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New! :Cape Cod Sacred Assembly preparation:
by anonymous on August 21, 2007These devotionals are written by Rhonda Hughey.
Here is her ministry website: www.fusionministry.com
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 will forgive their sin, and heal their land 2 Chron 7:14
Heart Preparation (Week 3)
Every sin is grievous to the Lord and must be confessed and repented for. However, some sin has more serious consequences than others, bringing defilement to individuals, the Church and the land where we live. Most sin is connected to three major root sins:
Every sin is grievous to the Lord and must be confessed and repented for. However, some sin has more serious consequences than others, bringing defilement to individuals, the Church and the land where we live. Most sin is connected to three major root sins:
Idolatry
The Ten Commandments explicitly forbids all forms of idolatry. Exodus 20:3-6 states, "You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
God permits no rivals to His supreme place in our lives. Individuals and communities are equally forbidden to participate in idolatry. We don't have to physically worship a graven image to be guilty of idolatry. The Bible mentions "setting up their idols in their heart" (Ezek. 14: 3). The New Testament refers to covetousness as idolatry (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13; Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:5). Hence, idolatry involves forbidden or misdirected desire. Other things that can be idolatrous are the pursuit of pleasure (often involving parties, alcohol, illicit sex, drugs), idolizing heroes and celebrities, success or status, sports, psychic activity, or occult pursuits. God admonishes His people, "Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols" (Ezek. 14: 6).
Idolatry will bring us under God's judgment, for our own good, calling us away from our idols and back to Him. For God to truly be our first love we must let go of any possessive attitude toward the gifts He gives us. The antidote to idolatry is a surrendered life that loves God wholeheartedly and longs foremost for intimacy with Him.
God permits no rivals to His supreme place in our lives. Individuals and communities are equally forbidden to participate in idolatry. We don't have to physically worship a graven image to be guilty of idolatry. The Bible mentions "setting up their idols in their heart" (Ezek. 14: 3). The New Testament refers to covetousness as idolatry (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13; Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:5). Hence, idolatry involves forbidden or misdirected desire. Other things that can be idolatrous are the pursuit of pleasure (often involving parties, alcohol, illicit sex, drugs), idolizing heroes and celebrities, success or status, sports, psychic activity, or occult pursuits. God admonishes His people, "Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols" (Ezek. 14: 6).
Idolatry will bring us under God's judgment, for our own good, calling us away from our idols and back to Him. For God to truly be our first love we must let go of any possessive attitude toward the gifts He gives us. The antidote to idolatry is a surrendered life that loves God wholeheartedly and longs foremost for intimacy with Him.
Immorality
God's people are called to be morally and sexually pure (2 Co 11:2; Titus 2:5; 1 Pet 3:2). The word pure biblically when referring to sexuality means to be free from all that which is lewd, and related to lust. Sexual purity involves refraining from all acts and thoughts that incite desire outside one's marriage covenant or one's virginity before marriage. Purity involves controlling one's own body �in a way that is holy and honorable (1 Th. 4:4) and is the opposite of passionate lust (1 Th. 4:5).
The Bible clearly regards adultery, sexual intercourse before marriage, forbidden sensual activity short of intercourse, homosexuality and lesbianism, and degrading passions as grave sins in God's sight, since they are transgressions of God's moral law and wisdom. These sins intrude upon the covenant of marriage and defile the participants. These sins are not only condemned in Scripture, but also place one outside God's kingdom unless repented of and turned from (Ro 1:24-32; 1 Co 6:9-10; Gal 5:19-21).
Our culture and society is pursuing behavior and lifestyles that are clearly condemned by God and in clear violation of His moral law and wisdom. Alternative sexual lifestyles to those revealed by God in scripture are vigorously promoted by Hollywood, TV and news networks, authors, artists, public schools, universities, the courts, and even many churches. This new liberated lifestyle has produced legal abortion and an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases, moral chaos, and is leading our nation down the road to moral suicide.
Bloodshed
God makes it clear in His Word that He will hide His eyes from us when we pray because our hands are full of blood(Isa. 1:15).
Violence and bloodshed are primary reasons for God's presence remaining at a distance from His people. The shedding of innocent blood defiles the land and cries out for justice. Our human institutions cannot deliver us from the impact of such serious sin on society.
God looks for righteousness and justice in His people. When He sees bloodshed and hears cries of distress, He waits for His people to respond in righteous intercession and mediation before He can respond in restoration and transformation.
Judgment and devastation are the inevitable consequences of the land being full of bloodshed and the city being full of violence and injustice.
"Prepare chains, because the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of violence. (Ezek 7:23)
Click below to read the daily prayer focus:
September 22: Cape Cod Sacred Assembly at Sandwich
High School, 3-7 pm.
These devotionals are written by Rhonda Hughey.
Here is her ministry website: www.fusionministry.com
Here is a quote from her book "Desperate for His Presence", published by Bethany House Publishers, which you can buy from her website.
"The pursuit of God's Presence is not a means to an end. It is the end! What we are talking about is not a formula for how to be more effective in ministry. It is the core of our existence and the purpose of our life. We exist to know Him, to worship Him, and to reflect His beauty to the world around us!
God is waiting and longing for us to experience an awareness of His Presence. Knowing His Presence in theory but not in experience is not biblical faith. It is religion only. We have the privilege as believers to know and experience the tangible Presence of God.
In "The Pursuit of God", A.W.Tozer makes a contrast between being in the Presence of God positionally and experiencing His Presence actually. He goes on to say that, as a result of settling for the positional Presence of God only, contentment takes the place of burning hearts and fervent zeal for the Lord. 'The church then settles for only an intellectual knowledge of God and remains unconcerned about the absence of personal experience' "
