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June | June 19, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Does it pay to earnestly repent and seek God’s face? Joel the prophet
would answer, “Unequivocally Yes!”
He was given the task of describing the coming
destruction. Listen to Joel 1:4, “What the Locust swarm has left the great
locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have
eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten.”
He issued a call to repentance in the light of this
impending judgment. In chapter 2 he amplified what was going to take place
and again called for deep repentance. Citing the character of God he wistfully
declares, “Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a
blessing.”
But his call was not primarily for the people to
receive a blessing. He was concerned foremost for God’s glory. He
didn’t want the surrounding nations to ask, “Where is their God?”
Well, when you get things right with God so that He can
demonstrate His power and blessing in and through you, even you will be
surprised at what happens. What the locust swarms devoured will be
restored. But you will not only receive what you need. You will be
empowered and enabled by the Holy Spirit to represent God in amazing ways and
all who see and believe as a result will come to salvation.
This is what happened on the day of Pentecost as
recorded in Acts 2. In fact Peter explained what the Holy Spirit was doing
at that time was a direct fulfillment of what Joel predicted. I believe we
would see the same in our day if true, heart rending repentance took place in
our churches. |