Joel 3:17-21
Joel is seeing what we call judgment of the enemies of Israel, this is still future, but was written for us. We, like them, should be looking forward to this day, a horrifying day for the enemies of God, but a blessed day for a repentant people. In no way is this the end of the world, but it is the beginning of Jesus return and reign as stated in Matthew 25:31-32, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”
When God restored you, what did your life look like before it was restored? Mine was ugly, full of fear, thinking about what I might do if this or that happened. There were days of happiness but never peace or joy, new car, new deer rifle, but when the new car got a dent, and there was no money to fix it, the happy turned into disgust that I was so poorly prepared and I would spend days beating myself up for not having what I wanted. It was easy to find pleasure in the blame game, and I knew that if anyone knew the real me they would hit the door running, so I never did I allow that to happen. But Jesus put to death that old Bob and I became reborn, a new creation, not a redo, or a do-over, a new creation in Christ.
Now the new Bob still had memories of how the old Bob worked, how he got his needs met outside of Christ, and now at 74 the new Bob is still in a battle with the flesh to allow the Spirit of Christ to be my only hope of living in peace, filled with joy.
It all began at the “Cross,” where the Lamb of God did battle with sin and death, and all who have entered into Christ are being transformed into His likeness, we are more than a conqueror. Joel uses the land and the water being restored, and it will be, but something better can happen to you; Christ will forgive your sins, and He will come in and live in you and you in Him.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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