Fresh Start Devotionals

Autumn How was your summer? We spent a lot of good family time together, camping, vacationing, and watching baseball. With the chill in the air, I know that the lazy days of summer are over. Aneesa Hussain didn’t have a very good summer. She is lives in a 2 meter long, by 1 meter wide, by 2.3 meters high jail cell in Maldives. Her husband can visit her for 10 minutes a week. What was her great crime? She confesses Jesus as her Lord. One Filipino prisoner of conscience was released from his Saudi Arabia prison cell this summer, after just fourteen days of confinement. He bore the marks of his “interrogation” and was treated for his injuries, including broken bones. Three nuns were killed in late July in Yeman by Muslim extremist. They were on the way to a clinic for the elderly. The police interrogated the gunman and discovered the reason behind their crime—the nuns were preaching Christianity. In Egypt a church was raided by the police and closed because they didn’t have the proper permits to hold worship services. It usually takes 10 years to get such a permit. November 15th is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. (For more information, call 1–888–538–7222). But we shouldn’t wait until then to pray for our Christian brothers and sisters who are in harms way for the gospel’s sake. Add one more thing to your prayer list—make today a day of prayer for the unmotivated church and her members. Yes summer is over. As I pack up my barbeque grill and put away my baseball glove, I’m going to spend some time praying for those around the world whose summer wasn’t as sunny as mine. Jim L. Wilson, Fresh Start Devotionals (Fresno, CA: Willow City Press, 2009).