From the Pulpit ................................................................Pages

How many times have you wished you could just fix something? Or wish you could just make it better? And yet when we try to fix it or make it better, I find in my case, I just make it worse than it was before.

I remember when we lived on a farm. We had 25 acres and quite a few animals such as horses, chickens, cows, dogs and cats; it was a fun time growing up on a farm. In the fall, we would get the fields all ready for winter, fertilizing and preparing it for the winter to come so that in the summer and fall it would be ready to harvest. There was a lot of work to get the land ready...from plowing, cultivating and finally planting the seeds for the crops. We live in our own homes and take care of the land that we own, whether it is a farm or a lot in a town or city, by fertilizing the grounds. If we don't, then the land will suffer and crops and grass will not grow properly.

There was another time when the world had to do a lot of healing; that was after World War II. When the second world war ended, as many as 60 million people had died, cities had been leveled to the ground, families had been ripped apart.

When World War I ended, people and soldiers thought of going back to their lives, business as usual, and for the most part they could do that. Some towns in Europe were devastated and destroyed, but not to the extent it was in 1945. The destruction was more intense than before, as pretty much all of Europe and Asia was affected and destroyed. Of the 60 million that had died as a result of the war, 25 million of them were from the Soviet Union and another 6 million were a result of genocide of the Jewish people by the Nazis.

When the war was raging, millions of people had to leave their homes or they would be put into camps and forced to work in Germany or Japan.

The allies did all that they could to help and feed the refugees and to help reunite families that had been separated from one another during war time, and that task to find them all was overwhelming. Many of the ports had been damaged or destroyed in Europe and Asia, bridges and locomotives had been bombed and destroyed. Big cities had been bombed and reduced to rubble and burning ash piles or heavily damaged, such as Berlin, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Kiev and London.

Factories, businesses and many workshops were destroyed or

From the Pulpit...Our Repentence! had heavy damage. Alot of forests and vineyards in Europe were destroyed from artillery shells and tanks. There were many people in Europe who were hungry. Some were Owner/Publisher: Rob Wood eating Tulip Bulbs in the Netherlands. Canada and the United States, other than Pearl Harbour, were pretty much spared destruction from war. Great Britain didn't have much to spare, as Great Britain was bankrupt at that time from fighting the war. It was a difficult time. Many people were traumatized from war; many soldiers were trying to get back to a somewhat normal life, but they suffered so much. Where do you start the healing process? There was so much pain, hatred and destruction in the five years that World War II raged. In 1948, the Marshall Plan was an American Initiative plan package passed to help Europe rebuild. It was 15 billion

September 2021 His Grace Magazine! Page 5 From the Pulpit...Our Repentence! dollars, which is the equivalent of 114 billion dollars today. This would help Europe rebuild and hopefully heal, all at the same time.

A lot of people, civilians and soldiers, started drinking to drown their pain. Others just simply tried to forget the horrors of war and all they had to endure.

Healing is a hard thing to do, especially for us who have been hurt. It's hard to move on with our lives. Many people may say, "How does someone just forget all that they have seen and done? How do you stop hating the enemy that you fought? How do you tell someone about Jesus Christ when they say there is no God? For if there was a God, then things would be better; there would be no death or wars."

We really need to forgive those who have hurt us, as hard as that may be sometimes. Forgiveness is not just for those who hurt us, but it's also for us; it helps us to heal inside when we forgive. By forgiving others, God will also forgive us of our sins. Matthew 6:14-15 says, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." That is a stern warning to us; after all, if you are forgiven by Jesus, and we can't forgive someone else, then you are putting yourself above God and that is a very dangerous direction to walk. Totally forgive and you will feel a huge difference in your life and in your heart toward others. Healing comes through knowing Jesus Christ and having a relationship with Him. Whether it's healing of our soul or our land, it all comes through Jesus. Let's explore that now. When we really think about it, a lot of us are creatures of habit. I know I am, and when I change that, it throws me off kilter. I like to keep things simple; it helps get me through the day. But sometimes, something will come up and I get myself all bent out of shape; it's not pretty. We all have good and bad days...we have the same routes that we like driving, the same way to work or shopping. We like to sit in the same chair while we watch TV, or order the same thing at a restaurant. It truly is hard to change our habits, it's even harder to break our habits. Sin is another one that is hard to break once we go down that slippery slope. Whether it's our sin or the sin of countries, we need to repent and move forward. If we don't repent God will only take it for so long, for about a season, and then He will punish those who have not repented. When we look at scripture, 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, "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." This sermon had been preached by many Christians and pastors for a long time. One thing we can pick up from this scripture is to be "Humble." We can all relate to being humble, we also know that opposite of being humble is the attitude of pride or arrogance. We know how much God hates pride, arrogance and evil. Proverbs 8:13 says, "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate." Another is Proverbs 11:2: "When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom." And Proverbs 16:5 says, "Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; Though they join forces, none will go unpunished." But when we show respect to others and also put others ahead of ourselves, then we show our

Page 6 His Grace Magazine! September 2021

From the Pulpit...Our Repentence! love for God by helping others.

When we go to God while being humble on our knees, our spirits are saying to God that we know He is in control, and we are not. When we are humble before God, it takes away our power, our will and our want to be selfsufficient. When we apply humility to the prayers for healing for all the disorder and conflict that is all around us, it is saying that all this can't be fixed with money, or harsher laws. It will take so much more than laws or money to heal our land, we need Jesus Christ Himself.

The second thought from this scripture is "Hearing." We do have expectations of God when we pray to Him. We find ourselves listening because we want to hear from Him. We should listen and be quiet, because only then will you hear Him. Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" But sometimes, we do tend to want God to agree with us and for Him to answer us quickly. I have heard some people say to me, "I have prayed, so where is He? Why isn't God answering me?" For one thing, we are to pray to Him without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:1617 says, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing." God also moves in His time, not ours, so whatever you pray for may happen the next day, next week, next month or longer, but never stop praying. I remember reading a story about a woman who prayed that her dad would come to the Lord. She prayed that every day and night for over 50 years and one night he gave his life to Jesus just before he passed away, so never give up. This scripture says that God wants more from us than just words. We are to humble ourselves and approach God. We are to acknowledge that He is the only one who can give us answers. As much as we want to have control over every situation and also be the one to fix the problem, we truly need to relax and rely on God. We are to go forward and seek God's face. Seeking God's face means more than just a quick talk, more than a quick prayer when we are troubled or afraid; it has to be a meaningful prayer, from the bottom of our hearts, with lamentations and tears. God also wants us to turn from our wicked ways in our lives. The Bible says that our ways are sinful; our hearts are lustful. We can look at it and describe it as habits or addictions, but the truth of it is that some choices that we make are sinful, because it's what we want. But what about what God wants for us? What God wants for us is so much better, as long as we wait on Him and not go out and do our own thing. That's where we get oursleves into all kinds of trouble. We just simply need to stop sinning. Don't stay covered in sin; instead, let's be covered in the blood of Jesus Christ, because He will take your sins away forever. The third thought from this scripture is "Healing." Most of the time, we don't really think of healing with land, we think along the lines of physical healing instead...like when we cut ourselves, that will heal in due time; when we get a test result back from the doctor about a disease, and find out that we are completely healed. We might even think of our relationships with people that we know and love as healing...strife that may have been there. The healing of our land can't happen until God heals the wounds in our hearts. We can't be thinking that, 'I'm okay, but they are the ones that need healing.' We all do. When we have an open wound, we put ointment on a bandage, then a scab begins to form on the skin, and not too long

September 2021 His Grace Magazine! Page 7 From the Pulpit...Our Repentence! after, it's healed with a stronger piece of skin. Have you let God begin that process of healing in your life?

Jesus told us the story to show us the point in the parable of the Good Samaritan. A man is robbed, beaten and left to die on the side of the road. Two people of faith walked on the road and both passed by on the far side of the road. Then the good Samaritan saw him and helped the man. Luke 10:3035 says, "Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was and when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'" A lot of people have thought this way: 'If I don't look, I don't need to do anything about it. If I don't look or think about it, the problem will just go away.' The truth is, it doesn't just go away; it festers. Sin has overtaken this world; it's gone rampant and it's getting worse. Where does it end? When does it stop? Some people have said to me, 'I'm waiting on God heal our land, to help us and then I will go to Him.' But in reality, God doesn't work that way. We must go to Him, so God is waiting on everyone out there to to the Father except repent of their sins and through Me." then turn from their So to answer a wicked ways; it's the question asked earlier only way; this is how on page one, 'Is God works. It has to God real?' I say to stop with us; we need everyone out there, to do a reality check. He is more real than We need to humble we are. If there was ourselves before no God, then there God; we need to stop is no way that Jesus our wicked ways and would have let the call upon God and Romans nail Him to a ask Him to forgive cross to take away our us. My prayer is that sins. There is no way everyone will listen that He would have and repent of their sins preached about our and give themselves Heavenly Father to all to Jesus before it's the people or to the too late. Come to Him Pharisees and Scribes. before death and you Jesus did all that for will be saved. John us because God is 14:6 says, "I am the real...He would know, way, the truth and the because Jesus is God life. No one comes in the flesh. WOOD Ministries

Publisher/Sales/Graphic Designer/Writer:

Rob Wood wood.ministries.2020@gmail.com

Editor/Writer:

Donna Wood wood.ministries.2020@gmail.com

Writer:

Lynne Wood wood.ministries.2020@gmail.com Owned and published by Rob Wood of Wood Ministries. Contact us @ 905-380-4489, or email us at wood.ministries.2020@gmail.com