End of the Week Encouragement

1 Thessalonians 5:1-9: Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.

We will not be surprised. The Lord is gracious and kind! Therefore we are alert, looking for our Redemption and mindful of the lost state of our brothers. Prophecy should spark us to fervency of faith and greater hope.

Have you had a good week? Yes? Praise Jesus! No? Then praise Him anyway! We have another week to witness and to share the Gospel with people in our lives. I pray that He will shine His light through me even more brightly this week than the week before so that when people see me, they really see Jesus' glory.

Ephesians 4:13 says, Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:... won't that be a wonderful moment when we ALL worship Him in unity and perfect wholeness of the Body!

It is my opinion that God is slowly but surely removing protection from the world, and He is upsetting our self-satisfied equilibrium by demonstrating we can only depend on Him. But no matter what your interpretation is of worldly events, ultimately, we all know God is sovereign. He owns the world and the people in it. (Psalm 24:1).

Ezekiel 39:28 - Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind.

Is this a prophecy that has been fulfilled? Or is it one to come? It is one to come, and is related to the last days. Matthew Henry comments:

This is the conclusion of the whole matter going before, and has reference not only to the predictions concerning Gog and Magog, but to all the prophecies of this book concerning the captivity of the house of Israel, and then concerning their restoration and return out of their captivity. 39:23-29 When the Lord shall have mercy on the whole house of Israel, by converting them to Christianity, and when they shall have borne the shame of being cast off for their sins, then the nations shall learn to know, worship, and serve him. Then Israel also shall know the Lord, as revealed in and by Christ. Past events do not answer to these predictions. The pouring out of the Spirit is a pledge that God's favour will continue. He will hide his face no more from those on whom he has poured out his Spirit.

Today would have been my father's 84th birthday. He died suddenly and instantly in an automobile crash two-and-a-half years ago. He had never been born-again. He personally believed his eternity was settled, because God does not exist. 'He is a crutch for the witless, an opiate of the masses' he told me many times. That is not true, as we Christians know. However, for all those people who wonder, who question, who say that they will wait until later to settle their after-life issues: you never know when it will be your time to meet your maker!

Hay bale kills ELO member

A giant bale of hay has killed a founding member of the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) band after it tumbled down a hill and crashed into his van. Cellist Mike Edwards, 62, died after the 600 kg (1,323 lb) bale rolled down a steep field in Devon, southern England, smashed through a hedge and careered on to the road. He died instantly in the freak accident on Friday afternoon.

DO NOT WAIT! Settle your sin account with Jesus now. Eternity is long!