Jer 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Eze 36:26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” NIV
One of the lessons taught through the Scriptures under the old covenant is that “the heart is deceitful above all things.” All men have been bound over to disobedience, overcome by the power of sin. As the Apostle Paul sums up, quoting the Psalms: “There is no one righteous, not even one…” (Ro 3:10). This is because all have turned away, all have followed the pattern set by Adam: “…just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin…in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (Ro 5:12). Jeremiah puts this reality in fatal terms: “the heart is beyond cure.” Wow. If he were referring to physical wellness alone, the doctor would say “there is nothing more we can do.” Though with consequences in the physical, Jeremiah is going deeper to the source of the problem - he is diagnosing the heart of man.
The heart is the essence of the man or woman, the place from which desires spring forth and are formed, the place from which life patterns are established, and the place from which the will and motivation to execute those desires emerge from. The heart is the place were we can worship God or worship idols. And an idol is simply anything that takes the place of God in our lives.
As we looked at yesterday, the Lord is so good and desires to exercise his kindness on earth. He wants us to worship him and not worship ourselves, creation, or others - not because he is a strict, no-fun, serious God. But because he is the source of all goodness, of all life, of all love, and he wants us to live! We were designed for God and to worship him. Therefore the Lord laments the state that man is in. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God cries out “I gave you everything, why then is there no healing for the wound of my people” (Jer 8:22). He appeals to the people, “turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.” Oh, this is God’s heart for all humanity, let alone the very people he called to be a blessing to the world! As the Lord told Jeremiah’s contemporary Ezekiel, “I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!” (18:32) Oh God wants us to turn to him and live! Yet, how can man turn to God and live when his heart is incurably bent on pursuing a self-serving and destructive course in life? In the midst of God’s wooing, this incurable heart replies, “‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart’” (Jer 18:12).
It is of no use – But for God. But for God! “The LORD looked and was displeased…He saw that there was no one…so his own arm worked salvation…” (Is 59:15-16). In the sending of his own Son, his death for ours, God has wrenched the grasp of idolatry off of humanity. Hallelujah! In Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, and the pouring out of his Spirit – we are given a new heart! This is what Ezekiel is promising in our text above. And this is what Jeremiah saw by faith - God’s New Covenant when God would forgive our sins and “put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts” (Jer 31:33). Hallelujah! We are among the new humanity, whose hearts have been cured! We do have the power, by God’s Spirit, to live the life God has always desired for us. Would you praise the Lord today for curing the incurable and enabling you to overcome and live life to the fullest for God's glory!
Friday
Jeremiah 9:23-24 - August 21, 2009
Jer 9:23-24 This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight.” NIV
Oh the love of God! Oh the Kindness of God! Here in the Old Testament, in the book of Jeremiah, we get one of the clearest verbal statements from the LORD’s own mouth of his intent for the earth: “I delight in exercising kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth.” Wow. This is a God we need to know! And this is a God the world needs to see! “I am good and loving! I am kind and just! I am trustworthy and faithful! I AM WHO I AM! (Ex 3:14).” Would we boast in who he says he is, so that the world might see him as he truly is?
Ever since Adam turned away from God, and unleashed death into the world, God has been acting in “kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth” to conquer the power of death and restore creation. Though, time after time, God expressed his goodness to creation and to his people – his greatest expression was yet to come. His exodus of Israel out of Egypt couldn’t fully express his kindness and justice. The giving of the Law couldn’t finish the job against sin and death (Ro 8:3). The return from the Babylonian exile and the building of the second temple wasn’t sufficient. And this proclamation alone through Jeremiah was not enough. No – in order to rescue creation, God would have to step down into the sphere of man in a permanent and irrevocable way. “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him” (1 Jn 4:9). In the fullness of time, God sent his Son, born of a woman, to redeem us (Ga 4:4-5). Reinhard Bonnke has said many times that “creation cost God nothing. But salvation cost him everything.” This was indeed God’s supreme act of “exercising kindness, righteousness and justice on the earth.”
But do we the church live in this living knowledge? In our Jeremiah text above, God’s yearning is for a man or a woman to boast that we know and understand him. God is not asking us to boast in our wisdom, strength, or riches – all things that come from him anyway! “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (Jn 17:3). Would that this reality penetrate the core of our beings, that we might boast more appropriately in the LORD. I read recently this quote “I am absolutely dazzled by Jesus. I have found the One my heart loves.” For “greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). Is this our boast today? Do we come alive with this living knowledge?
Much of the world does not know this God who delights in exercising kindness. Much of the world doesn’t think God exercises much of anything in the world for that matter! Evil and injustice are still at work through the lives of men, communities, and nations. Yet! Through us God is calling: “Boast in me! Boast in the knowledge that you know me, in the love and mercy you have received through my Son! Just as I am full of kindness, righteousness and justice, I want that to flow through you to the world, that they may know also!” Right where you are at today, in the very spot of reading this, would you bask in this love of God for you, that you may boast of truly knowing God so that that the world might truly know this God, that he is a God who “delights in exercising kindness, justice and righteousness on the earth!”
Oh the love of God! Oh the Kindness of God! Here in the Old Testament, in the book of Jeremiah, we get one of the clearest verbal statements from the LORD’s own mouth of his intent for the earth: “I delight in exercising kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth.” Wow. This is a God we need to know! And this is a God the world needs to see! “I am good and loving! I am kind and just! I am trustworthy and faithful! I AM WHO I AM! (Ex 3:14).” Would we boast in who he says he is, so that the world might see him as he truly is?
Ever since Adam turned away from God, and unleashed death into the world, God has been acting in “kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth” to conquer the power of death and restore creation. Though, time after time, God expressed his goodness to creation and to his people – his greatest expression was yet to come. His exodus of Israel out of Egypt couldn’t fully express his kindness and justice. The giving of the Law couldn’t finish the job against sin and death (Ro 8:3). The return from the Babylonian exile and the building of the second temple wasn’t sufficient. And this proclamation alone through Jeremiah was not enough. No – in order to rescue creation, God would have to step down into the sphere of man in a permanent and irrevocable way. “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him” (1 Jn 4:9). In the fullness of time, God sent his Son, born of a woman, to redeem us (Ga 4:4-5). Reinhard Bonnke has said many times that “creation cost God nothing. But salvation cost him everything.” This was indeed God’s supreme act of “exercising kindness, righteousness and justice on the earth.”
But do we the church live in this living knowledge? In our Jeremiah text above, God’s yearning is for a man or a woman to boast that we know and understand him. God is not asking us to boast in our wisdom, strength, or riches – all things that come from him anyway! “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (Jn 17:3). Would that this reality penetrate the core of our beings, that we might boast more appropriately in the LORD. I read recently this quote “I am absolutely dazzled by Jesus. I have found the One my heart loves.” For “greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). Is this our boast today? Do we come alive with this living knowledge?
Much of the world does not know this God who delights in exercising kindness. Much of the world doesn’t think God exercises much of anything in the world for that matter! Evil and injustice are still at work through the lives of men, communities, and nations. Yet! Through us God is calling: “Boast in me! Boast in the knowledge that you know me, in the love and mercy you have received through my Son! Just as I am full of kindness, righteousness and justice, I want that to flow through you to the world, that they may know also!” Right where you are at today, in the very spot of reading this, would you bask in this love of God for you, that you may boast of truly knowing God so that that the world might truly know this God, that he is a God who “delights in exercising kindness, justice and righteousness on the earth!”
Thursday
Psalm 84:1-2 - August 20, 2009
Ps 84:1-2 For the director of music. According to gittith. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
"How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." NIV
What does your heart long for? This verse is the cry of someone who has been with God for once we have truly experienced drawing near into the courts of the living God there is no other place that can compare to being in His presence. To experience God in His sanctuary is to have this cry awakened in your heart: “How lovely is your dwelling place!” Have you seen Him? Has your spirit been moved by the breath of God and the touch of His glory as it moves across your face?
To touch the Lord is to be stirred in the deepest places of your being and once you have been there you are ruined forever! Once we have tasted of eternal things the things of this world leave us unfulfilled in comparison. From that point on this world and its pleasures hold less reward for us and a place within us is awakened that only God’s presence can fulfill. Like a thirst birthed in the hottest desert or a hunger generated by tiresome labor our inner man is compelled by a longing that is cannot be adequately described, it can only be experienced.
Paul was also a man compelled by the depth of his encounter with God. In 2 Cor 12:1-4 he cryptically speaks of one of His encounters with the eternal realms of God’s glory as he says “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven . Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know-God knows. And I know that this man-whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows- was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.” Paul’s taste of eternal was so intense that his description is that of having heard “inexpressible things.” Imagine drinking so deeply of the glory realm that there are no words to describe the encounter and then imagine trying to live with contentment in this life from that point on. To taste of heaven is to be ruined for earth! So why does God allow us these glimpses into glory? To compel us to seek! Like a child who, once having tasted of something sweet is compelled to seek after it repeatedly, God desires to awaken in us a desperate pursuit of Him that will last a lifetime! Drink deeply of His presence and let your heart be ruined by eternity!
"How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." NIV
What does your heart long for? This verse is the cry of someone who has been with God for once we have truly experienced drawing near into the courts of the living God there is no other place that can compare to being in His presence. To experience God in His sanctuary is to have this cry awakened in your heart: “How lovely is your dwelling place!” Have you seen Him? Has your spirit been moved by the breath of God and the touch of His glory as it moves across your face?
To touch the Lord is to be stirred in the deepest places of your being and once you have been there you are ruined forever! Once we have tasted of eternal things the things of this world leave us unfulfilled in comparison. From that point on this world and its pleasures hold less reward for us and a place within us is awakened that only God’s presence can fulfill. Like a thirst birthed in the hottest desert or a hunger generated by tiresome labor our inner man is compelled by a longing that is cannot be adequately described, it can only be experienced.
Paul was also a man compelled by the depth of his encounter with God. In 2 Cor 12:1-4 he cryptically speaks of one of His encounters with the eternal realms of God’s glory as he says “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven . Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know-God knows. And I know that this man-whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows- was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.” Paul’s taste of eternal was so intense that his description is that of having heard “inexpressible things.” Imagine drinking so deeply of the glory realm that there are no words to describe the encounter and then imagine trying to live with contentment in this life from that point on. To taste of heaven is to be ruined for earth! So why does God allow us these glimpses into glory? To compel us to seek! Like a child who, once having tasted of something sweet is compelled to seek after it repeatedly, God desires to awaken in us a desperate pursuit of Him that will last a lifetime! Drink deeply of His presence and let your heart be ruined by eternity!
Wednesday
Psalm 81:13-16 - August 19, 2009
Ps 81:13-16 "If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, 14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes! 15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. 16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." NIV
Oh, the blessings that we miss because we don’t take the time to listen to God! Our loving heavenly father has such abundance in store for us. The riches of God in heavenly realms are appointed to us but we must surrender to His directing hand so that He can lead us into our inheritance. This passage is powerful for its sense of timing. “How quickly would I subdue their enemies…” It is not that we have to persuade God to act… we must surrender to His leadership and yield to His ways!
God is ready to judge the wicked. He is ready to deliver His beloved people. His greatest hindrance from pouring out this intended blessing is the stubborn self-will of a people who choose to follow their own devices instead of humbling themselves before His sovereign guidance. Paul spoke of this principle in 2 Cor 10:6 as he said “And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.” The intended punishment that was to come upon the disobedient had to be withheld until God’s people demonstrated their own obedience. How can God justly judge the disobedience of the one who hates Him when the one who claims to love Him is living in the same disobedience?
Psalm 81 is rich in its comforting hope as it reflects upon not only our deliverance by the hand of the Lord but the intimate blessings that await us as we come to this place of yielding before God in accordance with His word. In verse 16 the psalmist writes, “you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." How can we resist such an invitation? God himself offers us the very finest of His substance. God Himself extends His gracious hand with the guarantee that we will be satisfied once we have tasted of the honey of His presence, for this wheat and this honey are not the substance of material food but rather the sweetness and fulfillment that come from tasting of the Lord Himself. When our ways are pleasing to God and we turn and seek after Him as He has invited us our reward is the very nearness of God Himself. We must choose between the passing pleasures of this world whose taste grows dull and pale in our mouths or the eternal pleasure of enjoying God. He has promised that once we have tasted of Him we will be satisfied!
Oh, the blessings that we miss because we don’t take the time to listen to God! Our loving heavenly father has such abundance in store for us. The riches of God in heavenly realms are appointed to us but we must surrender to His directing hand so that He can lead us into our inheritance. This passage is powerful for its sense of timing. “How quickly would I subdue their enemies…” It is not that we have to persuade God to act… we must surrender to His leadership and yield to His ways!
God is ready to judge the wicked. He is ready to deliver His beloved people. His greatest hindrance from pouring out this intended blessing is the stubborn self-will of a people who choose to follow their own devices instead of humbling themselves before His sovereign guidance. Paul spoke of this principle in 2 Cor 10:6 as he said “And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.” The intended punishment that was to come upon the disobedient had to be withheld until God’s people demonstrated their own obedience. How can God justly judge the disobedience of the one who hates Him when the one who claims to love Him is living in the same disobedience?
Psalm 81 is rich in its comforting hope as it reflects upon not only our deliverance by the hand of the Lord but the intimate blessings that await us as we come to this place of yielding before God in accordance with His word. In verse 16 the psalmist writes, “you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." How can we resist such an invitation? God himself offers us the very finest of His substance. God Himself extends His gracious hand with the guarantee that we will be satisfied once we have tasted of the honey of His presence, for this wheat and this honey are not the substance of material food but rather the sweetness and fulfillment that come from tasting of the Lord Himself. When our ways are pleasing to God and we turn and seek after Him as He has invited us our reward is the very nearness of God Himself. We must choose between the passing pleasures of this world whose taste grows dull and pale in our mouths or the eternal pleasure of enjoying God. He has promised that once we have tasted of Him we will be satisfied!
Tuesday
Psalm 81:10 - August 18, 2009
Ps 81:10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. NIV
When it is time to speak we must speak in faith. When we speak in faith we must speak with the faith that God is speaking through us. Jesus taught His disciples that they should not prepare ahead of time the things that they should say when standing before people of power and position. In Matt 10:19-20 Jesus taught them “when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” Our role is to be the mouthpiece of God in the earth, declaring His thoughts and His values into a generation that is far from the heart of God in its values and practices.
Our confidence in life is not our own wisdom, not our own abilities or understanding. Our confidence is that we are servants of the most High God and that He has promised to impart to us wisdom to respond in every situation. This sentence of the psalmist, “open your mouth and I will fill it,” enlightens us to the process of faith in action! The words are not given in advance. It is as we open our mouth that a living river of inspired speech begins to flow through us by the power of God. Jesus consistently faced with the attempts of the religious rulers to snare Him with trick questions and compromising situations and yet the responses of the Spirit of God through Him in the hour of need were sufficient in every case to both deflect their ensnaring words and also expose their hypocrisy in front of the entire assembly of witnesses.
Live in the confidence that God is with you and yield your mouth to be a vessel of righteousness. Lean on the Holy Spirit and learn to rest in Him. As you do, wisdom will flow from your heart that at times will surprise not only your hearers but you yourself. We have the living God inside of us, ready to arise in the lives of those who live dependently on Him. Yield yourself to Him today and you will see that fountain of life that Jesus promised us flowing out of your inner most being to bring forth His light into every dark situation that you face.
When it is time to speak we must speak in faith. When we speak in faith we must speak with the faith that God is speaking through us. Jesus taught His disciples that they should not prepare ahead of time the things that they should say when standing before people of power and position. In Matt 10:19-20 Jesus taught them “when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” Our role is to be the mouthpiece of God in the earth, declaring His thoughts and His values into a generation that is far from the heart of God in its values and practices.
Our confidence in life is not our own wisdom, not our own abilities or understanding. Our confidence is that we are servants of the most High God and that He has promised to impart to us wisdom to respond in every situation. This sentence of the psalmist, “open your mouth and I will fill it,” enlightens us to the process of faith in action! The words are not given in advance. It is as we open our mouth that a living river of inspired speech begins to flow through us by the power of God. Jesus consistently faced with the attempts of the religious rulers to snare Him with trick questions and compromising situations and yet the responses of the Spirit of God through Him in the hour of need were sufficient in every case to both deflect their ensnaring words and also expose their hypocrisy in front of the entire assembly of witnesses.
Live in the confidence that God is with you and yield your mouth to be a vessel of righteousness. Lean on the Holy Spirit and learn to rest in Him. As you do, wisdom will flow from your heart that at times will surprise not only your hearers but you yourself. We have the living God inside of us, ready to arise in the lives of those who live dependently on Him. Yield yourself to Him today and you will see that fountain of life that Jesus promised us flowing out of your inner most being to bring forth His light into every dark situation that you face.
Monday
Psalm 80:1-2 - August 17, 2009
Ps 80:1-2 For the director of music. To [the tune of] "The Lilies of the Covenant." Of Asaph. A psalm.
"Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock; you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might; come and save us." NIV
Where is God enthroned today? This psalm is a cry for the glory of God to shine forth from the midst of His throne. But where is that throne and from where does that shining spring forth to the glory of God? There is a place where the cherubim worship, there in the midst of the mercy seat, where the ark of God is sheltered from the gaze of the unredeemed. This passage is for God to shine forth from His glorious habitation but where is that habitation today? Where is the temple that contains this glorious presence? Two passages in the New Testament clearly answer that question and establish an entirely new understanding of this psalm. 1 Cor 3:16 says “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?”And 1 Cor 6:18-20 enlarges on this theme even further by raising the question “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
We are the habitation of God. He is enthroned within His temple and that temple is you. With this understanding as our foundation the first few verses of psalm 80 take on an entire new meaning. The psalmist is crying out for God to arise from that place where he is enthroned; to shine forth and awaken His might. This leads us to the question “from where will He arise? From where will His glory shine forth to deliver and set free:” From within His temple of course, from that place where He is enthroned! God wants to shine forth from you! Jesus taught His church, saying in Matt 5:16 “… let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” The psalmist’s prayer for the Lord to arise and shine is now fulfilled when the presence of God shines forth from you! God is working to be revealed from within you! Your heart is His holy place and the earth is waiting for His power and glory to shine forth into the darkness, but this shining is to take place from within you! Jesus said that the “kingdom of God” is within us. His might is expressed through an empowered people who have entered into a place of communion with the Lord that releases Him to “rise and shine” through them to the nations of the earth! Let your light shine today and bring Him glory!
Sunday
Psalm 79:9-11 - August 16, 2009
Ps 79:9-11 Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name's sake. 10 Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Before our eyes, make known among the nations that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants. 11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you; by the strength of your arm preserve those condemned to die. NIV
Are you jealous for God’s reputation? The cry of this psalmist’s heart is the cry of a heart burdened for the glory of the Lord’s name and the condition of his own people. He so clearly understands the impact that a saint of God living below the level of God’s promises has on how people perceive the Lord. His heart is aching to see the name of the Lord lifted on high and to see the mockery of those who judge the Lord by the condition of His people put to silence. Do men honor God because of the victory in your life? Does the blessing you are walking in cause people to consider the goodness of the Lord and to reflect upon His powerful hand to deliver and save? When God’s people are victimized and there is no answer from heaven the name of the Lord is brought low and yet we know that the reason that God allows His people to be put to shame is that too often their ways are not pleasing to Him. He allows suffering to come so that we will cry out to Him and turn from our sinful ways.
The psalmist sees the glory of God being turned to ashes and so he cries out for forgiveness of sin and deliverance from bondage and the evil that has befallen God’s people. The cry of the psalmist is for God to arise and vindicate His name by delivering His people from their oppressors. “Why should the nations say ‘where is there God?” He has heard their reproach and is grieved for the sake of God’s name. Oh, that God’s people today would have a heart of understanding and possess this same holy jealousy for the glory of God’s name. God is longing for a people who as jealous over Him as He is over us! There is a prayer that rises from this heart that moves things in the heavenly realms. There is an intercession that flows out of holy jealousy that is not motivated by self but by a longing to see the Lord exalted in the heart of every man and every woman. Lord let this jealousy touch our lives. Help us to see the impact of the testimony of an upright life! One that is truly blessed by God! When we become jealous for God’s reputation in the earth and live in such a way that brings Him glory then His answer to our cries comes speedily. Let it be your prayer today that the Lord would soften you both for the sake of His name and the sake of the prisoners who only have hope of deliverance if the mighty God arises on their behalf. Soften us Oh Lord to the burdens that burden your heart. Fill us with that same longing to see the mocker silenced and the chains of the captives broken.
Are you jealous for God’s reputation? The cry of this psalmist’s heart is the cry of a heart burdened for the glory of the Lord’s name and the condition of his own people. He so clearly understands the impact that a saint of God living below the level of God’s promises has on how people perceive the Lord. His heart is aching to see the name of the Lord lifted on high and to see the mockery of those who judge the Lord by the condition of His people put to silence. Do men honor God because of the victory in your life? Does the blessing you are walking in cause people to consider the goodness of the Lord and to reflect upon His powerful hand to deliver and save? When God’s people are victimized and there is no answer from heaven the name of the Lord is brought low and yet we know that the reason that God allows His people to be put to shame is that too often their ways are not pleasing to Him. He allows suffering to come so that we will cry out to Him and turn from our sinful ways.
The psalmist sees the glory of God being turned to ashes and so he cries out for forgiveness of sin and deliverance from bondage and the evil that has befallen God’s people. The cry of the psalmist is for God to arise and vindicate His name by delivering His people from their oppressors. “Why should the nations say ‘where is there God?” He has heard their reproach and is grieved for the sake of God’s name. Oh, that God’s people today would have a heart of understanding and possess this same holy jealousy for the glory of God’s name. God is longing for a people who as jealous over Him as He is over us! There is a prayer that rises from this heart that moves things in the heavenly realms. There is an intercession that flows out of holy jealousy that is not motivated by self but by a longing to see the Lord exalted in the heart of every man and every woman. Lord let this jealousy touch our lives. Help us to see the impact of the testimony of an upright life! One that is truly blessed by God! When we become jealous for God’s reputation in the earth and live in such a way that brings Him glory then His answer to our cries comes speedily. Let it be your prayer today that the Lord would soften you both for the sake of His name and the sake of the prisoners who only have hope of deliverance if the mighty God arises on their behalf. Soften us Oh Lord to the burdens that burden your heart. Fill us with that same longing to see the mocker silenced and the chains of the captives broken.
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