| RESTORATION 2/2001 Joel Prophecy 1:3,9 OUR LAND HAS BEEN RAPED Tell your children about it�what the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; and what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten. The grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off from the house of the Lord. We, the Church are very much like the land that was raped and made bare by the locusts. The locusts of our day have robbed precious parts of our hearts, making us crippled and not as fruitful as we might be. We are being cut off from all the fullness God is longing to bring, we are settling for less than God�s best for our lives. The dead parts of our heart need to be restored. Dreams need to be revived. 2:12, 15 TURN TO ME WITH FASTING "Now, therefore," says the Lord, "Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." "Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children. Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar� Now is the time to come together and beg God to restore and multiply more of His fullness in our lives, for the sake of His glory and His name being glorified. How much do we want God? How hungry are we to be healed, set freed? How zealous are we to see Him lifted up in our lives, our families, our circle of influences, our cities, our nations? Are we more hungry for Him than food itself or material things? 2:18,25 THEN! 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� So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust�" "THEN," it�s only after praying and fasting that God sends forth His rain here, that He brings restoration and makes the land fruitful once again. 3:9 I WILL MAKE YOU INTO WARRIORS Proclaim this among the nations: "Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, "I am strong." He doesn�t just stop at restoring to us the years that the locust have eaten, but He turns these weak and crippled hearts into hearts of fire and passion for Him. The tools used for farming are turned into weapons for warfare. They are not just restored to being fruitful farmers, but God goes one step beyond and makes them into warriors for Him. God is longing to bring back those pieces of our hearts that have been suppressed, destroyed. He�s waiting to pour out His grain and new wine and oil, his fruitfulness on our lives. He�s waiting for us to ask with all of our hearts, to fast and pray for Him to come and restore to us what is rightfully ours but that has been abused, mistreated, raped, stolen from the enemy. He wants to take us from being a bunch of crippled, defeated Christians into making us into warriors for Him. Prepare for war! �ISAIAH 35 |
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