Borrowed from the journal of Love God Greatly’s, Our God Who Pursues, p57
SOAP Joel 3:16 The Lord roars from Zion; from Jerusalem his voice bellows out. The heavens and the earth shake. But the Lord is a refuge for his people; he is a stronghold for the citizens of Israel.
INTO THE TEXT
From our earliest years, we are taught the difference between right and wrong. When we or someone we love are treated unjustly by others, or when we see the terrible things that are done to people throughout this world, we often feel anger. Life is unfair and we strongly feel the need to make things right. We know that life here on earth is not what it should be.
Of course, Christians should work hard to promote justice on behalf of those who are oppressed and mistreated. There are many ways we can help to make this world a little more bearable for others. However, when it comes to revenge, that is not ours to seek. It is God’s role. God promises in Joel 3 that there will be a future day of judgment where He will confront all evil and remove it forever. A lot of times, our motives for revenge are out of selfish or angry means. Everything God does, however, is out of His holy character.
For believers, we don’t have to worry about getting even with others or making sure that we are treated with justice. We are called to trust God, who will make sure that every evil deed committed against us or others, if it is not forgiven through the cross of Jesus, will be brought into the open and justly dealt with.
Joel sees a future with two sides. On the one side, there will be salvation and blessing for those who belong to God, for those whose sins have been forgiven through Jesus Christ. But on the other, there will be judgment and destruction for all those who go their own way. At the end of times, God will be for us either a roaring lion or a safe place of refuge.
Let’s run to our Heavenly Father, who offers mercy, forgiveness, peace, and protection. He will give us strength to withstand all the difficulties and injustices of life.
PRAYER
God, I oftentimes want to see revenge and repayment done to those who commit sin and evil around me. Help me to run toward your safe refuge and trust in your timing for seeing justice delivered. Amen.
REFLECTION
Where are you tempted to take revenge or justice into your own hands? How can you open your hands to trust in God’s deliverance and begin to pray for your enemies?
We move the heart of God when we do as He directs.
When the people cried out as they were directed, when they returned to the LORD as He gave them the opportunity to do – it was “Then the LORD became zealous for His land;
It is a wonderful thing when the LORD responds to His people.
“Then the LORD became zealous for His land; He had compassion on His people. The LORD responded to His people.”
The LORD sends His people hope of restoration.
He tells them, “Look! I am about to restore your grain as well as fresh wine and olive oil.” He promises them that they “will be fully satisfied” and that He would “never again make them an object of mockery among the nations.”
While I realize that this passage probably has a wealth of other truths and teachings, I was struggling to put it into words – but then I read the journal entry1 today from Love God Greatly’s study, “Our God Who Pursues.” I’m sharing it here because it is, in my opinion, the perfect commentary for today’s journey. I pray it is as rich a blessing for you as it is for me.
redeeming what was lost
We read in the previous chapter of Joel how God brought destruction on the people of Israel through the locust plague. His aim was to secure their undivided commitment to Him. They had been half- hearted in their worship, and they had gone after other things and other gods. That’s why God was fighting against His own people in order to bring them to repentance. He still does the same with His people today when we wander away from Him, our first love. He sometimes allows problems and hardships to bring us to repentance and draw us back to Himself.
But now God was going to bring restoration. He was going to make beauty from ashes. Can you imagine the hope that this message brought to the people? After their land had been decimated, God, in His kindness, promises to restore and renew that which was lost.
We see that with God there is hope. Even when we, His people, wander away from Him and let other things or people take priority over Him, God will not let us go. In His fierce love and jealousy, He will draw us back to Himself. He gives us His Holy Spirit who convicts us of our half-heartedness and pours His love into us again as we seek Him.
You may find yourself in a season when the locusts of this life have taken away everything. God, because of His great love for you, is allowing hardship in order to have your full allegiance, your whole- hearted worship. Turn to Him in repentance and put your full trust in Him, because one day He will make all things new. You don’t know how or when, but you know that He will. He has promised it. Believe Him.
PRAYER God, life on this earth is hard, but you are a God of restoration. Help me to trust you no matter what may happen in my life, knowing that you have a plan to one day make all things new. Amen.
Many people mistakenly believe that the God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath and judgment, whereas in the New Testament He is solely characterized by love. However, Joel 2 shows us that God is both angry at sin but full of love towards the sinner. It’s important to know and understand God’s character as it greatly impacts how we live. … While we wait for that coming day, we are charged to live faithful lives. We are to regularly repent and live a life of obedience. When our hearts can view God truly for who he is, it changes the way we live.
LGG Journal/Our God Who Pursues/p49
Friends, as the LGG journal points out today, “It’s important to know and understand God’s character as it greatly impacts how we live.” So, while our focus is on verses 12 and 13, we must first address the overriding theme of Joel’s prophecy, which is “the day of the LORD,1” or as Gotquestions.org describes it, “a day of God’s wrath and judgment.”
It will be such a terrible day that Job’s opening words of the second chapter are a message from the LORD, to “Blow the trumpets in Zion, sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear, for the day of the LORD is about to come.” If we know the hope of salvation, we may not be as prone to fear the day – yet surely, if we look around us today, it seems there is undoubtedly great cause for alarm – a truth that prompted me to write in the margin of my journal: Should this not also be our message to the people around us and across the world? After all, if the day of the Lord is an awesome, terrible thing, threatening the survival of mankind, as verse eleven announces, should we not also heed the call of repentance and sound the alarm to alert ‘all the inhabitants of the land?’
The day of the Lord is an awesome, terrible thing. Who can possibly survive?
A Call to Repentance
12 That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. 13 Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish.
Joel 2:11-13
I’ve heard it said that God is a God of second chances, and in verses twelve and thirteen, we see an example of this truth. Joel’s announcement of the coming awesome, terrible day is followed by his message from the Lord for the people to turn to Him while there is still time. You see, God wasn’t interested in their outward expressions of tearing their clothes but rather an inward change of heart that they might return to Him. He desires their hearts be broken for what breaks His heart, and he was giving them more time, or a second opportunity, it would seem, to repent. Don’t miss the beauty of His message that He was ready and waiting to pour out His mercy and compassion as a wonderful reminder that He is slow to get angry and abounding in unfailing love. – When we know this side of God’s character, it shouldn’t just change the way we live, but it should spur us on to sound the alarm so that the people around us will turn to the Lord while there is time.
God doesn’t desire an outward repentance of tearing the clothes, but instead desires an awareness of our sin that brings sorrow on the deepest level – so that we turn to Him and away from the sin.
Prayer of Response
Father, You are a merciful and compassionate God. You are slow to anger and filled with unfailing love. Thank You for letting me know this side of You and for the way it has changed my life through the years. Help me to be better about sounding the alarm so that those around me can turn to You while there is still time. May my heart be broken for what breaks Yours, and may my will align with Yours. – Let sin break my heart so that I always turn away from it – for Your glory – Amen!
“But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, 18 then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.
Deuteronomy 30:17-18
Obedience isn’t always easy. Even for the most compliant child, there are times when our way simply seems easier or better – and we choose it over what we know is right. Admittedly, it is often without giving the choice much thought – though I would venture to say there are times when we put much thought into the choices – and yet still choose our own way over God’s.
Cheering One Another On
Our journey today takes us back to the days of Moses and the Israelites and a warning they received from Moses to choose obedience to God over disobedience. Moses isn’t teaching them something new but reminding them of their commitment to follow God and not turn aside to worship and serve other gods. – Now, maybe it’s because I was a cheerleader in high school, and it’s still part of my chemistry, but I couldn’t help noticing how Moses cheered the people on toward the path God longed for them to choose. He urges them to “Choose life”… (GO-ISRAEL-GO!)… He calls them to “Love the Lord their God”...(GO-ISRAEL-GO!)… He reminds them to play hard and well, saying, “Obey the Lord and be loyal to Him”…(GO-ISRAEL-GO!). Moses wants the Israelites to succeed, so He cheers them on to victory.
But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception.
Hebrews 3:13
When I cheered in high school, it was for our team to win the game, but what Moses cheered for was a matter of life and death. The people were told that the reward of obedience is life and the curse of disobedience is death. One leads to crossing the Jordan into the land that God had promised them, and the other leads to the loss of the life they would otherwise experience. While Moses strongly urges the people of God to obey and not turn away, the choice was ultimately theirs then, and it is still ours today, as we see in Acts 5:29 – where Peter and the other apostles faced the choice to obey God or man, the resolved united reply was: “We must obey God rather than men.” Jesus, like Moses, had obviously cheered His disciples on to victory, teaching them to choose life1, to love God2, and to be loyal to Him3.
God Wants Us to Succeed
God wants His people to be victorious. This is why He sends repeated calls through His messengers for His people to choose life over death by choosing obedience over disobedience. He warns us to be vigilant, like a watchman guarding the city. When the watchman knows the people are in jeopardy, he gets the message out – he sounds the alarm. If the people don’t listen, they are responsible for what happens to them, but if the watchman sits back and does nothing, Ezekiel warns that the watchman is the one responsible for the outcome.4
The Watchman’s Message
As exciting as the cheers of Moses are in Deuteronomy, my pulse races a little more when I walk through the words of Ezekiel chapter thirty-three and realize how God clearly wants His people to succeed. I see and hear the evidence of this in the blessing of “life” that is offered to those who love God and walk in obedience to Him. I also hear it in God’s declaration through Ezekiel to His rebellious people: “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! Why should you die, O house of Israel?”
10 “Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: You are saying, ‘Our sins are heavy upon us; we are wasting away! How can we survive?’ 11 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?
Ezekiel 33:10-11
God is love, and His love is richly evident in the way He relentlessly pursues His people – particularly His rebellious people – to lead them out of hiding, to rescue them, and to offer them hope and a future with Him forever.
God pursued Adam and Eve after they sinned in the garden of Eden. (Genesis 3) God pursued Hagar when she ran away from her problems. (Genesis 16) God pursued Elijah when he ran from Ahab and Jezebel. (1 Kings 18-19) God pursued Paul on the road to Damascus. (Acts 9) And God pursues us.
Even when I was rebellious, even when sin was clearly my choice, even when I hid behind closed doors – God faithfully pursued me, pulled me out of more than one pit, drew me back to Him and changed me from the inside-out. 🦋
Prayer of Response to the Journey
Father, Thank You for pursuing me, for never letting me go, and for calling out to me and showing me the way. Thank You for hearing my prayer and not turning away from my voice. Thank You for teaching me Your way and changing me from the inside-out! I am forever and always gratefully Yours. Please, Lord, let me be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true – alerting others to follow you. ~Amen
Reflection on the Journey
If others were to look at your life, would they say that you are following the world or Jesus? Why?
The More We Know
For more insight on today’s journey, read the LGG Blog
Do you know the God who pursues? If not, I invite you to read “Know These Truths” so that you might share in His amazing love and grace.
Today’s post is borrowed and shared from ourdailyverse.com/December 13, 2024
Today, let’s focus on our capacity to love and how it stems from God’s initial love for us. It’s like a small flame lit from an eternal fire. For the full devotional, click the button below.
I remember going to a conference where the speaker spoke on the love between God and His children being a reciprocal love. She used many examples, but the one that still sticks out in my mind was how she would pray or journal, naming all of the ways she had seen God show her his love – and she found herself responding at the end of the prayer – “I love You too.”
Friend, our relationship with God isn’t meant to be one-sided where He lavishes His love on us and we simply say thank you – His desire is for us to love Him in return. Today’s devotion is a beautiful illustration of what happens when we love God with all of our being. Click the devotional button for some wonderful encouragement =
Today, let’s pray for the courage to surrender like Jesus asks us in Mark 8:35. May we find peace and joy in letting go of our striving and embracing the abundant life He offers.
This is a beautiful encouragement from ourdailyverse.com that grabbed my attention and begged to be shared. – Enjoy
In our self-focused culture, the concept of losing one’s life may seem counterintuitive or even alarming. We’re conditioned to prioritize self-preservation, chasing after our own dreams and desires. But Jesus presents a radical paradigm shift, inviting us to a life of selfless surrender. -Click the devotional button to read the rest …
Originally posted by ourdailyverse.com / Feb 11, 2025
What a beautiful truth to know that we can rely on the love God has for us. It is a gift to know that the God who created us and adopted us as His own – is Himself – LOVE and has invited us to abide in Him … click the devotional button for encouragement and inspiration about the life-changing power of God’s love.
God’s love for us passes knowledge; it is vast and complete, and yet He urges us to lean into its impossible dimensions and to rest there.
Michele Morin / Living Our Days / August 9, 2018
One of the prayers I learned to pray for women in my life years ago, specifically those who have been/are in my life-groups, is found at the center of this nugget of gold I’m sharing today, borrowed from the archive of Living Our Days. The prayer comes from the pen of the Apostle Paul and is found in chapter three of Ephesians. – I pray it for all who come upon this post and read the words within – that you may understand that God’s love for us not only passes knowledge; but that it is vast and complete. May you learn to lean into its impossible dimensions and find rest there.
My Prayer for You For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:14-19
The following blog was originally posted on August 9, 2018
Me From the Inside Out 