International Justice Mission 8-10-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your name be exalted in all the earth and here in my heart. I turn my thoughts to You in these first moments of the day. ... "Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow" (Isaiah 1.17). Yeshi prayed in the Spirit last night in our city-wide, intercessory prayer group Margaret Therkelsen faithfully and sacrificially has led every week for over twenty years. We turn our hearts to You in praise and then in the silence, then in the spirit of intercession we begin pray for our city and region and the nations as Your Spirit leads. Yeshi is one Your faithful intercessors, an Ethiopian woman, who has seen much and endured much through the brokenness of the world, yet prays with a purity of heart and fervency of Your Spirit with her eyes firmly fixed on You. Though her words were English, it was the voice of Your Spirit crying out for the oppressed, crying out for those who are crying out to You to be rescued from their oppressors. Through her, You were opening our eyes to the suffering and oppressed in Sudan and Ethiopia and throughout the earth who are suffering and tormented by abuse of power and cruelty of selfish greed, by hatred and racism, by the unimaginable evils of wicked men. I know You begin to move heaven and earth when You hear her pray, and I know You begin to move my heart. You were confirming in my heart a call to another depth of the ministry of deliverance. You've been teaching me and empowering me to teach us others how to take our authority in Christ to break the yoke of demonic oppression from the necks of Your children, that they may be free to fulfill their destiny in You. But lately You've been calling me as well to join others in the physical deliverance from oppression as well as spiritual deliverance. Just as You share Your gospel of salvation to others through Your people, just as You minister Your healing love through Your people, You also desire to rescue the oppressed through Your people. The oppressed are crying out to You, and You are crying out through Your intercessors, to send Your people to bring deliverance from physical and governmental oppression -- children sold into slavery, women forced into prostitution, widows cheated out of their security, and men bound by forced servitude for debts they will never be able to repay. They cry out to You to expose injustice and all the forms of oppression and cruelty, even in the face of laws intended for their protection, while law enforcers abuse their power for their own wicked gain and cruel lust. You look from heaven for someone to stand in the gap, to hear their cry, to answer Your call for deliverance, and to take up their cause. Though You could do it with a blast of Your power from heaven, You have chosen to do it through Your people, as in every other form of ministry on earth. You've been moving on my heart to take my part in obedience to Your call to answer the cries and prayers of the oppressed. In September, I will travel again to India, this time as a lawyer rather than as a deliverance minister -- or rather a different kind of deliverance minister. Our team will work with the base team of the International Justice Mission there to gather evidence and pled our case using the laws of their nation to expose injustice and set the captives free -- mostly women and children sold or forced into bonded labor. They have almost lost hope, yet You have heard their cries for freedom. They may not know it yet, but their hope is in You, Lord Jesus Christ. Though Your ministry of deliverance from oppression through this small team of Christian lawyers may only affect the lives of a few people, it will affect the lives of those people for all eternity. Here I am, Lord -- send me. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I'd appreciate your prayers as our team prepares for this mission to India August 31 through September 11 with this ministry of Christian lawyers, International Justice Mission: www.ijm.org Please be praying for my old law partner in Texas to answer the call to the mission the Lord is preparing for him at the right time. He knows who he is and so does God. To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address for ministry and contributions: 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Daily archives on the web at: www.morningbymorning.blogspot.com and www.morningbymorning.injesus.com God bless you!