From: December 9, 2023
“Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning” (Joel 2:12 NLT).
Writing in the 9th century BC, the prophet Joel opened his book with warnings concerning a plague of locusts. He warned that the locusts were only a small thing compared to the coming Day of the Lord. He encouraged God’s people to repent while there was still time.
This is a recurring theme in Scripture. Repent, turning away from sin and turning toward God, before the Day of judgment comes. How much time do we have to repent? Only God knows. But the time is short. Therefore, we must turn to God, while we hear His voice. For there is a time when it will be too late.
What does repentance look like? Joel, speaking for the Lord, described both an inward and outward aspect.
First, inwardly we are to turn to God with all our hearts. This is the Great Commandment. Love God with all your heart. Put God on the throne of your heart.
Second, there is an outward aspect. Joel gave three outward signs of repentance, namely, “fasting, weeping, and mourning.” Yet, these mean nothing without heart change. But with inward repentance, these three are appropriate expressions.
Don’t ask, “How much time do we have?’ Instead, turn to God now. For “now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).
PRAYER: Dear Father, we repent of our sins and turn to You with all our hearts. We thank You for forgiving us through Jesus, our Lord. Help us to turn every area over to You always. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: December 9, 2022
WORSHIP THAT TURNED TO WITNESS
The apostle John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos for preaching the gospel. There, on a Sunday, the revelation of Jesus Christ came to him while he was in worship. The early church fathers reported that John was in a cave on Patmos when the Lord spoke to him. Was John singing worship songs? He had no hymnbook nor choir. Was he sitting under preaching? There was no preacher. Was he reading Scripture? He probably had no access to his scrolls and parchments. How was he worshiping? “In the Spirit,” he said. You could beat him, boil him in oil or exile him from his fellow believers on a rock in the Mediterranean Sea, but you couldn’t keep him from worshiping Jesus.
It was on the Lord’s Day that Jesus called to John in a voice as loud and penetrating as a trumpet. It was on that day that Jesus pulled back the curtain between heaven and earth and John fell at His feet as though dead. It was on that day that John’s worship turned into a time to bear witness. For the Lord told him to write down what he would see, “both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen.”
PRAYER: Dear Father, teach us to worship Your Son as John did. We may not know the cost of such a prayer, but as Your children we ask for such fulness in worship. For we want to know Jesus better. It is with trembling that we ask, knowing that John was exiled in a cave when he worshiped. Yet, we still ask and we still desire to worship Jesus even more fully in Spirit and Truth. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: December 9, 2016
The prophet Joel wrote that “everyone” who calls upon the “name” of the Lord would be saved. His prophecy was first written to the Jewish people and he surely didn’t foresee that this ‘everyone” would one day include both Jew and Gentile alike. The apostle Paul quoted Joel to emphasize that this “everyone” made no distinction between race, only between hearts–– that believed (Rom.10:9-13). Yet, this “everyone” must be one “who calls on the name.” What is this “name?” The apostle Peter makes it clear in his first sermon preached at Pentecost when he declared, “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:11-12). The “name” is “Jesus!”
From: December 9, 2015
The prophecy of Joel opens with a word of warning and judgment, describing the coming “day of the Lord” (“yom Yahweh”). Yet, it also contains a call to repentance, inviting God’s people to “return” to Him. He gives the warning to bring about repentance. But not many will listen.
From: December 9, 2014
The apostle John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos for preaching the gospel. There, on a Sunday, the revelation of Jesus Christ came to him while he was in worship. The early church fathers reported that John was in a cave on Patmos when the Lord spoke to him. Was John singing worship songs? He had no hymnbook nor choir. Was he sitting under preaching? There was no preacher. Was he reading Scripture? He probably had no access to his scrolls and parchments. How was he worshiping? “In the Spirit,” he said. You could beat him, boil him in oil or exile him from his fellow believers on a rock in the Mediterranean Sea, but you couldn’t keep him from worshiping Jesus. It was on that day that Jesus called to John in a voice as loud and penetrating as a trumpet. It was on that day that Jesus gave His revelation to John.