END TIMES READING PLAN: Amos 8-9 & Obadiah 1
SCRIPTURE READING
Matthew 13:37-38 (NIV); O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone
those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen
gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you
desolate.
After exposing the wickedness of the Pharisees, Jesus wept over His people. As the son
of a Jewish woman these were His brothers of national heritage – a blood connection that
runs much deeper than any westerner could understand. And as God, these were the
people of His creation and His image. He longed for them to soften their hearts and draw
near to the Father; but they would not listen.
Jesus longs for our generation and our culture with the same mourning passion. Society
says that “sin” and “guilt” are the profanities while the individual’s right to choose is sacred
– the right to choose whether a tiny life should live; the right to choose your sexuality; the
right to choose when your marital commitment has reached a limit; the right to choose to
end a life. Society’s sins pile high and her wounds run deep; still she clings to the façade
that sin is an illusion and peace will come as she does whatever she thinks is right. This is
the lie that Satan has successfully intertwined.
We are ambassadors of a King who has brought justice, love and mercy to a broken world.
We have been bestowed the task of loosening chains, breaking yokes and setting captives
free.
PRAYER and MEDITATION
1) Spend a significant chunk of time in confession and repentance on behalf of our nation
and community. Listen in prayer for specific sins. You may even want to do this as a
family, or with a friend.
2) Do listening prayer, asking the Lord how you can intercede for our nation. Pray Jesus
words’ from the passage over our community and over Canada.
3) Perhaps you are too timid, or too brash, in sharing your views with others. Confess
anything that has hindered your influence. Ask the Lord to show you how you can
be an agent of transformation in your spheres of influence. How can you loosen chains
of injustice, break yokes and set free those who are captives to sin?
