Today is the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I thought it was timely that our Pastor read through the book of Joel. God wants our hearts, God wants us to turn to him with everything that we have inside of us.
Do you ever feel bad after you make a mistake? I do. I feel guilty. I know that my behavior did not measure up to God’s standard. It feels like mourning, because I didn’t do God’s will. Instead of running away to hide, God wants us to go back to him.
God is gracious and merciful. God is slow to anger. God is so kind to us. God is a loving father that does not want to punish his children, but sometimes we need to be reprimanded. We need to change.
A Call to Repentance
“Now, therefore,” says the Lord,
“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
So rend your heart, and not your garments;
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
–Joel 2:12-14 (NKJV)
Even if you struggle changing what the world considers small, you should still change. God forgives the big things and the small things, and everything in between. Our measure of behavior is God’s standard, not the world. If something is bothering me, I know that God wants me to do better.
I am thankful that God is so good and kind. I am thankful that God forgives me fully and completely, when I seek forgiveness.
Turn to God with all your heart and see how gracious God is to us.
Prayer
Dear God,
I pray that you forgive all my sins. Thank you for being a forgiving father. I pray that the Holy Spirit washes over me, filling me with a Godly spirit. God, I pray that I turn fully to you and turn my back on things in this world. God, I pray that you help me be worthy of your standard.
Amen
Embrace This Beautiful Life 