April 30, 2019

Good Morning Fellow Travelers,

Read: Ezekiel 22:17-31

“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” Ezekiel 22:30

Sometimes we hear the idea that the devil seems to have a monopoly on the souls in a particular city or county. Are there no Christians there who take a serious interest in interceding for the souls in their community?

God most graciously uses men and women of faith to stand between, and to intercede for sinners before God.  In such a way, we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Notice the dilemma in Ezekiel’s prophecy concerning Israel.  Read the whole chapter to get the picture.  They were committing the sins of our present generation, and that had caused an irreconcilable breach between them and their God.  The hedge needed to be filled; the gap in the line of defense needed a warrior, armed.  God lamented that He sought for such a person in Israel and he found none.

This raises a profound question.  Will God use just one man to fill the gap?  Will just one be enough?  One praying man or one preaching man, filled with the Spirit of God, would be a good start in reestablishing a line of defense.  God does not have cataracts on His eyes.  The reason God found none was that there were none.

May I encourage you?  The devil has it too easy in your community.  It is this simple.  One man in the closet, interceding before God for his church and community, through serious prayer and supplication, can make it extremely difficult for our enemy.  God gives us an amazing privilege.  By our prayers of faith, we can influence God to delay judgment and move in the hearts of men.  He wants you to be engaged in this intercession.  Will you step up to the challenge?

–James Baer