The Posture of the People.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Series: Heal our Land
and 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, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
The Call to God’s People
The Posture of the People
The Promise of God
I. Humble themselves
I. Humble themselves
To be humble - to be subdued, be brought down, be low, be under, be brought down into subjection.
Meek, poor in spirit
“Humility is not thinking less about yourself, but thinking about yourself less.”
When pride comes, then comes dishonor,
But with the humble is wisdom.
Humble Examples:
Old Testament
Moses
David
Prophets
New Testament
Paul
Jesus
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
II. Pray
II. Pray
What is Prayer? Talking to God
“It is the communication of the human soul with the Lord who created the soul.”
Posture of prayer.
pray without ceasing;
The Lords Prayer
It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”
III. Seek My Face
III. Seek My Face
When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.”
Face = presence (whole person)
O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly;
My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,
In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face continually.
O God, restore us
And cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.
O God of hosts, restore us
And cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.
O Lord God of hosts, restore us;
Cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.
The Lord bless you, and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.’
IV. Turn from their wicked ways
IV. Turn from their wicked ways
Repent = “change your mind and change your direction.”
Bible Dictionary includes this definition of repentance: “In its fullest sense it is a term for a complete change of orientation involving a judgment upon the past and a deliberate redirection for the future.”
Discipline
2 Chronicles 7:13 ““If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people,”
My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord
Or loathe His reproof,
For whom the Lord loves He reproves,
Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.
and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;
For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He scourges every son whom He receives.”
It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.
All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God,
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
V. Conclusion
V. Conclusion