In times past God used pagan leaders in a more profitable and beneficial way than were used rebellious, unrepentant and stubborn kings and leaders, who claimed affiliation with God and His people; for examples; Cyrus, Darius, Nebuchadnezzar and Artaxerxes, just to name a few. In meditating over the principles of prayer for leaders I was prompted to pray for the possible up-coming leaders of our nation.
Lord, I lift up ___________________ into your presence and pray that he/she will not view the "Church" as an enemy but as an entity of good in the society. I pray that he/she will issue a call to the Church to function in a conciliatory way in our culture--and that we would be true "peacemakers". I pray that we "the Church" would truly PRAY for our enemies, (have we done that?)
May we join as closely as possible to the needs of our society, in which we live, without contaminating ourselves. (Jude 23) May we reach out in true Christian selflessness and give of what we are, and who we are, to help others.
In the early stages of our nation our tax exempt status was gifted to us (the Church) by a grateful government for our care of the helpless, hopeless, homeless, hindered and harassed members of our society. The Church, the Body of Christ is to make a difference in the culture and society by speaking the truth and issuing a call to righteousness, and then it must be backed up by our own sacrifice to see the disenfranchised restored to productivity and peace-filled lives through Christ with His nature indwelling them, and us, as we together pursue the mandate of Christ to the world...which was to "preach and teach" openly the Good News (the Gospel) to every creature of the human race.
What exactly is the Good News? Jesus gives us the greatest of all definitions in Luke 4:18-19, when He says..."The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah]to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity], 19) To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound.]
Luke 4:20 goes on to say, "...and the eyes of all in the synagogue were gazing [attentively] at Him." If we will truly declare the Gospel as it should be declared, and open up our houses of worship, and homes, to meet the needs of others, then...the eyes (attention) of not only the believing world, but the unbelieving world will be on us, and we will be undeniable "ambassadors of reconciliation in the earth and specifically our communities. Every day should be the "Today" in which these things are fulfilled in our hearing.
Luke 4:22 "And all spoke well of Him and marveled at the words of grace that came forth from His mouth..." and they will also speak of us, "Are not these those Christians whom we have hated?" We must truly love our enemies--speak like people who love their enemies and get away from divisive issues in order to present ourselves as true peacemakers! We must declare ourselves as "those who reject sin [user-advocating behavior] in any venue of life. We must think before we speak--making our words and actions match those of Christ Jesus our Lord and His Word.
Lord, Jesus, I want my community to know You are here and that You want to serve them through me. Never let me represent you as someone who has a hand out to receive; but as Your ambassador, my hand is extended, to receive them and impart Your love to each and every one. May Christ Jesus be glorified! AMEN!
