The days are growing darker and I am not speaking about the lessening daylight but the spiritual darkness that is overtaking not just our nation but that of the entire Western world. We are at war with an invisible enemy who is more devastating and ruthless than Hitler and the Nazi threat 70 years ago. He was identifiable and the damage done to us was merely physical; but this enemy is invisible and attacks the most intimate and private areas of family and married life. [1] It is above all our children who are under attack through sex education in the schools that is designed to corrupt and break down their natural modesty and resistance to sexual predators.
All this has happened because we have turned our backs on God and chased after idols of our own making. As a consequence God has given us up to our own self – destructive natures. Barriers that once protected marriage and family life, over a period of fifty years have, one by one, been removed. Barriers such as God’s law and our own god- given conscience that caused us to exercise self – restraint and self – control are being torn down by the government, so that whether we like it or not we will be coerced to conform to the increasing sexual anarchy surrounding us. In particular, homosexuality is taking its grip on every Western Nation, with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon telling the nations, last week, to place lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual rights and reproductive rights (abortion) at the forefront of the United Nations human rights agenda.[2]
Just as ancient Greece, Rome and other civilisations vainly struggled with inner spiritual moral decay so we too are condemned to fall, unless by the grace of God, and the Holy Spirit we are moved to repent and cry for forgiveness to our Father in Heaven for our idolatry, turning our back on Him and trampling on the cross of His Son, Jesus Christ. Only then will we be given the supernatural power, moral courage and martial vigour take our stand for Jesus Christ, Godliness, righteousness, and the truth that sets all men free.
WORLDWIDE NATIONAL DAY OF REPENTANCE [3]
Christian leaders from around the world are asking us set aside a part or all of a 25 hour period, this week, from Tuesday evening, September 25th to Wednesday evening the 26th and to cry to God for mercy and the power to repent for the evil that is no longer done in the dark but in the broad light of day.
They say:-
It’s time to repent, individually and as nation's such as USA, Australia and United Kingdom etc, A number of key prayer and repentance events are scheduled. Ten days of repentance began with Rosh Hashanah on September 16, with the blowing of shofars, leading up to Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, on September 26. God willing, there will be thousands of ministry or church events at the grassroots level across the body of Christ on this one key holy day– this year’s World Day of Repentance.
Individual fasting, prayer, taking the day off work to show the God we serve instead of mammon, time alone with God, or education praying silently at a place of government, prayer-walking your neighbourhood, participation in a church or ministry service– time to do a spiritual inventory with our Creator– these will mark all or a portion of the 25 hours beginning twenty minutes before sundown in each community on Tuesday, September 25, 2012 and concluding on Yom Kippur, Wednesday, September 26, forty minutes after sunset.
It is a holy day for those of us in the body of Christ to choose which God we will serve. It is a day to mobilize His body to repent and choose Him. As we choose Him and love Him, and walk in His ways, and keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, He will do miracles; our next generations will live and multiply, and He will bless us in our land.
Seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as to an outline of a program for your group or church during all or a portion of this key day. Join with other churches in your community if possible. You may wish to begin and end with worship, giving plenty of time for silence and soul-searching. It’s not about judgment or pointing the finger at homosexuals even; we’ve all fallen short of the glory of God. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
During any service or meeting you may wish to provide an opportunity for persons to pray. Pray for unity in the body of Christ around this event which seeks support by many ministries and denominations across the body of Christ.
You may also wish to teach on the many Scriptures referring to repentance. You may consider taking time to teach the remarkable, true stories of how repentance was a key factor in God’s Victories through David [Psalm 51], Jehoshaphat, [chapter 20:1-22], Daniel [chapter 9: 1-19], Esther [chapter 4: 1-17], and Nehemiah [chapter 1: 3-11]. There are similar examples in British, Australian and American Christian history showing God’s Hand to bless our nation once there was a national call for repentance. You may also wish to focus on Christ and the Kingdom of God and the zeal of the Lord in establishing the increase of His government and His peace for which there will be no end. Previous National Days of Repentance – USA (1774), Australia and Israel etc.
This Worldwide National Day of Repentance is set to coincide with Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. The event taking place on Yom Kippur in no way is meant to pre-empt or replace what Yom Kippur means for the Jewish people, but is meant to honour the Jewish people’s divinely mandated calendar, and to honour the holiness and seriousness of that day. It also honours the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. The Lord Himself said that the Day of Atonement would be a “holy convocation”, a day to “afflict” one’s soul, to do no work; a “statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.”
It is also the one key day each year when our nation's can re-covenant with its God. This year of 2012 is critical. Will we in the body of Christ repent and renounce other gods? Will “We The People” re-covenant with our Creator, the living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Will we have a government under God or under man? Using the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb sacrifice, our kinsman Redeemer, will God at His mercy seat watch us turn from our wicked ways so that He can hear from heaven, forgive our sin and heal our land?
During the 25 hour holy day we suggest you set aside time for prayer for the Jewish people, who are now under attack. This Day of Atonement in 2012 is very relevant in September 2012 as Israel faces a real threat of total destruction by the Islamic nation of Iran.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Pray also about the place of our Lord Jesus Christ in history: past, present and future. Thank the Living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that applies to Israel primarily, but also now for us believers, and is a way to heal all nations, including our nation in 2012: “ 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."
Perhaps only after a time of repentance can we fully go on to a time of praise and worship at the National Day of Prayer at Wembley on the 29th September www.ndopwembley.com .
[1] www.christianstogether.net/Articles/288100/Christians_Together_in/Christian_Life/11_11_11.aspx
[2] www.lifesitenews.com/news/un-secretary-general-defies-members-on-reproductive-rights-homosexuality
[3] www.dayofrepentance.org
I am yours in Christ
David Skinner
0 comments:
Post a Comment