Greetings,
"The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye unto Me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto Me, saith the Lord. . . . Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto me, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath He dealt with us." Zechariah 1:2 - 6
God is immutable. He changes not in all His ways. We see this throughout Scripture consistently, as God deals with men, nations. We see His love, His covenant, we see His wrath and anger. God's anger and fury goes out against a people, a nation and against individuals. One can read through the Old Testament and learn much of Who God is and what God has said about Himself, His ways and what He will do. God has also spoken much about our ways and doings. And when our ways and doings as a nation, as the church do not please Him (v. 2), you receive correction from the Lord. The Lord punishes and sends judgement to correct the behavior of men's ways and doings that are not right in His sight.
when the people respond rightly, God in mercy and grace, forgives, renews relationship and restores blessing. Oh, how often this is shown throughout Scripture and history. Jonah warned, Nineveh repented; Nathan warned, David repented; Ezra warned, Israel repented; and they found God there ready to receive them. How much more is He willing to do for us as a nation, and how much more for His church.
Yes, it is a two fold message. One for the nation, and one for the church. God holds the church at a higher accountability rate for they should have known better. So here is what we have facing us:
1. God has already established His ways and doings to all mankind. The churches job is to teach the nations what God has said, Who He is and what He will do to the just and unjust.
2. Our ways and doings are not right in His sight. As a nation our ways and doings are of the abominations of the heathen that God destroyed before Him in other nations, empires and kindgoms. Without a turn of true repentance soon, God will destroy us completely. We are already on that course of self-destruction with the EPIDEMICS listed below.
the churches ways and doings are not much better. Holiness is lost among the brethren. Disciplines are hard to find among church leaders. An the ones that implore for church members to read their Bible, pray and attend church, offer it as its yucky medicine to a sick child. The true child of God should want to do the disciplines to please the Lord and learn more of Him. We, as the church, are as geared for entertainment of flesh and self as the world is. Thats the reason our 'worship' times mirror rock concerts and theater movies. It is more about self, than the Savior. This is not pleasing to Him. He will condemn our ways and doings.
3. God has sent us multiple warnings over the last few decades. We have not hearkened unto His voice. National leaders have had opportunity but have refused to humble themselves and make the nation follow suit. Church leaders have not obeyed either. It is not an option, it is a command. Humble, fast, weep, confess, repent and turn to Him with whole hearts. He will turn to us if we turn to Him. but if we refuse to turn to Him, He will not turn to us but leave us to reap what we have sown. He is waiting for us to respond rightly, but time is eroding away. The handwriting is on the wall brethren. The next calamity will shake us deeply, I fear.
4. So what is our plight:
1. Continue on, as is, and our nation will self-destruct. We are already seeing the product of this. The church continues on, as is, and as the numbers have decreased continually, God will remove our candlestick as a church in this nation. We've had every means and method, ways and doing to build His kingdom. But too many sought to build their own kingdom at His expense.
2. Immediate need to understand our plight. Respond appropriately as He has called and said. Our plight - what we have done
--1933 - legalized use and consumption of alcohol;
--1963 - Madalyne Murray O'hare & Supreme Court removed Bible being read in public schools; separation of church and state;
--1973 - Supreme Court Rove vs. Wade - abortion is legalized; blood shed tops 60 million babies, an entire generation that we must answer for;
--2013 - homosexuality is legalized by Supreme Court;
--2018 - 2019 - legalizing of drugs use in the midst of great death rate of drugs; drugs for drugs; church is as guilty of this as any;
3. churches response - immediate recognition of our offense against the Lord. A call to prayer weekly corporately among small groups and churches. A monthly fast to be held, as the Concerts of Prayer did before the 1st Great Awakening. Time given to weep, howl, mourn, anguish over our plight before the Lord.
the continuation of the church to go on with its programs, half-hearted attempt to reconcile with the Lord will only hasten our demise. For the Lord will see, that their is none that is serous about turning back to Him. The remnant will not sustain the nation any more, or the church, but only their own walk and time with the Lord.
I wonder truly is this understood, taught, accepted? Or will it be, v. 4, "but they did not hear, nor hearken unto Me, saith the Lord." Two years ago, in the midst of natural calamities, school shooting and before the great tragedy in Las Vegas, God gave church and prayer leaders the opportunity to respond, they refused. And the mass shooting in Las Vegas happened. We are at this crux again.
My research last year for Prayer Link, that detailed the neglect of prayer among SBC churches I will set before them a plan and call once again. Please pray for this as I work it out and seek to see the church become 'houses of prayer' again.
the hour is late, the need is great. Pray so as to prevail.
EPIDEMICS & PRAYER TARGETS:
1. Drugs & Alcohol; death rate; impact on future; slow ruination of society; church largely silent on it;
2. Great Evil - 8 police officers killed in first 14 days of this year; several hostage situations, Utah mall shooting; suicides increasing; schools have largely been quiet, continue to pray toward that end for deliverance; but a greater risk is ahead of terrorism; praying for these major cities with homicide rates - Baltimore; Chicago; New Orleans; Washington, DC; St. Louis; Memphis;
3. LGBT - court ccases, lawsuits; bathrooms; planned parenthood; The abomination of our nation;
4. Cancer;
5. Children - recent girl rescued from captivity; continue with more abuse, neglect and sex traffic;
6. Natural Disasters;
PRAYER TARGETS:
--Ukraine refugees; middle of winter; physical needs; Gospel needs; deliverance from enemy Russia;
--Yemen; war crisis; starvation; unable to reach; Gospel need;
--Venezuela; dictator continues to worsen plight of millions; physical needs, help, Gospel; Light over darkness;
--Thailand - Muslim refugees from Burma; refugee camps; Gospel presented and help;
--Syria - floods destroyed refugee camps from those 100,000's that fled ISIS; now in the middle of snow storms;
--Chinese church - Pastor Wang Yi and his congregation dozens arrested, no word on whereabouts or conditions; some released, but assault of enemy against our Lord's brethren continues;
--Democratic Congo - Ebola; 2nd largest ever outbreak; almost 700 infected; almost 400 deaths;
--London stabbling deaths reflective of our shooting deaths;
Updates:
--bible readings up through Zephaniah; 2 more days and Old Testament will be done;
--The Activity of God - up through I Kings 21; another day or two and I Kings will be done; 900 pages to go;
--A Word - the last few days has been blessed; Isaiah 57, all verses started, 12 of 21 finished; finish a few more before I start chapter 58;
--no church services Sunday, nor prayer Saturday night, looking to sit down and do video on these themes that I have shared;
--
Until,
dan
Started: January 15, 2019
Continued:
Finished:
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