Morning by Morning, November 10 - Anointing for Leadership to Change a Nation
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are One with the Father, One with the Holy Spirit. Come be One within me, as You abide in me and I abide in You (John 15:4). ...
We're a people of strong opinions. And rightly so. You are a God of strong opinions. And rightly so. You've expressed them to us in the words we call The Bible and You impress them into our hearts by the moving of Your Holy Spirit. And when we wonder if our opinions line up with Your opinions, You remind us to read Your Word and listen for Your Spirit. "For all who are led by the Spirit of God as children of God" (Roman 8:14). "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
As our nation moves into its next season of leadership through "the peaceful transition of government," many question the character of our elected leader. And our leaders, like each of us, are responsible for our actions and words and choices. "God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For He will repay according to each one's deeds: to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life; while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury.... For God shows no impartiality.... God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all" (Romans 2:5-16).
So we all need Jesus (John 3:16). And we all need the mercy and grace of God who convicts us of our sins, who forgives us through repentance, and who changes our hearts, that we may grow in His character and live for His purposes (Colossians 1:19-20). It's true of our leaders and it's true of each one of us, "since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;" but through repentance and faith, "they are now justified by the His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by His blood, effective through faith" (Romans 3:23-25).
Many have taken note of Your power to change the heart of a leader to accomplish Your purposes for a nation by the anointing of Your Spirit even upon one who did not know You and Your nature before You chose to use him despite his character, as You did through King Cyrus, expressed in Isaiah 45:
"Thus says the Lord to His anointed,
To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held-
To subdue nations before him
And loose the armor of kings,
To open before him the double doors,
So that the gates will not be shut:
2 'I will go before you
And make the crooked places straight;
I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron.
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
That you may know that I, the Lord,
Who call you by your name,
Am the God of Israel.
4 For Jacob My servant's sake,
And Israel My elect,
I have even called you by your name;
I have named you, though you have not known Me.
5 I am the Lord, and there is no other;
There is no God besides Me.
I will gird you, though you have not known Me, 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting
That there is none besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other;
7 I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and create calamity;
I, the Lord, do all these things.'
8 "Rain down, you heavens, from above,
And let the skies pour down righteousness;
Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation,
And let righteousness spring up together.
I, the Lord, have created it.
9 "Woe to him who strives with his Maker!
Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth!
Shall the clay say to him who forms it, 'What are you making?'
Or shall your handiwork say, 'He has no hands'?
10 Woe to him who says to his father, 'What are you begetting?'
Or to the woman, 'What have you brought forth?' "
11 Thus says the Lord,
The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:
"Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons;
And concerning the work of My hands, you command Me.
12 I have made the earth,
And created man on it.
I-My hands-stretched out the heavens,
And all their host I have commanded.
13 I have raised him up in righteousness,
And I will direct all his ways;
He shall build My city
And let My exiles go free,
Not for price nor reward,"
Says the Lord of hosts.
14 Thus says the Lord:
"The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush
And of the Sabeans, men of stature,
Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours;
They shall walk behind you,
They shall come over in chains;
And they shall bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying, 'Surely God is in you,
And there is no other;
There is no other God.' "
15 Truly You are God, who hide Yourself,
O God of Israel, the Savior!
16 They shall be ashamed
And also disgraced, all of them;
They shall go in confusion together,
Who are makers of idols.
17 But Israel shall be saved by the Lord
With an everlasting salvation;
You shall not be ashamed or disgraced
Forever and ever.
18 For thus says the Lord,
Who created the heavens,
Who is God,
Who formed the earth and made it,
Who has established it,
Who did not create it in vain,
Who formed it to be inhabited:
"I am the Lord, and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in secret,
In a dark place of the earth;
I did not say to the seed of Jacob,
'Seek Me in vain';
I, the Lord, speak righteousness,
I declare things that are right.
20 "Assemble yourselves and come;
Draw near together,
You who have escaped from the nations.
They have no knowledge,
Who carry the wood of their carved image,
And pray to a god that cannot save.
21 Tell and bring forth your case;
Yes, let them take counsel together.
Who has declared this from ancient time?
Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the Lord?
And there is no other God besides Me,
A just God and a Savior;
There is none besides Me.
22 "Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every knee shall bow,
Every tongue shall take an oath.
24 He shall say,
'Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength.
To Him men shall come,
And all shall be ashamed
Who are incensed against Him.
25 In the Lord all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and shall glory' " (Isaiah 45:1-28 NKJV).
Lord, let it be so in our time. You are alone are Lord. There is no God besides You. Move mightily in the heart of our elected leaders and in heart of our nation to turn to You in righteousness. Change our hearts and heal our land, that we may know our identity and fulfill our destiny as a people of God (2 Chronicles 7:14). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
