#DailyDevotion You have an invitation to the Kingdom. What R U going 2 with it?
January 24th
Read Joel 3:1–21
Joe 3:9-17 Proclaim this among the nations: Consecrate for war; stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up. (10) Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, “I am a warrior.” (11) Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. Bring down your warriors, O LORD. (12) Let the nations stir themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. (13) Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great. (14) Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. (15) The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. (16) The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel. (17) “So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it.
It is amazing how much of Joel is in the book of Revelation. Rev. chapters 16, 19 and 20 are simply a rehashing of what Joel predicts here. Rev 16:13-14 And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. (14) … For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. Rev 19:13-19 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God…He will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. (16) On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. … (19) And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. Rev 20:7-10 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison (8) and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. (9) And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, (10) and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
All of these verses are talking about the great and terrible day of the Lord. A day of judgment is coming. Whose side will you be on? Are you going to be gathered with the Lamb and the Church or are you going to be gathered with Satan and the world who defies the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ? For now the invitation is out to the whole world; repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. To all who believe this live and salvation await them. For those who reject Jesus, food for birds and the Lake of Fire is their end. Personally, I’m choosing the Lamb. Jesus is now giving you the invitation into his kingdom. What about you?
Lord Jesus Christ, so move the hearts of men that they will reject Satan and all his ways and choose to believe the free gift of eternal life you won for all men. May the invitation reach all ears through the members of your body the Church so they may accept your invitation to life everlasting. Amen.