God's Word For Every Day

Joel 1:1-2:17 - ‘Joel’ means ‘the Lord is God’. The Lord is our God. He is ‘gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love...’. Let us ‘return to the Lord our God’. Let us ‘return to Him with all our heart’. Let us look to Him for His ‘blessing’ (2:12-14). Alongside God’s promise of blessing for those who return to Him, there is His Word of warning for those who take no notice of Him and pay no attention to His Word: ‘The Day of the Lord is near. It will come like destruction from the Almighty... Let all who live in the land tremble, for the Day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand - a Day of darkness and gloom...’(1:15; 2:1-2). God wants to bless us. Let us ‘cry out’ to Him for His blessing: ‘To You, O Lord, I call’ (1:14,19). Joel 2:19-3:21 - Each of us is ‘in the valley of decision’. We must make sure that we are prepared for ‘the coming of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord’. God has given us His promise: ‘Everyone who calls on the Na...

Joel 2:21-32 Give thanks to the Lord (Joel 2:21). Joel 2:22-24 - Harvest is a special time for giving thanks to the Lord.  * We look back from the harvest, and we see the character of God (Joel 2:13).  * We look forward from the harvest - to greater blessing: spiritual as well as material (Joel 2:28-29). Note the way of salvation - “Call on the Name of the Lord, and be saved” (Joel 2:32).

"Whoever calls on the name of the Lord  shall be saved" (Joel 2:32: Romans 10:13). From the prophet Joel and the apostle Paul, we have this great promise of God. Between the prophet and the apostle, there is Jesus, the Saviour. The prophet points forward to Him. The apostle looks back to Him. The name, Jesus, was given to Him by God. It's a name with a meaning. It means, "Saviour" (Matthew 1:21), The Name of Jesus is the Name of our salvation. There's no other name by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12). We praise God for faithful prophets - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel ... We praise Him for faithful apostles - Peter, Paul, James, John ... We praise Him for J esus. There's no-one else like Him. He's not one in a list of great prophets or great apostles. He's the Saviour, the only Saviour. To be saved, we don't call on the name of one of the prophets or apostles (or all of them!). We call on the Name of Jesus - and we are saved by Him...

JOEL  1:1-2:17 ‘Joel’ means ‘the Lord is God.’ We thank You, Lord, that You are our God. You are ‘gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love…’. Teach us to ‘return to You, the Lord our God.’ Help us to ‘return to You with all our heart.’ May we always look to You for Your ‘blessing’ (Joel 2:12-14). Alongside Your promise of blessing for those who return to You, there is Your Word of warning for those who take no notice of You and pay no attention to Your Word: ‘The Day of the Lord is near. It will come like destruction from the Almighty… Let all who live in the land tremble, for the Day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand – a Day of darkness and gloom…’ (Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1-2). We thank You, Lord, that You want to bless us. Help us to ‘cry out’ to You for Your blessing: ‘To You, O Lord, I call’ (Joel 1:14,19). 2:19-3:21 Show us, Lord, that each of us is ‘in the valley of decision.’ Help us to make sure that we are prepared for ‘the...

 * "O Lord, I cry to You for help!" (Joel 1:19). We look to some people for help - and they're no help to us, God is never like that. He is our Helper. He's always there for us. We call upon Him - and He helps us. He's "the help of the helpless" (from the hymn, "Abide with me"). We may not always feel 'helped' - but we have been helped, much more than we'll ever realize! Praise God! Thank Him for His help - even when you're only very vaguely aware of just how much He has helped you.    * "Even now, declares the Lord, return to Me with all your heart" (Joel 2:12). "Now" - returning to the Lord is not to be left until later on. With all your heart" - a real return to the Lord must never be a half-hearted thing.   * "The Lord will be a refuge for His people" (Joel 3:1). People let us down. The Lord never lets us down. He lifts us up.

Joel 1:1-2:17 ‘Joel’ means ‘the Lord is God.’ We thank You, Lord, that You are our God. You are ‘gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love...’. Teach us to ‘return to You, the Lord our God.’ Help us to ‘return to You with all our heart.’ May we always look to You for Your ‘blessing’ (Joel 2:12-14). Alongside Your promise of blessing for those who return to You, there is Your Word of warning for those who take no notice of You and pay no attention to Your Word: ‘The Day of the Lord is near. It will come like destruction from the Almighty... Let all who live in the land tremble, for the Day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand - a Day of darkness and gloom...’ (Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1-2). We thank You, Lord, that You want to bless us. Help us to ‘cry out’ to You for Your blessing: ‘To You, O Lord, I call’ (Joel 1:14,19). Joel 2:19-3:21 Show us, Lord, that each of us is ‘in the valley of decision.’ Help us to make sure that we are prepared for ‘t...

There is to be prayer from “every one who lives in the land” (Joel 1:14). It is to be personal prayer - “O Lord, I cry to You for help!” (Joel 1:19). These two belong together - prayer for the nation and personal prayer. This is expressed so well in the words: “O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee. Send a revival. Start the work in me.” We hear the words, “Return to the Lord, your God” (Joel 2:13). They are followed by some wonderful words about the character of God - “He is merciful and compassionate, patient and always ready to forgive and to change His plans about disaster” (Joel 2:13). How do we know that God is like this? We look at what He has done for us - “Be glad and rejoice. The Lord has done great things!” (Joel 2:21). Looking at all that the Lord has done for us, we trust His promise: “Whoever calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32). This salvation is more than forgiveness for past sins. It’s more than the future glory of being in God’s ev...