Joel 2:28-29
The Lord knows your
struggles, He knows about the obstacles, hurdles and stumbling blocks being set
before you and today He declares that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh… Everyone will have the eternal compass leading
the way to salvation; everyone will be afforded the opportunity to grow in
Christ and abide in His love… The spirit of God reveals truths to us and
provides direction for us; this is why Joel goes on to say that your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions… God (through His spirit) will begin to reveal
things in your life… If you don’t have a vision, then you don’t have a clear
direction which means you don’t have a clear directive and therefore you cannot
decipher your way through the snares of life and instead often times find
yourself entangled by simple matters of this world which should not be able to
confine or restrict you in the first place… Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit we are nothing… Without the power of Christ resting upon us
and working through us we are lame ducks simply waiting to be plucked off by
the enemy… Today, understand the importance of having Christ and the presence
of the Holy Spirit in your life… There are so many people in so many different
places of darkness right now and they continue down this spiral simply because
they have yet to turn their situation over to the Lord… There was a point in
time when this world did not know the spirit of God… The spirit of God is a
spirit of love, direction, comfort and praise… The children of Israel wondered in the desert for 40 years,
they were imprisoned under the hands of the Babylonians and suffered daily as
captives because of the misguidance of the world… These hills and valley’s that
the Israelites experienced were do to the strain relationship between them and
the Lord… Without the spirit of God we are lost, without the spirit of God we
give into the sinful nature and suffer grave consequences… Today, we are
afforded a tremendous chance to have a compass and comforter in the form of
God’s spirit… Joel tells the body of believers several hundreds of years ago
that a time would come when your path would be paved, he informs the faithful
children that a time is on the horizon when your sons and daughters will
prophesy and it is in these very times that we live in that Joel’s prophesy has
become true… God has poured out is His spirit upon mankind, we have the ability
to go to the father through prayer and supplication and make our request known
to Him… Jesus said, “I will not leave you
comfortless…” You have a navigation
tool to get through the rigors of life… You have a comforter when it seems like
all is lost and you want to breakdown and you have a tool that can provide
strength and endurance when you feel like throwing in the towel… God has given
us the ability to prophesy through His spirit and see visions as to what is to
come… Peter once denied Jesus before men and left a courtyard weeping; however,
in the book of Acts (after he was reinstated) as we studied early this week, he
received the spirit of God along with his fellow brethren and stood up for the
Lord… While under the influence of God’s spirit, Peter spoke and 3,000 were
saved, under God’s spirit lives were changed and hearts were mended… Under the
spirit of God, children can be brought home and the enemy can be defeated… When
you are walking in the spirit of God, you have a direct communication with the Lord
that unlocks visions and dreams that cannot be comprehended by mere men…
Through the Spirit of God we can be matured in Christ… We can become the men
and women that He has called us to be… Through the Spirit of God we can
overcome obstacles, breakdown strong holds and align ourselves with the will of
the Father… Through the Spirit of God we can rebuke Satan knowing that he will
flee, we can tread on serpents and we can do anything but fail… God’s Spirit
will regenerate our minds, it will give us a new outlook on life and show us
how beautiful and unique we are… We are no longer lost sheep thanks to God’s son and His spirit,
we are no longer insignificant creatures, but we are a powerful force that now
has the ability to rise and stand because of God’s spirit…The proclamation was made long before we
existed; that God would leave a comforter in our presence. This comforter (the
Holy Spirit) brings peace and guidance to our life; however, He also passes on
the visions and prophesies of God. Once endowed by the Spirit, we are renewed
and God begins to mold us into the person He called us to be. We must
understand that God is still working behind the scenes, and that through His
Spirit we have been given everything that we stand in need of. We can now speak
the word of God with power and authority. Look at the New Testament and notice
how the enthusiasm of the spoken word changed when the Spirit entered the
disciples and Paul. That same spirit lives within us today, so we can serve
notice on today of the visions that God has given us, or the dreams He has
placed in our minds. As we hear the word coming from the Lord, and receive His
Spirit, we must understand that the timetable for His return is not far off.
Many things that were spoken of thousands of years ago are coming to pass
before our very eyes today. Proclamations are being made everyday; however,
this passage just reminds us that we need to have our house in order and be
ready for the cracking of the sky…God’s spirit is here and if you might need
to check your personal relationship with Him if you cannot feel its presence…
BE BLESSED!!!
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