SEPTEMBER "prayer-starters" DAY 21

It was the pride of the Edomites that brought them down. Being descendents of Esau, and having within them the same frame of mind that was in him, they set out to make themselves safe from failure. They supposed they might escape in the day of their calamity, for they had built for themselves strong fortifications. Oh, but read the Prophet’s Word to them!

Obadiah 1:3—The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?

(MSG)2-4—"Listen to this, Edom:
   I'm turning you to a no-account,
   the runt of the godless nations, despised.
You thought you were so great,
   perched high among the rocks, king of the mountain,
Thinking to yourself,
   'Nobody can get to me! Nobody can touch me!'
Think again. Even if, like an eagle,
   you hang out on a high cliff-face,
Even if you build your nest in the stars,
   I'll bring you down to earth."
         God's sure Word.

But see the Word of the Lord them:

Obadiah 1:4—Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.

From Esau, who became known as Edom, we learn the tragic lesson of how carnality’s rule in one life can defile and weaken generations that follow. By the grace of God, the carnal frame, that frame that has come down upon many of us from the progenitors of our family, can be broken. The lust, the greed, the disregard for others, the laziness, the selfish ambition, the shame, the low self esteem that came on us through our family line can all be broken when we’re adopted, by God’s grace, into His family.

We can come to know for certain that ...if any one is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old state of things has passed away; a new state of things has come into existence.—II Corinthians 5:17.Weymouth

From the Received Text of the Greek New Testament, we can read the above verse as: “So then if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation. The old has vanished; behold, everything has become new.” It’s amazing. The word that is two times translated “new” is kaínos. It means “something new like never before known.”

GRACIOUS LORD, a new kind of life has come into my family line. Oh, it’s late for so many of us, but Your grace can reach through to each living member of my family. I call for this, based on Your mercy and readiness to forgive. Please move by Your Spirit upon each one of us.