This Week’s Reading: Joel 2

This Week’s Reading: Joel 2

Happy New Year everyone! For those of you new to Project Ezra, welcome, and I hope the group will be a blessing and encouragement to you. For those of you who have been with Project Ezra for a while, we’re glad you are still here, and are praying you will tell other brothers and sisters in Christ about the group. Many people have been encouraged to share their faith publicly through the reading of God’s word, and I pray that many more will be as well.

This week we will be switching from our normal list (the book or Proverbs) and will be reading Joel chapter 2. The chapter may seem a bit obscure to some, and I know many Christians have likely never read it. However, the overall message is consistent with like the rest of God’s word, and that message reflects the gospel. In outline form it shows:

Mankind, and in this case Israel specifically, has been rebellious against God, and is thus deserving of judgment.

God is a just judge, and will punish sin.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, and when the day of His wrath is revealed, even the mighty and powerful will tremble before Him.

Even though God is angry with the wicked, He still calls them to return to Him.

God will be gracious to restore His people.

Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

It still amazes me that the message of God restoring and redeeming His disobedient, rebellious people appears in nearly every book of the bible. The God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament, and the final work of redemption that was foreshadowed in His dealings with the nation of Israel was brought to completion in the person of Jesus Christ.

So for this chapter, I would encourage you, following your reading, to draw parallels between this passage and the gospel. Remind the people listening (and people will be listen, whether they do it obviously or not), that as Israel was disobedient and rebellious, so are we. Use the law of God, and be specific, to show them that they sinners worthy of nothing but God’s wrath. And tell them the good news that as God called and restored His people then, He calls us and will restore us, through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection.

As always, please spend some time with the passage, and in prayer, prior to going out to do your reading. It is so important that we understand God’s word and handle it rightly, and that we are putting our trust in God, and not depending on ourselves. We should pray for discernment, wisdom, the filling of the Spirit, and protection. Evangelism of any kind is also spiritual warfare, and though you may not have encountered direct opposition, it will come, and we need to be prepared when it does.

Many of you probably know that Project Ezra is an outreach of The Way of the Master’s Ambassador’s Alliance. For those of you who might not be familiar with The Way of the Master and Living Waters, its parent ministry, I would encourage you to check out the links below. They have many resources to help you grow in your faith and to equip you to be bold in sharing your faith. Be sure to check out the Ambassador’s Academy information. The Academy is still in the process of taking applications for this year. As always, if you have any questions about these resources, or questions or comments about this week’s reading and post, I would love to hear them. God bless!

For the praise of His glory,

Dan


Evangelism Resources:

Living Waters – The core ministry messages
Hell’s Best Kept Secret
True and False Conversion

Way of the Master

The Ambassador’s Fellowship

The Ambassador’s Academy

The School of Biblical Evangelism

Gospel Tracts