January 1, 2011

January 1, 2011 Ezra 1
“Obama Orders Rebuilding of Christian Cathedral in Washington D.C.” Can you ever imagine such a headline? I can’t. I could see this headline, “Obama Donates Funds to Building Mosque in Jerusalem.” Granted we are a different culture and context than was Cyrus, king of Persia. But nevertheless, this is pretty amazing stuff! The Lord moves upon the heart of Cyrus, not only to permit the rebuilding of the temple, but to also fund it from the government treasury and order it done! The way Ezra phrases it, it seems as though it was the direct prompting of the Lord without any requests from the priests, Levites or people of Israel. Wow! Truly as Proverbs 21:1says, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” Now that is glory!
Do you think the Lord would change Obama’s heart? Obviously it is possible, but would He do it? Hmmm. . . I suppose if it met God’s purposes for history, He would do it for certainly that is why He moved Cyrus. I also suppose that if God’s people, as a whole, really became serious about prayer and personal and corporate repentance, then it would also happen. But that doesn’t appear to be on the horizon. In the meantime, isn’t it great to bask in the knowledge that even the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John