March 25th
Joel in 3D
So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, my great army which I sent among you...And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. Joel 2:25,28
No matter the summer sun, tropical climate, or length of day, countless people around the world are living in darkness. Maybe you feel like you're one of them.
The darkness I'm talking about looks like loneliness, joylessness, hopelessness, anxiety, and anger. If you have any of these operating in your life, how do you get out? I'll tell you.
First, repent from living one-dimensionally and allow the Lord to fill and rule your life. Don't be caught just living for yourself. Instead, ask Jesus to join you in life and lead you by His light.
Second, return to the Lord. This is a heart issue, making what's important to God important to you and leaving the rest behind.
Third, re-gather, making the study of God's Word in fellowship with other believers a priority in your life. If you're repenting from fellowship with the world and returning to the Lord, you have to have a new place to go-that place is a fellowship of believers.
Fourth, resist the devil. Don't buy into the things the world is trying to sell you, but instead fix your eyes on the things the Lord wants to give you.
Fifth, rejoice, for there's always something to rejoice about no matter what your circumstances are, especially in light of God's gift to us in giving us what we don't deserve. Things might look dark now, but as you follow the Lord, He will turn the darkness to light.
Sixth, restore-this is God's promise to you, that He will restore to you what the enemy has wiped out. As you turn to God, He really does redeem and restore what the devil took from you.
Seventh, receive, because God has promised to pour out His Holy Spirit on you. He has determined to do this, pouring out His very self into you so that you will never be the same again.
And in case you didn't notice, number seven above is way different than number one. God meets us in the darkness the moment we turn to Him, but He never leaves us there, having promised to lead us all the way into fullness of life in His Spirit.
Come trade your darkness for His light today.
Prayer Lord God,
Thank You for being such a good and generous God! I willingly turn to You today and give up the things that have led me into darkness. Please lead me into Your light and fill me with Your Spirit!
Amen