Joel 2:12-13 Therefore also now, saith the Lord, Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning. And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of evil.
It appears that the Israelites were going through a rather rough time, with drought, forest fires, hunger and other deprivation running rampant throughout the land. Obviously the people weren’t happy and their faith was at a rather low ebb. That’s when the prophet Joel tried to wake them up, warning of even greater consequences for their lethargy and disbelief. He’s bearing the encouraging word of our Heavenly Father, who’s saying; Turn back to me, show me some true repentance with serious fasting and weeping. Search your heart, tear it open and check to see what’s truly there. Don’t put on an outward show by ripping off your clothes in public. I’m not interested in that, but rather your heart; its true state. I want to know the true nature of your soul. Yuh know, it’s funny that when we were growing up, this piece of scripture was commonly misquoted. People would say, render, instead of rend your heart and not your garment. But coming to think of it now, that’s just as good, because it’s still saying give your heart to God, that’s what He’s interested in, not your outward appearance or clothing. And doesn’t it make you wonder about our mentality, when every time God gets annoyed with us and punishes us for our wilful disobedience, that He keeps on telling us that He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and feels sorry afterwards, but He’s got to do it, if we don’t listen and obey. Oh Friends, every prophet and spiritual teacher has tried to instil that into us, but it just never seems to sink in. Now today, the same kind of things are happening in our world, on a much larger scale; just remember all the hurricanes, the forest fires, the heat waves, the wars and rumours of wars, the devastating floods – Mexico this past week – famine, starvation and poverty all over, especially Mother Africa, an unholy widening of the gap between the haves and have nots, not to mention the breakdown and possible demise of the family, with more divorces, estrangement and in-fighting than we’ve ever seen, and yet, with all this prominent negativity staring us full in the face, foolishly, we seem to be moving farther away from God rather than towards Him. Is He trying to tell us something, like He did with the Israelites? Who knows? But Friends, from the ungodly tempo currently permeating our world , I’m sure we need to inspect and ascertain the true nature of our hearts and turn back to The Most High in sincere repentance, so that He can, for the umpteenth and one time, forgive us and make us whole…otherwise, crapaud soon smoke we pipe. Much LOVE!…and people, let’s really really try to live the life that will bring Him glory nuh! Is it that difficult?
It appears that the Israelites were going through a rather rough time, with drought, forest fires, hunger and other deprivation running rampant throughout the land. Obviously the people weren’t happy and their faith was at a rather low ebb. That’s when the prophet Joel tried to wake them up, warning of even greater consequences for their lethargy and disbelief. He’s bearing the encouraging word of our Heavenly Father, who’s saying; Turn back to me, show me some true repentance with serious fasting and weeping. Search your heart, tear it open and check to see what’s truly there. Don’t put on an outward show by ripping off your clothes in public. I’m not interested in that, but rather your heart; its true state. I want to know the true nature of your soul. Yuh know, it’s funny that when we were growing up, this piece of scripture was commonly misquoted. People would say, render, instead of rend your heart and not your garment. But coming to think of it now, that’s just as good, because it’s still saying give your heart to God, that’s what He’s interested in, not your outward appearance or clothing. And doesn’t it make you wonder about our mentality, when every time God gets annoyed with us and punishes us for our wilful disobedience, that He keeps on telling us that He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and feels sorry afterwards, but He’s got to do it, if we don’t listen and obey. Oh Friends, every prophet and spiritual teacher has tried to instil that into us, but it just never seems to sink in. Now today, the same kind of things are happening in our world, on a much larger scale; just remember all the hurricanes, the forest fires, the heat waves, the wars and rumours of wars, the devastating floods – Mexico this past week – famine, starvation and poverty all over, especially Mother Africa, an unholy widening of the gap between the haves and have nots, not to mention the breakdown and possible demise of the family, with more divorces, estrangement and in-fighting than we’ve ever seen, and yet, with all this prominent negativity staring us full in the face, foolishly, we seem to be moving farther away from God rather than towards Him. Is He trying to tell us something, like He did with the Israelites? Who knows? But Friends, from the ungodly tempo currently permeating our world , I’m sure we need to inspect and ascertain the true nature of our hearts and turn back to The Most High in sincere repentance, so that He can, for the umpteenth and one time, forgive us and make us whole…otherwise, crapaud soon smoke we pipe. Much LOVE!…and people, let’s really really try to live the life that will bring Him glory nuh! Is it that difficult?
SCRIP-BITS 