God is MOST
Interested in the Condition of Our Hearts
Rev. Greg Schermerhorn
– Written July 6, 2013 – Published July 18, 2013
Particularly around patriotic
holidays, we tend to hear references to 2 Chronicles 7:14 tossed around in
conversation. You are likely familiar
with this verse, even if you don't know the reference. It has become quite popular in our culture
among many who are seeking political change, as well as, those who are
genuinely seeking God's will. Here is
what the verse says:
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV)
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.
We usually hear about prayer in
the context of a change in Washington DC, but we never hear about what the
verse itself actually says and we never hear about its actual Scriptural context. For example, when is the last time you heard
one of these political activist types talk about confessing their own sin and
the sins of our nation before the Lord?
Or have you heard of any political group who is specifically courting
Christians through their use of the Bible, to actually hold prayer rallies
where they are humbling themselves before God for the purposes of seeking His
will, WHATEVER His will might be, regardless of their own personal or group
political agenda?
This brings us to our
application today. God is not interested
in our politics. God is interested in
the condition of our hearts. The
condition of our heart determines our politics.
Does this mean that God has no interest in the governmental affairs of
mankind? Absolutely not. God has ordained government and allows those
in power to be there.
The political agenda is
not God's agenda. If you
have gotten sucked into to the political fray, I would encourage you to get
"unsucked" so you can evaluate the truth of Scripture. Am I telling you that there is no merit in
political activism? No. I am telling you that there are greater and
more important things at stake than a political agenda. Please allow me to start with this
thought: God is MOST interested in
our hearts. Our hearts determine our
politics. 
It is my contention that
America's greatest problem is truly not political in nature, but
spiritual. We will never return to the
political structure of our founding if we don't first return to our spiritual
roots with the Lord. America was never
great because of its politics. She was
great because of her faith and trust in Almighty God! The Bible talks about the importance of
guarding our hearts.
Proverbs 4:23 (AMP)
Keep
and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you
guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.
What you allow into your
heart, in other words, what you allow into the center of your being, will flow
out into the rest of your life! We know
this is true. We become like the things
we surround ourselves with. We take on
the traits of the people we associate with on a regular basis. We become like the books, magazines, blogs,
and other things we read. Why do you
suppose David wrote:
Psalm 119:11 (NKJV)
Your
word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
We are no different than a
computer: GIGO – Garbage In, Garbage
Out! We must guard our hearts and minds
to prevent trash from being deposited there.
A strong America patterned
after the plan our founders used is a good thing, right? I would agree. But is that the best thing...the way God
would have it now??? That is an
interesting question. One for which I
have no answer to give you today. I ask
it for this specific reason: Are you
willing to seek God's face? Literally to
seek out His will above all other considerations and
accept it regardless of any preconceived ideas you may have? Do you really want to see the Lord's Prayer
enacted literally? Remember, what it
says:
Matthew 6:9b–13 (NKJV)
9b Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in
heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12
And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not
lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the
kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
This is not a trick
question. Are you willing to sacrifice
your idea of America to have God's will for America? It's a VALID question that, I think, far too
few of us have actually considered.
Please allow me to put this
into an easier context to grasp. Let's
talk about the the refining process and the refiner's fire. What is the purpose of the refining
process? Its purpose is to remove
impurities from metals. How is it
done? Usually through a process of
adding heat, pressure, and a catalyst to separate the material being purified
from the impurities imbedded within the material.
Let's look at gold as an example of the refining
process. Do you know what the number one
impurity removed from gold would be? It
is silver. A mineral that is also very
precious, but not nearly as precious as the gold. In the refiner's fire, God often removes
precious things from us to leave us with what is most precious and most
important. Who wouldn't keep silver if given
the opportunity? But will you sacrifice some
silver to have more pure gold? Can we
trust God enough to desire His will over our own will? Can we trust Him enough to refine out the things
that may be good to leave us with His best?
I want you to read 2
Chronicles 7:14 in the Amplified Translation:
2 Chronicles 7:14 (AMP)
If
My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek,
crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
When it comes to living out 2
Chronicles 7:14, are we willing to humble ourselves before God and pray to confess
our own sins, as well as, the sins of our nation, so that we can be clean
before the Lord? Do we have a broken
heart and contrite spirit before God's throne?
Psalm 51:17 (NKJV)
The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—
These,
O God, You will not despise.
Do we seek God's will with a
true craving, a true desire to know it and fulfill it?
Matthew 7:7–8 (NKJV)
Ask,
and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be
opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to
him who knocks it will be opened.
When we humble ourselves
before God and pray to Him seeking His face and His will, the Lord promises to
hear us from Heaven. As it says in Psalm
40:1:
Psalm 40:1 (NKJV)
I
waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry.
As the rest of 2 Chronicles
7:14 goes, so goes Psalm 40:2:
Psalm 40:2 (NKJV)
He
also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet
upon a rock, And established my steps.
If God weren't interested in
our hearts, He would not have sent Jesus to save the souls of mankind. There would be no John 3:16:
John 3:16 (NKJV)
For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Let's look at 2 Chronicles
7:14 again:
2 Chronicles 7:14 (AMP)
If
My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek,
crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
Now that the Lord has
addressed His concern for our heart's condition in the first half of 2
Chronicles 7:14, He is now willing to hear us from Heaven, to forgive our sins,
and heal our land. This is a tremendous
verse, but it is a single verse that is part of a much larger context. I would encourage you to read the context
surrounding the Lord's words to Solomon so that you can grasp the impact and
importance of why God said the things that He said. You can gain a good perspective of the
context by starting your reading at 2 Chronicles 5:11 and reading through
7:22. This is the story of the
dedication of the Temple Solomon built for the Lord in Jerusalem, Solomon's
prayer to the Lord before the people, and God's response to Solomon. God wants a personal relationship with you
and with me. All that is required is a
heart relationship with Him by receiving salvation though the finished work of
Jesus!
God's paramount concern
for you and for me is the condition of our heart. Do we, in our hearts know His Son, Jesus, as
our Savior? All of history has
been focused upon that question. All
of the Bible has pointed toward God's supreme interest in each of our
hearts. Don't you think we should also
be interested in them too? That is why
Jesus' last words before He ascended into Heaven concerned telling others about
the Gospel...looking out for their heart condition!
Matthew 28:19–20 (NKJV)
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Knowing Jesus as YOUR Savior is
as easy as A-B-C!
A-Admit
you are a sinner. Repent and turn away
from your sin.
Acts 3:19 (NKJV)
19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may
be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the
Lord,
B-Believe
that Jesus is the Son of God and receive God’s gift of forgiveness from sin.
Romans 5:8 (NKJV)
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
C-Confess
your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior.
Romans 10:9–10, 13 (NKJV)
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be
saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and
with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 13 For “whoever
calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
