When we repent, God Himself answers us. This devotion looks at how the stain of our sins is eliminated and His peace is given.
Nuggets
- God responds to us when we repent.
- Repentance brings peace to replace fear.
Devotions in The Days According to Joel series
Joel succeeded in calling the Israelites to repentance. The priests blew the trumpet, and the nation assembled. They fasted. They listened to the message God had for them.
They did more than listen, though. They repented. They rent their hearts.
The Israelites did everything they were supposed to do — and did it correctly.
What did God do?
Let's Put It into Context
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
God’s Response
“Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people. The Lord answered and said to his people, ‘Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations. ‘I will remove the northerner far from you, and drive him into a parched and desolate land, his vanguard into the eastern sea, and his rear guard into the western sea; the stench and foul smell of him will rise, for he has done great things.” (Jl. 2: 18-20 ESV)
God responds to us when we repent.
We like to say God is love — because He is. We add in forgiving — because He is.
But God is also jealous — because He is. We said before that jealousy is one of His attributes. God’s jealousy means He does not tolerate His creation being unfaithful by worshiping anything other than Him.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Just think about it. If God doesn’t tolerate us being unfaithful, when we repent and are faithful, He is going to be elated.
We gain back God’s mercy when we repent. Our relationships with Him are restored. God is once again in our midst.
That is what repentance is all about — our acknowledgment of God and His presence with us.
Excell gave us a big reminder, though. He wrote, “Repentance does not always heal the pain of sin. It does not erase sad memories. It does not always restore a wasted bodily constitution. It does not always bring back the substance wasted in the far country.”
Resource
God will remove the stain of sin, even when He does not remove the consequences of sin.
Some may have the tendency to believe that confess will make everything to switch to rainbows and unicorns. We think we are going to be the Prodigal Son (Lk. 15: 11-32) or Job (Job 42: 10) and have everything restored.
These verses seem to support that belief.
- God gave them food (Jl. 2: 19).
- They were no longer considered inferior among the other nations (Jl. 2: 19).
- The threat of invasion was removed (Jl. 2: 20).
That may happen for us. It may not.
It may happen in a totally unexpected way.
Just because our moral character is being regenerated doesn’t mean our physical circumstances will change.
But after we repent, God does start to change our circumstances. It comes more as blessings out of obedience.
So, recap. What is the foundation of this comfortable promise?
- Sincere repentance.
- Genuine humiliation.
- True submission.
Yes, God wants us to turn to Him in times of danger. But He wants it to be because we know He is all powerful, not because we don’t want the bad stuff happening to us.
Once God saves us from our troubles, we have to give Him the glory. We can’t go back to trusting on our own and just use Him as a get-out-of-trouble card.
Only true repentance, true submission, and true salvation brings safety.
Repentance Alleviates Fear
“Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things! Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield. Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil” (Jl. 2: 21-24 ESV)
Repentance brings peace to replace fear.
Think about it. Joel was talking about devastation from locusts and the end of the world as we know it.
That was pretty good reason to be afraid.
But then Joel told the assembly not to be afraid. Redemption does that. It gives us reason not to fear.
With redemption comes a promise. God promises to provide — and provide abundantly. We don’t have a reason anymore to fear.
Don’t miss this. Excell put it perfectly. He wrote, “Sin has made the material universe to tremble. The mood of man is reflected in the material things by which he is surrounded; they reflect the terror of sin and the joy of repentance.”
Resource
We are influenced by our environment and circumstances. Contrary to the worldview, sin brings the terror, and repentance brings the joy.
Remember. Before sin was around, mankind lived in the Garden of Eden. They lived in peace and joy.
Repentance brings the peace and joy back. That allows for growth, abundance, enjoyment, and satisfaction.
But we can’t miss the last step. That is to praise God. Read back through all the things God said He would give us. Doesn’t that deserve thanksgiving and praise.
How do we get from fear to praise? Growth.
We grow by watching God at work. We grow as we honor and adore God. Trusting in His promises makes us grow as we see time and time again how much we can defend on Him. That has to be bathed in prayer — communication with Sovereign God.
Making the Connections #1
Some worldview people think that God doesn’t care about our interests, only His. Excell that isn’t true. He went as far as saying God ports our interests.
Resource
God allows us to keep our personality, including what interests us. He knows He can use these to bring us joy.
Now, if those interests go against His character and laws and commandments, He is going to have a problem with that. A big problem.
Making the Connections #2
What are the themes of the Book of Joel?
- Judgment is coming.
- Repentance can be had.
- Restoration brings blessings.
Time and time again, we encounter this order. That is the way God has set up our existence.
Why does it have to be this way? Why do we have to go through the pain and fear?
The only reason I can think of is that it builds our faith and trust like nothing else would. We very visually see the benefits of our dependence on God.
Making the Connections #3
No, God doesn’t do any of this to protect this world. We’ve talked many times that God is more interested in our spiritual condition than our physical condition.
God’s promises are made to make this world a better place for us to live.
Shanks gave a good list of what God is really doing. He wrote, “Protect the reformed faith, furnish a ministry to preach it, raise out of every generation professors to hold it, reconcile the remnant of the seed of Abraham, gather in the fulness of the Gentiles, fill the earth with His glory, crush the insurrection of the last days, rend the heavens and come down, raise and judge the dead, dissolve the frame of the world, present the whole Church faultless in the presence of His glory, and reign over it for ever.”
Resource
That is a pretty good list of God’s plan. It seems to me that it shows the progression God wants.
Making the Connections #4
Remember, all of this started because of sin. The devastation caused by the locusts shows the power of sin. It, too, is devastating.
Using locusts as the imagery is smart. It shows us how they swarm around us, attacking and tormenting us. It is nasty stuff.
All we have to do is look around and see the consequences of sin. We see how awful it is.
How Do We Apply This?
- Truly humble ourselves before God.
- Sincerely repent of our sins.
- Turn away from our sins toward God.
- Walk in the Spirit.
- Realize our joy can be affected by our moral sentiments.
- Have a pure heart.
- Repent so God can be in our midst.
Resources
Father God. We repent of our sins. We know that we can now rely on Your promises. That brings peace and joy to our lives. Amen.
What do you think?
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