Ezekiel 33:11 (NKJV):
11 Say
to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God,
‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from
his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O
house of Israel?’
2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV):
9 The
Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but
is longsuffering toward us,[b] not willing that any should perish but that
all should come to repentance.
I know that reading the title
many might think that there would be some harsh word of cursing or threat, but
instead we see God`s heart towards humanity—His eternal love that He overflowed
from the very beginning. He already knew even before He created Adam and Eve
that we- humans, would fail Him, and we would need the ultimate sacrifice of
Jesus Christ, yet He gave us a chance anyway (Revelation 13:8).
First of all, it`s important to
note that God`s message is consistent both in the Old and in the New
Testaments, and His word, as always, never contradict itself. The message that
we see from the beginning of the world`s creation when God promised Noah never
to destroy humanity and gave a sign of Rainbow as an assurance to all of us
that He would never destroy us until the day of His judgment comes (Genesis
9:13-15).
God is never late. I just
finished 21 days of fasting, and I haven`t gotten a breakthrough yet, so I started
analyzing if praying for my family is what God really wants me to do; whether
praying for my husband really should be that much of my time each day, and God
showed me these scriptures today. These are truly remarkable verses because
they outline the extent of God`s willingness to do what it takes to get even
one more person saved. These words just gripped me because there is nothing
better than getting direction from the Lord of what to pray for and how to pray
for it. I prayed for direction, and He was faithful as always to guide me.
Thank you, LORD!
We always start with the basics:
knowing God`s will for particular situation (using scripture to confirm it),
then praying on it until we see it come to pass. I had to analyze whether it is
truly God`s will to get back together with my husband, and He showed me the
sermons by Greg Laurie titled “Hope For The Hurting Marriages” where he
outlined the concept of the marriage as a vivid example of God`s relationship
with the church. Marriage is a prototype of how God loves and cares for His
church (His bride as it described in the New Testament). When you break apart a
marriage especially being a Christian, you become a lousy testimony of God`s
attitude for His church. This concept is nothing new, but I looked at it from
the different perspective when listening to these short series by Greg Laurie.
God once again directed me on how to continue praying for reconciliation of my
marriage on His foundation is His will.
By the way, here is the link to
the message by Greg Laurie titled “Hope for the Hurting Marriages” (those are
few short series):
God told Ezekiel to tell people that God`s heart
is not to destroy them, but to save them. Can you truly grip this depth of
God`s love towards us that while seeing His people live in a blunt idolatry, He
continued to speak to them through the prophets and ask to turn from their
wicked ways. His message is the same today: He delights to see even if one
turns from one`s wicked sinful ways.
I don`t want to be a hindrance for Him to
accomplish that with my family, with my unsaved relatives. That`s why He
reminded me that it is His will to pray for those who are lost; it is His will
to pray for the “wicked” and do what it takes to save them. Peter writes that
God is longsuffering toward us because He is not willing that we may perish.
This is God`s heart. If you don`t know God`s character, I urge you to read the
scripture, and one of the main concepts that you will realize is that God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, so that those who believe
would not perish, but they would have an everlasting life (John 3:16)!
Look at what He told Jeremiah when sending him to
warn people of the upcoming judgment:
5Then
the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as
this potter?” says the Lord.
“Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My
hand, O house of Israel! 7 The instant
I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull
down, and to destroy it, 8
if that nation against whom I have spoken turns
from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. 9 And the instant I speak concerning a nation and
concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, 10 if it does evil in My sight so that it does
not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I
would benefit it. 11 “Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I
am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now everyone from
his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.” (Jeremiah 18:5-11 NKJV)First of all, here is the concept of us being a clay in God`s hands, and Him being a Potter. He can make masterpiece out of the recycled clay. I worked in the clay studio when going to school, and I hated mixing recycled clay into the batches because the water was yucky dirty and the feeling of that submerged clay under water felt like there would be something nasty grabbing my hands. I just hated it. But then I would see students coming and buying recycled clay all the more because it was cheaper, and they would make these gorgeous structures out of it. I would also get to see how mercilessly they would demolish the piece and start from scratch when the base was corrupted.
This is the concept that God uses here in
Jeremiah: He is the Potter and we are clay in His hands. He cannot elevate a
masterpiece out of the corrupt base (base without the knowledge and obedience
to His word), and this is why He allows demolition and destruction to “recycle”
His clay (to give us another chance to rebuild our lives on the right
foundation of His word). He states that when people repent and turn from their
wicked ways, He is faithful to cancel the destruction, but when people refuse
to hearken, He brings judgment.
Right now we live during the period of His grace
when He allows all the time possible to get as many people saved as He can.
Once this period of time is fulfilled, He will close that door and bring out His
judgment on those who refused to listen and obey His word.
His will for today, for those who live a wicked
life of disobedience and idolatry, is to get them saved. God`s heart is for the
people and always will be. That`s why if you think that your situation is
impossible for the marriage or for some close people who are not saved and you
are not sure if you should continue praying for them; the answer is YES. God`s will is for us to pray for
those who are unsaved or backsliders, so they would TURN their ways and come to
the Lord once and for all.
I am certainly in situation where I have been with
my husband together for almost 10 years now, and I am yet to see the results of
my prayers. I have to admit that I would have seen the breakthrough earlier if
I was obedient to God`s word from the start and prayed for him, for our family,
but I didn`t. I wasted many years living in indulgence instead of sticking by
God`s word. This is why those lost years caught up with me now.
I live in the area where we haven`t gotten much
snow this year, but today I woke up and I saw pure fresh snow piling on the top
of the streets. God reminded me of the scripture in Job 38:22-23 (NKJV):
22
“Have
you entered the treasury of snow, Or have you seen the treasury of hail,23
Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, For the day of battle and war?
This is a great consolation for
me to know that He loves me so much that He showed me how much God continues to
fight for me and for my family. The snow is only a tangible evidence of His
constant presence in my life. Every time I feel hopeless, He upholds me and
directs my path to His word of encouragement. Today it`s the snow that made me
realize how much He fights for me. The good news is He already won, and it`s
only a matter of time before I see it coming to pass.
That`s why I want to encourage
you today that if you pray for your marriage, or for salvation of your loved ones,
please don`t give up. Press on; keep praying to see the results. When we are
hopeless, God is hopeful; when we are faithless, God remains faithful for He
cannot deny Himself; when we stumble, He upholds us; when we fall, He brings us
back. Our God is almighty and longsuffering Lord who does not wish for anyone
to perish, but to have an everlasting life. This is worth fighting for, so let
us not loose heart!
9 And
let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we
do not lose heart (Galatians 6:9 NKJV).
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