12/05/2011 - Loyalty is a virtue that must stand out

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“The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel” (Joel 1:1)
The Word of the Lord to Prophet Joel was for him to announce the work that would be carried out in the last days. He was used to spread the news about the pouring of power onto all those who would be baptized by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. That prophet used the invasion of grasshoppers which devastated the Holy Land, the threat of invasion made by the king of Assyria on the nation of Israel and the suffering they were going through as mere samples of what will happen on the Great Tribulation that will come over mankind upon the Coming of the Lord Jesus. This will be the most tremendous happening ever to be witnessed by the world.
If we pay close attention, we’ll see that certain things happen to us with the Lord’s permission to teach us a lesson about the fear of God. With time, men tend to disregard the biblical advice and start to walk on certain paths they deem to be the right ones. Well, the enemy never sleeps, therefore we must watch out and pray so as not to fall for any temptations that get in our way (Matthew 26:41) and in so doing we’ll never be separated from our Lord.
It saddened our God when Israel decided to ask Him for a king. He didn’t want His people to have the same habits other nations had; He wanted to be the eternal King of His children. Yet, when they saw they were suffering all kinds of trouble – poverty, violence and moral imbalance – the Most High showed that He wouldn’t forsake them though they’d made the wrong decision.
Once they were told of the coming of our Savior, the Lord put in Joel’s heart the message which hadn’t been heard yet: His people would be baptized by the Holy Spirit. Joel was announcing our present day saying that the Spirit of the Lord would be poured out over all flesh at the end of times, and that our sons and daughters would prophesy, and that our elderly people would have dreams, and the youth would see visions (Joel 2:28).
We’re living the last days. The pouring of the Holy Spirit is the greatest movement taking place in the Christian churches all over the world and many have been granted Heavenly gifts. There are millions of people around the world talking about mysteries and also being used in the other gifts of the Spirit. God’s performing wonders in the Heavens and on Earth. So, millions of people are invoking the Name of the Lord and being saved.
Joel was very profound in his revelations. He lived in the days of Prophet Elisha and it’s likely he was one of Elijah’s disciples. Yet, the truth is that though he didn’t even mention any of those two men of God, his book proves to be truly inspired by them because the most outstanding news in those days were the actions performed by those two men of faith. However, Joel was faithful to what the Lord had told him to register in His Word.
My brethren, God expects the same loyalty from us, so we need to be faithful to what He tells us to do.
In Christ, with love,
R. R. Soares