How to turn to God

 Joel 2:12-13

“Even now—this is the Lord’s declaration—turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.  Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the Lord your God.  For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and He relents from sending disaster.  Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him, so you can offer grain and wine to the Lord your God.”

Why yes, I wonder why you and I are so slow to understand the character of our God and Father?  Many times in the Scriptures, it's stated that God does not change, but you and I are fickle, it might have been nicer to say we are indecisive, or changeable, but you get the point, we change.  Not only in our actions and thoughts but also in all areas of life.  I believe Moses or whoever penned the book of Numbers gives us a clear picture of God’s unchangeable character in Numbers 23:19, “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind.  Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”

As I’ve often stated, if you and God are in total agreement, that you need little or no improvement, you have fashioned a little god, yes, you are now the creator.  If that is where you find yourself, take inventory, do as instructed in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

So it matters not if you are like my sweet friend, the mother of three young children, who wrestles with the stronghold of being an alcoholic and hates it when she falls under its authority.  Or a builder of custom homes, who I got to know and his business model was personal integrity as a Christian builder.  But deep down, well hidden was a spirit of greed, the love of money had a grip on him, it was a stronghold, and the price he paid money cannot replace.

Now it is time for each of us to take the test, is Jesus Christ living in you?  If the answer comes out yes, then follow the instructions given by the Lord in verses 12-13.  Turn to God with a repentant heart, the Hebrew people would often rend or tear their clothes when confronted with sin, but that is not what the Father is asking, it is not an outward action but an inward one.  A time of personal confession, to restore fellowship with the Father, but not words alone but an act of the heart, an action of hating the sin, and asking the Father to put into your life a distain for allowing anything to break fellowship with Him.

I get agitated when I hear someone who claims the name of Christ but is blaming our Father for the sins of fallen humanity.  They fall in one of two categories: they are ignorant of our Father’s character, or they have never entered into a relationship with the Father.  For Joel has stated these truths about our Father; “For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and He relents from sending disaster.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice