Friday, October 4, 2013

Jeremiah 41 (New International Version)




Jeremiah 41

1 In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood and had been one of the king's officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating together there, 2 Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land. 3 Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Babylonian [a] soldiers who were there.

4 The day after Gedaliah's assassination, before anyone knew about it, 5 eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria, bringing grain offerings and incense with them to the house of the LORD. 6 Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When he met them, he said, "Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam." 7 When they went into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern. 8 But ten of them said to Ishmael, "Don't kill us! We have wheat and barley, oil and honey, hidden in a field." So he let them alone and did not kill them with the others. 9 Now the cistern where he threw all the bodies of the men he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one King Asa had made as part of his defense against Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.

10 Ishmael made captives of all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah—the king's daughters along with all the others who were left there, over whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.

11 When Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him heard about all the crimes Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed, 12 they took all their men and went to fight Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him near the great pool in Gibeon. 13 When all the people Ishmael had with him saw Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers who were with him, they were glad. 14 All the people Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah. 15 But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped from Johanan and fled to the Ammonites.

Flight to Egypt

16 Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led away all the survivors from Mizpah whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after he had assassinated Gedaliah son of Ahikam: the soldiers, women, children and court officials he had brought from Gibeon. 17 And they went on, stopping at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem on their way to Egypt 18 to escape the Babylonians. [b] They were afraid of them because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.
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AFWIS Joins Operation World in Prayer for the Republic of the Philippines in Asia

Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)
Home > Oct 04: Philippines

Oct 04: Philippines

Philippines

Republic of the Philippines

Asia

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 300,000 sq km
80 provinces; 7,250 islands, of which over 700 are inhabited, 11 of which contain the vast bulk of the population. The largest are Luzon (116,000 sq km) in the north and Mindanao (102,000 sq km) in the south. Over 75% mountains; prone to devastating typhoons.
Population: 93,616,853    Annual Growth: 1.83%
Capital: Manila
Urbanites: 66.4%
HDI Rank: 105 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Peoples

Peoples: 186 (11% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: Filipino (based on Tagalog), English    Languages: 181 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Christian
Religion               Pop %Ann Gr
Christians86,361,54792.251.7
Evangelicals11,558,34412.33.1

Challenges for Prayer

Leadership development is a priority. Praise God for many Filipino leaders with national and international influence. Yet, even the more than 100 seminaries and Bible colleges and numerous TEE courses have not kept pace with the need. Splits and schisms – often led by those with minimal training and little accountability – have led to doctrinal distortions and moral failures. Many see formal training as an unaffordable luxury or an unnecessary distraction. Graduates are often reluctant to serve in needier rural areas; many emigrate to the USA. Thousands of rural congregations languish without adequate leadership; thousands of pastors struggle to survive on the meagre offerings of their congregations. Pray for such institutions as the Alliance Bible Seminary (CMA), Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary (IMB), ATS, FEBIAS (SEND), APTS in Baguio (AoG), and IGSL (CCCI). TOPIC plays a key role in equipping Christian leaders in the Philippines. Pray that God may continue to raise up godly, committed leaders.
The Filipino Church is now a significant missionary-sending Church. With over 50,000 evangelical congregations and a widespread diaspora, the potential is great. Filipino cultural flexibility, resilience in difficult environments, good education, language skills (including use of English) and positive foreign relations all weigh heavily in favour of Filipino missionaries. Pray for:
a) The Philippine Missions Association. The PMA is a coordinating body for most of the mission agencies based in the country. Pray for effective national and international networking to maximize the impact of this movement, crucial to world evangelization.
b) Growth of this vision, that it be embraced by local churches – with all the supportive implications. The PMA seeks to raise up 25,000 mission-supporting congregations by the end of 2010.
c) Major Filipino sending agencies: CAMCOP(CMA), Free Believers in Christ, Philippines Missionary Fellowship, Tribes and Nations Outreach, RCMH, Hosanna, Christ to the Orient, AoG, Asian Center for Mission, FIFCOP, Church of God, Philippine Frontline Ministries, Victory World Mission, Church of the Foursquare Gospel. There are also significant numbers of Filipinos serving with international mission agencies: CCCI, SdA, YWAM, OM, AEF, WV, International Teams, OMF.
d) The PMA goal of sending out 5,000 cross-cultural missionaries. About 3,300 are already on the field. They also seek to raise up 2,000 mobilizers, 200,000 Filipino tentmakers and 500,000 mission intercessors; pray for the fulfilment of these ambitious and faith-filled goals.
e) Missionary training. Praise God for programmes such as Asian Center for Missions (ACM) in eight locations, Great Commission Missionary Training Center, School of Frontier Missions and Cross-Train, where many Filipinos prepare for missionary service. Pray for the further development of these programmes; such preparation will be essential if the above mobilization goals are to be met.
     For an additional 12 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Philippines.
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Romans 9 (New International Version, ©2010)




Romans 9

Paul's Anguish Over Israel

1 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised![a] Amen.
God's Sovereign Choice

6 It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."[b] 8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. 9 For this was how the promise was stated: "At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son."[c]
10 Not only that, but Rebekah's children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God's purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls—she was told, "The older will serve the younger."[d] 13 Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."[e]

14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."[f]

16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy. 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."[g] 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

19 One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?" 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'"[h] 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?

22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25 As he says in Hosea: "I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one,"[i]

26 and, "In the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' there they will be called 'children of the living God.'"[j]

27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved.
28 For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality."[k]

29 It is just as Isaiah said previously: "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah."[l]

Israel's Unbelief

30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written:
"See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame."
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