Daily Bible Study

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Day 8 Joel 1:1 The word of the LORD came to Joel the son of Pethuel. 2 Hear this, you elders, and give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this happened in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell your children about it, let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. 4 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. 5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth. 6 For a nation came up against My land, strong, and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a fierce lion. 7 He laid waste My vine and ruined My fig tree; he stripped it bare and threw it away; its branches are white. 8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. 9 The grain offering, and the drink offering have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests mourn, who minister to the LORD. 10 The field is wasted, the land mourns; for the grain is ruined, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails. 11 Be ashamed, you farmers, wail, you vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. 12 The vine has dried up, and the fig tree has withered; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree—all the trees of the field are withered; surely joy has withered away from the sons of men. 13 Gird yourselves and lament you priests; wail, you who minister before the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, you who minister to my God; for the grain offering and the drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. 14 Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD. 15 Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand; it will come as destruction from the Almighty. 16 Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy, and gladness from the house of our God? 17 The seed shrivels under the clods, storehouses are in shambles; barns are broken down, for the grain has withered. 18 How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are restless because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment. 19 O LORD, to You I cry out; for fire devoured the open pastures, and a flame burned all the trees of the field. 20 The beasts of the field also cry out to You, for the water brooks are dried up, and fire devoured the open pastures. What do you do when trouble comes at you from all sides? No sooner has one crisis ended, than another one hits you with full force. How did it happen? Why did it happen? People become complacent in their tolerance and inaction of current events. They have gone with the flow for so long, they don’t realize the trouble headed their way. God told Joel to prophesy to the people about what was coming to their land. Destruction such as they never saw before. Wave after wave of destructive armies would descend on Israel to destroy her and leave her barren. No longer would they find joy or gladness. Instead, everything they knew would be broken down and destroyed. The armies who would come left nothing for them to eat or drink. Many Christians fail to see what is in front of them. They’re told to tolerate and not rock the boat, so they do nothing. They don’t see the times or pay attention to how Satan infiltrated the world to destroy it. They tolerate everything, and in so doing become depressed with the world and their lives. They see nothing to live for. Wake up! Don’t let Satan steal your joy and gladness. Pay attention to what is going on in the world and how Satan infiltrated every facet of life to destroy it from within. Your complacency is his weapon against you. Yet you have weapons to employ against Satan. When you pray, Satan’s kingdom starts to crumble. When you read God’s Word, the foundations of his kingdom crack. When you stand on God’s promises, Satan’s kingdom falls. It’s time to destroy Satan’s kingdom instead of him destroying your life. Don’t let him steal your joy, your life. Stand up and declare that God oversees your life. Take back everything he stole from you. Lift your voice in praise and worship and God will give you victory over Satan. Let’s pray: Father, open my eyes. Let me see what Satan is doing in my life to destroy me and steal my joy and take gladness from me. Let me worship and praise You. Let me see Satan’s kingdom fall. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. Copyright © 21 July 2023 by Valerie Routhieaux The image belongs to me.