If Then

"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 will heal their land." Evil is prevalent in this world. Lives are being lost, marriages are being broken, children are being abused and abandoned, and people are becoming complacent and indifferent. We sit back and use "that's just the world we live in" as an excuse not to do anything about it. The sad truth is that most of us, if we were honest, just do not care. We're being pulled into the overwhelming current of sin, and we figure we may as well just go along with it because it's not worth the fight. Those of us that do care and want to do something about it feel powerless and too easily give way to discouragement. The fact of the matter is, God's children were NEVER called to a life of comfort and complacency. True Christians should absolutely refuse to sit back and say "that's just the world we live in!" Instead, we HAVE to get re-aquainted with the fact that if we will get on our knees and truly seek the face of God, He promises to hear us and heal our land! It's time to get angry. We as Christians have lost sight of the importance and power of zeal and righteous anger. This is different from worldly anger; worldy anger only leads to war, division, and death. Righteous anger, however, leads to revival. It leads to Christians standing up and declaring that we are NOT going to be deceived by the devil or put up with his schemes. Instead, we are going to "put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, [we] may be able to stand [our] ground, and after [we] have done everything, to stand" (Ephesians 6:13). The devil works very, very subtly these days. So very often, we compromise without realizing it. We put things ahead of God all the time, and we've accepted the belief that "it's not that big of a deal" and "God understands that I am busy" and "Things are different now than they were in Bible days." Times may change, but God's Word does not. He states very clearly that "[our] enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). I fully believe that the enemy is working 24/7 these days, but I don't think he's having to work very hard. We don't stand up and try to fight him; rather, we give in to his temptations to shrink back and not take a stand for Christ with the excuse of "God will forgive me. He doesn't expect ME to be the one to fight Satan." The moment we start believing this is the moment our devotion to Christ begins to weaken, if it even exists at all. We cannot be halfheartedly committed to Christ. We're either all in or all out. He doesn't want lukewarm Christians claiming to know Him. He calls us to "take up [our] cross and follow [Him]" (Matthew 10:38). It's a very serious and bold thing to claim to belong to Christ. This means we are devoted to Him and are willing to follow Him and do His will no matter what. It doesn't mean going to church and reading the Bible every once in a while. Christians must stand up and show the world that there is a Way, there is Truth, and there is Life. He is Jesus. The world will not know Him if we don't show them who He is. In these progressively worsening times, as evil is becoming more and more normal, Christians do not have the option to sit back and leave it to the pastors and missionaries to stand up for Christ. It's going to take a major revival of Christians all over the world constantly falling to our knees and earnestly seeking the One who promises to hear us. We must refuse to become indifferent. We must "fan into flame the gift of God which is in us" and become a warrior for our King (2 Timothy 1:6). He has not called us to a life of comfort, but of commitment to the Kingdom. It's never too late for revival. #IFthen "Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the Word planted in you, which can save you." -James 1:21