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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“Surely he has done great things!”
“Do not be afraid, land of Judah; be glad and rejoice. Surely the Lord has done great things! Do not be afraid, you wild animals, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given you the autumn rains because He is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—the
great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm; My
great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are
full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders
for you; never again will My people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in
Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again
will My people be shamed.”
Joel 2:21-27
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
The opening line to one of my favorite old hymns goes like
this:
“To God be the glory, great things He hath done!”
Indeed, we serve a God who is defined by His greatness, an
unmatched greatness born out of an omnipotence that has been unmatched and
unrivaled since the dawn of creation.
Did I mention this God created everything?
Everything.
So yes, He deserves all our honor and glory and praise.
As we continue to look at the second chapter of Joel, we
find this proclamation of God’s greatness ranging back to Old Testament days.
Look again at these verses here:
“Surely he has done
great things!”
“Do not be afraid, land of Judah; be glad and rejoice. Surely the Lord has done great things! Do not be afraid, you wild animals, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given you the autumn rains because He is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
“I will repay you for
the years the locusts have eaten—the great locust and the young locust, the
other locusts and the locust swarm; My great army that I sent among you. You
will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of
the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will My people
be shamed. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God,
and that there is no other; never again will My people be shamed.” Joel 2:21-27
Note how this reminder of God’s reputation for doing great
things is used to dispel the fears of the Israelites. Joel’s words offer a
sense of comfort to the people of God in his day and they offer comfort to us
today, more than 2,000 years later.
Yes, God had done great things for the people of Israel.
He had delivered them from the hands of Egypt’s treacherous
Pharaoh.
He guided, protected, and provided for His people as they
journeyed for forty days across the wilderness to the holy land He had promised
them.
He led them into that promised land and beat back their
enemies as they settled and sought to make it holy before the very God who had
given it to them.
You could go on and on in describing the greatness of God
but the point is that the Israelites were well aware of all God had done. He
had watched over them and kept them in His care before. He would continue to do
so as long as they remained faithful and obedient to Him.
He would ensure there were green pastures for the wild
animals to graze and be well fed.
He would make sure the vines in the vineyards and trees of
the orchards were bearing abundant fruit.
He would send plentiful rains to ensure life flourished,
both in the autumn and spring.
Through all this, He would ensure that the threshing floors
were “filled with grain” and the vats overflowing with “new wine and oil.”
Yes, the Lord had sent locusts on His people to bring
judgment upon them but if they repented and returned to Him, He promised to
repay them for all the years the locusts brought destruction and devastation on
the land. Once suffering under famine, the people would now “have plenty to eat”,
enough to make them full, and they would be brought to a place of praise,
giving God thanks for all the wonders He had done.
Indeed, there were many great things that God had done for
them and there are many things He has done great for us as well.
So how well do we account for all of God’s great deeds and
works unto us? Are we persistent and consistent in how we give thanks to Him
for even the smallest of blessings He has bestowed upon us?
Do we proclaim His greatness to anyone we get a chance to
speak with?
or
Do we take His greatness and goodness for granted, simply
receiving and enjoying what He provides without a hint of gratitude? Do we just
assume God will always do great things for us even if we never acknowledge
those great things before Him or others? Have we gotten in the habit of taking
from God and never giving Him anything back in return?
Friends, these are all important things we should ponder.
For to not recognize God for the great things He has done for us is simply akin
to disrespecting and dishonoring Him in the worse way possible.
And He deserves much better than that.
Like all of our honor, glory, and praise every second of
every minute, every minute of every hour, every hour of every day, and every day
of every year.
In other words, at all times and in all places, to God be
the glory for great things He has done!
Amen,
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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