by donfinto | Feb 25, 2014 | Uncategorized
Seven words… one sentence…changed the way I look at the future:
“Let both grow together until the harvest.”
Matthew 13:30
These are the words of Jesus in His parable of the wheat and the tares. He later explained to His disciples that the wheat are the righteous, and the tares are the wicked. The harvesters are angels and the harvest is the end of the age – righteousness and wickedness ripening side by side as we move toward the Lord’s return and the final judgment. John saw the same scene (See Rev.14:14-20). Two angels reap the righteous; two the wicked.
I don’t look forward to living at a time when world wickedness has reached its zenith, but I must remember that this will also be the finest hour for the people of God.
Righteousness ripe! I like the sound of it! “Many will be purified, made holy and refined,” Daniel says in describing the same time period. “The righteous will shine like the sun,” Jesus said when explaining the parable (13:43). And will “lead many to righteousness,” Daniel adds (12:3). “Be merciful to those in doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire,” counsels Jude (vv. 22-23).
Let’s lean into the future with hope!
Blessings,
Don Finto
by donfinto | Feb 17, 2014 | Uncategorized
Have you read Ezekiel 37 lately?
I just prayed my way through it.
Oh, yes, there is a hint of the fulfillment when Judah returned from Babylon, but there was much more. Ezekiel speaks of a time when the northern kingdom of Israel (Ephraim) and the southern kingdom of Judah, based in Jerusalem, will become one.
That promise is happening through the return of the Jewish people from the nations – without regard for whether they were from the northern tribes or from the southern kingdom.
But Ezekiel gave another promise. The breath (that’s the Spirit) of God will be blown into the regathered Israel. If He can perform the miracle of bringing the Jewish nation together again after centuries of being dead, then He can perform the miracle of breathing His Spirit into Israel!
I read through the chapter and then put my hand on the book and looked up to God. “Remember what You said? I’m standing here, along with thousands of intercessors all over the world, watching to see when and how You will do this.
I trust You to fulfill Your Word!
Blessings,
Don Finto
by donfinto | Feb 17, 2014 | Uncategorized
A SERMON OUTLINE I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE
Luke 24:27
On resurrection morning, Cleopas and his friend were walking along talking about Jesus and all that had recently transpired in Jerusalem. Jesus came up and began walking with them, but they did not recognize him.
“What are you discussing together as you walk along?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they responded, then began to process with him all that they had heard.
“We had hoped that he was the One who was going to redeem Israel.”
Luke says, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”
Now that’s a sermon outline I would like to have – Jesus referring to the Hebrew Scriptures that refer to Him!
When Cleopas and his friend arrived in Emmaus, Jesus acted as though he would leave them, but they urged him to stay with them.
So he went in with them. Not until he “broke bread” with them, did they recognize him. “Then their eyes were opened.”
Lord, open our eyes that we may see!
Blessings,
Don Finto
