heaven's tree book club

Breakth rough  Prayer

BREAK THROUGH TO HOLINESS
It is odd to find this chapter in a book on breakthrough prayer. We've been reading about impossible situations, God's promises, and God's desire to bless His people. What does holiness have to do with prayer? We find in the passage the author uses that holiness has a lot to do with prayer.
"Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses."
The young man lowered his eyes, speaking more slowly now to give the old man time to react: "Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead." And then, with hesitation, came the worst news of all: "The ark of God has been captured."
As soon as Eli heard that the ark had fallen into enemy- hands, he pitched backward off his chair, breaking his neck. The ninety-eight-year-old priest who had led Israel for forty years was dead.
Like the whirlpool created by a ship's sinking, the news spread rapidly through Shiloh, pulling others into despair. When Eli's daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, heard what had happened, she went into early labor. Overcome by pain, she refused to be comforted by the news that she had given birth to a son. As she lay dying, she named her child Ichabod, meaning "no glory," and pronounced the truth everyone already knew: "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured." (See 1 Samuel 4:12-22.)
How was it that God's covenant people had been forced to retreat from their enemies, the idolatrous Philistines? Why did their soldiers die when the Lord was supposed to have been on their side? How could God permit his own high priest and his two sons to die on the very same day? And finally, why was the ark of the covenant, symbolizing the uniqueness of Israel, now in enemy hands? The answer to all these questions is simply this: Divine judgment had fallen on God's own people. The Lord was cleaning house."
Divine judgement is not a popular sermon message in the church today. This particular time in the history of God's people was quite sad. The ark of God signified God's presence and the name of the son who was just born signifies the time that the glory of God has departed. How can God allow for the enemies of His people to slaughter so many. Is God not on the side of His people?

"To understand the sad turn of events in Israel's history we must keep in mind one of the first principles of the spiritual life. Paul wrote about this in his letter to the Galatians: "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows" (6:7).
It didn't matter that Israel was God's chosen people. If anything, their special status made their situation worse because of the tremendous privilege they had been given. They had the light of Scripture; they were Abraham's offspring; they had received the law God had entrusted to Moses; they understood the blood sacrifice basis of approaching God. And still they were faithless, turning away from the Lord.
The Bible describes Eli's sons, the priests Hophni and Phinehas, in no uncertain terms. They were worthless scoundrels who did not even know the Lord. Instead of honoring God by performing the offerings as prescribed, they greedily demanded the best meat for themselves, thus holding God in contempt (1 Samuel 2:12-17).
Sadly, there was much more to the priests' sins than greed. "Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting" (v. 22).
Hophni and Phinehas were taking advantage of the women who worked in the precincts of the Tabernacle. Incredibly, the two expressed neither shame nor repentance about their conduct. They may even have told the women that their exalted position gave them license to live above the moral laws God had for everyone else. After all, they were priests of the Most High with daily access to the Holy Place just inside the veil that led to God's Holy of Holies!
Month after month and year after year, the Lord permitted this ungodliness in his own Tabernacle. No lightning bolt flashed out of heaven to destroy the two priests, and for a while it seemed their treachery would go unpunished.
But all the while that Hophni and Phinehas were working their scam against the people, God was working on a solution in the shape of a small boy who was faithfully serving him right under their noses. While they pursued their selfish passions, this boy performed his daily ministry to the Lord, wearing a simple linen garment symbolizing his purity and devotion. Hannah's son Samuel, the one who had been the answer to her prayer for a child, was growing up in the temple at Shiloh."
Could we imagine such men in the priesthood? Greed and lust and gross immorality in the display of religion. No wonder why God had to clean house. God showed His patience towards His people but they did not turn from their ways. God's patience does have limits. Wickedness eventually is dealt with by God. God raised up Samuel, a man of God whose heart was fully devoted to God. We are placed with two options really. Willful and continual sin cannot be part of God's people. The author makes the modern comparison to the sex abuses in the Catholic church priests with young children. Also, some Christian leaders have divorced with no Biblical basis. The comparison can be made between then and now and how church leaders and laity do horrible things while professing faith.
"The bottom-line question when it comes t for should not be what we think about it bu Holy Spirit thinks about it. All too often, a horrible kind of "reverse conversion"   is  taking place  in /\ n(
which the world and its desires "revei are changing Christians rather istakin than the other way around. Some ^e W( people seem to have forgotten— Christ or perhaps never learned—that ^e ^l the church was born in a holy atmosphere:
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation" (Acts 2:40).
"Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you" (2 Corinthians 6:17).
Christ sent us to convert the world, not be conformed to it. When sensuality is accepted in partnership with the message of the gospel, we are deceived, becoming strangers to the power of God. If the Lord called Peter's generation "corrupt," how would he define America in the twenty-first century? Just because God loves the world doesn't mean he has lost his holy hatred of sin. Let's pray for a spiritual revival that will clean the church of unholy practices!"

The world is changing Christians rather than the other way around. The author points out a gospel group who performed with cheerleading dancers were scantily dressed. Some say that modesty is too historic. We need to be with the times. The author does not mention it, but the other extreme with the conservative church makes it so that the church is separate from the world and thus also does not change the world. The Colorado incident was another wake up call. Some Christians blame the church that if we had more of an influence on the world, the mass shooting would never had happened. Far too many churches are inward focused and have lost our voice and presence in our cities. Indeed, God has a holy hatred of sin.
"An attentive, willing heart is what God is after. An attentive, willing heart is the great need of the hour. Programs, talent, and human energy will never accomplish what one man or woman in close fellowship with the living God can do. A young boy in Shiloh led an entire people back from ruin because he was willing to be a humble servant of the great and awesome God.
Today too much of the church suffers from dull, mechanical Bible exposition that lacks the touch of the Holy Spirit. No matter how skilled the preacher, only the Spirit can direct us to the truths that most need to be proclaimed and enable us to apply them in a convicting manner. God is not searching for talent or intelligence on earth, because he is the Almighty One! He already has everything he needs—except our hearts. He wants us to be like Samuel, with a heart that waits to hear and swiftly obey his word. Our present lack of spiritual fruit and power doesn't bring much glory to God. But his answer to our need is always the same:
Come near to God and he will come near to you. . . . Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up (James 4:8, 10).
Let's ask the Lord to clean his house, beginning writh you and me. When our hearts experience a breakthrough, we will find that our prayers are more powerful as well. God has promised to draw near to us with fresh grace /'/ we humble ourselves and confess our disobedience. The Lord has never changed, nor will he. Today we can experience a new day of blessing and fruitfulness if we follow Samuel's example by saying with our whole hearts, "Speak, for your servant is listening."
Prayer:
Father, Your servant Samuel said, "speak Lord, for Your servant is listening. I desire that attentive willing heart to hear Your voice. I see more and more Your holy hatred of sin. Such compromise must not exist within Your church. In many places right now, there are many floods. I am not sure if it means You are cleaning house there, but You hate sin and how it is so ugly and unholy. God, would You turn Your church back to You. Make her radiant and pure and holy again. May we not be conformed to the world, but enable us to change the world.