“’Yet, even now’, declares the Lord, ‘Return to Me with all your heart and with fasting, weeping, and mourning; and rend your heart and not your garments. Now, return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving-kindness and relenting from evil.” [Joel 2:12]
The message of Joel is biting. Joel is not a book you would read for a devotional. His message hits hard and stings a bit. Many reading this devotion today have drifted from the Lord. I am not saying you are in all-out rebellion. I am saying that slowly over time you have wandered further and further from Christ. Compromise with sin has dulled your love and devotion for Him. It is not that you do not love Him. You just don’t love Him supremely above all else.
We are called to return to the Lord right now. We cannot wait until the start of revival services. Right now, right where we sit, in our present spiritual condition, we are being called to return to God.
The word return means to “turn back, reverse, and to come back.” Can you identify a moment or a decision made when your relationship with the Lord began to suffer? Can you identify an area of compromise in your life that let in other compromises and you began slowly drifting further and further from the Lord? I am not saying you quit going to church or even having a quiet time. I am asking if those things really move you closer to the Lord or have you been going through the rituals without the love?
God is asking you in this moment to return to Him. Not only does God desire you to return to Him but also He wants you to return in brokenness and humility for how you have drifted. It is at this very point where many people get hung up. You have sinned. You have no excuses. You know you rebelled and God knows you rebelled. In your thinking you most likely think God is a mad, angry, tyrant. Did you catch the last part of that verse?
God is gracious, compassionate or full of mercy. You do not deserve it and neither do I. Regardless, God is filled with mercy. He is also compassionate and slow to anger. He is patiently long suffering with us. He also abounds with loving-kindness. This God stands ready to receive repentant hearts and to restore spiritual vitality to them.
He is not calling us to return to Him for a lecture. He is not calling us back to Him to humiliate us. He is calling us back for our own good. Isn’t it time to take an honest look at what sin has done to us? We need to take an objective look at our lives, attitudes, and spiritual condition before straying and after straying from the Lord.
It is time right now to return to the Lord. No more excuses. God stands ready to wrap us in mercy, compassion, and loving-kindness. There is no reason to delay. Return to Him at this time with all your heart.
Steps to Revival
1. What is keeping you from returning to the Lord with all your heart? Identify it. Will you turn away from it so you can turn back to the Lord?
2. Will you return to God with all your heart right now? If not why not?
3. What must God do to break your heart over your sin?
4. Take this time and ask the Lord to “rend your heart”.
5. Do you think God is really willing to accept you back with open arms and mercy?
6. In what ways have you experienced God being “slow to anger” toward you?
7. Will your next step be back toward God or back toward sin and compromise?
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