“Now do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD; and enter His sanctuary, which He has sanctified forever, and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you. “For if you return to the LORD, your brethren and your children will be treated with compassion by those who lead them captive, so that they may come back to this land; for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn His face from you if you return to Him.” 2 Chronicles 30:8-9
So many times I recall the conversations I used to have with my grandmother about God’s love and His mercy. She had so much faith in God’s ability to fix any and all things – even me. She would always tell me “come back DeeDee before you get too far out. You don’t want to get too far from the goodness of God. ” Yet she would also tell me “those whom God loves, He also chastens”, when I would tell her of my misfortunes. At the time it did not make much sense to me and I really wasn’t in the mind-set to sit down and give it much thought. I was living my life (I felt) to the fullest and since I was young (I felt) I had time to get it right.
Many people still feel this way today. In spite of the fact that they are over 30, over 40 or over 50 (not teenagers), in spite of their financial condition, in spite of the confusion in their families, in spite of the chaos in their communities and in spite of calamity of this world. There is a heaviness in my spirit when I think of all the time and money spent on entertainment, luxuries, selfish ambitions, space ships, weapons for war and so many things that have no benefit to anyone other than those involved. Just think if the $20 million spent in one weekend to see a movie, the $400 million spent on a space ship to go to a place we still no nothing about, the millions spent on a night of presenting a trophy to someone or even the billions spent on war and sports was redirected to homelessness, poverty, education, health care, the elderly, foster care, addiction recovery, domestic violence, mental health and so many others things that would benefit more than a few and last for generations.
It’s time for us to remember what God has done and why He has done it. It’s time for us to remember how it was done and what they accomplished by doing it that way. It’s time to stop pleasing man and ourselves and start pleasing God. It’s time to COME BACK to Him, COME BACK to His place, it’s time to COME BACK to His plan. Don’t hesitate one more day – COME BACK, COME BACK, COME BACK!!!!
Have a wonderful journey back,
Minister Deidra Bibb
