Scripture: Deuteronomy 28 v 20 - 22: "The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
21 The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish."
Matthew 18 v 32 - 35: "Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."
One thing we have learned is that God never changes His mind about sin and disobedience. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. What was condemned in the Old Testament is condemned in the New.
Our God is not interested in us being politically correct in line with the world view. He wants us to line up with His Word and obey what it says. It's not a choice or a debate or putting out a fleece like Gideon in Judges. If we truly have a personal relationship with Him He expects us to hear His voice and follow directions.
He sees the pitfalls we have no clue about. He wants to guide us past them and protect us from harm. When we do our own thing and expect Him to like it, His hands are tied and if we fall into difficulties and cry out He waits for us to acknowledge our stupidity and do the right thing. Then His hands are free to lift us out of our problems.
Over the years of this ministry there has been more prayer to extract people from God's response to their behaviour than releasing them from demonic bondage. The passage from Matthew above, the words of Jesus, My Father will hand you over to the tormentors unless you forgive. This is serious and a huge problem until we figure it out.
How many of us are tormented by addictions, fears, diseases, insanity, debt, loss, nightmares, affairs, and many other miseries because our Father is waiting for us to forgive someone who we may not even remember.
Check out your life and cancel all emotional debts to turn your ship around so you can get out of the doldrums. If you owe someone an apology then humble yourself and fix it. It frees God's hands to fix your own problems.
I have just watched a video proving that our S.A. president and members of the ANC knew about the Hamas agenda for 7 October 23 against Israel before it happened, and supported that horrific massacre. They sent no warning to Israel so they now have innocent blood on their hands. God's wrath is now going to hurt them and the whole of S.A. because of their disobedience. The ANC are siding with Iran in a decree to assassinate President Trump. And 47 Americans have died because of that massacre. No mercy will be shown. God's hands are tied.
We need to stop blaming others for our misfortunes. We are our own worst enemy at times. We make mistakes so easily and try to do damage control. It is better to be honest with ourselves and apologise before we get bitter and twisted. We do not need additional tormentors to add to the drama of these days of difficulty.
Prayer: Heavenly Father Thank You for Your mercy. You are changing us into the likeness of Jesus, Your perfect Son. Help us remove all the bitterness and unforgiveness from our hearts and minds. We want to be part of the solution. We have run out of effective prayers for South Africa. Our government needs to resign. In Jesus' name. Amen.