Week Twenty-Four – Verse by Verse Devotional — The Prophets: Joel
Note: This week our readings are from Joel, the prophet who spoke of the locust storm. The locust storm reminded the children of Israel that their lives and wellbeing was always at risk. Perhaps such storm seem to threaten your life. If so, read the prophesy of Joel.
Sunday, June 14
Joel 1:4 What the locust swarm has left the great locust have eaten; what the great locust have left the young locust have eaten; what the young locust have left other locusts have eaten.
Prayer: Lord, may we so live that we are spared from your judgment.
Thought for the day: Grasshoppers were clean food for the Israelites. However, their legs would have to be removed to avoid the spurs.
Monday, June 15
Joel 2:13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the lord you God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
Prayer: Lord, as we look within ourselves, we come humbly before you asking for your mercy.
Thought for the day: When the church secretary read the account of all the trials and tribulations we were spared in a day’s time like avoiding a traffic fatality, we were reminded to be grateful for God’s help.
Tuesday, June 16
Joel 2:23 Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you a teacher for righteousness. He sends you abundant showers both autumn and spring rains, as before.
Prayer: Lord, if every blessing from you were a raindrop, we would never suffer drought.
Thought for the day: If we can make a choice to be glad, and we can; why don’t we choose to be glad in the Lord?
Wednesday, June 17
Joel 2:28 And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
Prayer: O God, pour forth your Holy Spirit upon us, we pray.
Thought for the day: On several occasions President Lincoln dreamed of his assassination.
Thursday, June 18
Joel 2:32 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the survivors whom the Lord calls.
Prayer: Jesus, we thank you for making salvation available to people of all the nations including ours.
Thought for the day: Ever notice how God never forgets the people he has chosen to bless?
Friday, June 19
Joel 3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, “I am strong!”
Prayer: God, in you we will find strength to meet the battles of this day.
Thought for the day: As he prepared to face his Goliath David knew no more reliable armament could be found than the blessing and covering of the Lord.
Saturday, June 20
Joel 3:16 The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.
Prayer: Dear God, we would humbly find our hiding place within Thee.
Thought for the day: When a tornado struck the campus of Shaw University several trees perhaps centuries old were downed. One volunteer for the cleanup found great consolation in knowing that the trees fell clear of the graves of Henry Martin Tupper and his wife.
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