Thursday May 31, 2012

List 3 people you can share the peace offer of God with     today.

 

Read Deuteronomy 20:10-18;  Romans 5:1-11

 

Even today when countries go to war, they do so under the terms of the Geneva convention. Wars are regulated. God too regulated the warfare of his people.

 

As the nation of Israel approached a nation that was not one of the Canaanite nations that the Lord was judging, they were to offer that nation a peace settlement. Should the nation accept peace, the people were to be spared and were to be put into forced labour. Should the nation reject the offer of peace, God himself would deliver that nation into Israel’s hands and bring victory for her.  The men were to be killed and the women and children and livestock were to be taken as plunder.

 

But God had a clear line of demarcation. As vs 15 shows these nations were the nations distant from the nations in Canaan that were about to be judged by the Lord. The rules of engagement here were not to apply in Canaan because the wrath of God was upon them.

 

As you and I engage in spiritual warfare, the gospel message we proclaim really is a peace offer to the world. It is an offer of peace from God through us, to them. People have the choice to accept that offer of peace or to reject it. Everyone who receives the offer of peace has eternal life. But everyone who rejects this offer of peace will be judged and condemned as the men of the cities were or as the Canaanites were. It is not your job to make people accept the offer. You and I are messengers with an offer from God. We deliver and let God work in people’s lives. When you share that message of peace with someone, share it in an attractive way, pray for that person but leave the decision with them.

 

Prayer:

¥ We all have friends and/or family that need to hear the message of peace from God. List those people in your life and pray that God would give you an opportunity to share with each one. Pray for the salvation of each one.

¥ Pray that the church would recapture its mission mandate from God (Matthew 28:18-20) and that each believer would be seeking to make disciples in his/her own world of influence. Ask God to bring in the harvest by allowing us more and more opportunities to share that message people.