The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah,

in those days and at that time, I will make a righteous branch sprout from David's line.

He will do what is just and right in the land.

In those days, Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which

he will be called the Lord, our righteous Savior. This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks, God.

About a year ago, I received a call for my sister asking me to pray for a friend of hers and my brother-in-laws.

My sister, with urgency and desperation, asked that I stop what I was doing and rally others to join me and praying for a miracle,

one that would involve moving the hands of government officials and even our U.S. president. Faith has never been a resource that Rebecca has

lacked, but it isn't always so readily available to me, so I ask for details, specifics. Who are we

praying for, and how did she know him him and what had happened? This friend was

someone she had met a few years prior, someone who carried a similar bird and an ache for those who

had no opportunity to hear the name of Jesus, whose willingness to share about Jesus was and would

be worth his whole life. The details we had were this. This man,

this American businessman, a father and husband had been what they deemed unlawfully detained. He had

been suddenly imprisoned by dangerous government officials. The reasons for why this happened

were not clear, nor were they really given.

All his wife and kids knew was that he wouldn't be returning to America, at least not soon,

and that what lay ahead of him could very much be the price he hoped he'd never have to pay.

This friend had moved his entire family and life to a country that most would and do

avoid. A war-torn place in the Middle East is not most people's ideal location to raise a family

or start a business, but because he loved these people, and he loves Jesus, he went.

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