Day of the Lord
The 7th Sunday after Pentecost
The Lord thunders commands to his army.
The troops that obey him
are many and mighty.
How terrible is the day of the Lord!
Who will survive it?
"But even now," says the Lord,
"repent sincerely and return to me
with fasting and weeping and mourning." ~ Joel 2:11-12 (GNT)
The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. ~ Romans 13:12 (NLT)
KEY IDEA:
It's time to make some changes because the judgment day of the Lord is coming soon.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for promising to return. I'm not sure that I'm ready, though. There are things that need to change -- lots of small things -- perhaps a few big things. I'm not ready to face you. I need help changing.
Start wherever you want with me. You know me better than I know myself. I just want to be among "the troops that obey him." Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
