If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ~ 2 Chronicles 7:14
Repentance in the Church:
One of the greatest hindrance to revival is the unrighteous behavior of the Church and her leaders. In the old testament God would shut the heavens and stop the rain when His people’s heart went astray. (Deu 11:17) It is one thing to make a mistake or to sin, But completely a different and terrible thing to be wicked right in the heart. And to brood over wicked desires in the heart. Grace is available for those who are struggling to get their life in one piece! But what about people who are leading the church but with a wrong motivation, with a wicked desire! Judgement awaits!! Jesus said “It is better that a stone be tied around his neck and thrown into sea” (Mat 18:6) It is a serious sin to be wicked and continue in church leadership!
Blessed are the pure in heart, for only they shall see God! (Mat 5:8) Oh that we may be a generation that is pure in the heart! If you are that person or if you know a person in your circle of influence who are evidently operating with an impure heart, I pray repentance may follow quick.
Corporate Repenting:
It is not just about one or two repenting, but the church rising up as one body and repenting before the face of God for its wicked acts. God said if only my people called by my name, humble themselves and pray, seek my face and repent! (2 Chr 7:14) Corporate repenting always follows corporate praying and corporate seeking! We love to gather together for the preaching of God’s word, or to listen to Christian music. But it is high time that we start gathering together to pray and to seek God!
It is mandatory in these days that we like Daniel would take upon ourselves the sin of our unrepentant parents/brothers/sisters.(Dan 9:4,5) And seek forgiveness that God would send times of refreshing once again to all people everywhere. (Acts 3:19-20) Repentance was and still is one of the key component of every revival in the history of the church. When the church begins to pray, seek and repent, God begins to hear, forgive and heal the land!
Wicked Ways??
Most times it is easy to turn away finding someone else at fault and ourselves righteous in our own eyes. That itself is one of the most wicked things we could do! I had an argument with my mother the other day, I was on a big time condemning mode, and later God encountered me with the fact that condemning itself is a characteristic of the the devil.(Rev 12:10) And I was cut to my heart. Every time we show a holier than thou attitude to people around us, we are acting wicked! Remember the story of the pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple? (Luk 18:10-14)
Another most wicked thing that God hated in the old testament and still hates today is idol worship! There are a lot of churches that literally worship idols! It is a direct defiance of the very First commandment! (Exo 20:3,4) There is nothing that God hates as much as idol worship. If you are part of a church, a religion or an institution where idols are literally adored or worshiped, lemme request you to abstain from it completely. For the rest of us, the danger of idol worship is even more bigger! The reason being that we idolize people who lead worship well, preach well, or celebrate things like money, phone, laptop, television, etc! Let us run away from anything and everything that will take our hearts off of our Lord!
Christ like Church
The Lord is returning for a bride who looks very much like Him! It doesn’t help at all to gain the whole world but to loose out on the basics! We are meant to be like Jesus! (Eph 4:15) He is all that we should long to be! May I ask you to inspect your life and check which element of your life don’t go well with the image of Christ Jesus. Let us get rid of it right here, right now!
Click here to listen to the song If My People by Promise Keepers. May God minister to you as you listen to it!
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