October 22, 2020
Have you ever put your keys somewhere and later discovered that someone could easily have taken them? That is what I did last night, as I forgot that I had left them in a place that I should not have. This morning, after looking on the hook and in the pocket of my jacket, I found them in the front door! I immediately thought of how God protected us and was very thankful that our car was still in the driveway, as the key to the car and our house are on the same ring.
This morning I also saw a story online about a man in the Middle East who received urgent medical care recently. Saeb Erekat, the Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, has COVID-19 and is in critical condition. His daughter asks people to pray for him in a video on the Internet: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/21/plo-leader-erekat-undergoes-bronchostomy-after-contracting-virus. Ron Cantor (www.roncantor.com), a pastor in Tel Aviv, writes: “May God touch him and reveal the truth to him. His situation deteriorated and he was hospitalized in Jerusalem on Sunday after the Palestinian Authority asked Israel to provide him immediate medical care (Times of Israel). Over the years this man has attacked Israel, sowed seeds of division … But as he found himself in poor health, Mr. Erekat asked to be taken to an Israeli hospital—the enemy!”
In his letter to the believers in Philippi, the apostle Paul wrote that Jesus existed in the form of God and did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself and humbled Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross – Philippians 2:6-8. Have you ever wondered what Barabbas thought as Jesus hung on the cross between two criminals? Jesus was crucified in the place where Barabbas deserved to be. We are all guilty of sinning and deserve the wrath of God. One day, we will all stand before God and declare that Jesus is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11). Don’t delay – turn from your sin and trust in Christ Jesus as your personal Saviour. You will have peace with God and be His friend, instead of His enemy, for life and eternity!
Scripture for the weekend: “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?'” Ezekiel 33:11 (NASB)
Thought for the weekend: “If we desire our faith to be strengthened, we should not shrink from opportunities where our faith may be tried, and therefore, through trial, be strengthened.” – George Müller
Steve