Devotions

October 24

2 Chronicles 7:14: “…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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” [NIV]

I know many people who can quote this verse. I have had this verse quoted to me often. I’ve seen it on posters, plagues and pictures. If you have been in the church for any length of time, you have probably heard several if not many sermons with this verse as theme.

The problem is not that we don’t know this verse, the problem is that we don’t live this verse.  Once God had Solomon’s attention with the drought, locusts and plagues, He gave Solomon the cure. Repent. It was that simple.

We have a drought of God’s Spirit, a compromise with the world’s values and a plague of sin and arrogance in the church. God is trying to get our attention. Once He does, God’s cure is the same for us as it was for Solomon and Solomon’s people. Repent.

And notice to whom God’s prescription is addressed. Not to Solomon (leadership) alone. God is abundantly clear “…if my people….”  Repentance must blanket the entire church. All must humble themselves, seek God and turn from their wicked ways.

Church … God’s cure is there. Are we going to embrace it? Or ignore it?

I try to avoid watching the news. That’s hard to do since there are televisions all throughout the sitting areas where I walk at work, all tuned to CNN. I am SO tired of the talking heads who used to report the news, but now seem to be in the business of being the news, commenting, dissecting, discussing to death every political and non-political statement, tweet, post and response. They are hoping for ratings so they will do anything to grab our attention.

God has a way of grabbing attention that can’t be ignored. He told Solomon to be on the look-out for His call to attention:  “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people ….”  [2 Chron 7:13-14 NIV]

Massive snow falls. Hurricanes. Flooding. Earthquakes. Wildfires.  I have heard people commenting that God is trying to get our attention. I even had a total stranger say that to me one day when we walked by a video of the flooding in Houston on one of those talk shows. Is God trying to get our attention? Is He making a statement to us like He made to Solomon?  Or is it just “Mother Nature” or climate change or global warming? I’ll leave the answers to those questions to the prophets.

I will say that there has been “no rain of the Spirit” in too many of our churches. The ways of the world have invaded and “devoured” the land. There has been a “plague of sin and arrogance” among God’s people. God IS speaking to His people and it is time to listen.

Holy Spirit, open our ears so that we might hear “what the Spirit is saying to the churches” today. Amen.

We often quote 2 Chronicles 7:14 when we talk about revival. To understand how important that verse is, we need to take it (like all other verses) in context.  God begins his declaration to Solomon by making sure Solomon knows just whose temple it is. “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.” [2 Chronicles 7:12 NIV]

I am reminded when I read this verse that God chose Israel out of all the nations on the earth to be His own. He chose the location for the temple where His presence would be. He chose the one to build it – not David who originally had the idea, but David’s son. We call this temple Solomon’s Temple, but it truly was Jehovah’s Temple.

In the same way, God chose the church.  The church is the bride He has picked out for His Son, Jesus Christ.  He is the one who will present her without spot or wrinkle or any blemish.

When I look at the church, sometimes all I see are spots, wrinkles and blemishes.  Then I need to remind myself of God’s promise. “…Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” [Eph 5:25b-27 NIV]

Christ loves the church. As bad as she may look at times, ragged, worn and not at all ready for a wedding, Christ sees her totally ready because He knows He has the power to make her so.

Holy Spirit, sweep through your beloved church and make us ready! Amen.

I came away from service last Sunday with the realization that the enemy of our soul is on the warpath. I thought about some of the things going on just in our congregation and what might be happening in others also. I posted the following on the church’s Facebook page.

“I truly believe that the enemy of our soul is waging an all-out last-ditch campaign against the Church of Jesus Christ. He is using every weapon — he is hitting our pocketbooks, our health, our relationships — trying to divide and conquer. But all this will be to no avail, revival is about to cover our land. A true spirit of repentance from those in leadership to those in the pews is beginning. And that is the start of every revival. We recognize the awesome holy all-powerful God for who He is and we see ourselves for who we are. Once we get that vision rightly in our hearts, nothing will stop revival! ‘If my people will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways …’ that’s the beginning.”

I’ve read numerous comments on social media recently chastising church leaders about revival – about how we say revival is coming and God is going to do a new thing, but we don’t really know what we are talking about.  Maybe we don’t.

When Solomon finished the temple, the Lord appeared to him one night and spoke to him.  That quotation above is from what the Lord said.  Perhaps it would be good to look the beginning of God’s words to Solomon … at the context and not just isolate out a part. If you get a chance, read 2 Chronicles 7 today and focus on the opening words the LORD spoke to Solomon. “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.” [v12 NIV]

Lord, help us to know and understand our times, just as you enabled Solomon to know and understand his. Amen.

They missed it by two minutes!  Two minutes.

The FAA tower at the Boise Airport shut down the air space for commercial traffic on Friday so that the Thunderbirds and Snowbirds could practice for the air show on the weekend. There was one commercial flight fully loaded that was delayed for a couple minutes when the tower shut everything down. They missed being able to take off to their destination by two minutes. The airport pleaded with the tower to delay the shut down and let the flight leave, all to no avail. The passengers had to deplane and wait four hours for the tower to once again open the air space for commercial flights.

Two minutes. They missed heading to their destinations by two minutes. When the tower said it was time, there was no relenting. We know that God has set a time also. One day the Father will rise and say, “It is time. Gather my children.” And suddenly there will be no more time. There will be no arguing, no pleading, no relenting.

Jesus gave us a picture in Matthew 25 in the Parable of the Ten Virgins. Some were prepared and waiting for the bridegroom, others were not. When the time came, Jesus said, “…the door was shut.” Even though they stood outside and begged to enter, the door remained shut.  [Matt 25:10 NIV]

Maybe they’ll miss it by only two minutes, like that plane trying to take off from Boise last Friday. Oh church, the time is running short, we need to be prepared ourselves and we need to bring as many as we can into the kingdom before that door is finally shut.

My former boss flew into Boise last Friday – the same day the Thunderbirds and Snowbirds were practicing and performing. She was supposed to arrive early afternoon, unfortunately, the Tower shut down the airport for four hours and delayed her flight for quite some time. Her flight was already boarded and ready to take off when they were told they were returning to the terminal to deplane and wait for Boise air space to open again.  Everyone was a bit miffed that they found out about it at the last minute.

I mentioned that to my daughter Saturday morning when she arrived to pick Bob up to take him to the air show. My daughter works for the airport director. She told me that the airline knew about this for months but apparently didn’t inform any of these passengers ahead of time.  They were on the plane, ready to leave, anticipating an on-time arrival in Boise when they first heard about it.

As Christians, we know about redemption. We know that the Lord is going to return. We know God is going to reclaim His kingdom on earth. We know … we know!  We know now before it happens. (Just like the airline knew about the shutdown of air space for the air show.) It is our responsibility to let others know also so that they are not caught unaware. (That is what the airlines should have done for their passengers).

Beloved, we must be vigilant in proclaiming the Gospel so that others come to know the redemption in which we delight. We cannot make their decisions for Christ for them, but we must inform them there is a decision to be made!

 Acts 2:32, 38: “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact…. Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” [NIV]

The Thunderbirds were in Boise last weekend performing at the Gowan Air Show, along with their Canadian counterparts, the Snowbirds. They practiced on Friday, which shut down the airport traffic also since Gowan Field and the Airport share air space. As I walked during my lunch hour on Friday I watched them practice. As they flew over in different formations they split the air with a thunderous roar. All the people lucky enough to have offices with windows facing the airport probably got very little work done. It was impossible to ignore the roar as those planes flew past at amazing speeds.

Every time they roared by, I looked up. I looked up.

In Matthew 24 and Luke 21, Jesus prophesies about end times. Some of the prophecy was fulfilled in the near term with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD. But His prophecy has an even greater fulfillment in what Christians refer to as “The End Times” when God restores His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

Jesus ends his prophecy in Luke with these words. “At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” [Luke 21:27-28 NIV]

As I listened to the jets roar through the skies Friday, I had to lift up my head and look. There was no ignoring the sounds of power that filled the sky.  One day our Savior will come, with a roar of power unlike anything ever heard. He will arrive in glory brighter than the sun. All will look up … some to redemption, others to judgment.

I was driving home the other evening amid a lot of traffic. It was raining hard. Some cars were going slowly, others were whizzing along, changing lanes, trying to gain a little in the stop and go conditions. I spotted a stenciled sign on the car just ahead of me in the next lane. It read, “Practice Kindness.” It gave me pause.

I wondered if knowing that sign was on the back of the car kept them from doing anything stupid, like cutting someone off while changing lanes. I thought about my car and wondered what signs it displayed.  (Thankfully nothing that might humiliate me in traffic!)

Then I really paused. I thought about my life and what signs are displayed openly for all to see. I readily confess I am a Christian, a follower of Christ. I declare that I am a minister, that I pastor a church in Middleton, Idaho.  Are my actions consistent with those “signs?”

I can answer that “yes, they are – most of the time.” But I must acknowledge that while I am saved by grace, I am not yet completely conformed to the image of my Savior Jesus Christ. I’m getting there, but I still have a way to go. I make mistakes. I speak before I think things through. I still get angry. I still lose my patience. I still focus too much on my desires and needs and not enough on others. Yes, I’m not quite there yet.

So, as I move through this life, amid others on the same road, I will try to remember my “signs.” And I will try to not dishonor the God to whom they point …

1 Corinthians 6:20: “You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” [NIV]

That trip with our Jeep to test transmission repairs put me on the track of thinking about testing. If you look up “test” and “testing” in your concordance you will find many verses. They seem to be of two varieties. The first, we are not to test God. The second, we are to test everything else, including ourselves. The standard for our test, of course, is God Himself. How does what is being test measure up against our Holy God?

We can debate about what constitutes testing and what we should test, but Paul is pretty clear in 1 Thessalonians 5:21: “Test everything. Hold on to the good.” [NIV]

Paul ends his first letter to the Thessalonians (beginning in verse 12) with a list of instructions on how we are to relate to God and each other. Smack dab in the middle is the verse above about testing everything and holding on to the good.

Everything—that would include, well, everything, our words, deeds, thoughts. It would include our desires, our goals, our focus, our relationships, how we handle our money and our time. When we hold all that up against our Holy God, how does it fare?

Once tested, we then are to hold on to the good. Good, as used here is kalos. It means not just something that is good intrinsically, but also something that looks good, is attractive, beautiful, winsome.  Those are the things we are to embrace in life.

Help me, Holy Spirit, to test the things of my life and hold on to those that are beautiful in Your sight. Amen

Our Jeep’s transmission fluid had been overheating on long trips. We would have to pull off the side of the road and let the car idle in neutral for a couple minutes until it cooled down and then we could continue.  We were blessed in that each time that happened we were at a place in the road that was wide enough for us to stop.

Before we take our next big trip, we took the Jeep in to have the transmission checked. They worked on it, told us it should not overheat any more, we paid the bill and left—wondering. “Was it really fixed?” How were we to know?  After all, it never overheated on the short trips around town, just on long ones, usually after about 3-4 hours.

So last Saturday we drove around southwest Idaho for no particular purpose except to test the transmission and see if the repair worked.  As we did I’m thinking about the Lord and how He tests us.

Proverbs 17:3: “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart.” [NIV]

1 Thessalonians 2:4: “We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.” [NIV]

As we mature we go through times of testing. God knows our hearts; the testing is not for Him. The testing is for us. He tests us so that we might understand how far we’ve come … or maybe how far we still have to go!  He puts us in situations where we come away knowing just how much like Jesus we are!

Father, test me and see how much like Your Son I am, how much like Your Son I am not. Reveal to me my own heart and by Your Spirit make me more like Jesus. Amen.