Receiving God's Mercy

Here is another great excerpt from the popular book Extreme Devotion.  Click here to order.

Delores’s aging body was weary from running, and she wept, “God, please have mercy on us, your children!” Delores was fleeing for her life, along with other believers, as attackers showered artillery on her village. Using her crude walking stick, she climbed, step by step, over a steep mountain range until she reached a safe location. She settled in a makeshift refugee camp among hundreds of others who had been displaced by the violence.

    Delores is one of millions of Christians living in Indonesia—a nation made up of more than thirteen thousand islands. Indonesia is also the most populous Muslim country in the world. Yet the Muslims and Christians have shared the same space for years, living together in peace for generations. However, they face a new enemy: Fanatical Muslim groups have recently incited many jihads (holy wars) on the islands. Today, there is no peace between the Muslims and Christians.
    

In one city, Christians gathered and sang “I Surrender All” at the governor’s office in a peaceful demonstration of the cause of Christ. They pleaded for the government to acknowledge how many Christians have been slaughtered at the hands of militant Muslims. Even while the calm body of believers continued to sing, Muslim forces attacked another village and ravaged it. Many communities that used to thrive are now just piles of ash and rubble.

Delores is just one of a multitude of persecuted believers in Indonesia who cry out to God for deliverance. Revelation speaks of a multitude of martyrs who long for God’s judgment and justice. However, they must not cry out alone. We who are living must join our voices along with their earnest pleas. Even though we may be a world away in our own comfortable homes, our sincere support is merely a prayer away. When we offer our prayers for safety and deliverance, we join our hearts with those who are suffering. Will you pray today for Delores and other believers in Indonesia? Will you ask God to protect them on their journey and to hear our prayers for deliverance?