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WINNING WITH THE WORD “Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life. AN INVITATION TO YOU: To follow this blog, click here.  If this blog has blessed you, please encourage your family and friends to subscribe as well. Thank you! ______________________________________       Do you prefer listening instead of reading? Then click below to listen to today’s blog post:       https://media.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/content.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/WWW_Podcast_04062020_WHY_the_Corona_Virus_.mp3 ______________________________________________ Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Novelist and Life Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, April 6, 2020. Today’s Podcast is Episode #14 in Series 2020 and is titled “WHY the Corona Virus?" Have you asked yourself why the entire world is experiencing the pandemic of the Corona virus? Surely, there have been pandemics before, and perhaps they occurred for the same reason I'm going to present to you today.  Among the many scientific and social reasons for the virus, this one is one to consider as well.  It is the SPIRITUAL reason for the Corona virus. Yes, there is a spiritual reason for the current presence of the virus in our world. That spiritual reason is that God is calling us to repent of our sin and to turn to Him. Of course, the spiritual reason is not a very popular one because people don't like to talk of sin nor to confront their own sin. But this is what we must do if we want God to heal our land. There is a very pointed Scripture verse in the Second Book of Chronicles that says this: "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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." Who are God's people? Those of us who have been born again by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. God is talking to us, the Church. He is saying that in order for Him to heal our land, we must do four things: 1. We must HUMBLE ourselves. This means we must acknowledge that we are helpless without God. 2. We must PRAY. We must communicate with God and do more listening than talking. 3. We must SEEK His Face. This means we must put God first, above everything else in our lives. 4. We must TURN from our wicked ways. This means we must repent of our sin and do an about-face in the way we live. To repent means to do a 180-degree turn and go in the opposite direction. When we have done all of these four things, then--and only then--will God heal our land. Notice in this verse that God is speaking to His people, not to the world. The buck always stops with the Church. As goes the Church, so goes the culture. What a sad commentary on the Church!  To a great extent, we have failed in our mission to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We have failed to fulfill the Great Commission given to us by Jesus in Mark 16. We have failed to uphold righteousness. Indeed, we have even succumbed to unrighteousness and participated in evil by siding with the culture of the world.   So, I implore you. Let all of us who call ourselves Christ-Followers repent of our complacency and our compromise. Let us humble ourselves, pray, seek God's face, and turn from our wicked ways. Then let us go out into all the world and preach the Gospel so that others, too, can be saved.     If you have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, I urge you to do so now by praying this simple prayer with me: Lord Jesus, I come to You just as I am. I need You to save me. I cannot save myself. I repent of my sins and ask You to forgive me. I invite You into my life to be my Savior and my Lord.