TREMBLED - Louis Gervais
TREMBLED
Hello and greetings in the Name of the Son of Him Whose Followers Tremble at His Word, Jesus Christ! Recently, I was struck by this passage of Scripture: “Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat appalled until the evening offering.” –Ezra 9:4 Let’s consider for a moment Ezra’s situation: the people of God had been in captivity for 70 years, and after they had finally been brought back, what did they do? In time, they started breaking the laws of God all over again! What was Ezra’s response? He wept and mourned and prayed. He was appalled at the blatant sin of the nation who had so recently returned from their time in captivity. What did the faithful followers of the God of Israel do? They trembled at the words of the Lord. How many of us tremble at the Word of God these days?
How many of us still fear the Lord like we ought to? In another time in Israel’s history, Ezekiel saw the following scenario take place in a vision: “The LORD said to him, ‘Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.’” –Ezekiel 9:4 . Again, these people’s lives were spared because they were grieved by the things which grieved the Spirit of God. May that which grieves the Holy Spirit grieve us as well, and may we fear God and tremble at His Word with a holy reverence, respect and awe. Amen. We experienced a blessed week of sharing the Gospel of salvation in the East Rand of Johannesburg—hallelujah! And a good number of primary school and high school learners accepted Christ as their Savior—praise the Lord! We had wonderful opportunities at schools, churches and retirement homes, and also did street evangelism.
A blessed portion was ours this week; it was not only encouraging but awe-inspiring to see how the Lord worked in answer to the prayers of many—may He be forever praised! The persecuted family thanks for your prayers. Their circumstances as to their safety have dramatically improved for the moment! The evildoers returned to their house, but then left and attacked somewhere else and were chased by the police afterwards. What is currently urgent is their legal battle. They’re praying that the Lord will stop the newly instigated legal action immediately and that it will never begin again. As I said, this prayer request is a very urgent one. My grandmother, Mr. Van Niekerk and Mr. Kussman (as far as I know) do not, in fact, tremble at the Word of God. This is a problem, as it is actually quite detrimental. Please pray also for those who heard the Gospel preached this week but rejected it; that they might accept Christ before they are eternally rejected by Him. We still have three days of outreaches and will appreciate your continued prayers! Oh, and I almost got hit by a taxi. Around here taxis are microbuses (like a Toyota Quantum). Just barely missed the back left corner of my car by about 7 inches (17.78 cm). But thanks for your prayers! =^D It happened last Sunday night; earlier that day I had sent out the prayer letter about God watching over us. Praise the Lord! –Louis Gervais “Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.” –Psalm 4:4 NAS