Living As One Nation Under God

My sister, brother-in-law, and niece (Katie) drove up last weekend to help with Blue Springs Day. They were in charge of the Cupcake Walk, but I had forgotten the cupcakes. My sister, Cookie, and I made a quick trip to my house to get them.

As we drove up, I commented on the bunting on the upstairs porch. Cookie said, "Yeah. Katie wanted to know what was wrong with you. She couldn't believe it was still 4th of July at your house." 

I told her I'd been busy. And I have. I just hadn't gotten around to taking them down. And I hadn't. 

There was a bigger reason the bunting was still up, though.

After July, I decided to leave the bunting and "flag" door decorations until Labor Day. Then, the wind blew the bunting backward. Every time I drove up to my house and saw the backward bunting, it seemed symbolic. I would think about what a mess our country is in and I would stop to pray.

One day, when I thought about taking it down, I wondered how much longer we'd have this country of ours and be able to fly a flag and decorate with bunting. The thought was chilling and I decided to leave it in place. 

Yesterday, after more than four months, I took down the bunting and replaced the door decoration with my fall flower arrangement. 

I realized something I should have known before. In many ways, the nation I grew up in is already gone. The digital network has connected us globally in ways we never even imagined when I was a child. I'm not sure there's more crime, but we certainly hear about it more. There may not be more corruption, but we read/hear/see it constantly. 

We're less insulated. Innocence is lost earlier. Poor choices are paraded like a trophy. We might have made the same choices forty years ago, but we weren't as proud of them. We weren't as open. 

And yet... we're the same fallen, broken people we've always been. There's still only one hope for change, and that hope is still in Christ alone.

After the presidential elections, one group of supporters will swear the country is going down the tubes. One group of supporters will swear it's not. 

The truth will lie somewhere between, and it will depend on how we the people decide to live going forward. Will we stay the same or begin to live as "one nation under God" is supposed to live?

When God said, "if My people", He wasn't referring to lost people. He was referring to His people. 

Positive change will not come because of one man's claims. Positive change will come only when God's people decide to stop blaming lost people for not living like God said, and, instead, start doing it themselves.

It's up to us, body of Christ. We are the ones who must show the rest of the nation what living "under God" means, how it's done. We are the ones who must  demonstrate that "Victory in Jesus" is not only possible, it's worth it. 

Let's decide today to do something so radical that even our fellow believers will be surprised. Let's love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Let's love our neighbor as ourselves. 

Let's stop giving leftovers and give of our BEST to our Savior. 

___________

In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: Making Sense of Election 2016

#ifMypeople #onenationunderGod

Why I Didn't Watch the Presidential Debate and What I'm Going to Do About It

I didn't watch the debates last night.

Maybe I should have, but I didn't. I have a TV but I don't have cable or satellite. That's because I'm less of a TV person than I am a cat person. I'm pretty sure my big TV still works, because I turn it on for a minute every few months, just to be sure.

My TV wasn't the reason I didn't watch the debate, though; it was because I never do.

I prefer to skip all the rhetoric and analysis by commentators. I get the transcript of the debate afterward. Then, I check the facts. In this day of fake news sites, you have to be super careful, but it's still possible to get truth.

Truth.

It's a scare commodity these days, but let me remind you that there is a source for truth. The Bible. In fact, Jesus told us that He is the way, THE TRUTH, and the life. (John 14:6) If we want truth, we need look no further than Jesus.

When we compare the two candidates against THE TRUTH, JESUS, neither looks too great. However, when I compare my own life against THE TRUTH, JESUS, I don't look too great, either.

When I compare their words against THE TRUTH, JESUS, I'm not too impressed with the candidates, but, again, I don't always line up too well, either.

Yesterday, an interesting thing happened that may have quite an impact on the election process. I spoke at Traceway (a local assisted-living facility) about The Untapped Power Grid Project. We had a wonderful time together. As I do sometimes, I used my "prayer board" to demonstrate what I mean when I talk about praying for my Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. 

I include Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in my Samaria, and pray for them regularly  I didn't intend for their pictures to make it into the stack of missionary prayer cards, but somehow they did. As I walked around the room, looking at the missionaries those great prayer warriors had chosen, I noticed one woman holding Hillary Clinton's picture. 

"Did you want a missionary card?" I asked.

"No. We'd better do something or we're in big trouble. I'm taking her."

She was right. Unless we do something significant, we're in big trouble. That "something" is not more rhetoric. It's not more bad mouthing. It's not more complaining. 

Check the facts for yourself, then get busy doing what must be done.

Repent. Pray.

Yep. Don't just pray. We must start with our own personal repentance. We have sin, too. Not just our candidates. Let's deal with our own faults before we take the faults of others to the Lord.

Once that big job is done, let's get serious about prayer. Combine it with fasting. I can't do this job on my own, but I'm willing to do my part. It's going to take all of us in the body of Christ, however. 

I hope you noticed how I've outlined my plan of action. I'm repenting and praying. Those two things are critical. In fact, I've already begun. 

But that's NOT all I'm doing. 

I'm also checking facts from reliable news sources. Well, as reliable as I can find. What I'm not doing is listening to a "talking head" to get my information. I don't want someone else's interpretation of facts. 

I just want facts, and I know I'll have to dig to get them.

We have a serious problem. Neither candidate is as politically, ethically, morally, (or any other way) as attractive as I'd like, but a choice will have to be made. Let's make a prayerful AND informed choice.

For the sake of the nation, please help.

There are two verses on which I rely. They were first spoken more than two thousand years ago, but their truth has not been diminished by time.

"If 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." 2 Chronicles 7:14 

"The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes." Proverbs 21:1 nasb

Whether they realize it or not, a nation depends on the body of Christ to do what we can do. Repent. Pray. Get informed. Make the wisest, most Godly choice we can. We will have to pray hard for the one who's elected, but that's a problem for November. 

Today, let's check the facts, then examine our own hearts, get right with God, and take our candidates to Him. 
________________
In case you missed the story of Sam's project, here's the link: Sam's Project: Rubber Boots for Barefoot Rwandan Children
If you'd like to give to help buy boots for the barefoot school children of Rwandan, you can go directly to the project page here: Help Sam's Kids. There's still a LONG way to go. I'll have an update later this morning.
In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: Gory Gifts: The Biting Cat and the Decapitated Mole
#election2016 #pray

The Door of Hope is Still Open

Another terrorist attack...

More racial tension...

Further revelations about public leaders...

There's destruction and death, deceit and depravity everywhere we turn.  

In the midst of it all, however, I have good news. God is STILL on His throne.

I know there's a temptation to look at this mess and wonder where God is in the midst of it, to wonder why He doesn't move. 

Some people say that the evil in our world argues against a righteous God. 

I say the evil in our world argues for a patient, loving, long suffering, one-more-chance God. 

At the root of all this evil is a problem we don't even recognize. We've lost something precious, something protective, and we're poorer for it. As I read Psalm 119 this morning, I realized that, as a society, we no longer "tremble for fear" of God. We aren't afraid of His judgment.

We should be, though.

The delay of God's judgment is not an indication of an inability to render judgment. The delay shows us how much He loves us. His Word is clear, though. He will not delay forever.

If we continue on our current path of rebellion toward God, of immorality, spiritual arrogance, and chasing after the gods of this world, we will reap the judgment of God. We are already reaping it. 

God will not let our evil go on forever.

I cringe at the idea of judgment, until I look at Israel. Over and over again, God's people sinned, experienced judgment, and turned back to Him.

It's easy to trust ourselves in prosperity. When we have nothing but God, we come to understand that God is all we need. We turn back to Him. We trust Him again. We embrace the change that comes with repentance and revival.

We are sin-broken people, living in a sin-broken world, but we are not without hope. There's a time-proven treatment for sin-brokenness. When we turn to God with a repentant heart, accept the Lordship of Jesus, and follow Him, He heals us. He cleanses us. He makes us new.

Judgment is at hand.

But the door of Hope is still open. The Message paraphrase translates Hosea 2:15 this way: "I'll turn Heartbreak Valley into Acres of Hope." No matter how hard life gets, God can still turn heartbreak into hope. Judgment into joy.

What should our response be in the midst of unsettled, sin-filled times? Scripture makes it clear. Repent. Return. Pray.

Is there still a chance for things to change? Maybe not much, but yes, we still have a chance, so let's do what must be done. Repent. Return. Pray.

"But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." 2 Peter 3:8-9 ESV
____________
In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Lesson of the Succulents
#hope #ifmypeople #Jesus 

How to Preserve the Freedom We Enjoy

A few months ago, my pastor asked our church to join together to pray for our nation at 7:14 every day. Twice a day, we were to spend one minute in prayer. The 7:14, of course, comes from the passage in 2 Chronicles 7:14. You probably know this verse by heart. 

If 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. 2 Chronicles 7:14 nasb

Two minutes a day didn't seem like many prayer minutes to me, but God didn't say He would move based on the length of the prayer. What He requires is humility, seeking His face, and repentance of sin to accompany our prayers, not lots of minutes.

We pulled out our phones and set alarms. It was obvious we were praying by the number of alarms that went off at 7:14 during the Wednesday evening Bible study each week.

I set my alarms, too. One evening at church, my phone was in my purse when the alarm sounded. I fumbled to silence it, but it took long enough that it drew attention from those around me. After that, I turned the alarm off when I went into Bible study.

A few days ago, I realized I'd turned it off, but forgotten to turn it back on. Without the alarm, I'd forgotten to pray. Somehow, I'd turned off the morning alarm, too. I've prayed some for our nation since then, but I have to admit that it hasn't been with the fervor of those 7:14 alarm prayers.

I've turned the 7:14 alarms back on.

Our country is in a terrible mess. From our leaders to our churches to our individual hearts, we are far from God, and it frightens me. 

America needs the prayers of God's people more than ever, and, as a nation, we don't even realize it. Corporately, we have removed God from the public eye, just as we have removed Him from our hearts. It's a wonder He continues to bless us.

The hearing, forgiving, and healing God promised Israel had nothing to do with the hearts and prayers of those who were not His people. That same principle holds true today. 

If God's people will humble themselves, seek His face, and pray, He will hear, forgive, and heal.

People of God, we must do what we can. The time for delay is long past. 

Today, we celebrate the freedom we've enjoyed for the last 240 years. This has been a great country, but I fear the direction in which we are headed. On this day of joy, let's join together to do what it takes to preserve our freedom. 

Saving a nation is hard work, and it cannot be done with elections, or guns, or protests. Saving a nation begins, just as starting a nation did, on our knees. More may be required of us as citizens, but the prayer work must be done first. 

Let's begin by humbling our own hearts, turning from our own sin, and seeking God's face. With that job underway, let's also join together, twice a day, one minute at a time, to pray for God to hear, forgive, and heal this great land we love.

Let's start today. The future of a nation depends on the prayers of God's people. 

~~~~~~~~~~
In honor of Independence Day, I've chosen several blogs from the archives for today. They'll post throughout the day, so be sure to check back.

In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: Lessons from Lou: A Life Well-Lived

#ifmypeople #IndependenceDay #prayer #linesfromleanna

After Orlando: Lowering the Flag

After the gunman shot, killed, and wounded so many Americans in Orlando Sunday, the President and Governor ordered the flags to be flow at half-staff. I'm not usually the one who lowers the flag, but this time, I volunteered to do it. 

It turned out to be one of the most sorrowful tasks I've ever had to perform.

Half-staff means the American flag is lowered, traditionally to the half-way point of the staff, or flag pole. (Half-mast, though in common use, is a term reserved for shipboard flags.) 

To position the flag at half-staff, it must first be raised quickly to the highest position, then lowered slowly. It's to be saluted while being raised or lowered. 

The flag was already at the top of the pole, so I lowered it. It's hard to lower the flag and salute it at the same time, so I saluted in my heart. 

Tears trickled down my face as I adjusted the flag and thought about my fellow Americans who had died in the attack in Orlando. Many of them were the age of my son. 

There are mothers and fathers whose hearts are broken, almost beyond repair. There are sisters and brothers who can never regain what was taken from them. All in the name of hate and evil. I can hardly bear it. 

We've lost more than those fifty people who died, more than those 53 who were injured. We've lost the joy and hope of all those who loved them. They may regain their joy at some point, but it will not be today. Nor for many days to come.

I wept for them all.

Because the Mississippi flag flies under the American flag, there's a big expanse of flag fabric, and it covers a significant part of the pole. I lowered the flags, secured the rope, and stepped back. It looked nice, but it wasn't right. 

I adjusted the position of the flags, secured it again. Changed it again.

The last time, I realized the problem. I raised the flag to the top, slowly lowered it until the Mississippi flag approached (but didn't touch) the ground, and raised it up just a bit. The American flag was at half-staff. Maybe a little below it.

I stepped back and saluted. I knew it looked low, but I left it. If you see our flag, it might catch your attention because of its position on the pole. 

I left it there, on behalf of the American people, as a symbol of humility and deep sorrow. 

It's not the first time we've had to lower the flag in the last few years. It won't be the last. 

We've had a terrorist attack on American soil. Again. Yes, it was a hate-crime, but it was also a terrorist attack. The cover of protection we've enjoyed for more than two centuries is gone. 

I'm not sure we'll ever get it back.

I know one thing for certain, though. If we want to enjoy the favor of God again, we have to make some changes. 

Now is the time to put aside our stubborn pride and humble ourselves before Almighty God. 

We need more than congressmen and women singing "God Bless America" on the steps of the Capital building. We need to, individually and corporately, get on our faces before God and repent of our godlessness. We need to return to Him and His ways.

We need to stop trusting in our own ability to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and trust the One who has provided every good and perfect gift that has come our way.

We need to stop chasing the American Dream and start chasing the Will of God and His plans. 

My fellow Americans, we cannot continue as we are, for evil is rampant. Our leaders lie with impunity and grasp at power as if it could sustain them when hard times come. It cannot.

There is no blessing on evil.

There is no blessing on hate.

The blessings of God are given as He desires. What He wants is a relationship with His people and righteousness in them. We're a long way from that now.

If our great nation is to be saved, we must turn back toward God. We must humble ourselves, turn from our wicked ways, seek God's face. 

As I stood before that half-staff flag and wept, I realized the flag was in a position of humility, but I'm afraid our hearts are not. 

I have made a start at my own problem of repentance and humility, of besieging heaven on behalf of our nation, but I cannot do it alone. And I don't have to. Men and women across this country have felt the same call I have felt. And they, too, have responded with tears and repentance and a renewed sense of humility and fervor. They, too, are praying for our nation.

In the name of Jesus, please join us in prayer for our nation. Let us humble ourselves together. I fear we are headed in a deadly direction, and destruction will come. It will not be pretty.

We must mourn with those who mourn. We must weep with those who weep. But when the mourning and weeping are done, we must rise up with humility and repentance. 

__________
Here's the link to yesterday's post: After Orlando

#Orlando #714 #pray #linesfromleanna

Saving America

Not everything you read on the internet is true, especially about Memorial Day. Today, I intended to check the date of the first Memorial Day and was astounded by the number of places that claimed to have started the day of remembrance. According to Wikipedia (admittedly, not always a bastion of truth), there is documentation to support the claim that, in 1862, women in Savannah, Ga. decorated the graves of Confederate soldiers.

That may be true, but here's what I know for sure. After the Civil War, there were mothers who grieved for their sons. Sisters who grieved for their brothers. Daughters who grieved for their fathers. Wives who grieved for their husbands. 

In the South, we visit the graves of those we love. We decorate those graves with flowers, if we can. It's a kind of "sprucing up" that makes the grave seem less cold and barren.

If there was a mother with a son in the ground, that grave was visited and, probably, decorated. She grieved for that son. She remembered him, and not just because some government mandate proclaimed the day. 

She remembered him every single day. She missed her boy as long as she drew breath. Nothing about that grief has changed today. Mothers still grieve for their sons and daughters who die in battle. 

We all grieve for our lost ones.

On Memorial Day, we remember and honor the soldiers who died while in service. What's easy to forget is that every solider who has fought and killed the enemy in battle leaves a part of themselves on the battlefield. Every soldier who kills, although righteously, has a little death of their own.

I know about it firsthand because my daddy fought, and was wounded, in World War II. He came home with the scars to prove it. Because he wasn't wounded in battle, he turned down the Purple Heart. It was one of our own soldiers that shot him. That wound, and his time in service, left scars deep inside that plagued him for the rest of his life.

We have lots of veterans who've lost a piece of themselves in service, and, because of my daddy, I see Memorial Day as a chance to remember them all. To honor them all.  A day to pray that our God, who will one day wipe away every tear and heal every hurt, will do that for the men and women who have served our nation.

They bought our freedom with their hearts and with their blood, and we have accepted their sacrifice with such casualness in recent years that I'm ashamed of us. Ashamed of myself for not doing something to bring about a change. But I'm not in charge of changing hearts, though I sometimes wish I were. 

We were a great nation, built and preserved by men and women willing to die for us to stay free. We, as a people, have chased a dream that cannot satisfy, abandoned our solid foundation of truth, and become shallow and foolish in the process. 

The men and women who died for us didn't die so that we could have big houses and fancy cars and decadent lifestyles.

They fought and died so that we could have freedom of religion, speech, and press. Freedom to bear arms. Freedom from search and seizure. Fair trials by a jury of our peers. Freedom from excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment. Freedom from excessive federal intervention in our lives (States' rights). 

In case you didn't recognize them, those are the freedoms guaranteed in our Bill of Rights. Those rights are our foundation and the cornerstone of these United States.

They are worth preserving because the kind of freedom we've had is rare and precious. If you don't believe me, look around at the nations of the world. Our freedoms are evaporating like dew on a hot morning, and change is coming. We won't like it. I promise you that.

We will have exchanged true freedom for a tawdry sham of freedom, and we will grieve what we've lost. If we have the sense to recognize it.

The people of God CAN make a difference. If we will. But we cannot do it with boycotts and harsh words. I know those things make us feel like we're doing something, and they have their place, but there is nothing in scripture about doing a boycott to change a nation.

What God says about changing a nation, about saving a nation that's dying, is this:

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. 2 Chronicles 7:14 nasb

If the people of God do not do what must be done, our nation will perish. 

If the nation doesn't hold us responsible, they should. 

We can save our nation, if we will. But we cannot save America if we continue to be complacent about our own personal sin, arrogant about our supposed righteousness, and halfhearted about our commitment to our Lord. 

It is past time for those who claim to be the people of God to step up to the plate, hit their knees, repent, turn, and pray. We're the only ones who can save America, but we will have to do it on our knees. 

On this day of remembrance, let's honor those who've died for us, but let's also take time to remember the reason they died and what we've lost as a nation. On this day, let's make a start to save this once-great country. 

It's too big a job for us, but I'm confident of one truth. Saving America is not too big for our God.

_________________

In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: Wholehearted Living

And here's the link to the snake story: Sam the Snake Handler

#MemorialDay #savingAmerica #ifmypeople #linesfromleanna

The Left-Hander, The Fat Man, and the Woman in the Tent

Joshua led the children of Israel into the Promised Land. It was, as God had said, a land of milk and honey, richness and comfort. They had vineyards they didn't plant, houses they didn't build.

After Joshua died, the people lacked a strong, readily identifiable leader. They drifted away from God again and began to worship false gods. As had happened in the past, when they wandered into sin, God sent discipline, usually in the form of an oppressor, to draw them back to Himself.

Once the people grew weary of their oppression, they cried out to God and He sent a deliverer in the form of a judge. These judges were sometimes the most unlikely of individuals.

Ehud was one such judge. The sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord (Judges 3:12) and Eglon, the king of Moab, moved against them. He defeated Israel and occupied the City of Palm Trees. 

For eighteen years, Israel served Eglon. Finally, the people cried out to God for deliverance and He raised up an unlikely deliverer. 

Ehud was from the tribe of Benjamin, one of the smallest tribes and, therefore, one of the weakest. It is an example of God's grace and power being "perfected in weakness". (2 Corinthians 12:9) He was also a left-handed man with a mission. (Matthew Henry suggests he had a weak or damaged right arm, so that he was especially unlikely as a deliverer.)

Ehud made a two-edged sword that may have been more like a long dagger than the sword with which we are familiar. He bound it on his right thigh under his cloak before he headed to Eglon to pay the tribute due from Israel. 

Eglon was an incredibly fat man, and clearly a pampered man, as well.

Only God could have worked this next part out. Ehud met Eglon in his roof-top cool room, presented the tribute, and said, "I have a secret message for you, O King." 

Eglon looked at this strong young man and decided he wanted to hear the secret. It wasn't a sensible move, but this king sent everyone out of the room except Ehud, his sworn enemy. 

Ehud stepped up close to Eglon. "I have a secret message from God." He pulled the sword out of its scabbard and stabbed the wicked king in the belly. He was so large that the fat closed in around the weapon and Eglon died instantly. 

Thus, Ehud, the unlikely left-handed man, delivered Israel.

After Ehud died, Israel did evil again. Finally God sent Deborah, a prophetess, to judge Israel. She called Barak and told him God had commanded that he lead an army to deliver Israel from Sisera. Barak wouldn't go without Deborah. 

"Okay, I'll go, but you will not be able to claim this victory because God is going to give the victory to a woman." (Judges 4:9 Leanna Paraphrase)

They went. Sisera escaped Barak and went to the tent of Heber the Kenite and his wife, Jael. The woman invited Sisera inside, covered him with a blanket, and gave him some milk to drink. Sisera was so comfortable that he went sound asleep.

Jael saw her opportunity and took it. She grabbed up a hammer and a tent peg and hammered the wooden spike through Sisera's temple and into the ground. He died instantly.

Thus Jael, the unlikely woman with a tent-peg, delivered Israel.

These unlikely warriors did one daring thing for God and single-handedly delivered Israel. They were able to succeed because God sent them, God empowered them, and God equipped them.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about either of these deliverers. 

They weren't especially strong. They didn't have military might or power. They hadn't done numerous other brave and daring deeds. They didn't even have a great army to help them.

What Ehud and Jael had in common was their availability to God. 

He said go, and Ehud went. He said to shelter Sisera, and Jael sheltered him. He said hammer, and she hammered.

We, too, are ordinary people who serve an extraordinary God. We, too, can do incredible deeds for God, if we will.

It's easy to think that someone as common as cornbread can't make a dramatic difference for the Lord, but that's not true. Look at Jael. She never left her tent or her cooking fire, yet she delivered an entire nation.

I grew up reading stories of  unlikely heroes. Maybe you did, too. I've always longed to do something brave and good. My reality, though, is that I'm no longer a young woman. I live in a town of less than 500 people. I'm not a warrior. I don't have any of the skills or attributes that we expect in a deliverer.

There's good news. God delights in using the unlikely to do the incredible.

We don't begin to do a mighty work by grabbing a sword or a tent peg. We begin, right where we are, by drawing close to the Lord and sharpening our figurative sword, The Word of God. We begin by saying yes to God in the small things. 

One simple act of obedience at a time prepares us for that one-more-act-of-obedience that can change a nation.

The most amazing thing of all is that no sword or hammer is required. Only our availability to God. We can change our nation on our knees. Humility. Repentance. Prayer. Those are the only weapons required to make a difference, and we can all wield them.

Today, let's bend our knees, pick up the Sword of the Word of God, and begin to change the world through our prayers. 

"If My people which are called by My name..." 2 Chronicles 7:14

One man or woman, wholly available to God, can make a greater difference than we can imagine. Let's be that one.

#Godsword #ifmypeople #prayer #linesfromleanna

The 7:14 Prayers

Our pastor introduced a new series at the Wednesday night service last night. We'll be studying the book of Hosea for the next few weeks. 

In case you don't remember, Hosea was one of the minor prophets. (Minor because the book he wrote is short, not because his message was less important.) 

Poor Hosea lived his message in a way most of hope we never do. 

God called him to marry a prostitute. Gomer was a faithless wife who took multiple lovers. Two of their three children were fathered by other men. 

Hosea's job was to love her anyway, just as God continues to love His people who are faithless. His life, in a way, was a living allegory for all to see.

Unless you've had a faithless spouse, one who repeatedly sought other lovers, you can't imagine how painful this must have been to Hosea. Let me tell you. 

It was like a slow and agonizing death of a part of him every single day. 

Whenever Gomer was out of his sight, Hosea was likely afraid she had found yet another lover. When she diverted her eyes while talking to him, he feared she was lying. Every day, there was a question in his mind. Was she faithful? Was she unfaithful? Was she telling the truth? Was she lying again?

When he looked at the children who looked nothing like him, it was a constant reminder. They are not my own. Yet he loved them. He loved Gomer. Despite one betrayal after another.

The knowledge that the people around him knew was terrible, too. Humiliating. 

He probably hated to be seen in public because he knew people would talk. "There goes Hosea. Has a wife but can't keep her." People likely said, "It takes two for trouble like this," as if it was Hosea's failure as a man that had caused her immorality. Because that's what people do.

The talk was terrible, the uncertainty was agonizing, but Hosea had a horrid certainty, too. Deep in his soul. He knew Gomer was unfaithful to him and it broke his heart over and over again.

God wanted His people to understand that Hosea's pain was His own.

At the time of Hosea, Israel was still a wealthy nation, but they were immoral. The leadership was spiritually bankrupt. The people followed false gods. They did whatever they wanted to do. They were still outwardly spiritual, but their hearts were far from God.

The nation of Israel was a lot like our own nation. Teetering on the edge of self-destruction. 

Hosea's job was to show the people how their actions looked to God (the actions of Gomer's harlotry) and how much He wanted them to repent and return to Him. Hosea loved Gomer. He continued to seek her and redeem her.

The teaching ended at 7:14 pm. Our pastor recommended that we begin a season of prayer for our nation based on 2 Chronicles 7:14. 

If 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. 2 Chronicles 7:14 nasb

For the duration of the study of Hosea, 6-8 weeks, the people in our church will be joining together to pray for our nation twice a day (at 7:14 am and 7:14 pm) for one minute each time. 

Two minutes a day do not seem like many prayer minutes to me, but God didn't say He would move based on the length of the prayer. What He requires is for humility, seeking His face, and repentance of sin to accompany our prayers, not lots of minutes.

Our country is in a terrible mess. From our leaders to our churches to our individual hearts, we are far from God, and it frightens me. 

America needs the prayers of God's people more than ever, and, as a nation, we don't even realize it. Corporately, we have removed God from the public eye, just as we have removed Him from our hearts. It's a wonder He continues to bless us.

The hearing, forgiving, and healing God promised Israel had nothing to do with the hearts and prayers of those who were not His people. That same principle holds true today. 

If God's people will humble themselves, seek His face, and pray, He will hear, forgive, and heal.

People of God, we must do what we can. The time for delay is long past. 

Let's begin by humbling our own hearts, turning from our own sin, and seeking God's face. With that job underway, let's also join together, twice a day, one minute at a time, to pray for God to hear, forgive, and heal this great land we love.

Will you join with me? I pray you do, for the future of a nation depends on the prayers of God's people. 

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#ifmypeople #Godsword #prayer #linesfromleanna