This free church bulletin article was written by Brian Humek from Irving, TX. You are free to use this in church bulletins, church emails and on church websites. No credit needs to be given. Simply clicking one of the books on our suggested reading list will help more free content to be placed on this site. Donate your own bulletin article here.
Bible Passage: Isaiah 45:1-8
I’m sure that you know people who don’t believe in, love or worship God. My first thought when I encounter such people, and I do so every day, isn’t how God will use them to accomplish his purposes here on earth. When I think of those that God uses to accomplish his purposes, I think of pastors and extremely active church members. I apologize for putting God in a box. He is so much bigger than that.
The first king of Iran (Persia), King Cyrus, did not believe in God. He didn’t love him or worship him, but God actually called Cyrus his anointed. Wow! God also called Cyrus his servant, someone who would help God accomplish His purpose here on earth. The purpose: defeating the Babylonians and allowing the Israelites to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.
There are a couple timeless truths to be found in Isaiah 45:1-8. First, God is all powerful and can do whatever He pleases. Second, sometimes God decides to use those who are not yet Christian to help Him accomplish his purpose in the lives of believers.
The first King of Iran was a very enlightened leader who gave his subjects freedom, even freedom to worship differently than he did. What a difference a few thousand years in Iranian leadership makes. A few years back, Iranians who craved freedom marched in the streets and sacrificed their own lives in their fight for freedom. Did Christians pray for them to achieve freedom? That raises a question; how involved should the church or Christians in general be when it comes to social injustice, either locally or in Iran? What does the Bible say about it? That’s just something we can ponder today.
Suggested Reading
Author: I.L. Finkel
Pages: 160
Publisher: I. B. Tauris
Rating: 5 stars out of 5 stars
Get More Info on The Cyrus Cylinder
Related posts:
I once heard a wise preacher talk about Adam and Eve. He said they had the whole world in their hands, or in other words they had everything they would ever need and “they messed it all up on page thr...
Bible memorization is not a strong point of mine. Recently, my wife and I have made a point to begin practicing this skill. We began with Psalm 117. It’s short and easy to remember. In fact, here it i...
In a past devotional, I may have mentioned that we have become a society that uses people and loves things instead of loving people and using things. Can we take that backward way of thinking to get b...
On our way to worship last night, we witnessed fire trucks and police cars racing down the highway. Over one hour later, we witnessed another fire truck racing in the same direction. On our way home, ...
You might know the phrase, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” This phrase is inscribed on the James Farley Po...
How many who read this actually play Scrabble? I love to play it, but rarely do I find someone who shares my enthusiasm about it. A couple of the rules in Scrabble are that you cannot use the dictiona...
My recent trip to Kansas this past weekend helped cement the point of Ecclesiastes 3:11 in my mind. There is a lot of beauty between Dallas and Wichita (really, there is). I like the open prairie and ...
Whether it be eastern religions, new age mysticism, or paganism, more than ever, people are interested in the spiritual and the mystical. People are attracted to the mysterious. Spirituality, in its v...
