Joel 1 - 11.14.23

SCRIPTURE:  Joel 1:14  "Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly.  Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the Lord your God; and cry out to the Lord."

OBSERVATION:  Joel was a prophet to the nation of Judah.  He urged the people to turn from their sin, and back to God.  They had become prosperous, which caused them to take God for granted.  They became complacent, and they worshiped idols.

Joel warned them that this kind of lifestyle would inevitably bring God's judgement.

God is sovereign, and He allows things like floods, droughts, pestilence, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis to send a message to all of us!

Joel called the people to awaken from their complacency, and to acknowledge their sins before it was too late.  This prophetic warning; the locust plague, was just a foretaste of the judgement to come if they didn't turn from their sins!

God in His mercy and love sent Joel to declare that if they returned to Him with all of their heart, He would be gracious and compassionate to them by relenting from sending the calamity.

APPLICATION:  When we approach God with humility, and ask Him to forgive us, He hears us, forgives us, and heals us!  Like Joel, we are able to fast and pray for ourselves, and to intercede for our nation, asking God to forgive us, and to help us turn back to Him.  

PRAYER:  I ask You Lord to forgive me of my complacency.  I pray I will have no other gods before You!  I pray that I will allow Your Word to guide my life so that I am able to avoid the devastating effects that sin brings!  I thank You for keeping me safe as I abide in You, and ask that You help me to follow wholeheartedly after You, and that my children and grand-children will follow! 

- Robin Orefice