Daily Devotional

-May 4, 2021-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

-Repentance Precedes Restoration And Revival-

“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).

We often hear of this verse being applied to our nation, which is very valid, but its primary application was to the nation of Israel, and is also applicable to the church as well. We as believers are God’s people and we need repentance and revival just as our country does.

Repentance means to turn away from sin and toward God. When we do, it leads to restoration and revival. The key word in our text is the word “if.” God will never force anyone to repent, if must be our willing choice. There are four things we must do as believers and or as a country: humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways.

• Humble ourselves – We must humble ourselves before God, His greatness and His glory. We must see God for who He is before we can see ourselves for who we are. We then can see our weaknesses and nothingness. It says in James 4:10, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

• Pray – Once we see God in all His holiness and righteousness, it causes us to turn to Him in prayer for His help. We must confess our sins, forsake them, and turn from them. It is like looking in a mirror and seeing yourself as you really are. The prophet Isaiah experienced this in Isaiah 6:5, “So I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the Lord of hosts.’”

• Seek His face – So often we seek God’s hand but not His face. In other words, we want the blessings more than the Blesser. God’s desire is for us to love Him and seek Him for who He is not just for what He does for us. I still remember a brother preaching on this some 40 years ago!

• Turn from our wicked ways – We have all heard the expression, “Call a spade a spade.” We must call sin in our lives for what it is: an abomination to God, wickedness, and evil. We cannot “sugarcoat it,” nor justify ourselves in God’s sight. David repented of sin of adultery and murder in Psalm 51. He wrote in Psalm 51:3-4, “For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight — That You are just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.” All sin is against the holiness of God.

May the Lord help us to repent, be restored, and be revived. It takes honesty to admit our sin, confess it, and forsake it. If we do, God will send revival in our lives. It will start with us and spread to many others. Let us humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our sinful ways. God will then forgive us and heal our land and our lives.

Have a blessed day of soul searching honestly before God. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean