Scripture:

2 Chronicles 7:14

14 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.

Today, in our portion, Solomon has an encounter with God; the bible says this is the second time that God has spoken to Solomon directly.  When someone calls you or writes a letter or an email, it still holds importance, but when it must be in person, it has weight.   Here the Lord gives Solomon the recipe for peace and blessing, for fruitfulness and success, a restored state.  The Lord lays out these four conditions: 

Four Conditions

1. Humble themselves:   To recognize their need for God, His strength, His power, His ability. Admitting need and submitting to God's authority.
2. Pray: Seeking God in honest communication.  Pouring ourselves out before Him.
3. Seek my face: Actively pursuing a deeper relationship with God rather than just asking for favors.
4. Turn from their wicked ways: Repenting (changing your mind), seeing from God's perspective, and changing directions, aligning with God's ways. 

Three Promises

1. Hear from heaven: God listens to the prayers of His people.
2. Forgive their sin: God pardons the transgressions of those who repent. Remembering them no more.
3. Heal their land: God restores and brings peace/wholeness/blessing and refreshing to the place we live, restoring us, renewing a right relationship. 

Today's God Shot is to be humble, to repent, which means to see from God's perspective, to have a changed mind, one that sees life through God's lens, to seek Him with all that is within you.

Lord, we are your people, the place in which you put your name. May our hearts always be humble, and our eyes always be set on you. May our ears be attentive to your voice and follow your leading, heal our land, restore us, refresh and renew us in this day, may we bring you honor in Jesus' name, Amen! 

Scripture:

2 Chronicles 5:13-14

13 indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying:

“For He is good,
For His mercy endures forever,”

that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not [a] continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

Tangible Presence

Today in our portion, I am reminded of the power of worship, how it has the power to draw the tangible presence of the Lord. In fact, Psalm 22:3 confirms this truth, "God inhabits the praises of His people." 

When you know this truth, you will never miss an opportunity to praise Him, to draw His presence.   It is why it always baffles me when people show up for Church at the end of worship, or why it takes 3 songs to shake the events of the morning off. Maybe it is because they have not encountered God in praise as I have experienced the power of praise.   

This Sunday was one of those moments I could sense the tangible presence of the Lord, and what I realized is that it was at that moment that I entered into true praise where it was Him-focused.   Our worship should always be like this, not because the music is good, not because it is what we are supposed to do, but simply because He is worthy of our praise.

These moments are not just for me; they are for you. Your Father wants to inhabit your praises too.

The God Shot today is to never miss an opportunity to praise Him, to have a moment with God, to enter into the Holy of Holies where HIS PRESENCE is tangible, where it fills the space you are in so greatly that you have to stop and just breathe.

Lord, let all of our praise look like this, let our hearts be full with praise, let our lips sing of your goodness, you deserve all the glory and praise and honor, and I praise you, let us always "enter into" your presence, enter in through the door of praise, let our worship be pleasing to you in Jesus' name, Amen!

Scripture:

Proverbs 23:7

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
But his heart is not with you.

What Gets Into You Gets You

Solomon reminds us today that what we digest, what we intake into our lives is what gets us, this is not just information, it is a warning to guard what we allow into our lives, the content we digest, the people we surround ourselves with.   

Lot when he and Abraham parted ways, Lot chose to settle near the Jordan and it says that he faced his tent toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and before you know it he is living in that city.

There is a Casting Crowns song that says: 

Be careful little eyes what you see
It's the second glance that ties your hands
As darkness pulls the strings
Be careful little feet where you go
For it's the little feet behind you
That are sure to follow

So, we must guard the gates of our lives, what we allow in them, the eye gate, the ear gate, even the social gate of our life.

So, todays God Shot is to guard the gates, to be intentional about feeding yourself with the right things, not allowing the things that could drag you away.  If we head Solomon's warning, that as a man thinks so is he, then we should guard the gates.

Lord, keep our eyes and our ears and our feet close to the things that you would have for our lives, let our feet not slip, nor our desires drag us away, keep us nearest to you, close enough to hear your whisper, in Jesus' name, Amen!

Scripture:

Proverbs 21:31

The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.

Where My Trust Is

Today's portion is a good reminder that if we don't "Go with God," if He is not "in it," then we shouldn't go.   Moses told the Lord in the desert that he did not want to go without God, to be without His presence.  It is also a reminder that God is the one who brings the victory in our lives.  

He brings victory in our:

• Plans
• Battles
• Struggles
• Salvation

To go without God is to go without strength, to rely solely on ourselves is foolish, I believe that is the point that Solomon is making.   One, don't think too highly of yourself, saying, "Lookhat I did." Second, we must recognize that it is God's presence that gives us the victory, that if He is with us, nothing can stand against us.

You can hear David's influence in his son's words: 

"Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God" ~Psalm 20:7

What is the God Shot today?   Make plans, reach the mountaintops, don't be afraid to push forward, just don't do it without God's presence, don't do it without Him, include Him in your plans.   The word says a man's plans are established by the Lord, live in that.

Father, I thank you, Lord, that every victory I have had in my life has been because of your presence; you are doing that today. Keep me close to you, Lord, let my heart never be too proud, or stray from you and from your strength, be with me, give me victory, in Jesus' name, Amen!

Scripture:

Proverbs 16:1

The preparations of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

The Lord is Sovereign

Free will, it is both a blessing and a curse; in it, we have the choice to do what is right and what is wrong.  And in it, we have the choice to love God supremely.   Solomon is really speaking about the sovereignty of God here. He is saying that we can make plans, but we have no control over the outcome; that is in God's hands.   So, the call here is to align our plans with God's heart, to seek Him in all things, not to plan foolishly (James 4:13–14) but rather to invite God into our plans and allow His good grace to establish them.

Today's God Shot is to make plans, to dream big, but to not exclude God from them, to plan with God, to allow Him to establish them.   Seek His will, and you will find the way.

Lord, I thank you that every good and bad plan you have been sovereign in, the bad ones that you saved me from by your grace, I thank you for, the good ones that I could have never established on my own, I praise you for, today as I plan align them with your will that they may be established.