PODCAST
First Pray!
May 6th, 2013
2 Chronicles 7:11-22
There seem always to be significant happenings, or disasters, in many nations. Just last year we went through a presidential election year here in the United States. Haiti and Japan struggle to recover from devastating earthquakes. Many countries are dealing with an economic crisis. Opposition movements in the Middle East bring both hope and fear. We are concerned with the loss of faith and the rejection of biblical values.
What can we do? We can vote. It’s important to take a stand for righteousness. A few years ago the Ten Commandments were under attack. Thousands of families in Southern Ohio posted the commandments in front of their houses. Whatever else we do in order to make a difference in our community or nation, we need, first of all, TO PRAY.
God’s concern is greater than ours. He wants to forgive and heal and save and bless. His promise to his people is sure, but it is conditional. Our part is to humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from anything not pleasing to him.
Author: Juanita Nelting
May 6th, 2013 at 7:32 am
“Our part is to humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s Face, and turn from anything not pleasing to him.”
Humbling ourselves suggests that we can’t be arrogant and defensive regarding the viewing of ourselves as God sees us. (For example: Matthew 7:2.)
Compare a scriptural analysis to music (since we are to sing praises unto the Lord). The treble and base voices can be heard through the good and evil all around us. There are those who read their notes from lines drawn (written from the staffs of the various Christian denominations), some singing louder and maybe at a different pitch (but most in harmony with God’s Word). ??? For some are whole notes, some are half-notes, quarter notes and rest stops; while all are either “keynotes,” “sharps,” or “flats.”
As in learning to read sheet music, the notes drawn on the lines of treble staff have a cleaver little saying, “Every Good Boy Does Fine Arithmetic. Likewise, the notes between the lines spell F A C E.
Seeming contradictions can be stopping points, or, they can be the points from which one must pull knowledge from the rest of the scriptures to discern the contradiction properly. After all, how many of us can digest the entire Bible? Surely, if we could, it would be as sweet as honey because it is the whole truth and nothing but the truth; but it would probably sour our stomachs when we realize that we don’t want to submit totally to the Holy Spirit’s guidance (due to that seed of doubt that enters our minds through the desires of our flesh).
(P.S. – Please forgive me regarding these thoughts. I sincerely don’t mean to be argumentative, as much as, helpful.)