An appeal to heaven - Greg Laurie - http://www.wnd.com/2015/09/an-appeal-to-heaven/
Pastor Greg Laurie reveals where America's 'spiritual awakening' must begin
What gets you irritated or angry? For me, it is pretty predictable. My wife has told me, "I'll notice you're getting irritable, and I'll realize it's a simple thing: It's lunch time, and you're hungry."
There are other things that irritate me, and they usually have to do with general rudeness. Often it has to do with cell phones. I was so excited when cell phones first came on the market, but now I almost hate them (even though I'm dependent on them like so many other people).
I've noticed people out for a walk who don't even look up from their phones. Then there are the people who are texting while someone else is talking. When they sit down for a meal, they're texting under the table, as though no one else notices. (We notice.)
We all have certain things that get to us - our boiling point, if you will. In 2006, Harvard did a study on this and determined there are 10 million adult men in the United States who get so angry, they are sick. They call it Intermittent Explosive Disorder, or IED. Another study concluded that bad-tempered people are three times more likely to have heart attacks.
We generally think of anger as bad, but there are times when anger actually can be good. But what we want to avoid is sinful anger. The Bible says, "'In your anger do not sin': Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold" (Ephesians 4:26-27, NIV).
At the same time, there is a place for proper anger, or what we might call righteous indignation. Jesus Christ himself displayed anger on more than one occasion, yet he didn't sin. In Luke 19, we find a description of the final week in his life and ministry. There was sense of anticipation and excitement in the air, because there was a misperception that he was going to establish his earthly kingdom right then.
The people thought Jesus was going to overthrow the Roman Empire, and they would rule and reign with him. Unfortunately, they had not read the Scriptures carefully enough, because if they had, they would have discovered that the Messiah would first suffer and die for the sins of the world. Many passages point to that, such as Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53.
In this story, Jesus shows anger. But He doesn't show it toward Rome as we might expect. He levels his anger at his own people, his people who had gone astray and were misleading others. The supreme issue for Jesus was not Rome's army; it was God's temple. That is where we see him going. He rode in on the back of a donkey, went into the temple, and ultimately started overturning tables.
This contradicts the perceptions that some people have of Jesus. In religious paintings, Jesus often has been portrayed as a scrawny little guy who couldn't hurt a fly. But that is not the Jesus of the Bible. Jesus was not scrawny. Jesus would have been muscular because Jesus was a carpenter. He chopped down trees. He framed houses. He built tables. He worked with his hands. He walked everywhere He went. Jesus was a strong man. Even Pilate, after Christ had been whipped, said of him, "Behold the man." He was a man's man. There has never been a stronger man who walked this earth than Jesus.
When Jesus overturned the tables in the temple, he was showing righteous indignation. He was angry because these religious leaders were preying on the people instead of praying for the people.
This is something that makes God angry. He is angry when we do anything that keeps people away from him. The temple was open to all. Even the Gentiles were welcomed in to believe. But the temple's moneychangers were keeping people away. God doesn't want us to do that.
Whenever we see the breakdown of a nation, we like to point our finger at our culture. We like to point our finger at everyone else. But the major problem is usually the church. When God looks at a country collapsing, he looks at his own people.
In its original context, 2 Chronicles 7:14 was given to the nation of Israel. But in principle, it is relevant to any country, including our own. In this verse God says, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (NIV).
As I look at our nation, as I look at the trajectory the United States is on right now, I shudder to think where we will be in five years, much less 10 years, if we don't have Divine intervention - if we don't have a supernatural awakening.
During the Revolutionary War, Gen. George Washington commissioned a naval flag that featured the words "an Appeal to heaven," a quote from John Locke. There was an acceptance and understanding that if this nation was going to succeed, we would need God's help. Our forefathers recognized that as a country yet to be born, it would be impossible to overcome British rule and persecution without appealing to heaven. That says a lot about the beginning of our nation.
Ironically, a group of pastors was recently kicked out of the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center over a prayer meeting with those very words as their theme. They had booked the center for an event on Feb. 25, 2015, dedicated to racial reconciliation. But five days before the meeting, they were told by the Congressional Oversight Committee that they could not use the facility unless they removed the phrase "An Appeal to Heaven" and used a legislative theme instead.
Talk about missing the point. The only thing that can bring racial reconciliation in America is an appeal to heaven. That's it. We need God's help. First we need to be reconciled with God. Then we can be reconciled to each other. The only thing that will stop the violence in our streets is an appeal to heaven. The only thing that will stop those who wish us harm and want to see us destroyed is an appeal to heaven.
So if a nation wants to see a revival, if a nation wants to see spiritual awakening, it starts with Christians. It starts with the church.
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT MY ALL NEW PROPHECY AND CREATION DESIGN WEBSITES. THERE IS A LOT TO SEE AND DO..........
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.