Day 25
Bible Text: Isaiah 45:22-24
"Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By Myself I have sworn; truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance. Surely they will say of Me, 'In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.' All who rage against Him will come to Him and be put to shame."
I was on the sidewalk in front of our house in the early ’50’s. I was trying out my neighbor Bill’s old rusty coaster wagon. While barefooted, I was kneeling with my right leg in the wagon while pushing with my left leg as I held on to the tongue of the wagon for steering. I was moving briskly. Suddenly, I was unable to move my left foot. This mystified me, so I pulled hard a couple of times trying to see why my foot was stuck and was horrified by what I saw. Bill’s wagon didn’t have a cotter key holding the wheel on the axle, but a big bent-over nail. The sharp end of the nail was stuck in the back of my heel so my foot couldn’t move. I had felt no discomfort until I saw it, then, suddenly, there was excruciating pain! I screamed, “MOM! Help me!” Followed by a series of, “Ouch, ouch, ouch - ouches!” My Mom rescued me, got my foot loose, cleansed the area and applied a band aid. A doctor visit followed. I healed.
Some 60 years later, this story has interesting parallels with the state of our country:
Front Year Early 1950s > USA Today
• Unsafe equipment > Walking without the Lord God
• No Safety Gear (shoes) > Risk of losing the Lord’s protection
• Nail in my heel, but no pain > Spiritually blind, but we don’t know it
• I’m stuck / I can’t move - why > Grid lock - wrong values; wrong actions
• Saw it for what it was - then pain! > Pray for eyes to be opened - repentance
• I screamed for help: “MOM!” > Pray, “Lord Jesus: Save Us!”
• She pulled my foot away from the nail. > Pray, “Turn us (USA) back to you, Lord!”
• Doctor visit (Wound cleaned/bandaged) > Pray, “Lord, cleanse us! Heal us!”
• Healing followed. It’s only a memory. > Pray, “Holy Spirit, Heal this land!”
• I didn’t use Bill’s wagon ever again. > Lord, may we be filled with your Spirit, not other spirits or ideas
• My wagon had cotter keys and hub caps. >. May we hold on to the Gospel of Jesus. He forgives us. He saves us. He makes us new.
Prayer: Pray for our eyes to be opened to see Jesus as the Savior, that there might be a heart-yearning to turn back to Him. Pray for a cleansing of our waywardness and for repentance to happen in the hearts of us all. Pray for the lost to be saved and that the Lord would bring an infilling of the Holy Spirit into our hearts. Pray that Jesus’ love would be evidenced in our lives and actions. Pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit our land would return to God and be healed. In Jesus’ name!
By Care Minister Bob Johnson
"Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By Myself I have sworn; truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance. Surely they will say of Me, 'In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.' All who rage against Him will come to Him and be put to shame."
I was on the sidewalk in front of our house in the early ’50’s. I was trying out my neighbor Bill’s old rusty coaster wagon. While barefooted, I was kneeling with my right leg in the wagon while pushing with my left leg as I held on to the tongue of the wagon for steering. I was moving briskly. Suddenly, I was unable to move my left foot. This mystified me, so I pulled hard a couple of times trying to see why my foot was stuck and was horrified by what I saw. Bill’s wagon didn’t have a cotter key holding the wheel on the axle, but a big bent-over nail. The sharp end of the nail was stuck in the back of my heel so my foot couldn’t move. I had felt no discomfort until I saw it, then, suddenly, there was excruciating pain! I screamed, “MOM! Help me!” Followed by a series of, “Ouch, ouch, ouch - ouches!” My Mom rescued me, got my foot loose, cleansed the area and applied a band aid. A doctor visit followed. I healed.
Some 60 years later, this story has interesting parallels with the state of our country:
Front Year Early 1950s > USA Today
• Unsafe equipment > Walking without the Lord God
• No Safety Gear (shoes) > Risk of losing the Lord’s protection
• Nail in my heel, but no pain > Spiritually blind, but we don’t know it
• I’m stuck / I can’t move - why > Grid lock - wrong values; wrong actions
• Saw it for what it was - then pain! > Pray for eyes to be opened - repentance
• I screamed for help: “MOM!” > Pray, “Lord Jesus: Save Us!”
• She pulled my foot away from the nail. > Pray, “Turn us (USA) back to you, Lord!”
• Doctor visit (Wound cleaned/bandaged) > Pray, “Lord, cleanse us! Heal us!”
• Healing followed. It’s only a memory. > Pray, “Holy Spirit, Heal this land!”
• I didn’t use Bill’s wagon ever again. > Lord, may we be filled with your Spirit, not other spirits or ideas
• My wagon had cotter keys and hub caps. >. May we hold on to the Gospel of Jesus. He forgives us. He saves us. He makes us new.
Prayer: Pray for our eyes to be opened to see Jesus as the Savior, that there might be a heart-yearning to turn back to Him. Pray for a cleansing of our waywardness and for repentance to happen in the hearts of us all. Pray for the lost to be saved and that the Lord would bring an infilling of the Holy Spirit into our hearts. Pray that Jesus’ love would be evidenced in our lives and actions. Pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit our land would return to God and be healed. In Jesus’ name!
By Care Minister Bob Johnson
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