glory. 
Prayer:  Mighty God, You Who are mighty to save; quicken each soul in this process of the supreme court ruling.  Convict them and bring them unto You that they be yielded to you as Your servants and followers.  Let them see that they cannot follow and adhere to the evils of this world.  Let them be saved for Your glory and gracious hand upon the souls.  Did You not say that, 'You came to seek and to save the lost'?  Then save them by Your sacrifice and death and the power of Your resurrection.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 21
Scripture:  "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.  Keep silence before Me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength:  let them come near; then let them speak:  let us come near  together to judgment."  Isaiah 40:31 and 41:1
Prayer Petition:  absolute necessity of us coming before the Lord, waiting and receiving strength and help from Him;  We have lost our ability, power and strength to walk in these days for prayer and service.  We have fainted and are in great need of Him to restore, revive and rekindle within us, thoughts of Him.  One of the most needed things, but most neglected is in the first phrase, 'wait upon the Lord'.  We have too much busyness in our lives today and are in desperate need of 'being still' and 'waiting before Him' to renew our souls with Him.
Importance:  The church has continued to struggle along, in a nation that has literally forgotten us (the church).  The need to renew our strength in Him is so vital to recapture the power of Pentecost.  Several petitions instruct us here to 'come near' to Him and together.  One man cannot do this, let the body come together and draw nigh unto Him, and He unto us and there let us renew our strength in Him.  Without Him, we can do nothing; but with Him, all things are possible. 
They that renew their strength will be because they waited upon the Lord to renew their strength. 
Prayer:  Father, we have no strength to continue;  we have tried our own ways and failed You.  Forgive us for forgetting You and going in our own strength.  But this verse reminds us where our strength and Who our strength is - It is You, O Lord.  In Thee I will come, let Your Bride come and wait upon You, for You to renew us in You and by You, for Your glory.  Let not the devices of Satan distract us; let not our schedules hinder us; but let us wait upon You and in You daily, hourly, yea, moment by moment.  Grant Your people renewed strength for the enlargement of Your kingdom here on earth and rebuff the advancement of hells agenda on same sex marriage.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 22
Scripture:  "And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." John 16:8
Prayer Petition:  He has come, He is coming and He will come again;  And in these comings He fulfills these 3 very important things - reprove of sin, righteousness and judgment.  May our prayers be unto Him for the completion of these things in us , His church and the nations.  It is by His Spirit that they are completed, not the devices, inventions and means of men.  'Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord'. 
Importance:  He has come to this nation many times over.  He is still desiring that His glory be manifested.  He comes to reprove sin, therefore we should compromise or condone it; He comes in righteousness, let us not have self-righteousness; He comes in judgment, let us not be found guilty.  If the church doesn't prevail in these things by His Spirit coming, then know that He will judge. And His judgment is found in what He did to Sodom and Gomorrah.
Prayer:  Father, Your anger is hot against us.  We have not hated, nor reproved sin in this land, in our churches, in our families or in our own heart.  We stand guilty before.  Even now they are legalizing sin which is an affront to You.  But You, in Your mercy have sent and are sending the Holy Spirit to convict us, to reprove us of our ways and restore Your right ways in this land.  Let not Your fierce wrath fall upon us;  yes, we deserve it. But allow Thy right hand to be extended to restore us in the midst of this ruin.  Bring us out of our sins and bring us into a right relationship with You.  Be glorified in these things and for Your great Name sake.  In Jesus Name, Amen.


Day 23
Scripture:  "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."  Revelation 2:5
Prayer Petition:  Look and see what the Lord find faults of the church of Ephesus, and make it a prayer petition.  Let the church acknowledge her sin, from whence we have fallen; let us repent and seek Him for His hand of help and mercy to do it rightly.  Let us pray for strength to do our first works in Him as He desires. 
Importance:  one of the most alarming warnings in Scripture for the church, "I will remove your candlestick"; Robert Murray McCheyne demonstrates that this great church of Ephesus candlestick was removed.  We are in danger of this for the very same offences to God.  Heed the warning giving, lest we be doomed to repeat their final ending.
Prayer:  O Father, we are under You, covered in Your blood and robe of righteousness.  We have no ability or strength without You.  Let us not continue in the sin of humanism.  We have failed You in this land to obey and further Your kingdom here on earth.  In brokenness we repent and cry out to You for mercy, for forgiveness and for restoration of Your people.  Quicken us and set us on fire for Your glory.  In Jesus Name, Amen. 

Day 24
Scripture:  "Fear thou not; for I am with thee:  be not dismayed; for I am thy God:  I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness."  Isaiah 41:10
Prayer Petition:  It is adoration in this verse of all the 'I will's' of God - His strength; His help; His upholding; and His right hand of righteousness;  In all this power and demonstration of His glory we should seek, give praise for and petition Him to do these very things for us in the future and present condition of our nation and this ruling by the Supreme Court;
Importance:  far too long has the church been involved in 'self helps';  We need the Lord's right hand.  We need God to do, what only God can do.  There is no victory in this battle for marriage, for our nation apart from Him.  Without Him, we fail; but with Him, all things are possible.  Let our prayers be according to this very thing for His glory and His will. 
Prayer:  Holy Father, mighty God, Maker of heaven and earth and all that is therein;  You sustain all of Your creation by Your mighty hand.  These petitions we bring before You, is nothing.  You are able to do these things that we ask, and much more.  Father, we seek You for Your Divine help, the arm of flesh will not suffice; it is in You alone O Lord that victory is given.  You have promised that You are with us; that You will help us; that You will uphold us and You cannot lie.  This is absolute truth that we read in Your Word and hear from Your voice.  Fulfill Your promise to Your church and deliver us from evil of their abominations.  Let Thy right hand put down the enemy and be glorified in the deliverance of this nation from sin and cleansed in revival.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 25
Scripture:  "Peter therefore was kept in prison:  but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him."  Acts 12:5
Prayer Petition:  It is to be the constant state of our prayer lives to be before Him on behalf of His church, our brothers and sisters in Christ and the glory of His Great Name to the ends of the earth.  We are to be faithful before Him as He is faithful unto us. 'It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consume, because His compassions fail not. . .great is Thy faithfulness.'
Importance:  They prevailed in prayer because they stayed consistne in prayer before the Lord for Peter's deliverance.  Do you reliaze how much deliverance we would have if we stayed before Him?  RA Torrey rights on this, we should be our motto: "the church stayed 'stretch-out-ed-ly'".  Let us stretch out to Him without wavering.  'For he that waverth, profitteth nothint.'
Prayer:  Father, we come before You; You Who are high and lifted up, Whose Name is Holy.  We have no where else to go.  Unto You we come.  Forgive us for delays, forgive us for neglects, forgive us for unfaithfulness to stretch ourselves out to You on behalf of our nation, and Your church.  But You are faithful, now cause us to prevail for our Peter, for our families, for our nation.  Let us be daily, hourly, yea, moment by moment before You until we hear Peter knocking at the door.  Answer our prayers for Your Glory to be declared.  That You are a God that hears and answers prayer.  Lord I renew my vows before You, "I give myself unto prayer".  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 26
Scripture: "For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed:  and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"  Esther 4:14
Prayer Petition:  It is not a time to hold our peace; it is a most urgent hour, and it is the late hour.  We must pray for enlargment of His kingdom and advancement of His Name; we must pray for the deliverance of God's people fromt he enemy's threats and means of destruction.  We must pray for the deliverance of souls from the devil's captivity.  We must acknowledge that God does not make mistakes and that we were given life and called to pray for such a time as this.
Importance:  If we don't do this, then we give the day and nation to the devil's plans for destruction.  We are given a chance now for such a time as this to pray and prevail.  There is no way to go back and claim missed opportunities and days.  There is nothing we can do about next year or tomorrow.  There is today and this appointed time for Him to enlarge and deliver.  And if we don't do it, then nobody will.  If Esther did not go to the king, then who would have?  Nobody.  Arise, respond and obey for 'such a time as this.'
Prayer:  Father, we acknowledge that You have given us life and everlasting life in You, through Your Son and our Savior for such a time as this.  All things are done and allowed by You, for such times.  We have no deliverance or victory apart from Thee.  Arise and respond to our cries; help us O God for Your glory Names' sake.  Casuse Your church to see the late hour and know that it is only days that remain for something to be done for enlargement an deliverance of this nation and Your kingdom.  Let not the devices, plans and ways of Satan prevail in this land I pray.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 27
Scripture:  "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart."  Psalm 37:4
Prayer Petition:  upon our hearts are many desires;  We are left with a promise that allows for us to bring our desires before Him so that He may hear and answer according to His will.  These are not desires and delights of our own making.  these are holy desires birthed within us by His Spirit that prays with our Spirit for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Importance:  How needful it is to see and know that as we delight in the Lord, His ways become our ways.  And His ways are manifested to us, we are able to pray the desires of His heart that He has placed on our heart.  I take not thought that these are my desires in delighting toward Him.  There is no good thing in my flesh; the only good in me is that which He has imparted to me of His Own self.  And I must pray His ways back to Him for Him to accomplish what He sees fit.  Let my desire perish, for there is only self and sin in that; but let His desires flourish and be done.
Prayer:  My Lord, How I love Thee.  All Thy ways are right.  All Thy ways are perfect and holy.  There is no fault, or sin found in Thee.  Lord, I know that that cannot be said of me.  I have much of self, sin and the world in me and on me.  Create in me a clean heart, cleanse my hands and purify me inside and out.  Let my delights be of Thee alone.  Speak to my mind, heart and soul the desires You have for Your church, for the nations and for Your glory.  Let me pray according to Thy desire.  Let Thy desires be my desires and be pleased with me O Lord I pray.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 28
Scripture:  "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."  Hebrews 11:6
Prayer Petition:  Let us make sure that we are faithful to come unto Him.  And that when we coming to Him in faith.  'Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.'  He is a rewarder of them coming to Him in faith, doubting nothing but expecting all things to be done for His glory, will and way.
Importance:  How much more will I come to Him believing that He is able to save all 9 justices; able to overturn the ways and devices of a lost, dark world, who are pushing the agenda of hell for our destruction.  And that as I come, coming with you in agreement, we approach for the deliverance of our nation, the church, our families for His will to be done.  This ruling will not happen, according to God's word that proclaims, "I have glorified My Name, and will glorify it again."  It cannot happen, and neither I nor you can doubt, have unbelief, but we are to have the prayer of faith for the these things to be done.
Prayer:  Father God, unto I come.  Unto You I look and see Your great power, Your great ways.  You are great and greatly to be praised for all that You have done, that You are doing and that You shall do.  I come in faith, not seeing it with my visible eyes, but with my spiritual eyes I see you answering the prayers of these believers that are trusting in You.  Let not the device of our enemies have their ways.  You have promised to reward us as we seek You diligently.  Lord, with all my heart, mind and soul I believe and know that You are able to do great things.  Now do it, and receive the glory due unto Your great Name.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 29
Scripture: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."  Ephesians 6:12
Prayer Petition:  let our prayers be found in the direction of this verse, remembering where the real battle lies in this Supreme Court ruling - it not against liberals, or against the justices, this is heaven vs. hell and we are to pray accordingly for victory for our Lord; for light over darkness; for holiness over sin; for truth over lies; for God's ways over Satan's ways; for His glory over our shame; for victory in Him over defeat in the devil.
Importance:  If we are wrestling against flesh and blood, then we allow for Satan and his cohorts to continue, they simply switch vessels to complete their agenda.  But if we go to the source of evil and put him down through the victory in Christ, then all his devices, schemes and plans are defeated.  We waste our energy on the surface instead of cutting to the heart of it all.  This verse teaches us this.
Prayer:  Mighty God, everlasting One, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Alpha and Omega, in Thee is victory.  I cannot win, we cannot win, but You have won.  Let us not be deceived or lose sight of where the real battle is.  Open our eyes to see and let us prevail in Thee.  Grant victory to Thy people as they cry out for Your deliverance, for Your power to be done in this matter of the Supreme Court ruling.  I recognize this is all about Satan and hell gaining another foothold and claiming another piece of this country.  Stop him in his tracks and repel him from our midst.  Take back the ground we have lost by our negligence and unfaithfulness.  Be glorified in Your servants prayers; In Jesus Name, Amen.


Day 30
Scripture:  "But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His Words, and missused His prophets, unto the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy." II Chronicles 36:16
Prayer Petition:  when we reach this state, it will be too late to pray for deliverance and victory; You should see what we are to pray against, in order to not get to this place: 1. messengers mocked; 2. despising of His Word and 3. misuse of His prophets. Let us not get to the place of no remedy.
Importance:  We should see that almost all of this has happened across our nation and in the church.  The fear of the Lord is absent among the people of God, let alone the people of the land.  There is an absence of the Word of God, and the world mocks, despises and hates the things of Christ and His church.  Thus, the wrath of the Lord is mounting up in His cup of wrath and then He will pour forth His indignation upon the land for its destruction, consumption and annihilation.
Prayer:  Mighty God, Everlasting One, I come before You on behalf of a nation and Your Own church that we are found guilty before You.  How great is our sin and iniquity! How great is our folly and wickedness.  All these things found in this verse is our ways and traits.  What can I do but plead for mercy, for restraint from You coming to destroy and remove us from the earth?  Turn us and we shall be turned; but let not Thy anger fall upon us.  I know we deserve it; I know we have undone all Your goodness to us; but I plead with You for help, for redemption, for revival to renew us in You and for You.  Let us not get to this place of no rememdy!  Let us not get here, lest it be too late for a nation, for the church, for our families and yea, for our very own lives.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

SUDDENNESS OF REVIVAL OR JUDGMENT

The Suddenness of God's hand moving in Revival or in Judgment

**NOte - all blog posts of mine are a process;  I write the initial theme and purpose and then have to keep coming back to refine, edit, add or take away.  At the bottom of the blog I record when I originally wrote it, when it is updated and then when it is finished.  Keep checking back for those reference for the paticular subject. 


This is where we are in our nation.  We are either at the point of revival or judgment.  Either one could come 'suddenly.'  anybody with common sense and any understanding of these two terms will chose revival or judgment.  However, it is the reactions of people that determine which we receive.  I would like to address this theme with you with a central passage out of Daniel; give a definition of 'suddenness' and then demonstrate it in passages and experiences of revival and judgment.  The conlcusion will generate out of our response and reaction to what we read.

Daniel 5: 25 - 31, "And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENNE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. V. 26 This is the interpretation fo the thing:  MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. v. 27 TEKEL, Thou art weighed in teh balances, and art found wanting. v. 28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. v. 29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chian of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.  v. 30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. v. 31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom , being about thresscore and two years old."

What an experience!  A horrifying experience for the king of Babylon.  They are jesting; they are partying with the cups of the temple of Jerusalem; they are mocking.  And in the midst of their defying actions against a holy God, God responds 'suddenly'.  Suddenly a hand appears out of nowhere and begins to write on the wall for all to see.  the king and those in attendance are smote with fear.  And then the worst part of this sudden mystery was that they could not read the message left them. 

The wife of the king of Babylon comforts her husband by reminding him of Daniel and how he had intrepreted dreams and messages for other kings.  thus, Daniel being summoned and brought before the king, he is given the purpose of revealing the mystery.  Now the message of this mystery was suddenly given and suddenly carried out.  All within 24 hours it was done.  To think that in one fell swoop, it can all be undone should alarm and horrify us. 

Our nation is in this same scenario and we had better learn the lessons quick or we are sure to meet the same end as Babylong, the great.  The handwriting is on the wall, the message is the same, and the timing may be a repeat of how fast Babylon fell in one night.  But oh, if there was a people that would labor to seek and appeal to the Lord God Almighty for a nation, and a church that needs revival, and find God's mercy instead of His wrath.  And that as fast as judgment fell on Babylon, in one night, so revival could come just as fast. 

Let us look at the two scenario's of SUDDENLY:

SUDDENLY REVIVAL

The expression of 'suddenly revival' does not come from a false understanding about the nature of God and the Lord's people.  And this phrase and term has been preached specifically by Henry Blackaby and Richard Owen Roberts.  It is not a surprise to the church.  It is not that things are going there own way and suddenly God drops down into their midst.  No, before the sudden appearance of God's manifest Presence comes down, there has been labors in the prayer closets.  Someone has been moved by God to seek Him and find Him with all their strength.  They have wrestled and prevailed.  and once the prevailing has happened, then the suddenness. 

On the day of Pentecost is an example of what this phrase means.  The church had been instructed by the Lord to wait in Jerusalem.  In obedience, they had been waiting together in an upper room.  There was 120 souls there of men and women.  They were obeying and followin after the Lord Jesus.  And after waiting 10 days, on the Lord's day, suddenly His Presence came as a 'rushing, mighty wind', sitting 'upon them as cloven fire'. 


SUDDNELY JUDGMENT

Originial Post:
March 6, 2013
Updated:
Finished:

THE CURSE OF SATAN

The Curse upon Satan and all those that are of him, follow him and obey him

**Note - a reminder that most of my blog posts are beginning works that I must get down in some sort of communicating it before I lose the moment.  They are not generally complete in content, edited or finished product.  At the bottom of the blog posts, I try to put when I began, when it was updated and when it was completed. 
This particular work God has just begun to show me some truths in Scripture and to learn better about the spiritual warfare that we are called to wage.  I believe there to be much in this for our prayer times of how to bind and set free many captives. 
Matthew 18:18, "Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven:  and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Let us walk through this study and incorporate it to our personal prayer lives.  there are two times in recorded history of God cursing Satan.  Let us examine both experiences and there impact for us.  Then we will look at other fulfilled curses in Scripture and there valued weight for us as we trust in the Lord.  Let us see these truths before us:

1.  The curse of God upon Satan in the Garden of Eden:

Genesis 3:14, "And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:  v. 15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

Here in Genesis 3, we are faced with all our folly at its origin, the sin of Adam and Eve.  I have read this passage numerous times; taught it, preached it; dwelt upon it.  But I never gave much thought to the curse that was pronounced upon the serpent and its relationship to Satan.  There are season in my spiritual pilgrimage that God reveals to me truths that others grasped along time ago, and I am simply playing 'catch-up'. 

In reading, Isaac Ambrose, 'Looking Unto Jesus' he covers this curse and its fuller meaning that helps me process the Scriptures and my ability to know my enemy better and counter his works in prayer. 

The curse was pronounced upon the serpent because of him tempting and causing Eve to sin.  Then Eve caused Adam to sin and God's created perfection was ruined.  Satan is always about one thing, 'to destroy what God created and takes pleasure in.  This is one of the first rules of thought for us in prayer.  Why is sin present in me and others?  'Our adversary, as a roaring lion, walking about seeking whom he may devour (destroy).'  As Satan's purposes are to destroy the work of God; we as God's servants are to pray for God's works to be protected, preserved and powerful for His glory. 

'Becasue thou hast done this' - what did he do?  what is the offence?  Generally, I don't believe that many Christians know the answer to why they don't have power; or why their prayers go left unanswered.  "If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me."  It may not always be sin in the believer, but let us looks with introspection upon our actions, reactions, attitudes and intents to answer the question, 'what have I done'.  'Because you have done this' means is that the Lord God Almighty, makes of heaven and earth and all that is therein, has seen and heard you. 

Look at the story of Cain and Abel.  Cain kills his brother, Abel.  God comes to Cain and asks a question, 'where is your brother?'  He gives Cain time to answer and own up to his evil deed.  Cain avoids the question, 'Am I my brother's keeper?'  He answers God's question with a question.  But the Lord God knows all things, sees all things (omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent) and there is no mysteries or secrets to Him.  So He reveals the truth of the matter to Cain, 'thy brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground'. 

Look at the sin of Adam and Eve.  Adam and Eve sin and their eyes are opened.  They knew they was naked and they were ashamed.  So they made coverings for themselves.  Whatever happened to this humility and 'ashamedness'?  Now today, people have no shame or remorse over sin.  But the Lord God comes to them and says, 'Adam, where art thou?'  Isn't it amazing that God always ask questions.  He already knows the answers but look at how many times God ask a question that He already knows the answer to throughout the Scripture. 

A few examples: 
Adam and Eve - 'where art thou?'
Cain - 'where is your brother?'
Jacob - when the Angel wrestled with him - 'What is your name?'
Isaiah and Jeremiah - 'what do you see?'
Ezekiel - 'can these dead bones live?'
Jesus to the sick - 'what wilt thou?'  'how many loaves do you have?' 'believest thou this?'
Many questions by Jesus in the Gospels prove this point. 


God presses the question to make His point and bring our unawareness to awareness to what He is doing and wanting to do and willing to do.  Do we understand this?  Do we hear the questions He is asking? 

Now the statement is, 'Because you have done this'.  There is no question, it is an absolute that God is holding them accountable.  Many I think believe that they will be able to lie, to talk their way out of, and make excusesbefore God at the judgment seat.  But do not be fooled nor misled, God will open the books that will reveal, 'because you have done this'.  And then you will be left to answer and give an account of the things done in the flesh and the heart. 

What did the serpent do?  It says that the serpent 'was more subtil than any beast of the field whcih the Lrod God had made.  He spoke to Eve and tempted her with a question, 'Hath God said'.  Satan still uses this ploy to tempt us to doubt and reject God, 'Hath God said.'  And because we don't 'study to show ourselves approved', we fall prey to it many a time.  Oh, how much would we be delivered from if we only knew the Word of God and the God of the Word. 

And I say this, because Eve did know what God had said, but she did not maintain what God had said. 

Thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field - the Lord pronounces this huge curse upon the serpent; 
The serpent, although, what we qualify as a reptile, took on the form of Satan and became an instrument for Satan.  Any of God's creation, void of God, can become an instrument for the devil, for his evil purposes of destruction.  We as Christians, should know that if we are not walking in the Spirit, looking unto Jesus and guarding ourselves, we can become servants of Satan just as easily as lost men.  Too many believers it is that time of sin that is their greatest sorrow and grief. 

But the serpent was not a man, he did not have a soul (that we know of).  I say this, because of the reference that 'the serpent was more subtil' than the other creations of animals.

2.  The second curse of God upon Satan is a little more hidden.  It is when God cursed Satan and cast him from heaven with his angelic forces.

Luke 10:18, "And He said unto them, I beheld Satan as lighting fall from heaven."

The disciples are rejoicing in what they have seen and experienced of power over demons.  Christ reminds them that this is not the first defeat of Satan or his followers.  There was a battle in heaven as Satan tried to rule and reign.  God, Micahel and His angels cast them from thence.  Compelling them from His grace and mercy forever.  Satan lives in a perpetual state of 'absence of God's glory'.  WE know he appears in God's Presence, but He knows nothing of the hope, comfort and life found in Christ and the Father. 

Upon thinking about the curses found throughout Scripture:

Joshua 6:26, "Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho:  he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in this youngest son shall he set up the gate of it." 
we read of Joshua pronouncing upon Jericho a curse;  The city had been destroyed and was left desolate as an example of God's power and the reflection of what would be for any that withstood them.  "if God be for you, who can be against you".  And the fulfillment of this curse is shown in:
I Kings 16:34, "In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho:  he laid the foundation thereofin Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun."
Thus, the power of men's words, God is able to make to come to pass or fall to the ground. 

we Jesus coming to the fruit tree and cursing it for not fulfilling its purpose;  And it withered up from the roots and was left dead. 

Ezra 6:6, "And the God that hath caused His Name to dwell there destroy all kings and people, that shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem.  I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with speed."

the temple has been destroyed and the children of Judah and Jerusalem either killed or carried away captive.  Now they are returning to the land.  And as they begin to rebuild the temple they have assualts from Satan's servants to hinder and stop the work.  The whole two books of Ezra and Nehemiah are based on that conflict of rebuilding the ways of Judah and Jerusalem. 

And as one effort had been hindered they sought in the days of Darius to fulfill the words of Cyrus to rebuild after the 70 years of captivity.  Darius makes search and find the records and utters this curse upon those that would defy and destroy the house of God. 

Now look at the reality of those that destroyed the temple of the Lord.  What happened to the Babylonians?  they were destroyed;  what happened to the Romans?  they were destroyed; what happened to the pharisees and jews who destroyed 'true' worship in the temple? they were destroyed and removed from a house to operate in.  Thus the curse was fulfilled.






Began: 
March 5, 2013
Updated:
March 6, 2013

Finished:

A WARNING TO THE SUPREME COURT, THE CHURCH, PRESIDENT OBAMA AND THE UNITED STATES

A Warning of Dire Consequences to the Supreme Court, the Church, President Obama and the people of the United States

Note:  As always when I begin these blog posts, they take time to write, edit and finish.  At the bottom of the blog posts, you will see the day started, days updated and then at the end I will write when I feel it is finished. 

It is amazing to me that something that seems so 'common sense' has become the point of demise for our nation.  The act of homosexuality and marriage of same sex partners is so unnatural, immoral and evil.  How did we ever get to this place of legalizing it and accepting it?  Well, we know that Satan is very patient and he has masterminded this entire scenario for the demise of a nation.  Why does Satan want to see America destroyed?  Because Satan knows that the church in North America, directly related to the blessings of this nation could easily impact the world for the cause of Christ.  We have enough money, technology, means, and people to win the world for Christ.  (And I know that previous sentence can never happen unless God draws the soul and the Holy spirit convicts the soul, John 6:44)  Thus, Satan sets about to stop us in our tracks. 

How does Satan do this?  How has he always done it?  He brings sin before the sinner, so that when they engage in iniquity, they provoke the Lord God to anger, punishment and judgment.  He did it in the Garden of Eden, for the sole purpose of destroying God's created perfection.  He did it to the world in the days of Noah, that they 'continually practiced evil' before the Lord.  Thus causing the world to be flooded except for Noah, his wife, 3 sons and their wives, as he was the only one that was found righteous in the eyes of the Lord.  Throughout the bible there are numerous examples over and over again of this truth.  It is very easy to see why such judgments and punishments happened to God's people, to families, to individuals and to whole nations; they forsook the Lord and provoked Him to anger with their choices of sin and evil. 

If you bring Old Testament truths to modern day reality to people, even in the churches, it is not accepted nor approved of.  But God  (probably one of the most intriguing attributes of God) is immutable; He changes not.  Malachi 3:6, "For I am the Lord, I change not".  And so, the Lord God, Who changes not, is still the same for us in 2013 as He was 3000 years ago.  And it would do well for us to learn this truth before it is too late.  The basic truth of Scripture, of God and life for men is that the 'wages of sin is death'.  God not willing for men to die in their sins, has made a way for everlasting life in Christ Jesus.  But men 'loved darkness rather than light' and choose to reject God and His precious Son, thus provoking Him even further. 

Now this nation has seen great revivals of God's power and mercy covering the land.  We have seen great advancement in the world through technology, by the military, politics, and influence.  But so had Israel and Judah.  During the days of King David and King Solomon, Israel was dominant.  And it is stressed in the scripture that it was this way, because David, 'did that which was right in the sight of the Lord with all his heart'.  And Solomon began this way and was elevated in wisdom, riches and power; until, he turned away from 'doing that which was right in His sight'.  And thus, provoking the Lord, God rent the kingdom from his son, Rehoboam and raised up someone else to rule over Israel.  And throughout the entire chronicles of the kings of Israel and Judah, we see this 'hit and miss' attitude of wholly serving the Lord. 

I would like to bring to your attention a close parallel found in II Chronicles 28, in regards to King Ahaz, the children of Judah and the response from the Lord, in comparison to President Obama, the United Sates and our future with regards to 'same sex marriage' and the pending decision by the Supreme Court. 

Ahaz was a wicked king,  His son, Hezekiah, brought about a great revival to Judah and Jerusalem during his reign and days.  It is much hoped for that in these days God would send a revival to the church, thus impacting the United States and the world.  But there was a long progression of evil leading up to Hezekiah, long before Ahaz came to his evil reign. 

We start with II Chronicles 26, Uzziah is made king and begins to do well in his reign as king.  He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.  However, you quickly discern in the Scriptures the noted difference between, when a king does as his father did before him and doing that which David did.  David served and feared the Lord with all his heart and God honored him for that.  But most of these kings, following their father before them, did not serve the Lord whole heartily.  And when in our Christian experience, we do not serve the Lord with all our hearts, we leave room for Satan, self and sin to come in and do damage. 

King Uzziah was no different.  We read that after he became strong, he took upon himself to do the priest job of offering the sacrifice.  He had no business in this.  And when the priests confronted him that he was not allowed to do this, he became angry.  Pride is a great folly to many of us.  Anger usually comes from the root sin of pride.  The pride in a man's soul to not humble themselves keeps many trapped in sin. 
v. 19, 'Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense:  and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead'

following this verse, we see this progression of evil begin toward Ahaz.

v. 21 'being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord'

I would submit to you that this is the first step away from God and allow gross evil to become the law of the land.  Our nation has seen an utter departure from the church.  The knowledge of God and the fear of God is absent due to people by masses not attending church anymore to hear the Word of God or learn of Him.  Now the issue of preachers not preaching the Word or teachers not teaching the Word we will deal with later.  But for now, look and see that the beginning of provoking the Lord God to anger, when a nation so blest by God, departs from His house of worship and giving Him proper thanksgiving and praise.  What our nation has forgotten is, that gifts and blessings of the Lord are given and can be easily taken away.  Life is given, and can easily be taken away.  "I am the Lord God; I kill and I make alive"  Deuteronomy 32:39

Now comes King Jotham, son of Uzziah, father to Ahaz.  A very short chapter (chapter 27) of his being king, but another lesson to be learned in departing from the Lord and allowing evil to become law of the land. 

v. 2, "he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah did:  howbeit he entered not into the temple of the Lord. And the people did yet corruptly."

Now what do we see?  Uzziah was cut off from the house of the Lord due to his sin and leprosy.  But Jotham, has no reason to not attend church.  He simply chooses to not do it.  'He entered not into it'.  He would not go to worship the Lord.  And as a king, his example is set before the people.  A continual progression away from God and that which He commanded to do.  There is much in similarity with our nation here.  Following WWII, there was a great need during the war and times for God to help us.  People went to church.  The nation relied on God and they knew Who God was.  And yet, over the next several decades, a generation chose not to go anymore.  There became a status of no need for God.  From the 1960's into the 1980's there was this slow erosion of the need for church and for God.   But there did become a healthy appetite for money, entertainment, and materialism.  All of which began to pull the time, interest and people away from the Lord's house and bring them into the devil's agenda.  The absence of God permeates with the presence of Satan.
then we began to see and become more aware of evil and immoral actions happening in families, communities, and across our nation that we never had to deal with publicly and openly before.  Drugs, sex, and immorality became a rampant, soaking evil across the population.  Affecting near and far, with its evil influences to rob us of God's protection, blessing and mercies and replace them with His fury, wrath and judgment. 

And as we have seen leaders lose the 'fear of  the Lord' they became gods unto themselves.  Another case for provoking the Lord to anger and wrath.  And people, with advancement of technology was able to see and know more and more about personal and public lives of leaders and we saw the evil of men to exalt sin over righteousness; evil over good; and darkness rather than light.  And the 'people have done more corruptly each geneartion'.  It has become the tongue and cheek phrase, 'if this generation is this bad, I can't imagine what it will look like in 20 years'.  I say, tongue and cheek, for if we really believed this, we would respond. 

And this brings us to King Ahaz (chapter 28). . .

v. 1, "and he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father; v. 2 for he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. v. 3 Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burn his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. v. 4 He sacrificed also and burn incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree."

The first verse of this chapter, declares him to do evil against the Lord.  And then the next verses give description of his evil acts and choices to provoke the Lord to anger and wrath.  Four verses of sin, iniquity of the deepest sort of heathenism.  What happens when evil prevails?  What happens when sin abounds?  God responds in fury. 

v. 5 Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria. . .And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel. . .v. 19 For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz, for he made Judah naked and transgressed sore against the Lord. 

You would think he would humble himself and seek for mercy.  No, the pride of men's heart, causes them to shamelessly spiral into deeper sin and to greater destruction.  Satan fulfills his objective set out to do, destroy the Lord's blessed people.  Israel and Judah were apart of the children of Abraham, who had received a covenant from God.  Anything pleasing and blessed by God, immediately becomes a target for Satan.  He crafts, he devises, he attacks, until he can destroy it.  Slow erosion of good, righteousness, and morality with holiness, and service to the Lord is what he wants.  He causes men to faint, to lose heart, to lose priority and to stop doing that which is right in the sight of the Lord.  You see in all this it was not an overnight campaign, but 3 generations to erode the house of the Lord and shut off the mercies of God from His people. 

And if these evil acts were not enough, we read in further of Ahaz's assault against God and His ways for the nation. 

v. 22 "And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord:  this is that king Ahaz. v. 23 For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus. . . But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.  v. 24  And shut up the doors of the house of the lord and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem."

--Uzziah sinned and got cut off from the house of the Lord;
--Jotham refused to go to the house of the Lord;
--Ahaz shut the doors of the house of the Lord;

And so likewise, our nation has followed the same pattern of continual evil.  The next generation becomes worse and more wicked than the previous.  Which brings us here to date.  That just a few decades ago, same sex relationships were forbidden, on the law books as illegal and pronounced by a majority, especially in the church and as society as a whole,  that this evil cannot have a place in society without bringing its own destruction.  Everyone, it seemed, knew the account of Sodom and Gomorrah and their passion of lusts that caused the entire cities to not be able to produce 10 righteous souls.  Thus rendering it to the destruction from its own lust and evil passions. 

And where are we in this nation? 

We are headed to the same end.  A nation to be destroyed, because evil was chosen over good;  darkness over light; sin over holiness and God was removed and lusts prevailed.  The only reason men and women desire same sex relationships is the lusts of their own heart and flesh.  And as Paul said, 'There is no good thing in my flesh'.  'All of us are corrupted by the flesh and in the flesh'.  There is no victory in this flesh except in Christ Jesus, Who is the Son of God, came in flesh, lived in flesh to overcome sin and the price tag of sin -- death.  His death on the cross conquered Satan's devices and plans and made a way for us to be delivered from flesh to everlasting life in Him and with Him. 

That message of salvation has been proclaimed, and given to the masses across this land.  Now it is not apparent how many truly understand the cross, being born again and coming after Him.  All that has been changed with the departure of the population quitting church.  And the church has forgotten that since they will not come to them, they must go to them and tell them the 'good news of Christ'. 
And yet, when I ask many a soul, 'has anyone ever asked you about your soul? has anyone ever explained salvation to you? has anyone told you the truth about what happens when you die and meet God?'  Oh, so few can say 'yes'.  The vast majority do not know the way of eternal life.  They are still children of the devil.  Believing his lies and following his ways that everything is okay and it will all work its way out. 

The lesson of Ahaz and the people of Judah should be taught and learned:

1. To the Supreme Court - your folly from 1973 has not been forgotten;  Your decision to allow the murder of 55 million babies is 9X worse than Hitler did to the Jews in World War II.  And now upon your power to make same sex marriage the law of the land okay in the eyes of men, it is not okay in the eyes of the Lord God Almighty.  Your decision may be far worse than 55 million.  It may be the destruction of 330 million and a nation to be removed from the earth.  Give place to reason, to God, to our future, there is no place for sin and abominations like this in our society.  We will meet the same fate of Sodom and Gomorrah.  We will reap the fury and wrath of God for going against what He has already proclaimed to be evil.  You are not God, you are men and you are to instruct and lead  the ways of men that they should fear the Lord God.  He Who holds our breath and your breath in His hands is to be feared and obeyed.

2.  To the church - we allowed this with our backsliding and compromising;  WE have the Word of God before us and should have seen the days of Uzziah and Jotham before we got to this wretched time of King Ahaz.  Who would be so foolish as to provoke the Lord to anger?  yet, our generation seems bent on it.  Let us labor, let us pray and seek His face for mercy in this time of wrath.  WE have been neglectful, forgetting and lapse in our place for Him in this world and time.  Therefore, let us confess, repent and humble ourselves before Him seeking to be renewed and empowered from on high.  Cast off any works of darkness and put on the armor of light.  the church in this nation has had enough money, talent, people and opportunity to easily have reached the world for Christ with His Gospel.  But we have been self-consuming, wasteful and neglectful of our purposes.  We, who should have known better did not do better.

3.  To President Obama -  you wrote the Supreme Court in favor of sin?  You had the arrogance to match King Ahaz for his acts of provoking the Lord?  You have daughters, do you not care for their future?  You are the one here that asked the Supreme Court to bless and legalize sin and it is the work that could bring about our undoing.  And as the given place ordained by God Almighty for you to rule as president.  You are to lead rightly, and you have not done so.  You have done that which is wicked in the sight of the Lord and you are leading a nation to hell.  'Where much is given, much is required', and you will be required to answer before the Lord for your days as president. 

4.  To the people of the United States - our choices, reactions and priorities are leading us to our own undoing.  It is hard to comprehend just how much we will have to account for during these days.  Blessed beyond measure; filled to overflowing; and given much in every fabric of life.  And what have we done with it?  Have we reached the world for His purposes and cause?  Or have we filled our bellies and sat down with the motto, 'eat drink and be merry', while a world langusihed for what we knew to be right and good in His sight?   Ahaz did not die in this chapter that we have looked at; but 120,000 died and 200,000 were carried away by the enemy.  'deathbeds are coming' to a nation that will not serve the Lord God and fear Him and all His ways. 

When you provoke the Lord, you will reap His fury.  In His wrath and fury, there may still be the time for God's people and especially His intercessors to pray, 'O Lord, in wrath remember mercy'.  Let this be our prayer before it is too late.

Began:
3/1/13
Updated:
3/1/13


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