Mission Faithwalk

                      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 . (II Chronicles 7:14)                 I know I’ve written about this verse before. I don’t remember whether it was for Independence Day, but if there was ever a day on which this verse should be considered, Independence Day is such a day. First, let’s deal with the obvious. This was written to and for the Jews. There are some who would say that no one else has a right to claim the verse, but God doesn’t stop being God, which means that He’s not likely to treat non-Jews the opposite of the Jews if the non-Jews do as the verse describes. But, it also doesn’t mean that the promise will be kept in the same way, even if those ...

                   The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10)                 The condition of receiving God’s revelation and of holding God’s truth is one of the heart, not one of the head…God is not grasped by thought, but by feeling. (Bounds, E.M., A Treasury of Prayer: The Best of E.M. Bounds , p. 48)                 I’m reading the Bounds book quoted above, and the first chapter seems to be all about feelings. Others I’ve talked to don’t see that, but particularly when I got to the quote above, I did. It brought the verses from Jeremiah to mind as well as “The Lord’s Prayer.” When p...

                   For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. (Romans 12:3)                 The Woke community agrees with Scripture on this point. We should not think more highly of ourselves than we should. Of course, they go on to claim that no matter how moderate our impression of ourselves is, as white people, it’s too high. They hold that their opinion of themselves is exactly as it should be, granting them the right and authority to dictate to everyone on the subject. Of course, they aren’t the only ones. They’re just the current “Victorians.”                 There are others who see not thinking of ...

                 The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name. (Zechariah 14:9) Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16) We’re coming up on a holiday in which we celebrate America as independent from kings. We have a carefully crafted governmental system with checks and balances that are designed to prevent the government from the sort of abuses kings tend to inflict. At the same time, there is a push toward “No Kings” in our culture, which is also a push toward the whole world being under a single leadership. That single leadership, we’re told, will have no kings because the people will govern themselves, will plan their society and their economy. The people will make the decisions. Of cour...

    Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”         When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (Genesis 3:1-6)   After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb....

                 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance . (II Peter 3:9)                 Have you considered how patient God is with you? Today’s verse specifically mentions that God is patient with us in waiting so that everyone can come to repentance. That is of great importance. But if God is willing to wait patiently for us to come to repentance, does it make sense that He should be impatient about everything, or anything else? This isn’t to say that He never says, “Now!” But just for a moment, today, think about it. What are the things that elude you as a Christian? Does your prayer life lack? Do you worship/praise as you should? How about sharing your faith? Is giving hard? Have you failed to be the Christian, employee, citiz...