DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DAILY DEVOTIONAL
PRAY. FAST. SEEK GOD.
Throughout the scriptures, God calls His people to approach each new beginning with a posture of seeking Him. As ROCKHARBOR stands on the starting line of a new ministry year together, we embrace this call together. Since 2008, we have kicked off each Fall with a week of praying, fasting, and pursuing God together. It’s a chance to seek Him individually and corporately in new and fresh ways, and to gain a deeper sense of intimacy with Him. Over the course of this year’s Seek Week, we will be going through a verse together. This devotional is meant to be a supplement to the evening gatherings [information at rockharbor.org] and will provide scriptural context for you to reflect upon as you seek God throughout this week.
“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 I WILL FORGIVE THEIR SINS AND WILL HEAL THEIR LAND.” (2 CHRONICLES 7:14) In order to properly understand this passage that we will be working through over the course of this Seek Week, it’s important to know a few things.
I
srael, God’s chosen people, have gone through through quite a few experiences: exile from their homeland, a period of wandering in the desert, a few generations of Judges, and most recently, some encounters with enemies who destroyed their land. But now, they can experience the Shekinah Glory [meaning “He can dwell] of God in the physical temple they built for Him. It’s not that they weren’t able to experience the presence of God before, but more so that they weren’t able to do it in a stationary, set-apart location. For them, this temple is the manifestation of everything they had been working toward in efforts to gain back what they had lost. And it wasn’t an easy task – this temple took nearly 7 years to build and nearly 13 years to outfit and complete to the standards God laid out before them. Another important piece of context to grasp is the idea that the Israelites were living under the Davidic Covenant. In 1 Samuel 7, God makes promises to David involving his seed [his descendants], his kingdom, and his throne. David passed down these promises to his son, Solomon, who is now ruling over the kingdom. Covenants are important because they function essentially like a job description. God lays out exactly what He intends
to do for the people – but these actions are contingent on their behavior. God is essentially saying this: “I have an amazing plan for you, and if you live your life in the center of that plan, you will experience tremendous blessing. If, however, you remove yourself from the stream of my blessing, you will experience the inevitable consequences of your chosen lifestyle.” So, in this verse particularly, the Chronicler is giving the Israelites the order for spiritual and social renewal on this bright day of dedicating the temple. They are being told: if and when you do this [“Humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways”], God will do this for you [“Forgive their sins”] and for your territory [“heal their land”]. What does this mean for us today? While we no longer go to the temple to worship, we have the call to seek God humbly in all we do. Through the death of Jesus Christ, we have been granted access to God like the Israelites never had, and this is a week we keep that on the forefront of our minds as we SEEK God on behalf of ourselves and ROCKHARBOR. As we go through a different portion of the passage each day, keep this context in mind.
FAST
As we enter Seek Week, fasting will be an integral part of the process. This year, you will determine individually what you want to fast. Think about what distracts you from being intentional about hearing from God, and let that go for the week. One of the incredible gifts that God sometimes gives His people through fasting is the revelation of the things that control them. It is not until we go without certain things that we even realize the grasp they have one us. It could mean giving up a certain meal [or meals] to spend time in conversation with God. It could mean signing off from Social Media for the week [yes, that means deleting the apps from your phone, too!]. It could mean deciding as a family to forego evening TV watching. It could mean abstaining from physical activity [gym, exercise, etc.] in order to rest your body in new ways. There is no right answer, but the point of fasting is to sacrificially and intentionally lay down things that vie for your attention apart from Christ, in order to listen more clearly to Him and hear more clearly from Him.
“IF MY PEOPLE, WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME...”
I
t’s humbling to think about this: when God created you, He didn’t need a relationship with you. He was fully satisfied in the Trinity, with His Son and His Spirit. And even more sobering - you certainly don’t deserve a relationship with Him. Nothing you could do on your own accord would qualify you to be even in the slightest proximity of the Creator of the Universe. Yet, He wanted to be in relationship with you. In fact, since the beginning of time and throughout time, God has orchestrated the history of the world for one purpose: to restore right relationship with His people. From the moment He makes a covenant with Adam in Genesis until this very moment, He is in the process of redeeming all that was broken by sin. So, even though He didn’t need it, and you didn’t deserve it – having a relationship with you is something that brings God great joy. This first part of the verse sets the precedent for the rest of the passage – all that God is requiring of the people and promising He will give to them is because of their identity in Him. These words, “my people” … “who are called by my name,” inherently instill a sense of confidence not only for the original audience, but for us as well. Cultivating a relationship with you, a chosen one, has been the center of God’s plan since creation.
REFLECT:
Do you fully grasp the reality of your identity in Christ and what that means? Are there certain areas where you might feel a sense of confusion about what is true of you or what your purpose is? Seek God’s insight into the depth of love He has for you – so much so that He would sacrifice everything to be in relationship with you – and let that shape your response to Him.
“...WILL HUMBLE THEMSELVES AND PRAY AND SEEK MY FACE...”
T
he Israelites had no real qualifications to be God’s chosen people. Generation after generation of these people consistently looked to other things to rule them [a golden calf, a string of God-less human kings, etc.] and had the bad habit of forgetting about God until they were in a great crisis. Does that sound familiar? How often do we forsake God’s commandments in our own lives, and find ourselves turning to Him only in times of distress? Lucky for us, God didn’t give up on the Israelites, and He won’t give up on us either. He never broke one word of His promises to David, and He won’t break one word of His promises to us. His commitment to forgiveness in the face of great betrayal is one of the things that sets Him apart. It is because of this that the only proper way for the Israelites to approach God was with humility, and the same is true for us today. We are not entitled to any blessing or gift because of our “good” actions or behavior. By our very nature, we are underserving. So when we begin to think about asking God for things or laying things down at His feet – we must do so out of devotion and desperation – not out of entitlement or the feeling that we are “owed” anything. When you seek God, you’re choosing to orient your life toward Him in active faith and obedience. You are promising to be diligent in fulfilling His commands, standing in opposition to all other idols or things that might vie for your attention,. You are declaring that His way is the best way. Seeking means taking a posture of surrender, and in light of all He’s done for us, God deserves so much more [and certainly, nothing less].
REFLECT:
Are there times you find yourself thinking about how God “owes” you something? Would you say you are able to approach Him with an attitude of humility on a regular basis, or is it difficult for you? When you seek God, do you still find yourself with an agenda of your own, or are you able to lay down your plans for His plans? Pray that God would give you clarity concerning the ways you approach Him.
“...AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS...”
T
he 20-year process of building a temple was almost complete. Finally the Israelites would have a place to make sacrifices as part of their worship of God. But God wasn’t interested in just their sacrifices then, and He isn’t interested in just our sacrifices now. What was more important than a dove or goat presented at the altar was the transformation that took place inside the people’s hearts. Think about it – how good would an offering be if nothing changed as a result of it? That is the pattern the Israelites had fallen into, and God was slowly nudging them out of it. Transformation was necessary in the Israelites – true, heartfelt repentance for sin. Unfortunately, this was something the Israelites didn’t quite grasp for a while… Later in the Old Testament, we read the words of prophets who chastise the Israelites with some pretty strong words. Isaiah shares this statement from the Lord, “I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me” (5:21). The Lord was saying this because He knew the state of the Israelite’s hearts. They were far from Him, and no matter what offering they presented to Him in the temple, they had no true heart of repentance. You’re probably sensing a pattern here…this problem wasn’t something just the Israelites dealt with. We sit in church on Sunday and make promises to God about how we’ll act the rest of the week and all the ways we will change in order to please Him. We might even lift our hands to Him and surrender the things that might distract us from a life fully centered in Christ. But if our hearts are not truly repentant, if we do not actively and intentionally “turn away” from whatever it is that is hindering us, we will find ourselves in the same place we were before. In the same way our identity is also in Christ and our call is to humbly seek Him – our call is to turn away from the sinful things that separate us from Christ and stand in full repentance before Him. Personal holiness [which is something we are called to] means learning the attitudes and customs of Christ’s kingdom. We can no longer do what pleases us and expect an offering in the “temple” [or church] to make amends.
REFLECT:
Today’s reflection is simple: what are those things that you need to repent from? What do you need to “turn away” from in order to more fully step into the life God has called you to? Seek God’s wisdom as to what those things might be and ask Him what you can do to intentionally say “no” to the hold they could have on you.
“...THEN I WILL HEAR FROM HEAVEN...”
T
he last few days’ portions of the passage might have felt heavy – and that’s because they are! The call to humility and repentance is not easy. But it is good. Because the beautiful part of the whole cycle is that God meets us when we seek Him. We are not simply turning away from things that we want for the fun of it [and let’s face it, it’s not actually fun at all]. We are turning away from those things in order to pick up something that is significantly more beautiful and worthy of our life investment.
One of the most fascinating parts of the Davidic covenant is that no matter what the people did to disobey God, He never rescinded on His promise. When He told David He was going to “make His name great” and “set Him on an eternal throne” – He meant it. That future blessing was a sure thing. However, the present day for the people was certainly affected by their choices. This part of the passage starts to bring everything full circle: we do something, and God does something. He “hears from Heaven” as it says. Now, at first glance, it might seem like the Israelites are being told to check off a list of tasks and then God will listen. But think back to the analogy of a covenant being like a job description – God already told the Israelites exactly what He would do. He left nothing ambiguous! The word “then” is important because it reminds the people that while God is always with them and always hears them, He doesn’t just grant them whatever they want. He does everything according to His plan, and when the people seek Him and approach Him from a place of humility, most likely their requests will be aligned with God’s plan. You can rest assured that the sacrifices you make will be worth it. The time you spend earnestly seeking God’s voice and putting that before anything else will not return void.
REFLECT:
As you’ve spent time seeking God in a place of humility this week, what kinds of things have been surfacing? What are the desires of your heart or the requests you have that seemed to be aligned with the character of God and what He is calling you to? Offer those things to Him today. We know He will hear us.
“...AND I WILL FORGIVE THEIR SINS AND WILL HEAL THEIR LAND.”
W
hen God tells His people He will “heal their land” this isn’t a metaphor for something else. Their land was war-torn and had faced great destruction. The healing of land was massively important – it was the reversal of literal natural disaster. It was the deliverance from drought and despair into the land they were promised from the beginning. And if you remember, it was part of the covenant. Once again, what God said would happen, happened. This restoration of the land was part of His covenant to David, and the ultimate restoration for these people. It is incredible to see how God answers the prayers of His people in such a way that it brings Him the ultimate glory. Like we’ve talked about before, all of this was part of His covenant with the people. So, after they’ve been obedient to Him – sought Him and humbled themselves before Him and cried out to Him – He does what He said He would. It was not in God’s character to abandon His people then, and it isn’t now either. And let’s not forget the message of forgiveness. If you think back to the first part of the passage – remember that God’s intent is to restore the relationship with His people that was broken by sin. This includes forgiving them for the sinful life they will inevitably live. Praise God that He doesn’t keep a checklist of how many times He forgives. Praise God that no matter how many times the Israelites messed up – no matter how many times we mess up – God does not grow weary in forgiveness. Obviously the call for true repentance still is important. We cannot expect to undergo any sort of transformation if we keep pursuing things that are not of Christ. But if we are in pursuit of Christ, the mistakes we make along the way are already forgiven.
REFLECT:
Where do you need restoration? When you think about God forgiving you and healing your “land,” what comes to mind? Like you did yesterday, out of a place of repentance and humility, offer those things to God in prayer. Understand that He might not work in the exact way you think He should, but everything He does is according to His perfect plan. Find peace in that and celebrate!
S
eek Week is a great time to reorient our lives and step into a new posture together. However, what you learned this week is paramount for your entire life with Jesus. The week might be over, but you can continue to think through these things and continually reflect on what it means to offer everything to God and seek His voice on a daily basis.
PRAY. FAST. SEEK GOD.
Throughout the scriptures, God calls His people to approach each new beginning with a posture of seeking Him. As ROCKHARBOR stands on the starting line of a new ministry year together, we embrace this call together. Since 2008, we have kicked off each Fall with a week of praying, fasting, and pursuing God together. It’s a chance to seek Him individually and corporately in new and fresh ways, and to gain a deeper sense of intimacy with Him. Over the course of this year’s Seek Week, we will be going through a verse together. This devotional is meant to be a supplement to the evening gatherings [information at rockharbor.org] and will provide scriptural context for you to reflect upon as you seek God throughout this week.
“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 I WILL FORGIVE THEIR SINS AND WILL HEAL THEIR LAND.” (2 CHRONICLES 7:14) In order to properly understand this passage that we will be working through over the course of this Seek Week, it’s important to know a few things.
I
srael, God’s chosen people, have gone through through quite a few experiences: exile from their homeland, a period of wandering in the desert, a few generations of Judges, and most recently, some encounters with enemies who destroyed their land. But now, they can experience the Shekinah Glory [meaning “He can dwell] of God in the physical temple they built for Him. It’s not that they weren’t able to experience the presence of God before, but more so that they weren’t able to do it in a stationary, set-apart location. For them, this temple is the manifestation of everything they had been working toward in efforts to gain back what they had lost. And it wasn’t an easy task – this temple took nearly 7 years to build and nearly 13 years to outfit and complete to the standards God laid out before them. Another important piece of context to grasp is the idea that the Israelites were living under the Davidic Covenant. In 1 Samuel 7, God makes promises to David involving his seed [his descendants], his kingdom, and his throne. David passed down these promises to his son, Solomon, who is now ruling over the kingdom. Covenants are important because they function essentially like a job description. God lays out exactly what He intends
to do for the people – but these actions are contingent on their behavior. God is essentially saying this: “I have an amazing plan for you, and if you live your life in the center of that plan, you will experience tremendous blessing. If, however, you remove yourself from the stream of my blessing, you will experience the inevitable consequences of your chosen lifestyle.” So, in this verse particularly, the Chronicler is giving the Israelites the order for spiritual and social renewal on this bright day of dedicating the temple. They are being told: if and when you do this [“Humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways”], God will do this for you [“Forgive their sins”] and for your territory [“heal their land”]. What does this mean for us today? While we no longer go to the temple to worship, we have the call to seek God humbly in all we do. Through the death of Jesus Christ, we have been granted access to God like the Israelites never had, and this is a week we keep that on the forefront of our minds as we SEEK God on behalf of ourselves and ROCKHARBOR. As we go through a different portion of the passage each day, keep this context in mind.
FAST
As we enter Seek Week, fasting will be an integral part of the process. This year, you will determine individually what you want to fast. Think about what distracts you from being intentional about hearing from God, and let that go for the week. One of the incredible gifts that God sometimes gives His people through fasting is the revelation of the things that control them. It is not until we go without certain things that we even realize the grasp they have one us. It could mean giving up a certain meal [or meals] to spend time in conversation with God. It could mean signing off from Social Media for the week [yes, that means deleting the apps from your phone, too!]. It could mean deciding as a family to forego evening TV watching. It could mean abstaining from physical activity [gym, exercise, etc.] in order to rest your body in new ways. There is no right answer, but the point of fasting is to sacrificially and intentionally lay down things that vie for your attention apart from Christ, in order to listen more clearly to Him and hear more clearly from Him.
“IF MY PEOPLE, WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME...”
I
t’s humbling to think about this: when God created you, He didn’t need a relationship with you. He was fully satisfied in the Trinity, with His Son and His Spirit. And even more sobering - you certainly don’t deserve a relationship with Him. Nothing you could do on your own accord would qualify you to be even in the slightest proximity of the Creator of the Universe. Yet, He wanted to be in relationship with you. In fact, since the beginning of time and throughout time, God has orchestrated the history of the world for one purpose: to restore right relationship with His people. From the moment He makes a covenant with Adam in Genesis until this very moment, He is in the process of redeeming all that was broken by sin. So, even though He didn’t need it, and you didn’t deserve it – having a relationship with you is something that brings God great joy. This first part of the verse sets the precedent for the rest of the passage – all that God is requiring of the people and promising He will give to them is because of their identity in Him. These words, “my people” … “who are called by my name,” inherently instill a sense of confidence not only for the original audience, but for us as well. Cultivating a relationship with you, a chosen one, has been the center of God’s plan since creation.
REFLECT:
Do you fully grasp the reality of your identity in Christ and what that means? Are there certain areas where you might feel a sense of confusion about what is true of you or what your purpose is? Seek God’s insight into the depth of love He has for you – so much so that He would sacrifice everything to be in relationship with you – and let that shape your response to Him.
“...WILL HUMBLE THEMSELVES AND PRAY AND SEEK MY FACE...”
T
he Israelites had no real qualifications to be God’s chosen people. Generation after generation of these people consistently looked to other things to rule them [a golden calf, a string of God-less human kings, etc.] and had the bad habit of forgetting about God until they were in a great crisis. Does that sound familiar? How often do we forsake God’s commandments in our own lives, and find ourselves turning to Him only in times of distress? Lucky for us, God didn’t give up on the Israelites, and He won’t give up on us either. He never broke one word of His promises to David, and He won’t break one word of His promises to us. His commitment to forgiveness in the face of great betrayal is one of the things that sets Him apart. It is because of this that the only proper way for the Israelites to approach God was with humility, and the same is true for us today. We are not entitled to any blessing or gift because of our “good” actions or behavior. By our very nature, we are underserving. So when we begin to think about asking God for things or laying things down at His feet – we must do so out of devotion and desperation – not out of entitlement or the feeling that we are “owed” anything. When you seek God, you’re choosing to orient your life toward Him in active faith and obedience. You are promising to be diligent in fulfilling His commands, standing in opposition to all other idols or things that might vie for your attention,. You are declaring that His way is the best way. Seeking means taking a posture of surrender, and in light of all He’s done for us, God deserves so much more [and certainly, nothing less].
REFLECT:
Are there times you find yourself thinking about how God “owes” you something? Would you say you are able to approach Him with an attitude of humility on a regular basis, or is it difficult for you? When you seek God, do you still find yourself with an agenda of your own, or are you able to lay down your plans for His plans? Pray that God would give you clarity concerning the ways you approach Him.
“...AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS...”
T
he 20-year process of building a temple was almost complete. Finally the Israelites would have a place to make sacrifices as part of their worship of God. But God wasn’t interested in just their sacrifices then, and He isn’t interested in just our sacrifices now. What was more important than a dove or goat presented at the altar was the transformation that took place inside the people’s hearts. Think about it – how good would an offering be if nothing changed as a result of it? That is the pattern the Israelites had fallen into, and God was slowly nudging them out of it. Transformation was necessary in the Israelites – true, heartfelt repentance for sin. Unfortunately, this was something the Israelites didn’t quite grasp for a while… Later in the Old Testament, we read the words of prophets who chastise the Israelites with some pretty strong words. Isaiah shares this statement from the Lord, “I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me” (5:21). The Lord was saying this because He knew the state of the Israelite’s hearts. They were far from Him, and no matter what offering they presented to Him in the temple, they had no true heart of repentance. You’re probably sensing a pattern here…this problem wasn’t something just the Israelites dealt with. We sit in church on Sunday and make promises to God about how we’ll act the rest of the week and all the ways we will change in order to please Him. We might even lift our hands to Him and surrender the things that might distract us from a life fully centered in Christ. But if our hearts are not truly repentant, if we do not actively and intentionally “turn away” from whatever it is that is hindering us, we will find ourselves in the same place we were before. In the same way our identity is also in Christ and our call is to humbly seek Him – our call is to turn away from the sinful things that separate us from Christ and stand in full repentance before Him. Personal holiness [which is something we are called to] means learning the attitudes and customs of Christ’s kingdom. We can no longer do what pleases us and expect an offering in the “temple” [or church] to make amends.
REFLECT:
Today’s reflection is simple: what are those things that you need to repent from? What do you need to “turn away” from in order to more fully step into the life God has called you to? Seek God’s wisdom as to what those things might be and ask Him what you can do to intentionally say “no” to the hold they could have on you.
“...THEN I WILL HEAR FROM HEAVEN...”
T
he last few days’ portions of the passage might have felt heavy – and that’s because they are! The call to humility and repentance is not easy. But it is good. Because the beautiful part of the whole cycle is that God meets us when we seek Him. We are not simply turning away from things that we want for the fun of it [and let’s face it, it’s not actually fun at all]. We are turning away from those things in order to pick up something that is significantly more beautiful and worthy of our life investment.
One of the most fascinating parts of the Davidic covenant is that no matter what the people did to disobey God, He never rescinded on His promise. When He told David He was going to “make His name great” and “set Him on an eternal throne” – He meant it. That future blessing was a sure thing. However, the present day for the people was certainly affected by their choices. This part of the passage starts to bring everything full circle: we do something, and God does something. He “hears from Heaven” as it says. Now, at first glance, it might seem like the Israelites are being told to check off a list of tasks and then God will listen. But think back to the analogy of a covenant being like a job description – God already told the Israelites exactly what He would do. He left nothing ambiguous! The word “then” is important because it reminds the people that while God is always with them and always hears them, He doesn’t just grant them whatever they want. He does everything according to His plan, and when the people seek Him and approach Him from a place of humility, most likely their requests will be aligned with God’s plan. You can rest assured that the sacrifices you make will be worth it. The time you spend earnestly seeking God’s voice and putting that before anything else will not return void.
REFLECT:
As you’ve spent time seeking God in a place of humility this week, what kinds of things have been surfacing? What are the desires of your heart or the requests you have that seemed to be aligned with the character of God and what He is calling you to? Offer those things to Him today. We know He will hear us.
“...AND I WILL FORGIVE THEIR SINS AND WILL HEAL THEIR LAND.”
W
hen God tells His people He will “heal their land” this isn’t a metaphor for something else. Their land was war-torn and had faced great destruction. The healing of land was massively important – it was the reversal of literal natural disaster. It was the deliverance from drought and despair into the land they were promised from the beginning. And if you remember, it was part of the covenant. Once again, what God said would happen, happened. This restoration of the land was part of His covenant to David, and the ultimate restoration for these people. It is incredible to see how God answers the prayers of His people in such a way that it brings Him the ultimate glory. Like we’ve talked about before, all of this was part of His covenant with the people. So, after they’ve been obedient to Him – sought Him and humbled themselves before Him and cried out to Him – He does what He said He would. It was not in God’s character to abandon His people then, and it isn’t now either. And let’s not forget the message of forgiveness. If you think back to the first part of the passage – remember that God’s intent is to restore the relationship with His people that was broken by sin. This includes forgiving them for the sinful life they will inevitably live. Praise God that He doesn’t keep a checklist of how many times He forgives. Praise God that no matter how many times the Israelites messed up – no matter how many times we mess up – God does not grow weary in forgiveness. Obviously the call for true repentance still is important. We cannot expect to undergo any sort of transformation if we keep pursuing things that are not of Christ. But if we are in pursuit of Christ, the mistakes we make along the way are already forgiven.
REFLECT:
Where do you need restoration? When you think about God forgiving you and healing your “land,” what comes to mind? Like you did yesterday, out of a place of repentance and humility, offer those things to God in prayer. Understand that He might not work in the exact way you think He should, but everything He does is according to His perfect plan. Find peace in that and celebrate!
S
eek Week is a great time to reorient our lives and step into a new posture together. However, what you learned this week is paramount for your entire life with Jesus. The week might be over, but you can continue to think through these things and continually reflect on what it means to offer everything to God and seek His voice on a daily basis.
