DRENCH MY HEART!

SCRIPTURE

Joel 2:18-29 (NRSV)
God's spirit poured out

Then the Lord became jealous for his land,
and had pity on his people.
In response to his people the Lord said:
I am sending you
grain, wine, and oil,
and you will be satisfied;
and I will no more make you
a mockery among the nations.

I will remove the northern army far from you,
and drive it into a parched and desolate land,
its front into the eastern sea,
and its rear into the western sea;
its stench and foul smell will rise up.
Surely he has done great things!

Do not fear, O soil;
be glad and rejoice,
for the Lord has done great things!
Do not fear, you animals 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.
O children of Zion, be glad
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 later rain, as before.
The threshing floors shall be full of grain,
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

I will repay you for the years
that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
my great army, which I sent against you.

You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.
And my people shall never again
be put to shame.

Then afterward
I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female slaves,
in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

DEVOTION

Oh hallelujah! What a glorious prophesy shared with us by Mr. Joel! (smile) And didn’t it come to pass, my friends?!

On yesterday we celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit and the establishment of the Church Universal. We call that day Pentecost.

On Pentecost we remember the day that God sent forth God’s Spirit into the hearts of the disciples causing them to become bold in their proclamation of the GOOD NEWS message!
As a result of their contagious joy and excitement, over 3,000 people put all of their hope in Jesus—in one day!

The Bible records that the new converts were from “every nation under heaven” and I do not believe that this was by happenstance. This was an intentional move of the Spirit to bring GOOD NEWS to all the peoples of the Earth!

God sent forth the Holy Spirit to enable, equip, and empower God’s people to spread the GOOD NEWS in countries near and far! Whereas there was only a small band of devoted followers before Pentecost, after Pentecost 3,000 became 6,000 and 6,000 became 12,000 and now there are over two billion Christians worldwide!

Isn’t God amazing?!

I don’t know about you, but I was so excited on yesterday when we celebrated the truthfulness of Joel’s prophesy!

Joel reported that in the last days God declared, “I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.”

Well, well, well! Isn’t this true? On yesterday I saw old women, young men, children, rich, poor, black, white, English speakers, and non-English speakers praising God with a loud voice and a “Hallelujah Praise!”

I saw the diversity of God’s people worshipping, singing, praying, and rejoicing together! I saw the Spirit of God moving in—and amongst us—helping us to boldly declare the GOOD NEWS and to share our personal testimonies with others!

As we left out of the church, I believe that all of us were more committed than ever before, to be GOOD NEWS ambassadors within our spheres of influence. As I live, move, and breathe in my community, I want to be the hands, feet, and mouth of Jesus in the lives of those who do not know Him.

I want to love, care, and serve, just as Jesus taught us to do! I want my “Jesus Joy” to be so contagious that people actually want a little bit of what I’ve got!

People ask me all the time, “Why are you so happy?”

Isn’t it sad that in this bad news culture, someone full of the joy of the Lord is an anomaly? As Christians, we are filled with the Holy Spirit of God! Since this is true, we ought to bring God’s love, joy, peace, hope for the future and attitude of gratitude with us, everywhere we go!

Listen, Joel’s message is GOOD NEWS! He reminds us that there once was a time when God was so angry that God’s anger burned long and hard against God’s people. Punishment was swift and certain. The lands were dry and infertile and the people were oppressed by war! But, then God turned from God’s anger and brought rain and peace!

Today, God is still raining down God’s blessings upon all of God’s people. God’s great and vast love is such that God sent Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life!

No longer do we have to live dry, dusty, disturbed, and infertile lives! God has sent the rain of God’s love, mercy, and grace! God has sent the peace that comes from reconciliation with God! God has sent Spirit to be our Advocate, Counselor, and Friend!

No longer do we have to drink from the poisoned wells of greed, lust, hopelessness, depression, anxiety, and unmitigated worry and fear. Now we can eternally drink from the life-giving waters that flow from under the throne of God and of the Lamb!

We are loved and treasured by Almighty God, Creator of Heaven and of Earth! God has provided all that is needed to insure our salvation and eternal life! We have hope for great days to come! We will travel from glory to glory, both on the Earth and then in the Heavens!

When we put all of our hope in Jesus, we were filled with the Holy Spirit of God! Please think about that my friends! We are FULL of the SPIRIT of GOD! We are daily drenched by the glory, presence, power, and love of God! God is with us, my friends!

Therefore, nothing shall be impossible for us, if we only believe! As we seek God in prayer, asking in accordance with God’s perfect will, God will use our heartfelt desire to love and serve others, to transform our family, community of faith, neighborhood, and indeed, our whole world!

The Holy Spirit always shakes things up, changes the status quo, and brings about great and marvelous change!

Are there some things you need to ask Spirit to help you to change in your life or the lives of those whom you love?

Holy God, thank you that you have indeed poured out your Spirit on all flesh! Thank you for Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension! Thank you that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, to lead and guide us in all of our ways. Please drench my life with your Spirit, so that I may be empowered and equipped to bring GOOD NEWS everywhere that I go! Your love is amazing! I want to share that love with others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.



ANNOUNCEMENTS

Congratulations to the people who have recently put all of their hope in Jesus! We celebrate your re-birth-day and promise to hold you in our prayers!

If you would like to put all of your hope in Jesus today, please visit my blog entitled, “Putting All Your Hope In Jesus” located at
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/04/putting-all-your-hope-in-jesus.html

If you have additional questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, "Come to Jesus"
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/come-to-jesus.html

Pastor Yolanda is now publishing another blog entitled, “A Spoken WORD” in celebration of Holy Hip Hop, Gospel/Christian Rap and Spoken Word. Please check it out @ http://aspokenword.blogspot.com/

You are invited to follow Pastor Yolanda on Twitter www.twitter.com/PastorYolanda

Good News has now added a Prayer Ministry. http://www.kindlejoy.com/groups/goodnews

You are invited to leave comments or questions regarding today’s devotional. These comments are public.

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Thanks for reading and please come again. Pastor Yolanda extends a very special welcome to all of our friends reading outside of the United States of America! We are honored that you are sharing with us today.

From Pastor Yolanda's blog http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com