Call to Action ~ Perpetual Desolations

@2gethrMinistry

Is the following not a clear image of what is happening in our lands today?

Lift up Your feet to the perpetual desolations.
The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.
Your enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place;
They set up their banners for signs.
They seem like men who lift up
Axes among the thick trees.
And now they break down its carved work, all at once,
With axes and hammers.
They have set fire to Your sanctuary;
They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name to the ground.
They said in their hearts,
"Let us destroy them altogether."
They have burned up all the meeting places of God in the land.
{Psalm 74:3-8}


Christians everywhere are coming under hard persecution.

The question becomes whether or not we who call ourselves Christians are going to put on the armor of God and make a stand for what we believe in, or if we're going to shrug our shoulders and say we're only one person, what change can we really make? Martin Luther King Jr. was only one man. Mother Teresa was only one woman.

What voice has God given you? It's time to use it.

Bullies can only bully as long as we let them. When we stand up for our faith, in the name of Jesus, with the power of the Holy Spirit within us, the enemy has to flee. Imagine what we could do if we united for a just cause.

Call to Action:
Find a ministry or organization to support that is diligently working against the bullies of this world. One example of such a ministry is Preemptive Love Coalition. Ann Voskamp (one person) is helping them raise money to battle ISIS's maltreatment of women and children. Read her story here. Then hop on over and visit Preemptive Love's site to make a donation.

Call to Action ~ Our Young People are Faint with Spiritual Hunger

@2getherministry
 
Arise, cry out in the night,
At the beginning of the watches;
Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.
Lift your hands toward Him
For the life of your young children,
Who faint from hunger at the head of every street.
{Lamentations 2:19}

"For the life of your young children who faint from hunger at the head of every street..."

There are young people at every street corner who are desperate for Jesus and Truth and spiritual life. What are we doing to provide it?

Do we pass them by? Blame them for where they are? Shun them? Ignore the desperation on their faces?

Or do we take the time to stop and consider their needs? Even in the midst of their rebellion and pain.

Do we make it a point to speak to them? To offer them some glimmer of hope? Some word of encouragement? Some hint of a greater love than their mistakes or their parents' mistakes or society's mistakes?

It doesn't take but one moment to stop and let them know they are loved with an everlasting love.

Despite their odds.

Call to Action:
Switch 42:16 is working to make a difference in Upstate SC by providing assistance to women and children involved in sex trafficking. You can help make a difference in the life of girls hungering for more by making a donation here: Switch on the Light

Call to Action ~ God Can't Pardon When We Don't Repent

@2gethrministry

Let us search out & examine our ways, 

And turn back to the Lord; 

Let us lift our hearts & hands To God in heaven. 

We've transgressed & rebelled; 

You have not pardoned. 

                  {Lamentations 3:40-42, emphasis mine}

God will not forgive the unrepentant heart. Just sayin'.

Repentance means to turn and walk away from our sin. It doesn't mean apologize once, then wait a little while before we go back to doing what we were before. Then apologize again. No. It means to make a decision to exert self-control and to walk completely away from that habit/lifestyle/sin that goes against God's Word and His will for our lives.

This is admittedly difficult at times. And that's when we need to rely on God's strength to see us through the trial of letting go. But we do need to let go.

Because we aren't truly repentant if we don't.

Call to Action:
Check your heart against God's word. Is there anything you've been holding onto that you need to let go of? Something you can't help doing that you know you need to walk away from? Ask God to help you find the strength to do it today.

Marriage Works ~ I Only Have Eyes for You

@2gethrMinistry

One thing that really gets under my skin is when I have a woman come to me for counsel because her husband has "encouraged" her to watch her weight.

From the time that your wife was a little girl she's wanted to know that she's beautiful and that she's loved for who she is.

Call to Action ~ Beware the Flattering Tongue

@2getherministry

Your prophets have seen for you
False and deceptive visions;
They have not uncovered your iniquity,
To bring back your captives,
But have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions.
{Lamentations 2:14}

Do the people who speak into your life (pastors, teachers, spiritual mothers and fathers, prophets, etc.) uncover your iniquities? Does what they say to you ever bring the conviction of the Holy Spirit? Prick your heart enough that it bleeds for change in your life? Call you higher? Call you to a holier place in your heart?

Beware the false prophecies and delusions. None of us is perfect or sinless until the day we meet Jesus face to face. We are tempted. We are torn. We are convicted - if we are walking in the truth of God's word and if our mentors are doing the same. If all someone tells you is how great you are and how you don't have to worry about anything and how it's not your fault that your marriage is falling apart or you lost your job or your neighbor is suing you, you may want to check the spirit behind those statements.

Call to Action:
If you are aware that someone you are close to is deceptive with their words, talk with them about it. Let them know you would appreciate honesty over flattery. If they refuse to acknowledge their error, it may be time to find someone else to confide in.