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:
Moses felt he wasn’t a good enough speaker. I guess we could call that an infirmity. He tried to use the fact as a way not to do what God wanted. I met a man named David years ago, an evacuee from.......
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...
Often, in my public prayers, I thank God for loving us and giving us everything we need. We don’t deserve His love, but I plead for his help in our lives so we can at least act like we deserve a littl...
There were lots of beautiful Monarch butterflies above my house this morning. They were floating past our house toward the southwest. My son and I watched as three or four would appear, then five more...
Near the beginning of the movie Say Anything the female love interest, Diane Court gives her valedictorian address. In her speech, she states, “I have seen the future, and all I can say is … go back.”...
I hate to admit it, but I waited for years to have a girl fall in love with me. I always had bad experiences with girls. In 5th grade Andrea really acted as if she liked me. We were going on a field t...
Time flies doesn’t it? It has been almost 20 years since I began reading THE UNDERGROUND EMPIRE by James Mills. This book looks with great detail, into the world of illegal drug trafficking. As a yout...
