My People Who Are Called

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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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land ( 2 Chronicles 7:14).  The night of the Boston bombing, in my sleep I was repeating the phrase, “If My people, who are called by My Name.”  I wondered why I repeated only the first part of the verse.   God wants each one of us to fill in the blanks to partner with Him for His purpose.

“If ” is a conditional word.  The if–then construct (sometimes called if–then–else) is common across many programming languages.  God used this even before all the different computer languages that we use.  For salvation, IF the world (people) accept Jesus as their Savior and make him the Lord of their lives, THEN they have eternal life with Him.  All the conditions are met by Jesus to bridge the gap between us and God.  To spread this good news He wants His people to meet certain conditions.

Man (His people) 

Yield to His purpose,

Proclaim His peace,

Envision His heart,

Occupy till He returns,

Prophesy His Word,

Love one another,

Engage in the community, connecting them to Christ.  Then, there will be life peace, harmony, and hope instead of violence, hatred and death in the land.  What is God asking of you today in order to fulfill His part?  God is saying, if you……………….., then He …………………….. (fill in the blanks).

Lord, help us to do our part to bring peace and healing to the hurting world.

*** addendum, updated April 28, 2013 ***
Pastor Jaime @ Coast Vineyard shared a key insight in today’s message: God’s Spirit is at work ahead of the church.  Peter, a Jewish man, was brought into a Gentile centurion’s life to bring salvation to his household (Acts 10).  During that time the gospel was strictly preached among Jews only. Gentiles were thought to be pagans, unclean because they did not follow Jewish laws and customs. Peter followed the leading of the Holy Spirit, ignoring religious and cultural barriers. When we are not in tune with the Holy Spirit, stereotypes (age, gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, education) may prevent us from being part of God’s plan.  If His people who are called by His name, “Get out of our ways and obey the Spirit,“ then He can reach out to the many ” Cornelius’ ” in our community.  

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