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A Day of Repentance, Reconciliation and Restoration
#3 in a series

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These words came to me in a quiet time before God on Friday, October 10, 2008, as world financial markets crumpled around us. It came, before I read in Yahoo News that leaders of the world’s top economies were gathering in Washington that day, of which President Bush said, “Through these efforts, the world is sending an unmistakable signal. We’re in this together and we’ll come through this together.”
                                                                                                Ken Stoltzfus (Sr.)

 
 

So what is the meaning of “A Day?” It is a time of repentance, reconciliation and restoration. Of turning from the vanity which has so captured the American heart and indeed the heart of the world. A day of seeking the very heart of God, in depth, with renewed vigor. In fact, with a vigor you have not heretofore known. You had no need of it in your own hearts because you felt full and complete, both in things sinful and things not but which nevertheless filled your hearts in place of God.

You have not known what it means to suffer. You will now know. Some will stand, many will fall. Standing will be based upon receiving the strength of God in place of strength from the things of the world which have so filled your life and even your soul.

There is no other hope. No other way to stand. Many will try but all will fail.

The distraught will cry. All will cry. Some will look up, some will not. Those who do will find strength to persevere. And they will find counsel, and even peace. But their own peace will be threatened by the distraught hearts and minds of those they know and love, but who refuse to look up. They continue to look to the world and the things of the world, and to men in power, to give them the answers of life. The things of the world were always empty and hollow and without ability to give peace in a time when their espoused ability was challenged by the events of life. And men in power have so given themselves to greed and self-interest that they are unable to give sound counsel and direction. It is a day of dismay.

It is also a day of separation. A day in which men must choose who or Who will be their god or God. It is a choice that will be followed by both price and reward. It will cost something either way but the cost is not equal. Nor is the reward.

Some will follow the voice of “now.” Immediacy. Expediency. Relief from the overwhelming, captivating and gnawing fear of the unknown. And from the sense that they are no longer able to control their own destiny. And for a short time they will feel relief.

Others will follow the voice which reigns eternal. The voice imbedded in the scripture, “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things; and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitations, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His offspring.’ Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:24-31, NAS)

The humble, the wise and the few will find strength in the eternal purposes of God. And in God Himself because it is He Who is working in the events of the day to accomplish His eternal purposes. They will need nothing else because He will be their source for every need.

These will not be easy days for any. All will suffer in some ways. The suffering of some will draw them toward God because they have seen the vanity and futility of all else. The suffering of others will draw them away from Him
because they are still fixated on the things of life as the answer to the hunger of the human soul. And mind.

True peace will be found by those who repent of finding life in the things of the world and who determine to find it only in following the heart of, and fulfilling the eternal purposes of, God. They will be willing to suffer the loss of all things for His sake. And not only “things,” but relationships that have made them feel important, and safe. They will love all, for the sake of Jesus, but will trust none for the answers to the questions of the day. Their answer will come only in the moment of quiet fellowship with God and surrender to His voice. That voice will be heard by all who genuinely seek Him. Those who know God in this way will be united at a level of fellowship, of true koinonia, that they have never previously known or even imagined. It will be deeply felt but unspoken. It will exist in a way which represents the nature of God, i.e. the Trinity. As men have fellowship with God in the deepest part of their inner being they will have similar fellowship with each other. It will be without plan or intention. It will simply be, because God IS.

All who trust in gold or in precious metals or other things considered precious, will be disappointed. There is nothing secure outside of God. No stockpiles. No hedging against possible eventualities. Those who find their security in God will be truly secure because He is the Rock. The One Who knows all and Who sees all and Who has power over all.

The truths that are spoken for this day are the truths which have stood for all days, but which have been ignored and abandoned by those who call God, “God,” because of the ease of finding the fulfillment and satisfaction of life in the things He created instead of in Him. In doing so they have cheated themselves and others of true “life,” and while many will spend eternity in the presence of the Living God they have missed the depth of fulfillment and satisfaction which only come by finding them in Him.

These are days of shaking, and warning. They are days for repentance, reconciliation and restoration. Days to turn from setting our eyes upon the things of the world. Days to reconcile the passions of our hearts with eternal truth. And days for the Church, i.e. those who together call Him, “Lord,” to be restored to vital fellowship with Him and thus with each other. The Church which is not founded on doctrine, practice or culture but on relationship with the Living God through His Son, Jesus Christ. The Church which defies boundaries of any kind. The Church which is active and alive and dynamic. The Church which is visibly different from institutions which we have known as “the church” because it functions by the will and power of the Living God rather than that of man. 

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If, Then, II Chronicles 7:13-22:
I am touched by the truth that the promised healing for a land, as given in II Chronicles 7:14, is contingent entirely upon man. It is only man who obstructs the healing touch of God. Secondly, we like v14-18 but we also need to read vv 19-22. Thirdly, repentance must begin with the church, but we hardly know what repentance means. We need to be careful about calling upon God for the promise of v14 without first doing our part and we’re not even close to being ready for that.

I am also challenged by Ezekiel 33:23-33 and its many elements that could well be applied to America today. Would God call us to consider its possible application?

 

Born in 1940, Ken Stoltzfus has worked as a pilot, ordained Christian minister, businessman, missionary to Africa and writer. This is #3 in the series "Prophetic, 9-11," and is one of many short articles that can be found at www.John2031.com.
Bible quotations are from the New Living Translation, © 1996 by Tyndale House Publishers.

© Ken Stoltzfus, www.John2031.com, P.O. Box 228, Kidron, OH 44636 USA. May be printed for personal use and may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes without further permission if proper acknowledgment is given.

 




 

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