God's Judgment Before His Mercy

Ever feel like you are doing great in one area of your life and then another area seems to fall by the wayside? I am have fallen in that cycle. I have recently gotten back into the routine of exercising faithfully; it cut into my blogging time, though, and here I am trying to get back on track on that area. I have been reading still, but not blogging or meditating on what I have read as much. I can surely tell a difference in my Bible reading. It's not looked forward to with as much anticipation and I am doing it more as a duty of a checked list. I don't like that feeling, and I know my Bible holds so much more potential than that. Routine...it's something that the Christian constantly has to work at, but at the same time work against. The irony. :)

2 Chron 6-7, Psalm 136

Here Solomon is dedicating the temple to God and asking for Your divine judgment on Your children---punishment or reward--whatever they were deserving of.

6:30-31 --"Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:) That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers."

Solomon understood Your balance of justice---reward for the upright and punishment for the forward. But he also understood Your mercy. He pleaded that when after deserved punishment was come, if the people repented and turned back to You that You would accept them and hear their prayers. You confirmed You will do this...

7:12-15 "And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, and if I send pestilence among my people; 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. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer [that is made] in this place."

Wow! I have read and heard that verse so many times, but now I see that Your mercy cannot come until Your judgment has fell and it makes the people repentant. Abba, I pray that for our America. May Your people see Your judgment on our land. May we all be willing to humble ourselves---not depending on our strong economy or government leaders, but You and be willing to turn from our wicked ways, so You can then heal our land. Forgive my sin, Abba. Help me to change whatever little area You chose in my life that keeps revival from happening in my own life and then in America.

Cleaving & Judging Motives

Joshua 19-24
21:44
And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.
21:45
There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

Proof that God keeps His promises.

22:5
But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.

God doesn't just want me to love Him and obey Him, He wants me to cleave unto Him. Cleaving--makes me picture like Linus is with His blanket. Inseparable. Or I picture that small oppossum clutched to it's mother's back. I need to strongly lean on the Lord. Consider Him in all my actions. Take Him wherever I go.

Chapter 22 explains an interesting story I have never noticed. The children of Gad and Reuben are told to go and take their possessions on the other side of Jordan and to bring them back and divide the spoil of their enemies with the rest of the children of Israel. On their way there, they stop and make an altar to the Lord. Upon hearing this, the rest of the Israelittes become angry and are ready for war. The confront them about it. Turns out the rest of the Israelittes had immediately judged their motives as wrong (what they suspected, I'm not sure) but the point I get from the story. I am not the judge of people and certainly I do not need to try and suspect people's motives. They may be purely innocent in them, but I am quick to judge them as wrong and if I am not careful I can react to my suspected motives rather than finding the whole truth and their side of the story first.

23:8
But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day

There it is again, cleave.