22/02/2023
тЭгЁЯМ╖тЭгЁЯМ╖тЭг _*HONEYDROPS FOR EVERY SOUL*_тЭгЁЯМ╖тЭгЁЯМ╖тЭг
_*Wednesday, February 22 тЬЭЁЯУЦтЬЭЁЯУЦтЬЭЁЯУЦтЬЭЁЯУЦтЬЭЁЯУЦ Read: Joel 2: 12-17*_
_*GOD WANTS TO HEAR YOUR HEART , NOT YOUR EMPTY WORDS*_
_*тАЬRend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord Your God. ...тАЭ (J oel 2: 13)*_
_*In Joel 2:12-17, we read that God used Prophet Joel to command His people to pay attention to His warning. Prosperity had caused them to become complacent and negligent in their commitment to the Lord. Their faith had degenerated into empty rituals and they had rejected the Lord. So God sent a locust plague to ruin their crops in order to get their attention, and cause them to change their behavior. The Lord through Joel appealed to the nation of Israel to repent before the terrible Day of the Lord falls. He said, тАЬEven now, ... return to me with all your heart.тАЭ What merciful words! The time is late, but even now there is hope if they turn to the Lord. Even at that late hour it was possible to repent and turn to the Lord, thus averting further disaster. God called for a time of fasting, a time of brokenness of heart before Him. Joel asked the people to rend their hearts and not their garments. Rending of garments was an expression of mourning, extraordinary uncontrollable grief, or terror or horror. Joel said that inward contrition is more important than an outward show of grief which could be an act devoid of sincerity. God desires broken and contrite hearts. (Psalm 51:17) The Bible describes many times manтАЩs responsibility in the process of repentance - yield your hearts to the Lord (Joshua 24:23), circumcise your hearts (Jeremiah 4:4), wash the evil from your heart (Jeremiah 4:14), break up your unploughed ground (Hosea 10:12). Dear friends, today we are entering into the season of lent. Let us examine ourselves and return to God. Let us not harden our hearts. It is not too late to approach God. He is always more willing to pardon than to punish. So before the wrath of God falls upon us, let us repent today - now.*_
_*PRAYER: Lord, let me not be deaf to Your merciful voice that pleads with me to return and to rend my heart to You. Let my repentance come from my heart; let it not be just an outward symbol devoid of sincerity. As I humbly come to Your presence now, wash my sin by the blood of the Lamb. Amen.*