Lord, help
us to take up the cross you have given each of us; lead us to take action now.
Lord, we
scream ABBA FATHER, we need you to help us to overcome the fears of being
bullied in this world.
Ezekiel
33 New
International Version
Renewal
of Ezekiel's Call as Watchman
The
word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When
I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of
their men and make him their watchman,
and he sees the sword coming against the land and
blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if
anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and
takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed
the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the
warning, they would have saved themselves. But
if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the
people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be
taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their
blood.’
“Son
of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak
and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will
surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that
wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their
blood. But if you do warn the wicked person to
turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though
you yourself will be saved.
“Son
of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and
sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we
live?”’ Say
to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but
rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways!
Why will you die, people of Israel?’
“Therefore,
son of man, say to your people, ‘If someone who is righteous disobeys, that
person’s former righteousness will count for nothing. And if someone who is
wicked repents, that person’s former wickedness will not bring condemnation.
The righteous person who sins will not be allowed to live even though they were
formerly righteous.’ If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live,
but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous
things that person has done will be remembered; they will die for the evil they
have done. And if I say to a wicked person,
‘You will surely die,’ but they then turn away from their sin and do what is
just and right— if they give back what they
took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees
that give life, and do no evil—that person will surely live; they will not die.
None of the sins that person has committed will be
remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely
live.
“Yet
your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is
not just. If
a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, they will die
for it. And if a wicked person turns away
from their wickedness and does what is just and right, they will live by doing
so. Yet you Israelites say, ‘The way of the
Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to your own ways.”
Jerusalem’s
Fall Explained
In
the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month on the fifth day, a man who
had escaped from Jerusalem
came to me and said, “The city has fallen!” Now the evening before the
man arrived, the hand of the Lord
was on me, and he opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So
my mouth was opened and I was no longer silent.
Then
the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, the people living in those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one
man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given
to us as our possession.’ Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you eat meat with the blood still in it and
look to your idols and shed blood, should you then possess the land? You rely on your sword, you do detestable things, and each
of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?’
“Say
this to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live,
those who are left in the ruins will fall by the sword, those out in the
country I will give to the wild animals to be devoured, and those in
strongholds and caves will die of a plague. I will make the land a
desolate waste, and her proud strength will come to an end, and the mountains
of Israel
will become desolate so that no one will cross them. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolate waste because of
all the detestable things they have done.’
“As
for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls
and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, ‘Come and hear the
message that has come from the Lord.’ My people come to you, as
they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put
them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for
unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing
more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an
instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.
“When
all this comes true—and it surely will—then they will know that a prophet has
been among them.”
Ezekiel
34 New
International Version
The Lord Will Be Israel’s Shepherd
The
word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what
the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of
yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe
yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take
care of the flock. You have not strengthened
the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back
the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.
So they were scattered because there was no shepherd,
and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high
hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked
for them.
“‘Therefore,
you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As surely as I live, declares
the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been
plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my
shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for
my flock, therefore, you shepherds, hear the
word of the Lord: This is what the
Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them
accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the
shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their
mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.
“‘For
this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search
for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is
with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the
places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them
from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture
them on the mountains of Israel,
in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain
heights of Israel
will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and
there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down,
declares the Sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I
will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong
I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
“‘As
for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between
one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. Is it not enough for you to
feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with
your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy
the rest with your feet? Must my flock feed
on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
“‘Therefore
this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I myself
will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you shove with flank
and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven
them away, I will save my flock, and they
will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another.
I will place over them one shepherd, my servant
David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the Lord
will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.
“‘I
will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so
that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. I will make them and the
places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season;
there will be showers of blessing. The trees
will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be
secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from
the hands of those who enslaved them. They
will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them.
They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and
they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the
nations. Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites,
are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord.
You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am
your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
1
Thessalonians 1 New International Version
Paul,
Silas and
Timothy,
To
the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace
and peace to you.
Thanksgiving
for the Thessalonians’ Faith
We
always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God
and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your
endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
For
we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to
you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep
conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you
welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the
Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all
the believers in Macedonia
and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from
you not only in Macedonia
and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not
need to say anything about it, for they
themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned
to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from
the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
1
Thessalonians 2 New International Version
Paul’s
Ministry in Thessalonica
You
know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not without results. We had previously suffered
and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of
our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition.
For the appeal we make does not spring from error or
impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be
entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who
tests our hearts. You know we never used
flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness.
We were not looking for praise from people, not from
you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted
our authority. Instead, we were like young
children among you.
Just
as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because
we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel
of God but our lives as well. Surely you
remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day
in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to
you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of
how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father
deals with his own children, encouraging,
comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his
kingdom and glory.
And
we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which
you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is,
the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. For you, brothers and
sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ
Jesus: You suffered from your own people the same things those churches
suffered from the Jews who killed the Lord
Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are
hostile to everyone in their effort to keep
us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they
always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at
last.
Paul’s
Longing to See the Thessalonians
But,
brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a
short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made
every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did,
again and again—but Satan blocked our way. For
what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence
of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.
How do you bare your cross?
We Claim these
things with the Power in the Names of Jesus; The Christ; The Messiah. Amen.
Footnotes:
- Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Purchased Product License 01/09/2015
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