Rhapsody of Realities - He Can Change His Mind! - 30/06/2015

Pastor Chris

And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people (Exodus 32:14 NRSV).

The Bible tells a story in 2 Kings 20 about King Hezekiah. He was deathly ill, and the Lord sent the Prophet Isaiah to tell him he would die. Upon hearing this news, he turned his face toward the wall and prayed, weeping sorely. The Lord spoke to Isaiah, and he went back to tell the king the Lord had heard his prayer, and added fifteen more years to his life. You may then wonder, "Does God change His mind?"

This story doesn't suggest that God made a decision to shorten Hezekiah's life. He was to die on the basis of God's righteousness and laws previously given. He had taken some wrong steps, and God sent the prophet to tell him he would die, because the Old Testament law states that the soul that sins shall die (Ezekiel 18:4). The king however repented and changed his ways, and it became unrighteous for God to continue in that decision, which was based on the previous moral condition. Thus, the Lord actually changed His mind.

This doesn't mean He changes His standards; but it becomes inconsistent with His character to go ahead and punish a man who already repented. Everyone who sins is condemned as the Bible says, but through salvation in Christ Jesus, repentance is possible.

In case you're in a situation, and you want the Lord to change His mind, you have to change first. If you change your state, your way of doing things, then God would, in consistency with His character, also change how He deals with you. The Bible says He gives more grace! Walk in His light and His grace, and you'll find that the favour of God can be multiplied in your life continually, as you walk with Him, pleasing Him.

PRAYER

Dear Father, I thank you for enlightening my heart with the revelations of your Word today. I'm synchronized with the Spirit, knowing and walking in your perfect will for me. Through your Spirit, I walk worthy of you unto all pleasing, fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of your Word, in Jesus' Name. Amen.

Further Study: || Amos 7:1-6 NKJV Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, He formed locust swarms at the beginning of the late crop; indeed it was the late crop after the king’s mowings. 2 And so it was, when they had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said: “O Lord God, forgive, I pray! Oh, that Jacob may stand, For he is small!” 3 So the Lord relented concerning this. “It shall not be,” said the Lord. 4 Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, the Lord God called for conflict by fire, and it consumed the great deep and devoured the territory. 5 Then I said: “O Lord God, cease, I pray! Oh, that Jacob may stand, For he is small!” 6 So the Lord relented concerning this. “This also shall not be,” said the Lord God. ||

Daily Scripture Reading

1-Year Bible Reading Plan: Acts 15:1-21,
Esther 1-4

2-Year Bible Reading Plan: Luke 5:27-39,
Deuteronomy 28

EXTRACT FROM: Rhapsody of Realities