Scripture for the week:
Seek the peace and prosperity of the land to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.
Dear Friend,
Take a minute. Imagine your ideal future. What does it look like? What does peace and prosperity mean for you, your family, our nation? Sometimes the best place to realize the possibilities for our future is in a place of exile. Exile from what we see as good, safe and abundant. This kind of uncertainty can awaken our desires for a blessed life. It can cause us to get up off our behinds and do something.
What do we do? A prosperous and peaceful future is intentional, not accidental. The quality life of freedom, respect, goodness and abundance requires two commitments: seek it out and pray it through.
Seek: the Hebrew word for seek is darash. It is an action word. It means to pursue, search and follow. We must search out, pursue and follow the quality life we long for. Follow the trail. Set your eyes on what you desire and be active in bringing freedom, respect, goodness and abundance to others. Do the homework as to how that God-kind of life is received and shared. Then . . . live it out.
Pray: The words peace and prosperity are rooted in the Hebrew word shalom. Shalom is a pregnant word, meaning: well, happy, friendly; also (abstractly) welfare, i.e. health, prosperity, peace. Wow! Looks like a campaign promise! God says to pray this for our land and it will come to us personally! It’s not enough to just do the work of seeking. Even diligent seekers leave this life without experiencing a deeply satisfying and abundant life. People who pray prayers for their land experience that kind of peace alone and together. This kind of prosperity comes from the power of God.
So, because these words apply to us in solitude and community, let your vote be congruent with them. Before you vote next Tuesday, choose the candidate you see as pursuing and following God’s ways. Let prayers of true shalom be spoken over our nation. You may not have the answers to all of life’s problems, but you have two steps that lead us into God’s plan for peace and prosperity. Begin today.
Shalom,
Scott & Clare
Crossroads Church & Ministries
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I seek the peace and prosperity of our land. You promise that if it prospers I, too, will prosper. Give us leaders who will make your ways their ways and your thoughts their thoughts. Save us from the false choices and guide us into all truth. I commit to seek peace and prosperity for others, to see Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. For Yours is the kingdom the power and the glory now and forever. Amen
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