Joel 1 – Amos 9
image courtesy of jarekst at stock.xchng
Just another note about the reading plan: Over the next three days I will be heavily modifying the Bible in 90 Days reading plan. I don’t like chopping books up if I don’t have to, I much prefer getting the entire story at once (which is very much in keeping with the theme of this reading plan anyway). So, my reading plan will look like this
- Day 66 – Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk
- Day 67 – Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah
- Day 68 – Malachi, Matthew 1-4
- Day 69 – Back to the normal plan
If you do this, days 66 and 67 are right at about 53 minutes reading time, and day 68 drops to about 28 minutes! Stick with the original plan if you like, or you can follow my modification.
Back in 1987, there was a great commercial for Heinz ketchup. A pre-Friends Matthew LeBlanc sets a bottle of ketchup on the ledge of an apartment building roof, and then goes down several flights of stairs to the street. He orders a hot dog, and flips it around behind his back just in time to catch the thick Heinz ketchup which had finally started pouring. The announcer reminds us that “the best things come to those who wait.”
Back in the 9th century B.C., Joel issued a prophecy from God that He would one day pour out His Spirit on all flesh (Joel 2). This was not a promise that every single human being would receive the Holy Spirit, but rather that there would be no distinction as to age, sex, race, nationality, etc. After Christ ascended to the Father, as the disciples were together in one place, the Spirit fell upon them in great power. They began speaking in tongues about the mighty works of God.
Really, the best things come to those who wait on the Lord.
For several hundred years, the people waited for the fulfillment of this prophecy. As always, God made good on His promise when He poured out His Holy Spirit at Pentecost in Acts 2. God will also keep His promise that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32, cf. Romans 10:9-13).
Perhaps sometimes we take the presence of the Holy Spirit for granted as Christians. We sometimes forget that He was not present with everyone of God’s people in Israel the way that He is today. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit into everyone who believes is a unique feature of the New Covenant. Those of us who are in Christ have the Holy Spirit residing within us. This is why referring to a church building as the house of God is inaccurate. The Temple is where the presence of God dwelt on earth in under the old covenant, but under the new covenant, God’s presence on earth is within us. In a very real sense, we are the house of God (Ephesians 2:22; Colossians 1:19; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:19).
Let’s never forget God’s faithfulness to His promises and prophecies. Let’s never take for granted that the Holy Spirit of God dwells within each of us who name the name of Christ. Let’s praise and thank God for His presence within our lives through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
originally at Words of Reason
Words of Reason 