today's meditation (Joel 3) Being Warriors

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Joel 3:1-21)
1   “For behold, in those days and at that time,
     When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2   I will gather all the nations 
     And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
     Then I will enter into judgment with them there 
     On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,
     Whom they have scattered among the nations;
     And they have divided up My land.
3   They have also cast lots for My people,
     Traded a boy for a prostitute,
     And sold a girl for wine so that they may drink.

4 Moreover, what are you to Me, Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you repaying Me with retribution? But if you are showing Me retribution, swiftly and speedily I will return your retribution on your head! 5 Since you have taken My silver and My gold, brought My precious treasures to your temples, 6 and sold the sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory, 7 behold, I am going to stir them up from the place where you have sold them, and return your retribution on your head. 8 I will also sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation,” for the Lord has spoken.

9   Proclaim this among the nations:
     Prepare for holy war; stir up the warriors!
     Have all the soldiers come forward, have them come up!
10 Beat your plowshares into swords,
     And your pruning hooks into spears;
     Let the weak man say, “I am a warrior.”
11 Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations,
     And gather yourselves there.
     Bring down, Lord, Your warriors.
12 Let the nations be awakened 
     And come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
     For there I will sit to judge  
     All the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
     Come, tread the grapes, for the wine press is full;
     The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
     For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon have become dark,
     And the stars have lost their brightness.
16 The Lord roars from Zion 
     And utters His voice from Jerusalem,
     And the heavens and the earth quake.
     But the Lord is a refuge for His people,
     And a stronghold for the sons of Israel.
17 Then you will know that I am the Lord your God,
     Dwelling on Zion, My holy mountain.
     So Jerusalem will be holy,
     And strangers will no longer pass through it.

18 And on that day 
     The mountains will drip with sweet wine,
     And the hills will flow with milk,
     And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water;
     And a spring will go out from the house of the Lord 
     And water the Valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt will become a wasteland,
     And Edom will become a desolate wilderness,
     Because of the violence done to the sons of Judah,
     In whose land they have shed innocent blood.
20 But Judah will be inhabited forever,
     And Jerusalem for all generations.
21 And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged,
     For the Lord dwells in Zion.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

This scripture is once again prophetic, letting Israel know that there will be a day of battle at the end of the Tribulation when Jesus comes to earth again.  After the victory, Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats, and the unbelievers will be removed from the earth and judged.  Then Jesus will take all believers with Him to establish the Millennial Kingdom.  

For right now, besides knowing that God will completely take care of all injustices one day, we can be confident that God keeps His promises, and one day He will take us to heaven.  The holy war that we find ourselves in - is a spiritual battle.  Let us remember that He is our refuge and stronghold.  As the Lord's warrior, we are to share the gospel message in His strength and guidance, using God's word, which is a mighty sword.  It is most beneficial to our lives to study and know the Bible.  A warrior who is not equipped would be very ineffective and vulnerable to attack, so...

(Ephesians 6:10-17)  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

today's meditation (Joel 2) Escaping Tribulation

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Joel 2:1-32)
1   Blow a trumpet in Zion,
     And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
     Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
     For the day of the Lord is coming;
     Indeed, it is near,
2   A day of darkness and gloom,
     A day of clouds and thick darkness.
     As dawn is spread over the mountains,
     So there is a great and mighty people;
     There has never been anything like it,
     Nor will there be again after it 
     To the years of many generations.
3   A fire consumes before them,
     And behind them a flame devours.
     The land is like the Garden of Eden before them,
     But a desolate wilderness behind them,
     And nothing at all escapes them.
4   Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;
     And like war horses, so they run.
5   With a noise as of chariots 
     They leap about on the tops of the mountains,
     Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble,
     Like a mighty people drawn up for battle.
6   Before them the people are in anguish;
     All faces turn pale.
7   They run like warriors,
     They climb the wall like soldiers;
     And each of them marches in line,
     Nor do they lose their way.
8   They do not crowd each other,
     Every warrior of them marches in his path;
     When they burst through the defenses,
     They do not break ranks.
9   They storm the city,
     They run on the wall;
     They climb into the houses,
     They enter through the windows like a thief.
10 Before them the earth quakes,
     The heavens tremble,
     The sun and the moon become dark,
     And the stars lose their brightness.
11 The Lord utters His voice before His army;
     His camp is indeed very great,
     For mighty is one who carries out His word.
     The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,
     And who can endure it?
12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
     “Return to Me with all your heart,
     And with fasting, weeping, and mourning;
13 And tear your heart and not merely your garments.”
     Now return to the Lord your God,
     For He is gracious and compassionate,
     Slow to anger, abounding in mercy 
     And relenting of catastrophe.
14 Who knows, He might turn and relent,
     And leave a blessing behind Him,
     Resulting in a grain offering and a drink offering 
     For the Lord your God.
15 Blow a trumpet in Zion,
     Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,
     Assemble the elders,
     Gather the children and the nursing infants.
     Have the groom come out of his room 
     And the bride out of her bridal chamber.
17 Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers,
     Weep between the porch and the altar,
     And let them say, “Spare Your people, Lord,
     And do not make Your inheritance a disgrace,
     With the nations jeering at them.
     Why should those among the peoples say,
     ‘Where is their God?’”

18 Then the Lord will be zealous for His land,
     And will have compassion for His people.
19 The Lord will answer and say to His people,
     “Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine, and oil,
     And you will be satisfied in full with them;
     And I will never again make you a disgrace among the nations.
20 But I will remove the northern army far from you,
     And I will drive it into a dry and desolate land,
     Its advance guard into the eastern sea,
     And its rear guard into the western sea.
     And its stench will ascend and its odor of decay will come up,
     Because it has done great things.”

21 Do not fear, land; shout for joy and rejoice,
     For the Lord has done great things.
22 Do not fear, animals of the field,
     For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green,
     For the tree has produced its fruit,
     The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.
23 So shout for joy, you sons of Zion,
     And rejoice in the Lord your God;
     For He has given you the early rain for your vindication.
     And He has brought down for you the rain,
     The early and latter rain as before.
24 The threshing floors will be full of grain,
     And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil.
25 “Then I will compensate you for the years 
     That the swarming locust has eaten,
     The creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust—
     My great army which I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied,
     And you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
     Who has dealt wondrously with you;
     Then My people will never be put to shame.
27 So you will know that I am in the midst of Israel,
     And that I am the Lord your God 
     And there is no other;
     And My people will never be put to shame.

28 “It will come about after this 
     That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
     And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
     Your old men will have dreams,
     Your young men will see visions.
29 And even on the male and female servants 
     I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

30 I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
     Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned into darkness,
     And the moon into blood,
     Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
32 And it will come about that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord 
     Will be saved;
     For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem 
     There will be those who escape,
     Just as the Lord has said,
     Even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

This scripture is prophetic, laying out some details of the end times. 

Sound the trumpet (the alarm), for soon there will be tribulation.  The Day of Lord will begin!  This consists of two periods of time.  The Tribulation, which is the remaining seven years of the Jewish Age, and then the Millennium.  When Jesus came to earth in flesh the first time, had the Israelites accepted Him as their Messiah, Savior and King, they would have gone straight into the Millennial Kingdom.  But God knew that the Israelites would not only reject Him but crucify Him.  This was to happen in order to accomplish His work on the cross.  And when they rejected Jesus, this was the cutoff point of their Jewish Age, and the beginning of the Church Age.  

At some point, like a thief in the night, the Day of the Lord will be here.  Right before this – when that trumpet sounds – all believers up to that point will be caught up in the air (1 Thessalonians 4-5).  According to 2 Thessalonians 2:7, the Holy Spirit who now restrains Satan and his army, will be removed from the earth.  It only stands to reason that all Christians are taken up when He is removed, because since the Day of Pentecost, all Christians are sealed with the Holy Spirit.  

Because all believers will be taken up to heaven, only unbelievers will be left behind and will go through the Tribulation.  Without the Holy Spirit here on earth, evil will be amplified, and the judgements upon the nations are the signs of Jesus’ second coming.  As Israel recognizes these, they will as a nation believe and wait for their Messiah to return.  All those who become believers during those seven years will be "left behind" and enter the Millennial kingdom with Jesus.  All unbelievers will be removed, and Satan with his army will be locked away for those thousand years. 

It is in the Millennium when the land will be restored almost to how it was in the Garden of Eden.  It is the second part of the day of the Lord, also referred to as The Wedding Feast, The Millennial Kingdom, and The Thousand Year Reign when Jesus comes to earth again with His bride (the Church), and the Holy Spirit will once again be poured out onto all believers.  This is also when Jesus will fulfill all of Israel's covenants.

For now, the trumpet (the alarm) that we are to sound - is to preach the gospel message as we are given the opportunity.  If one is not saved by the Lord Jesus Christ, there is a reason to tremble.  As sinners, approaching The Tribulation and/or the throne of judgment, tremble in fear, for you will be judged.  As sinners who are seeking forgiveness, tremble with humility as you go to the throne of grace for redemption and salvation, only found in Jesus.  In this way you can be set free from sin, receive eternal life, and find peace, joy and confidence in God's glory, spared from the wrath to come.  

today's meditation (Joel 1) Finding Hope and Joy

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Joel 1:1-20)  The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
2   Hear this, you elders,
     And listen, all inhabitants of the land.
     Has anything like this happened in your days,
     Or in your fathers’ days?
3   Tell your sons about it,
     And have your sons tell their sons,
     And their sons the next generation.

4   What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten;
     And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;
     And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten.
5   Awake, you heavy drinkers, and weep;
     And wail, all you wine drinkers,
     Because of the sweet wine,
     For it has been eliminated from your mouth.
6   For a nation has invaded my land,
     Mighty and without number;
     Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
     And it has the jaws of a lioness.
7   It has made my vine a waste 
     And my fig tree a stump.
     It has stripped them bare and hurled them away;
     Their branches have become white.

8   Wail like a virgin clothed with sackcloth 
     For the groom of her youth.
9   The grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off
     From the house of the Lord.
     The priests mourn,
     The ministers of the Lord.
10 The field is ruined,
     The land mourns;
     For the grain is ruined,
     The new wine has dried up,
     Fresh oil has failed.
11 Be ashamed, you farm workers,
     Wail, you vinedressers,
     For the wheat and the barley;
     Because the harvest of the field is destroyed.
12 The vine has dried up 
     And the fig tree has withered;
     The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree,
     All the trees of the field have dried up.
     Indeed, joy has dried up 
     From the sons of mankind.

13 Put on sackcloth 
     And mourn, you priests;
     Wail, you ministers of the altar!
     Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
     You ministers of my God,
     For the grain offering and the drink offering 
     Have been withheld from the house of your God.

14 Consecrate a fast,
     Proclaim a solemn assembly;
     Gather the elders 
     And all the inhabitants of the land 
     To the house of the Lord your God,
     And cry out to the Lord.
15 Woe for the day!
     For the day of the Lord is near,
     And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
16 Has food not been cut off before our eyes, and 
     Joy and rejoicing from the house of our God?
17 The seeds have dried up under their shovels;
     The storehouses have become desolate,
     The grain silos are ruined,
     Because the grain has dried up.
18 How the animals have groaned!
     The herds of cattle have wandered aimlessly 
     Because there is no pasture for them;
     Even the flocks of sheep have suffered.
19 To You, Lord, I cry out;
     For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
     And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the animals of the field pant for You;
     For the stream beds of water are dried up,
     And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

As verse 15 says, destruction will come about "as destruction from the Almighty".  The important word in that phrase is "as".  It will not actually be God who destroys, but God will allow it.  Really, these are the consequences of sin and rejecting the Lord's salvation.  Therefore, when anyone puts their faith and trust in their own strength and in humanity, be prepared for mourning and wailing for there is no hope in these futile and empty efforts.

Now, as the Lord is able to allow things to happen, we have to know that the Lord is able to prevent things from happening.  Therefore, it is to the Lord we should cry out.  There is certain hope in the Lord because He is all-knowing, all-powerful and righteous!  He already has the victory over death.  So, there is joy and rejoicing in the house of the Lord when we have put our faith and trust in Him.

today's meditation (Hos.14) Being Wise and Discerning

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Hosea 14:1-9)
1   Return, Israel, to the Lord your God,
     For you have stumbled because of your wrongdoing.
2   Take words with you and return to the Lord.
     Say to Him, “Take away all guilt 
     And receive us graciously,
     So that we may present the fruit of our lips.
3   Assyria will not save us,
     We will not ride on horses;
     Nor will we say again, ‘Our god’
     To the work of our hands;
     For in You the orphan finds mercy.”

4   I will heal their apostasy,
     I will love them freely,
     Because My anger has turned away from them.
5   I will be like the dew to Israel;
     He will blossom like the lily,
     And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
6   His shoots will sprout,
     His majesty will be like the olive tree,
     And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.
7   Those who live in his shadow
     Will again raise grain,
     And they will blossom like the vine.
     His fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.

8   Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?
     It is I who answer and look after you.
     I am like a luxuriant juniper;
     From Me comes your fruit.

9   Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
     Whoever is discerning, let him know them.
     For the ways of the Lord are right,
     And the righteous will walk in them,
     But wrongdoers will stumble in them.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

God loves us freely... meaning, He does not expect any sort of payment from us in order to receive His love.  He loved us so much that He came in flesh to accomplish His work on the cross.  He has paid the price for all sin and offers us forgiveness and eternal life as a gift.  A free gift to set us free from sin.  All we have to do is humbly receive the salvation which is only available in the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is a gift we can never lose, and God will never take it away from us.  God's grace seals us for eternity, so no matter what we do or don't do, we cannot lose our salvation.  But let us understand that this should not be taken lightly or as an excuse to continue sinning.  If we are wise and discerning, we will know and understand that the ways of the Lord are - not only right - but beneficial to our lives.  To trust in God and His word is to walk with Him and walk according to His word, knowing that we will never be disappointed.

today's meditation (Hos.13) Giving Credit and Thanks

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Hosea 13:1-16)
1   When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling.
     He exalted himself in Israel,
     But through Baal he incurred guilt and died.
2   And now they sin more and more,
     And make for themselves cast metal images,
     Idols skillfully made from their silver,
     All of them the work of craftsmen.
     They say of them, “Let the people who sacrifice kiss the calves!”
3   Therefore they will be like the morning cloud 
     And like dew which soon disappears,
     Like chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor,
     And like smoke from a chimney.

4   Yet I have been the Lord your God 
     Since the land of Egypt;
     And you were not to know any god except Me,
     For there is no savior besides Me.
5   I cared for you in the wilderness,
     In the land of drought.
6   As they had their pasture, they became satisfied,
     And as they became satisfied, their heart became proud;
     Therefore they forgot Me.
7   So I will be like a lion to them;
     Like a leopard I will lie in wait by the wayside.
8   I will confront them like a bear deprived of her cubs,
     And I will tear open their chests;
     I will also devour them there like a lioness,
     As a wild animal would tear them to pieces.

9   It is to your own destruction, Israel,
     That you are against Me, against your help.
10 Where then is your king,
     That he might save you in all your cities;
     And your judges, to whom you said,
     “Give me a king and princes”?
11 I gave you a king in My anger,
     And took him away in My wrath.

12 The guilt of Ephraim is wrapped up;
     His sin is stored up.
13 The pains of childbirth come on him;
     He is not a wise son,
     For it is not the time that he should delay at the opening of the womb.
14 Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
     Shall I redeem them from death?
     Death, where are your thorns?
     Sheol, where is your sting?
     Compassion will be hidden from My sight.

15 Though he flourishes among the reeds,
     An east wind will come,
     The wind of the Lord coming up from the wilderness;
     And his fountain will become dry 
     And his spring will dry up;
     It will plunder his treasury of every precious article.
16 Samaria will pay the penalty for her guilt,
     Because she has rebelled against her God.
     They will fall by the sword,
     Their children will be slaughtered,
     And their pregnant women will be ripped open.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

There is a danger of becoming proud when we - stop giving thanks to the Lord every time we eat, or - stop going to church to corporately worship and give thanks and praise to the Lord, or - stop having personal daily devotions with a desire to know Him more...  If and when we stop doing these things, we will begin to think that we have everything as a result of our own efforts.  As verse 6 says, it is so very easy to forget about God.

To not recognize where our help comes from, and to not give credit where credit is due, is to deny the Lord and all that He has done for us, all that He is doing for us, and all that He will do for us.  It is not about some religious rituals to be done just to check off some spiritual box.  As our Lord and Savior, we should desire to give thanks to Him, praise Him, worship Him and honor Him, through our time, energy, resources, and even in how we live our lives - in His will - all to His glory!

today's meditation (Hos.12) Wanting to See and Know

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Hosea 12:1-14)
1   Ephraim feeds on wind,
     And pursues the east wind continually;
     He multiplies lies and violence.
     Moreover, he makes a covenant with Assyria,
     And oil is brought to Egypt.
2   The Lord also has a case against Judah,
     And will punish Jacob according to his ways;
     He will repay him according to his deeds.
3   In the womb he took his brother by the heel,
     And in his mature strength he contended with God.
4   Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed;
     He wept and implored His favor.
     He found Him at Bethel,
     And there He spoke with us,
5   And the Lord, the God of armies,
     The Lord is His name.
6   So as for you, return to your God,
     Maintain kindness and justice,
     And wait for your God continually.
7   A merchant, in whose hands are fraudulent balances,
     Loves to exploit.
8   And Ephraim said, “I have certainly become rich,
     I have found wealth for myself;
     In all my labors they will find in me 
     No wrongdoing, which would be sin.”
9   But I have been the Lord your God since the land of Egypt;
     I will make you live in tents again,
     As in the days of the appointed festival.
10 I have also spoken to the prophets,
     And I provided many visions,
     And through the prophets I spoke in parables.
11 Is there injustice in Gilead?
     Certainly they are worthless.
     In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,
     Yes, their altars are like stone heaps 
     Beside the furrows of a field.

12 Now Jacob fled to the land of Aram,
     And Israel worked for a wife,
     And for a wife he kept sheep.
13 But by a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
     And by a prophet he was protected.
14 Ephraim has provoked God to bitter anger;
     So his Lord will leave his guilt for bloodshed on him 
     And bring his disgrace back to him.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

God makes Himself evident to us in so many ways, because He loves us and is patient, and because He desires that all come to know Him personally.  We can see evidence of God in creation, in the Bible, through other believers, from our own consciences, and in our own experiences!  The question is - do we want to see and know Him?

today's meditation (Hos.11) Appreciating the Lord

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Hosea 11:1-12)
1   When Israel was a youth I loved him,
     And out of Egypt I called My son.
2   The more they called them,
     The more they went away from them;
     They kept sacrificing to the Baals 
     And burning incense to idols.
3   Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk,
     I took them in My arms;
     But they did not know that I healed them.
4   I pulled them along with cords of a man, with ropes of love,
     And I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws;
     And I bent down and fed them.

5   They will not return to the land of Egypt;
     But Assyria—he will be their king 
     Because they refused to return to Me.
6   And the sword will whirl against their cities,
     And will destroy their oracle priests 
     And consume them, because of their counsels.
7   So My people are determined to turn from Me.
     Though they call them to the One on high,
     None at all exalts Him.

8   How can I give you up, Ephraim?
     How can I surrender you, Israel?
     How can I make you like Admah?
     How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
     My heart is turned over within Me,
     All My compassions are kindled.
9   I will not carry out My fierce anger;
     I will not destroy Ephraim again.
     For I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst,
     And I will not come in wrath.
10 They will walk after the Lord,
     He will roar like a lion;
     Indeed He will roar,
     And His sons will come trembling from the west.
11 They will come trembling like birds from Egypt,
     And like doves from the land of Assyria;
     And I will settle them in their houses, declares the Lord.

12 Ephraim surrounds Me with lies 
     And the house of Israel with deceit;
     Judah is still unruly against God,
     Even against the Holy One who is faithful.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

All I can say here is that - God is so very, very patient!!!  It only benefits us to run to Him, rely on Him, and appreciate Him for being our all in all!!!  The Lord is patient, faithful, good and loving!!!