[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Dear Daily Message Readers,[/FONT]
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[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']READ: [/FONT][FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Jonah 3[/FONT]
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[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']BIBLEGATEWAY LINK: [/FONT][FONT='Arial','sans-serif']http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jonah 3;&version=47; [/FONT]
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[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Jonah 3:7-8 [/FONT][FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] (ESV) He issued a proclamation and said, In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, cattle or sheep, is to taste anything; they must not eat and they must not drink water. 8 Every person and animal must put on sackcloth and must cry earnestly to God, and everyone must turn from their evil way of living and from the violence that they do.[/FONT]
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[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 (NET) [/FONT][FONT='Arial','sans-serif'][/FONT][FONT='Arial','sans-serif']For people everywhere report how you welcomed us and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Imagine today that you are walking down the middle of the road and in the distance you believe you heard the sound of a semi-truck coming. What would be the evidence that you knew the truck was coming? It would be more then saying, Well, that sounds like a truck. Thats great! and keep on walking. Instead, your belief that the truck was coming head-on to meet you would be evidenced by your changing the direction you had been walking. If a truck that can kill you is coming your way, you are going to move in another direction![/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Perhaps one of the most similar passages to the directional change of the Ninevites is found in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10. Paul writes about the clear evidence that occurred in the life of these believers. The Thessalonians turned/repented from their former practices and came to faith in Jesus Christ. There was a decisive action, a reorientation of their whole lives to now live for the true God and not idols. In other words, if someone professes to be a Christian but doesnt demonstrate a transformed life according to Scripture, that person is not a believer.[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']What is the specific evidence of the Thessalonians salvation? First, they literally became slaves of God to do His will (1:9). This is in the present tense, meaning that submission to the Lord is an ongoing purpose. Second, they waited and anticipated that Christ would return (1:10). This was their motivation to wholeheartedly give themselves to the proclamation of the Gospel and service to one another. [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']For the sailors in chapter one of Jonah, the evidence of their conversion was their turning away from praying to their idols to fulfilling vows and sacrifices before the holy God. The text even makes it clear that they anticipated His judgment in the storm. For the people of Nineveh, a 40-day ultimatum was given by the prophet Jonah. The evidence of their conversion was their repentance from their localized gods to the living and true God. The city was destroyed a generation or so after Jonah, further informing us that a Holy Spirit-given directional change genuinely came to pass.[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']How about you, Christian? Have you asked the Lord to search your heart and examine it for any sin (Psalm 26:2)? Are you anticipating the return of Jesus Christ? Are you actively serving Him today?[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Or, once more, am I writing to someone this day that knows not the triune God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Repent and believe the Gospel and you will be saved![/FONT]
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[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Faith Lesson: [/FONT]
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[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 [/FONT][FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] For God did not destine us for wrath but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that whether we are alert or asleep we will come to life together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as you are in fact doing.[/FONT][FONT='Arial','sans-serif'][/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']In Christ,
Darin Smith[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'][/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'][/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']READ: [/FONT][FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Jonah 3[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']BIBLEGATEWAY LINK: [/FONT][FONT='Arial','sans-serif']http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jonah 3;&version=47; [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Jonah 3:7-8 [/FONT][FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] (ESV) He issued a proclamation and said, In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, cattle or sheep, is to taste anything; they must not eat and they must not drink water. 8 Every person and animal must put on sackcloth and must cry earnestly to God, and everyone must turn from their evil way of living and from the violence that they do.[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 (NET) [/FONT][FONT='Arial','sans-serif'][/FONT][FONT='Arial','sans-serif']For people everywhere report how you welcomed us and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Imagine today that you are walking down the middle of the road and in the distance you believe you heard the sound of a semi-truck coming. What would be the evidence that you knew the truck was coming? It would be more then saying, Well, that sounds like a truck. Thats great! and keep on walking. Instead, your belief that the truck was coming head-on to meet you would be evidenced by your changing the direction you had been walking. If a truck that can kill you is coming your way, you are going to move in another direction![/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Perhaps one of the most similar passages to the directional change of the Ninevites is found in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10. Paul writes about the clear evidence that occurred in the life of these believers. The Thessalonians turned/repented from their former practices and came to faith in Jesus Christ. There was a decisive action, a reorientation of their whole lives to now live for the true God and not idols. In other words, if someone professes to be a Christian but doesnt demonstrate a transformed life according to Scripture, that person is not a believer.[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']What is the specific evidence of the Thessalonians salvation? First, they literally became slaves of God to do His will (1:9). This is in the present tense, meaning that submission to the Lord is an ongoing purpose. Second, they waited and anticipated that Christ would return (1:10). This was their motivation to wholeheartedly give themselves to the proclamation of the Gospel and service to one another. [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']For the sailors in chapter one of Jonah, the evidence of their conversion was their turning away from praying to their idols to fulfilling vows and sacrifices before the holy God. The text even makes it clear that they anticipated His judgment in the storm. For the people of Nineveh, a 40-day ultimatum was given by the prophet Jonah. The evidence of their conversion was their repentance from their localized gods to the living and true God. The city was destroyed a generation or so after Jonah, further informing us that a Holy Spirit-given directional change genuinely came to pass.[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']How about you, Christian? Have you asked the Lord to search your heart and examine it for any sin (Psalm 26:2)? Are you anticipating the return of Jesus Christ? Are you actively serving Him today?[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Or, once more, am I writing to someone this day that knows not the triune God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Repent and believe the Gospel and you will be saved![/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Faith Lesson: [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 [/FONT][FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] For God did not destine us for wrath but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that whether we are alert or asleep we will come to life together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as you are in fact doing.[/FONT][FONT='Arial','sans-serif'][/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']In Christ,
Darin Smith[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'][/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']
