Tag Archive | 2 Chronicles 7:14
Exposing the Hidden Enemy
We have an enemy that must be identified! After horrible tragedies like the one we saw in Parkland, Fl., we grasp at an array of judgements in a frantic attempt to identify the enemy. Tragically, we chase one argument after another, never zeroing in on who the real enemy is. Therefore, the real enemy remains hidden.
Obviously, Satan is our enemy, our adversary. He is the one who cunningly designs temptations that will steal, kill, and destroy (from John 10:10a). Satan tempts that part of us that wants our own way and doesn’t like to be told what to do…that part that seeks to exalt ourselves…our fleshly nature.
Consider the following:
What we think determines how we feel, and what we feel influences our actions. A negative action is often the result of negative thinking. Understandably, if Satan can negatively influence our thinking, then the temptation to act negatively will be hard for us to resist… p. 27, FD 3rd edition
The weapon of negative thinking or fiery darts, is Satan’s most powerful weapon. But how is it that we as Christians, and even those who aren’t Christians, can be so easily manipulated and deceived? Sad to say, it’s very simple:
When we don’t spend enough time in God’s Word, our ability to recognize the lies of fiery darts is equally diminished. In the place of God’s Truth, the world’s concept of truth generally begins to define our thinking. p. 43, FD 3rd edition
Of course, for those who have rejected God, it is obvious how they have been blinded to God’s Truth. The world’s concept of truth and their sinful nature defines truth for them and God’s Truth bears little, if any, weight. Satan’s job of manipulation, therefore, takes little effort. p. 43 FD, 3rd edition
Fiery darts are designed to create a wedge of sin between us and God. Eventually, we will become blinded to the Truth, and we will be deceived into rejecting God’s plan for our lives.
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10b NKJV
Thought by thought our lives will take a downward turn. And individual by individual our country will spiral downward, as well. However, there is hope, if we genuinely desire healing for ourselves and for our country!
Identifying the Enemy.
We have an enemy that must be identified! After horrible tragedies like the one we saw in Parkland, Fl., we grasp at an array of judgements in a frantic attempt to identify the enemy. Tragically, we chase one argument after another, never zeroing in on who the real enemy is. We can become so distracted by these arguments that the real enemy remains hidden.
Obviously, Satan is our enemy, our adversary. He is the one who cunningly designs temptations that will steal, kill, and destroy (from John 10:10a). Satan tempts that part of us that wants our own way and doesn’t like to be told what to do…that part that seeks to exalt ourselves…our fleshly nature.
Consider the following:
What we think determines how we feel, and what we feel influences our actions. A negative action is often the result of negative thinking. Understandably, if Satan can negatively influence our thinking, then the temptation to act negatively will be hard for us to resist… p. 27, FD 3rd edition
The weapon of negative thinking or fiery darts, is Satan’s most powerful weapon. But how is it that we as Christians, and even those who aren’t Christians, can be so easily manipulated and deceived? Sad to say, it’s very simple:
When we don’t spend enough time in God’s Word, our ability to recognize the lies of fiery darts is equally diminished. In the place of God’s Truth, the world’s concept of truth generally begins to define our thinking. p. 43, FD 3rd edition
Of course, for those who have rejected God, it is obvious how they have been blinded to God’s Truth. The world’s concept of truth and their sinful nature defines truth for them and God’s Truth bears little, if any, weight. Satan’s job of manipulation, therefore, takes little effort. p. 43 FD, 3rd edition
Fiery darts are designed to create a wedge of sin between us and God. Eventually, we will become blinded to the Truth, and we will be deceived into rejecting God’s plan for our lives.
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10b NKJV
Thought by thought our lives will take a downward turn. And individual by individual our country will spiral downward, as well. However, there is hope, if we genuinely desire healing for ourselves and for our country!
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 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV
Making America Great Again!
This is a popular phrase heard in our country today. Many people believe that since the presidential election, we have our first chance in years to actually accomplish this.
And that’s brings me to why I’m publishing this post!
If we believe that only a Trump administration can make America great again, then we will have succumbed to a dangerous fiery dart! Embracing an attitude such as this implies that we are placing the responsibility for restoring America’s greatness on the shoulder’s of an elected official. It implies that our job is done.
Okay, that’s the fiery dart we should reject,
so what’s the Truth thought with which we should replace it?
2 Chronicles 7:14
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.
If God is to save & heal our land, then He must hear from us! And who are the ‘us’ in this verse? Christians!
What must He hear from us? The humble prayers of confession and repentance.
THAT IS WHAT WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN
25 million didn’t stay home-this time!
I was wrong about the 12 million evangelicals who did not vote in the last election. It was 25 million.
BUT NOT THIS TIME!
And because we didn’t, we are on our way to seeing 2 Chronicles 7:14 being fulfilled.
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
I can only imagine the fiery darts that kept Christians at home in the last presidential elections. Maybe something like:
-It doesn’t do any good to vote, we are outnumbered anyway!
-I don’t particular like either candidate!
But things were different this time. For one, Rev. Franklin Graham visited the capitals of all 50 states and held prayer rallies for our country, emphasizing 2 Chronicles 7:14. Not only did he urge Christians to vote but to be involved any way they could, especially in praying for our country. That hadn’t been done before!
Pastors urged their congregations to get out and vote. And this was a hard sell because neither candidate was acceptable. So it came down to going to the polls and voting our values–not of the candidate but of the party.
Christian leaders from all over the country emphasized the consequence of not voting. Christians bloggers, like myself, pointed out the responsibility we had as Christians to God and Country to vote.
And as Christians we have incredible evidence that prayer and obedience can determine the course of a nation. Especially one that has forsaken God and His ways.
Although, the media did not report on the 10,000 strong praise rally held in Time Square after the election, it was obvious that God had intervened for the sake of our nation.
And as I observe the protests the media did report on, my heart was deeply troubled. So many have become victims of the fiery dart way of thinking that would victimize them and cause them to believe they must strike out at those who oppose their way of thinking. They have become convinced they must resort to violence to have their voice heard.
These protestors do have an enemy, but it’s not those people who believe differently than they do! No, it’s Satan himself attacking them with the fiery darts that promote hate, violence, and disunity!
But the disheartening fact is that these people don’t acknowledge the existence of Satan or God for that matter. And we see on our tv’s the result of such thinking. Without the presence of God in someone’s life, it does no good to reason with them. They simply won’t get it!
So Christians, be careful and thoughtful concerning our actions toward those who are so deeply disturbed over the outcome of this election. If we truly desire healing for our country we must be willing to continue humbling ourselves, confessing our sin, seeking God, and we must continue to pray-for ourselves and that the suffering of so many right now will serve to bring them the One who has very different and wonderful plans for their lives.
Facing the Future, whatever it brings!
Once again we are wrapped up in a presidential election. Once again the fiery darts of negativity are being aimed and far too often are reaching their mark. In the past, I have allowed these fiery darts to victimize my thinking, tempting me to hopelessness and despair as I endured yet another presidential election, but NOT THIS YEAR!
How could I possibly face such a bleak future as seems likely for our country, considering the insecurity cast by the growing threat of terrorism, the rebellion reflected in the moral upheaval in our courts considering abortion and same-sex marriage, the rejection of our country’s foundational principles evident in congressional decision, etc?
For I know that when society collectively rejects God, then we are set on a path of destruction. And as long as society collectively continues to reject God, there is no hope that things will improve–on the contrary, things will continue to deteriorate.
Again, I pose the question, “How could I possibly face such a bleak future and not feel overwhelmed by despair and hopelessness?”
Here’s how!
Every time I am tempted with despair and/or hopelessness, or any other fiery dart thoughts of a similar nature, I put the following plan into action:
First
I recognize those thoughts for the fiery darts they are. I know that focusing on them will eat away at my faith, weakening me with every attack.
Second
I reject such thoughts, so as to prevent them from taking root and influencing further attitudes and actions.
Third
I replace such hopeless thinking with Truth thoughts and those thoughts become my focus from which my attitude and actions spring from.
Truth thoughts such as:
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, NIV
I would like to quote Tony Evans’s comment from Decision magazine, February 2016, titled Prayer That Turns A Nation, p. 13
“If enough Christians in places of responsibility in the fields of medicine, law, government, education, the media, and even the church begin to humble themselves and pray and seek God’s face and turn from their wicked ways, we could influence this culture and make the presence of Christ felt top to bottom and bottom to top.”
But what if that doesn’t happen? What’s a Truth thought for that despairing question?
My dear readers, the day will come when:
. . . that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth —and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.Philippians 2:10-11
And those of us who are Christians, what does the future hold for us in the midst of society’s rejection of God?
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11, NIVAnd my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 HCSB
Therefore, I face my personal future and my country’s future with the confident assurance promoted in the above verses. On a daily basis, I commit to cooperating with God as He works out His plans for me making sure that my attitudes and actions are based on Truth thoughts not fiery dart thinking. And daily I pray 2 Chronicles 7:14 for myself, my family, my friends, and my country.
OUR ONLY HOPE!
The Tour
“America is at a crossroads, and I believe we should take every opportunity to stand up for the things of God and His Word.” –Franklin Graham
Franklin Graham is traveling to all 50 states in 2016 to hold prayer rallies, to preach the Gospel, and to challenge believers to take a stand and take action. He’ll be urging Christians to vote, to live out their faith in every part of their lives, and to pray for our nation just as Nehemiah cried out to God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and restore hope to His people.
* * * *
I think and pray a lot about what’s in store for our country in 2016. Something captured my thoughts the other day concerning the presidential election in the context of the fiery dart message.
It seems to me that most of what I hear focuses on getting the person of our choice in the White House as if that would solve America’s problems. However, I see that as a fiery dart attack on the mindset of many Americans.
Why?
Because the enemy is using this line of thinking to keep us distracted from the one and only thing that can save America. I have chosen my candidate–one whose platform lines up with what is taught in God’s Word. But unless our country takes to heart the message Franklin Graham will be delivering to the whole of America in 2016 there’s little hope that any candidate can turn the tide for Her.
I shutter to think what the future holds for America if we fail to heed the warning of 2 Chronicles 7:14,
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.
America must understand that unless we become wise to the enemy’s plan (John 10:10a), forsake it and turn to the plan our Creator has for us, (John 10:10b) then there is little reason to hope for a brighter future.
But please note to whom 2 Chronicles 7:14 is addressed:
‘my people’
That’s Christians dear people! First, we must confess our sins, then turn back to the Bible and familiarize ourselves with the Truth that we should be living by. Too many Christians have strayed from prayer and bible study, and as a result we have so compromised our faith that we have become blinded to Truth. We have accepted lies in place of the Truths we once embraced.
Therefore we must return to the mandates given to us by God, so that we can act accordingly. We must pray, seek a candidate that stands by those mandates from God, and get out and vote. Consider the following numbers from a previous presidential election:
– 10 million evangelical Christians were eligible to vote but were unregistered.
– 9 million evangelical Christians were registered but did not vote.
19 million Christians allowed themselves to be manipulated by the enemy to believe their vote didn’t matter or would make a difference.
That, my dear readers, is a fiery dart that will destroy our nation.
What can I do for my country?
I love my country, but I do not love the way she is behaving. I am a Christian and I believe that God created this world. (I seriously don’t see how any force other than God could pull off what He did in the Creation.)
And I believe that God purposely provided a revelation as to who He is and what He did and plans on doing for the human beings He created, in the book we call The Bible. All for the purpose of revealing His plan for our salvation, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ alone!
Most of our founding fathers believed in God, revered the Bible, and felt committed to establishing laws for our country based on the Truths of Scripture. But today, it is extremely difficult to find much evidence that our nation’s leaders believe in God and/or revere the Bible as our founding father’s did.
There are prominent men and women who are declaring that our country is under judgement because our nation has turned her back on God. Considering the state of affairs in our nation, I hardly see how that could be denied.
But there is an aspect of the dilemma our country is facing that escapes most people. I point this out on page 1 of my book:
Scriptures are obvious in describing Satan’s plan in John 10:10a, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;…” (NIV) So what is it that the Enemy desires to steal, kill, and destroy? The answer is obvious – anything God has planned for us!
The second half of John 10:10 reveals an aspect of God’s plan for His children, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (NIV) p. 1, FD
I strongly believe that Satan’s first step in stealing, killing, and destroying the good plans God has for us (as individuals and as a country) is to direct our attention away from the Bible’s Truths. Once he has accomplished this then we become easy prey for his fiery darts (negative thoughts).
By removing the guiding force of the Truth’s contained in the Bible, Satan is free to manipulate us into destruction (again, individually and as a country).
And because we as individuals and as a country have been manipulated to turn our thoughts and attentions towards the World’s concept of truth instead of the Holy Bible, then we find we are no longer capable of recognizing or even respecting God’s Truths. Instead, of combating fiery darts with Truth thoughts from God’s Word, we find individuals and our country’s leaders defining right as wrong and wrong as right. (which by the way is described in Isaiah 5:20)
So what are we to do?
First and foremost we must return to the Truth’s of Scripture. That is the only weapon that can successfully fight the fiery dart thinking with which Satan uses for our destruction. IF we truly desire for our nation to be healed then as individuals we must:
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
Our Nation’s Peril and Our Nation’s Hope
First of all, may I ask you a few questions?
Do you condemn yourself or put yourself down?
Do you think others, especially close to you, don’t think well of you?
Do you over focus on your fears?
Do you find yourself doubting God?
Do you struggle with inconsistency in reading your Bible and praying?
Have you recognized questions such as these as the fiery darts Ephesians 6:16 identifies? Satan knows quite well, that these fiery darts will never permeate the Shield of Faith. Therefore, what do you think his first plan of action will be with individuals? Of course, tempt an individual to search everywhere but God’s Word for the answers to questions like the ones above. And if he can manipulate enough individuals to reject God and/or His Word, then his plan to destroy a nation falls easily into place.
Our country’s leaders, some even calling themselves Christians, speak and act in ways that contradict God’s ways. For example, the Bible makes it quite clear how God feels about abortion. Yet, some of our most powerful leaders stand firm in their support of organizations that promote abortion! I just don’t get it. Why would anyone, claiming to be a Christian, support something God is against? But wait, I think I do!
People who have rejected God and His word, are easily manipulated into seeing lies as truth and truth as lies. You recall those questions I started out with? Well, Satan’s plan is to get us so self absorbed that we loose sight of who God is and the good plans He has for us.(Jeremiah 29:11) We can’t believe that He can take the bad things we are experiencing in life and turn them into something good and thereby enrich our lives by them. (Romans 8:28)
We look for solutions to the problems we encounter in our lives and Satan makes sure that our search for answers takes us no where near the Scriptures. Every idea we get from him may feel like an answer at the beginning but only serves to intensify our problems and complicate our lives even more. (Proverbs 14:12)
As Christians, we must seek God’s will and wisdom and apply them to the problems we face. As we hold up our Shield of Faith, then we are protected from being manipulated and distracted by the fiery darts aimed at us by Satan.
Here’s how it works!
God’s light will shine forth for all to see and as God helps us, then we can help others. (2 Corinthians 1:4) As His light is experienced and shared then that light grows and the darkness is dispelled. (John 1:5) Eventually, as individuals turn back to God, then a nation has hope. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
Life or Death–You Choose
When I think about all that God offers those who would believe in Him and compare that to what is in store for those who don’t, my mind is overwhelmed as to why anyone would not choose God. Yet, far too many not only reject God but set out to destroy those who do. I read in the Bible of the blessings and curses that come with choosing God or not choosing God. Deuteronomy 30:11-20 gives us the following:
Choosing God
Life
Prosperity
Increase
Be blessed by God
Will live an abundance of years in the land you possess
Rejecting God
Death
Destruction
Curses
Will not live long in the land you possess
Who in their right mind would deliberately choose from the Rejecting God list? Yet, many do. They don’t realize what they are doing actually. Because, you see, if they have rejected God, then they have rejected God’s Word. And if they have rejected God’s Word then everything in this world, every experience they encountered will be defined by a context that excludes God. They live in darkness, while Satan is promising them the world!
Satan would give Christ the world if He would only worship him! After all, 2 Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God,” (NIV) p.39, FD
In America, today, it seems our country is being taken over by those who have rejected God. Satan has released one fiery dart after another successfully blinding those who discount and reject God into believing they have been enlightened and they have finally broken free of all the restrictions of Christianity.
They are bent on changing wrong into right, just so they can live anyway they want to without guilt. They refuse to acknowledge sin and it’s consequences. Satan ‘s fiery darts have hit their mark once again in manipulating them into believing they are seeking freedom. Because they have been taken over by fiery dart thinking, they don’t see that it is license they are pushing for; not freedom.
Daily I pray for my country, 2 Chronicles 7:14: (NIV)
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.
And while in the meantime we as believers may have to suffer, we always have the following hope:
It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”Deuteronomy 31:8 ESV
Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV
Fiery Darts: Satan's Weapon of Choice 