GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 1 ~ ~ Joel 2:27 ~ ~ “So you will know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I am the Lord your God and there is no other; and My people will never be put to shame.”
We are looking at the minor prophets, which are anything but minor…..in the book “How to Read the Bible” by Dr. Michael Youssef of Leading the Way international Ministries.
JOEL: A PROPHECY OF DEVASTATION – AND RENEWAL
The book of Joel shows how God is involved in shaping the history of Israel and the surrounding nations. This brief book opens with a description of a devastating locust swarm. There probably was an actual locust swarm that devastated the crops of Israel, yet it is also a fitting metaphor for the destruction caused by Israel’s enemies, But even though Israel lay desolate afterward, God promised a bright future after the nation repents:
Joel 2:25 – 28:
“Then I will restore the years
That the swarming locust has eaten,
The creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust—
My great army which I sent among you.
26
You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied,
And you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
Then My people will never be put to shame.
27
So you will know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I am the Lord your God
And there is no other;
And My people will never be put to shame.
The Promise of the Spirit
28
It will come about after this
That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will have dreams,
Your young men will see visions.”
If you feel as if your life has been devastated by “locusts,” the consequences of your sin, God promises to restore you and re-establish you – if you will turn back to Him in faith and repentance.
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Charles Spurgeon:
“The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up”
All my changes come from Him who never changes. If I had grown rich, I would have seen His hand in it, and I would have praised Him; let me equally see His hand if I am made poor, and let me as heartily praise Him. In any case, the Lord has done it, and it is well.
It seems that Jehovah’s way is to lower those whom he means to raise, and to strip those whom he intends to clothe. If I am now enduring the bringing low, I may well rejoice because I see in it the preface to the lifting up. The more we are humbled by grace, the more we shall be exalted in glory.
Lord, You have taken me down of late and made me feel my insignificance and sin. It is not a pleasant experience, but I pray You make it a profitable one to me. Amen”
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Charles Spurgeon on the Power of God
Much of life’s happiness depends on little things going well. If God ordained only the great events but left the little things to chance, we would be most unhappy. When God’s lovingkindness gilds the full landscape with sunshine, it also has a sunbeam for the tiniest insect and a sun ray for the eye of the smallest bird.
Let our love to God go into the minutest details. Let us be earnest in all essentials but never indifferent to non-essentials. God’s lovingkindness goes into detail and so should my obedience. May gratitude to God permeate my entire life; may it flood all my faculties, and may it saturate me through and through.
There is a logical consistency between thinking on the love of God and seeing its details, on marking its attributes and ordering our lives accordingly, in the way of truth. One is the natural cause from which the other is sure to spring. “We shall live with Him by the power of God toward you.” (2 Corinthians 13:4)
Great God, Your love surrounds me. I breathe it, I live on it. I shall die in it. I shall live forever in it. It will make my bliss eternal. I give my soul to You in obedience. I give up my thoughts, work, desires, judgments, tastes and everything else to Your sweet love, which so wonderfully embraces and surrounds me. Amen.
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Ephesians 5:20
Giving THANKS ALWAYS FOR ALL THINGS unto God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 13:14
By Him therefore let us offer the SACRIFICE OF PRAISE to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips GIVING THANKS to His Name,
Col. 3:17
And whatsoever you do in word or dead, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, GIVING THANKS TO GOD the Father by Him.
1 Thes 5:18
IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you
Psalm 116:17
I will offer to You the SACRIFICE OF THANKSGIVING and will call upon the Name of the Lord.