INSPIRATION: Have you ever worried about whether or not a family member or friend is going to heaven? Have you ever wondered how people in the middle of the jungle hear the gospel? Jesus died for our sins. We only have to trust in Him and call on Jesus’ name. How can someone do that if they don’t know who Jesus is, have never heard of Him, or have never been told the gospel? They will hear it, if you tell them though. You have the opportunity to share the good news of Jesus with the people whom God has placed in your life!
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REFLECTION: For whosoever shall call, etc. - Nor shall any one who hears this doctrine of salvation, and credits it as he is commanded, be permitted to pray or supplicate the throne of grace in vain: for the Prophet Joel hath declared, Joel 2:32; : Whosoever shall call upon, invoke, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners, shall be saved - shall have his guilt pardoned, his heart purified; and if he abide in the faith, rooted and grounded in him, showing forth the virtues of him who was called him out of darkness into his marvelous light, he shall be saved with all the power of an eternal life.
"Believing in Christ, or God, Romans 10:11, and calling upon God, Romans 10:12-14, are in effect the same thing; as calling upon God necessarily connects and supposes faith in him: and he who duly believes in Christ has such a sense of his dependence upon Divine grace, that he looks unto God and trusts in his power and goodness alone for happiness: which is the true religion of the Gospel." Dr. Taylor.
It is evident that St. Paul understood the text of Joel as relating to our blessed Lord; and therefore his word κυριος must answer to the prophet's word יהוה Yehovah, which is no mean proof of the Godhead of Jesus Christ. If the text be translated, Whosoever shall invoke in the name of the Lord, which translation יהוה בשם יקרא yikra beshem Yehovah will certainly bear, yet still the term Yehovah, the incommunicable name, is given to Christ; because invoking in the name signifies soliciting one in the name or on the account of another. He who is invoked is God; he, in whose name he is invoked, is Jesus Christ, who is here called Yehovah. He who asks mercy from God, in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, shall get his soul saved.
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PRAYER: Heavenly Father, give me courage to speak about You with the people I love. I want my friends to know You. Grant me opportunities to speak to them, and give me wisdom when to speak and when to be silent. Lead me by Your Holy Spirit so that I know what to say. You give life to people who are dying, and you came to heal the broken. Please save my people I love. In Your Son Jesus’ saving name. AMEN.