Prayer for January 2, 2021

“For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.” Proverbs 2:21

“And going on from thence, He saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.” Matthew 4:21-22

Our Father and God, Creator of heaven, earth and all that is; even the seen and the unseen. You have made all things and without You there was nothing made that was made. In You is Life, and the Life is the Light of men.

You have made the land and the air we breath and we are not thankful for Your multitude of blessings. You have given us life and we see human life as cheap and steal, kill and destroy; whether physically or by word and words of hate. Heal our sin sick land.

May we who know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior yield to His Spirit and His words for us in this world. May we put away pride and arrogance which are two abominations You hate. Let us turn away  from hateful name calling, and speak the truth in love.

May we as Christians, like the sons of Zebedee leave all and follow Jesus, doing  His will, which is doing the will of  You, the Father.

May we with passion look expectantly toward that new land You have promised those who know You; but may we with even more passion look forward to living a life that will bring honor and glory to Your name; and seeing You face to face. Amen.

The Surrender

“And Gedaliah sware to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon; and it shall be well with you.” 2 Kings 25:24 (KJV)

Surrender is never a pleasant topic; especially for those with strong personalities, and stubborn hearts.

The prophet Jeremiah had told the people of Judah to surrender to Babylon’s Nebuchadnezzar, because he was going to come and capture the people, take the articles from the temple, and leave it in ruins (Jeremiah 27:12ff). Now it had occurred and a governor of Judea had been appointed. Gedaliah (Jehovah is great) was speaking words of encouragement to some people who had came to him seeking advice.

Surrendering to the enemy is not easy. Surrendering to God is often not easy, because we have our own ideas; our own way; and God’s way is not always what we desire at the start. The question is: Do we want God as our enemy? That is what we make Him when we say no to His plan, His way

In the end; this is not so much surrender to Nebuchadnezzar as it is surrender to GOD.

“Fear not” God will have His way with our enemy, and He will have His way in your life and mine.