Tag: Turn your heart to Jesus

Restoration, Part 2

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(Photo Credit: Barbara Schneider)

Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.       – Joel 1:5-7

As I mentioned in the previous post, Restoration, Part 1, walking away from the Lord can lead to your life being eaten up. Time is wasted, finances can dry up, friendships might be lost.

This passage talks about a nation coming up against Israel like a lion with teeth (Joel 1:6). This symbolic lion destroys fruitfulness and removes protection (Joel 1:7). But in “real life”, we stop producing spiritual fruit and walk away from the Lord’s protection when we follow our own path.

When I left the church, things seemed fine for a while. My life did not come crashing down around me right away. What happened was I began sowing the wrong “seeds” into my life, and letting the good seed die out. This process took some time, but I eventually began to experience the fruit of sowing to myself. Career, relationships, friendships, and finances all got worse in time.

Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. – Galatians 6:7-8 (WEB)

Prayer for today:  Lord Jesus, I need your help. I have sown the wrong seeds into my life, and have neglected planting the good seeds. I ask for your mercy. Help me to weed out the wrong things that are in my mind and heart, and I trust you to protect me. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.

 Note: Galatians 6:7-8 taken from World English Bible (public domain).

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Restoration, Part 1

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(Photo Credit: Caroline Hoos)

Hear this, you elders, and listen, all you inhabitants of the land. Has this ever happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Tell your children about it, and have your children tell their children, and their children, another generation. What the swarming locust has left, the great locust has eaten. What the great locust has left, the grasshopper has eaten. What the grasshopper has left, the caterpillar has eaten. – Joel 1:2-4 (WEB)

Have you ever felt like your life is just being “eaten up”? Gains you make in life appear to be lost. Financial blessings seem to lead to a place of lack. Friendships you thought you could count on are not the same anymore, or they have gone away.

When I left the church, I walked away from the Lord’s blessings and protection. I didn’t think I was leaving God, and I thought I was okay. He never left me, and He still protected me from totally destroying my life, but He did allow me to choose my own way. But that did not stop me from walking away from church.

It was not really until I decided to turn my heart back toward Jesus that the Lord showed me how my life had been eaten up. I missed out on blessings he had intended for me. More importantly, I wasted time in not getting to know Jesus better and growing my relationship with Him. By walking away, I ended up hurting myself.

 Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. – Jeremiah 25:7

Prayer for today: Heavenly Father, I have walked away from you. Some of my time on earth has been eaten up. I acknowledge my sin, and turn back to you. I have hurt myself by withdrawing from you. I need you, and ask for your forgiveness and mercy.  In the Name of Jesus I pray, amen.

Note: Joel 1:2-4 from World English Bible (public domain)

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