A call to prayer - Hezekiah

What if??

What if America was never meant to have “freedom of religion” but FREEDOM OF RELATIONSHIP with God. The only religion that exists…that can honestly support and be based on that kind of lifestyle is the one that serves the Living God. Israel…Judah…they were not to be a place of “Freedom of Religion”, but meant to be a place that represented a chosen people. CHOSEN. Chosen by LOVE. Love: A foundational building block in the creation of humanity was the love of the living God. The Abba - Father. He gave us freedom of choice, so that we may CHOOSE Him!! So that we could choose Love, something that always renders from choice.

Hezekiah, a king who did right in the eyes of the Lord, “He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. ” 2Kings 18:4

This was no place of “freedom of religion”, but a place to live in the freedom God offered to his chosen, now which has been revealed as the freedom in Christ extended and granted to all peoples who choose Him.

Hezekiah was a man who did right in the eyes of the Lord. Now what are we doing? We need to be living lives of integrity. Like Hezekiah, we need to be living lives that have full trust in the One and Only: Living God. Placing our lives in the hands of the King of kings, the Lord of Lords, who promises to His chosen one’s, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples of earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:1-2

I’ve heard a saying, “…America, the most powerful nation on earth.” I don’t believe America will much longer be the most powerful nation on earth, unless do as was commanded to the nation of Israel through Jeremiah, “Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you. They said, ‘Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them. Then you will live in the land I have given to you and your fathers’ But you have not paid attention or listened to me.” Jeremiah 35:15

I know…our forefathers of this “most powerful nation” meditated and pondered upon the scriptures of the Bible, when they came up with the idea of a “free” country. A country that could live in the kind of freedom that God offers us, the freedom to love him, the “freedom of relationship” with the Living God. Not a freedom to be abused, or used for selfish desires and false gods.

Not only America but peoples of all nations, may we strive to turn from our selfish ideas, selfish agendas, and our gods. May we put our full trust in the Living God, and seek truth – through the word of God and the Holy Spirit – day and night. May our heart’s desire be turned to the God of mercy and grace, the only one who is worthy.

I believe we need to do as Jeremiah said, and “each of us need to turn from our wicked ways”. If we stop long enough to listen to our heart of hearts, it won’t take long to recognize the “wicked ways” we’ve been living out. We all have made mistakes, and it’s God’s grace that allows us to turn and live with hope and true freedom. Occasionally someone needs another person to point out what he/she is doing wrong, but a lot of times it doesn't take long when we actively chose to be introspective. Be introspective and recognize where our guilt roots from. God is not a God of condemnation, but of conviction, because he is a God who offers a way out: forgiveness (when we choose to change). Why not take advantage of this freedom of relationship he offers?

In addition to continuously placing our trust - our faith - in Christ and being introspective with our mistakes – our sins -, we need to act, we need pray, we need to verb. Verb: a word used to describe action.

Recently God's really been burdening my heart to pray for Christian leaders to rise up in all spheres of society (in government, education, church, science, family, economy, arts & communication). The other night, I had an inkling that we need to pray for leaders to rise up from the coming generations, especially political leaders, who will be like King Hezekiah. Hezekiah “…did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done. …There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.” 2 Kings 18:3& 5b

We need Godly leaders. We even need Godly leaders in politics, especially in politics. Let’s pray! (not only for Hezekiahs to rise up in America, but worldwide!) I'll be praying through out the week for Godly leaders, but especially on Mondays. You can do as you feel lead. Whether it's praying in your car on your way to/from work, on your way to the store, at home in the morning/evening, fasting food/music/tv/etc., whatever way you feel God leads you to pray for Godly Leaders to rise up!