Continuing Pastor Kyle's message, he states thirdly, remember that forgiveness is God’s preferred method of procedure, mode of operation, and default way of working. Some have wrongly come to believe that God’s core way of working is against them. God’s core way is merciful grace and to forgive us when we repent and restore us to an upright position.
Joel 2:18-20 Then the Lord will be zealous for His land, and pity His people. The Lord
will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil,
and you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations. “But I will remove far from you the northern army, and will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, with his face toward the eastern sea and his back toward the western sea; his stench will come up, and his foul odor will rise, because he has done
and you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations. “But I will remove far from you the northern army, and will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, with his face toward the eastern sea and his back toward the western sea; his stench will come up, and his foul odor will rise, because he has done
monstrous things.” Joel 2:25-26 “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming
locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, my great army which I sent among 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 be put to shame.”
Just as God promised to restore the lost years in the lives of the people in Joel’s day, He is speaking to us today, if we will repent and turn to Him. Where there was pain, God brought provision and prosperity back into the land. And, where there is pain today, may God restore the lost years to us. God doesn’t just want to just forgive us and be gracious to us. He wants to pour out His Spirit upon us in a fresh way, to see life with godly eyes. When we just live in survival mode, we stop dreaming with the eyes of the Holy Spirit.
Joel 2:28-32 “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams,
your young men shall see visions. And also, on My menservants and on My
your young men shall see visions. And also, on My menservants and on My
Maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome say of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord
shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the
shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the
Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.”
This Scripture was actually fulfilled in Acts 2:16-21 when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Disciples at Pentecost. Because of that, today anyone who accept Jesus, believes and receives the Holy Spirit and seals their adoption as sons and daughters of God and helps them walk as Jesus walked. But, Pastor Kyle tells us that the Holy Spirit has not speaking and dreaming new dreams for us today because we are living in a crisis. God wants more than survival mode. His Spirit has been poured out on all those who call Jesus Lord. Maybe the restoral of the lost year of 2020 begins with the renewal of the Holy Spirit in own lives.
Hold on to the hope that God loves to turn repentance into restoration. God loves to turn coming judgment against sin into blessing and free from the fear of God’s righteous wrath against inequity and walking in the Spirit. When we live in a constant fear of bad things happening, then we cannot open our eyes to the new dreams that God has for us. Staying huddled in a place of fear and darkness, never lets us see God’s brighter future for us. The same power that rose Jesus Christ from the dead can take the Christ follower out of the place of fear. God wants us to dream of a godly bright future. It may not happen overnight, but it is possible today if we open our eyes and recognize that we have been living in fear and not how God wants us to live. It starts when we make the decision to not live in the place of fear anymore and trust in the promises of God. But, first we need to repent of our former way of thinking, speaking and living in sin. Ask God to restore you and open your eyes to the divine dreams and new visions of living rightly in the eyes of the Lord, walking in His perfect Word, Will and Way.
The good that was gone will be replace and renewed, and even multiplied again, but we need to believe that in our hearts first before God is going to bring that to pass. Find god and follow Jesus.
In Christ, Brian
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