SCRIPTURE: Joel 2
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” [Joel 2:12]
Joel announces the impending judgment that hangs over Israel’s head, but then adds that there is still the opportunity to repent and experience God’s grace and mercy.
Repent, return to the Lord, and He will make things right and good.
Those who humble themselves and repent will receive more than forgiveness, they will receive the Holy Spirit Who will transform them into new people!
And afterward, 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. [Joel 2:28-29]
I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. [Matthew 3:11-12]
Water baptism by itself is just a symbol of a person’s repentance, but it does not change their inward nature – they are still sinners prone to sin and wander.
Spirit baptism is more than just a symbol, it is a powerful transformation of a person from the inside out.
Our commitment to change is not enough to change us; how many new year’s resolutions have we made and failed to keep?
We need more than just determination, we need Holy Spirit transformation.
We need God’s power to change us from the inside out.
This explains why Israel could not change, why again and again they kept falling back to old patterns of rebellion and immorality.
This explains why we cannot change ourselves by willpower and determination.
When we surrender ourselves to the Spirit of God, He does something inside of us.
Using Jesus’ analogy, the Spirit sifts through our character to separate the wheat from the chaff, to save the kernel and burn the chaff.
This process of purification – separating good from bad – is how transformation occurs.
And our part in this process is repentance, humbly admitting the chaff that exists in us.
Willpower cannot make us good, only God’s Spirit can.
But if we admit our guilt, honestly ‘rend our hearts and not just our garments’ (inward, sincere repentance, not just an outward show), then the Spirit can work.
When the Spirit works in us, He not only purifies us, He also empowers us.
We become instruments of God’s grace and goodness, witnesses to His power.
Through dreams and visions and prophecies, we become agents of God’s kingdom.
God does not want to judge us, He wants to transform and bless and use us.
Are we willing, will we repent and surrender to Him, will we allow His Spirit to change us from the inside out and release us as His agents of grace and love?
PRAYER:
Lord, I realize that much of what I do comes from myself, my own determination and willpower. I have been baptized with Your Spirit, yet I still need to surrender to His power.