the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 5 of 5
Joel 2:18-32
"Turn ye even to me," invites the LORD (v. 12). "Who knoweth if he will return . . . and leave a blessing behind him?" (v. 4). Who knows? As for us, we know very well that God is never unmoved by the tears and prayers of His own.
Moved with pity, He at once multiplies His promises: final destruction of the enemies of His people; abundance of material goods, compensating for and far surpassing the losses suffered (v. 25); and the most precious of these blessings which He leaves behind Him is His Spirit, generously poured out on the children of Israel as a witness to the whole world (v. 28). This time is yet to come, for Israel is, alas, not ready to receive this gift. But Peter, on the day of Pentecost, relies on this passage to explain to the Jews what has just taken place (Acts 2:17).
"Whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered," affirms v. 32, quoted in Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13. To call on the LORD is to lay claim by prayer to the Name of Jesus, the only Name by which we must be saved. Out of the gravest distress God will save – and save now – whoever turns to Him. "Repent . . . and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." This promise is valid today, valid for you.
