November 4, 2020 WN
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1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,
2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,
4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,
14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.
20 Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might.
21 He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;
22 he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.
23 To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”
FOX NEWS provides the following report:
Zimbabwe's controversial president Robert Mugabe was awarded China's alternative to the Nobel Peace Prize Thursday for what the prize committee called his inspired national leadership and service to pan-Africanism.
The 91-year-old Mugabe is the latest in a series of critics of the West who have received the Confucius Peace Prize.
Under his rule, the government pushed a plan to acquire large parcels of land, many from white owners, to give to black farmers. When owners challenged the move in 2002, Mugabe reportedly called them "greedy, greedy colonials."
After fighting in a guerrilla war in the 1970s, Mugabe was elected president in 1980. He has been in power for 35 years with no clear successor.
Critics say he cracked down on opposition groups, sending many of their leaders to jail.
The prize committee defended its decision, saying Mugabe has "overcome difficulties of all kinds and has strongly committed himself to constructing his nation's political and economic order, while strongly supporting pan-Africanism and African independence."
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The Confucius Peace Prize was first awarded in 2010, an angry response from Beijing over the granting of the Nobel Peace Prize to imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. Other recipients include former Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Russian President Vladimir Putin. None has traveled to claim the prize in person.
APPLICATION
Despite the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world continues to be divided along ideological lines. Nowhere is this more evident than in the way we award peace prizes. Clearly, the Confucius Peace Prize represents one ideology's response to another. While such awards are supposed to promote peace, isn’t this really just another form of war, albeit ideological?
Thankfully, God offers us something better than the world's version of a “peace prize.” He offers us "the prize of His peace." It’s a prize offered to everyone—no committees, no nominations, or politics involved. And rather than furthering the divide, it results in complete and eternal reconciliation between God and man, forming the basis of all other peace.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid“ (John 14:27).