"I will make you as white (clean) as the snow"

"Four women......Three with their husbands and one with her mother and father, sat quietly and nervously as the service began. It was supposed to be a celebration...a time to rejoice over the lives of their children. Their journey,begun some eight weeks earlier,was one filled with ups and downs, laughter and tears, fear and courage, loneliness and the amazing discovery of “never-aloneness.” The hurt, loss, they had hidden in their souls years earlier had been revealed...The secret had been surrendered. I watched them all cry, some with a depth of emotion that caused them to tremble. They all spoke of their journey and the way that Father had revealed himself to them along the way. Each one of them had heard Father speak directly to their hearts…they heard him say,“I love you, I always have and I always will.” As I anointed them with the oil of gladness I looked deeply into their eyes. They were full of joy and glimmered through the tears. As I prayed, I heard Father say, “do you see how clean snow really is?” I do know something about snow. Living in Michigan, snow was a major part of my life for over 12 years. But I had never seen snow that white, that clean before. As we ended our time of celebration I charged their men to find the same forgiveness and healing for the secrets in their souls......so that they too could know that Father’s heart is turned absolutely to his children. That is, after all, the Father’s heart."

How can we change the country's direction?

We have recently experienced our national presidential election. In preparation, thousands gathered to pray for our country and for a spirit of repentance for this nation. For a number of years, we as Christians have been crying out to God to change the course that the US is on…to reverse the deterioration of the family, the increasing ungodliness and violence, the corruption in politics, the ongoing killing of the unborn. Yet these things continue in spite of our prayers. It seems as if God isn’t hearing us. Could it be that we are the problem, that we are what needs to change? It’s hard for me to understand how we can pray for the repentance of a nation or the ungodly at all. It seems a bit arrogant that we think God will make wholesale changes in a heathen society when they have no power to change; all the while allowing those who have the power to change to remain unchanged. At the times in my life that I have been overwhelmed with the Spirit of repentance, I can assure you that I couldn’t see any of the faults or shortcomings (sins) of those around me. All I could see was my desperate need to turn from my own sin and be swept up in God’s forgiveness. My own tears kept me from seeing anyone else. I can’t help thinking that one reason we find ourselves at this place in history is because God’s own children have blamed the ungodly for our circumstances; circumstances born from the compromises Christians started making generations ago. Godly repentance needs to overwhelm us, the children of God, before we can expect any significant change in the society around us. Try it and watch what happens.