In the Book of Joel this morning. Three chapters… short and powerful…. destruction… a call to repentance… the trumpet in Zion blows…. A call from God to return to Him… the Day of the LORD…

Joel wrote the book between 825 and 809 B.C. Israel would be taken into captivity by the Babylonians a couple hundred years later (“foreigners would invade her”). The Holy Spirit would be given to believers over 800 years later. God inspired him to write these amazing words.

Joel 3:16, 17
The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the heavens will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel. “Then you will know that I, the LORD your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her.

Joel 2:29-32
I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved;

We don’t know anything about Joel except he was the son of a man named Pethuel and that he was obedient to the LORD to write these words down for us to meditate on today.

Hebrews 1 says, In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

As I read Joel, I catch a small glimpse of God’s awesome power and ultimate judgment of sin. Today I choose to obey and worship God alone.

Just Listen to the Beat

I just returned from a circuit class at my gym. Yes, my new year's resolution (again) is to get in shape.... A good looking, very fit young man led the class. The mostly female class members ranged from firm teens and buffed twenty-something’s to beautiful thirty and forty something’s … some of their body parts were as hard and unmoving as the medicine balls we were tossing in the air.

The music our instructor chose to motivate and move us with was Rap. The words were absolutely outrageous. But no one seemed to care…. “ Yeah, she love it the way I put it on her… lost dog I give it to her right and she like it” . This woman was just referred to as a dog. Did anyone hear that?

“Baby…I wake her up…grab her by the butt… woke that ass up”. Now she’s just an “ass”? Hello… is anyone offended by this?

How about this one from the top 3 rap songs of 2009? “I am attracted to her, wit’ her attractive ass… maybe it’s time to put this p---y on ya sideburns”. Now my stomach is hurting and so is my head. Should I leave or does God have some cosmic reason for me to be here this morning?

At one point in the circuit I just stopped. I didn’t even realize I had stopped. I was listening to the words…paralyzed… as I looked at this group who want to be fit, firm and healthy. Our instructor walked toward me and shouted to the whole class “push harder”. That jolted me out of the foggy zone I was floating in. I turned and looked him in the eye and said “Did you ever listen to the words to these songs? This room is filled with women who want better self esteems, better looking bodies…. And the words to these songs completely degrade women.”

He smiled and said “Just listen to the beat” and walked away from me.

Does anyone see the irony in this? The contradiction of it all? Or have we all gone mad?

My heart broke. The world is broken. Have we lost our sense of self? Have we gone deaf? Maybe we need to unplug our ipods for a minute and listen to the Truth so we’ll be outraged when we hear words that undermine who we really are. We need to listen to way more than just the “beat”.

Are we that big of a mess, that we would be ok with that view of women? Have we lost our voice? Lost, broken, lonely, starving for affirmation… Is there any help for us? Praise God we have a Savior named Jesus Christ. He came to save us and to fill our mind, hearts and ears with Truth. We can listen to the beat of His heart that He poured out for us on the cross… and we can know the Words that He has given us.

Do you know Him? Are you reading the Word just a little here and there? Do you get anything out of it?

If the answer is no, it’s time to make the change. It does make a difference. Being in the Word will change your view of God and your view of yourself. It’s time to dig into the Word and discover its truths for yourself. You don’t have to just listen to the beat, you can read and hear the words of Truth for yourself.

The way you live your life everyday will change… that gnawing feeling of something being missing in your life will go away. You’ll have a peace that you can’t explain, but it’s real! Spending time with the Lord in His Word will give you a sense of stability, freedom and confidence you have never known before.

Do you want real change in your life? Ask God to give you a hunger to know Him and His Word.

"Seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deuteronomy 4:29).

I hear The Word now, not just the beat… because I was introduced to the Lord and inductive Bible Study 13 years ago. It’s a process of study that allows me to dig into the Truth for myself and hear directly from God, the God who has my name written on the palm of His hand.

Happy New Year my friends...