Just in case you're wondering....Mark ordered an ice cream cake on Wednesday. :) Can you guess what kind it is? Butterfingers, it'll be hear tomorrow. So if any of you are in need of a sweet treat-come to my house and I'll share my, "I'm sorry cake" from Mark with you.Several of my friends have expressed their concerns about the direction our nation is heading. I agree, we are in some very serious situations that have the potential of turning even uglier. Please understand that leaders of our nation can only do so much. The People themselves must follow God's promises and warnings. God will never bless any nation who can not follow His simple but necessary commands.
Joshua chapter 23 is very clear about what God expects from a nation. Verse 6 warns:"Be very firm, then, to keep and do all that is written in the book of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or the left," Joshua chapter 23:6 NASB...."So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the Lord your God. For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and trap you, ....Joshua 24:11-13
If you've read the book of Joshua you know how God gave Israel many victories over several nations as Joshua lead them into battle. The Angels of the Lord went before them, they conquered many nations because the followed God's directions and loved Him with all their hearts. God still asks the same of us today.
11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, 12 the Lord appeared to him at night and said:
“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
13 “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, 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 I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
17 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.’
19 “But if you[a] turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you[b] and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All[c] who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 22 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them —that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’” 2nd Chronicles chapter 7:11-22 NIV
13 “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, 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 I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
17 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.’
19 “But if you[a] turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you[b] and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All[c] who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 22 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them —that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’” 2nd Chronicles chapter 7:11-22 NIV
As God's people we must always take to heart that He is a very Jealous God. He freely gives us so much, but in return He demands our love and devotion. Never take His Blessings lightly.
I encourage you to read the book of Joshua. Please read 2nd Chronicles chapter 7. Take in this passage with your mind and heart wide open to God. The Bible is still the only book with all the answers to life! Enjoy it, read it and apply it to your life.
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