Day of The Lord

Who Will Believed Our Message? {Ezekiel 12-15}

8:00 PM


Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, look, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “None of My words will be postponed any more, but the word which I speak will be done,” says the Lord God.’”- Ezekiel 12:26-28

I’m writing this post during the time when we’re studying Ecclesiastes and here's a perfect example of nothing new being under the sun, for since the beginning of time people have failed to heed God’s warnings. I can instantly think of the days of Noah and Isaiah crying out, “Who has believed our message?” in Isaiah 53:1. Even when God came down in the form of our Lord Jesus Christ, most chose to reject Him.

I thought Charles Spurgeon summed it up pretty well, “Men display great ingenuity in making excuses for rejecting the message of God’s love. They display marvelous skill, not in seeking salvation, but in fashioning reasons for refusing it; they are dexterous in avoiding grace, and in securing their own ruin. They hold up first the sword and then the shield to ward off the gracious arrows of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which are only meant to slay the deadly sins which lurk in their bosoms.”  Ezekiel knew this all too well.

Warnings about the future are still going unheeded today, though there have been many signs and many who are busy warning us that we are living in the end times.

Although, we’ve all heard the forecasts of the planet’s inevitable doom unless mankind goes green. Al Gore and others have become the world’s prophetic prophets concerning global warming, and in response to their message, millions have decided to go “green,” trying to do their part to stave off the  "climate-driven" apocalypse. We now have wind and solar energy companies popping up and electric automobiles. Yet, most still don’t seem to be concerned about their soul!

Do you also wonder why those who have heeded the warning about climate change are not willing to humble themselves to receive salvation and escape the coming “Day of the Lord”?

Perhaps, the biggest lie of our enemy isn’t that there is no God, but that there’s no need to hurry to follow Jesus right now. People  can take all the time they’d like to decide on whether they will follow God and His Word or not. This was precisely the message of the false prophets in today’s passage—the men who claimed to speak on God’s behalf. They claimed, “Ezekiel’s words are true, but not for our generation. The destruction he prophesies is far off.”

Sadly, that same lie is still circulating today! And a similar destruction is waiting for those who refuse to trust in Jesus. There will always be those who reject the gospel as foolishness, but there are also others who intend to follow Jesus, yet at a more convenient time.

It’s up to us to go to those who have decided to put off the day of their salvation with Ezekiel’s message “Repent! For the Day of the Lord is coming…”


I also think the warning to us found in Hebrews 3:7-8, 12-13 is one we need to take seriously,
So, as the Holy Spirit says:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
     do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
    during the time of testing in the wilderness,
 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.  But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness."

Today is the day of salvation, for none of us is promised another. 

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1 Thessalonians

Energized By Faith, Motivated By Love {1 Thesalonians 1}

12:00 AM

Just  imagine for a moment  how you would feel if you suddenly received a thank you note from your “superhero of the faith” commending you for things you’ve recently done. This was pretty much Paul’s motive in writing this letter to the Thessalonians. In it, he thanks them for their fruitful work produced by their faith in the Lord, and celebrates the endurance their hope has inspired in the face of much persecution. Truth be told, this is one letter I wouldn’t mind receiving one day, so let’s see what the Thessalonians did to deserve such praise from Paul!

“We give thanks to God always for all of you, continually mentioning you in our prayers; recalling unceasingly before our God and Father your work energized by faith, and your service motivated by love and unwavering hope in [the return of] our Lord Jesus Christ. (1:2-3)

Faith, Hope & Love. Do you recall hearing those same words joined together once before?

The work they did was,
  • Energized by their faith
  • Motivated by their love for the Lord and others, and unwavering hope (that will not disappoint) in the Lord’s return.

I wonder if the same could be said of you (and I) in what we’re doing? I believe when this is true of each of us, we won’t run the risk of growing weary in our work. The secret lies in where they were focused, not on the circumstances around them. They were facing mounting persecution, yet their faith and love for their Lord Jesus Christ, along with their hope that He would return one day caused them to persevere! BUT hold on,

“ Brothers and sisters beloved by God, we know that He has chosen you;  for our good news [of salvation] come to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with great conviction.” (1:4-5)

Whoa! Not only were they energized by their faith in Jesus, motivated by their love and the hope of His return, they were also trusting in His word and the power of the Holy Spirit! How can anyone fail with that combination all tied together!?

You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your benefit. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, after you welcomed our message in [a time of] great trouble with the joy supplied by the Holy Spirit; so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 1:6-7)

Their final key component was to follow the examples of other godly men and women who were leading the way! And the result of all of this was, “ the word of the Lord has resounded from you and has echoed [like thunder], not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place [the news of] your [great] faith in God has spread...” (1:8)

When Paul started the church in Thessalonica what gave his message and ministry credibility was the kind of men he and his team proved to be while living among the Thessalonians. Displaying Jesus happens best when we “do life” among people.  Nothing replaces the opportunity for others to see how Jesus influences the real routine of our lives: family, friendships, work, trials, etc.. like,
  • God’s Holy Spirit to be living and active in our lives.
  • For us to live among other people with intentionality.

In 2004, my husband and I took over a very large Young Married Life Group class. These were couples with mostly young children at the time, and we thought one way to get to know each couple and their children better would be to invite one family over to enjoy Sunday dinner with our kids and grandchildren each week. What we later came to realize was that, what we demonstrated during those dinners; in how our whole family interacted with one another spoke volumes over anything we taught on that morning!  We know this now, because of what those couples later came back and told us. In so many words, they confessed our words took on greater weight after they could see that we were speaking from experience.

Displaying that level of transparency and vulnerability is almost necessary in this day and age if we want people to see the difference Jesus has made in our lives, and I believe we should place our lives on display with Christians and non-Christians alike!

God has given each of us a life message! When we became His child, we also became His messenger! Did you ever think of that? 
God wants to speak to the world through you. You may think you don’t have anything to share, but that’s where you’re wrong! All of us have a story to tell. We all have experiences unlike any other that God wants to use to bring others into His family. And just sometimes that story can be told through our actions, better than our words!

God Word says, “Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony of God in them” (1 John 5:10a). We all just need to get out there and begin to share it!!