August 29, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, dwell in Zion, My holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her. The Lord dwells in Zion.” (Joel 3.17, 21b)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

Have you ever just “remembered” you are not alone because God is in your place. What I mean by “just remembered” is that in the midst of all our busyness and chaos we may have forgotten Jesus’ declaration “I AM with you to the close of the age.” Take a minute and really look at the news you watch daily. In all of that you see and hear is there a sense projected that “God is in this or that place?” The recent horrifying attack on Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, certainly raises questions for many about the nature and character of God who would “allow” such a thing to happen. In all of this terrible news, and the terrible news is not limited to those who were being shot at and sadly two children who lost their lives on earth but extended to the perpetrator who felt empowered to perform such a heinous crime, I heard only once (and I pray it was said more times than reported) “Let us remember to pray for healing for everyone including the family of the shooter who have to live with this tragedy as well.” We must be reminded, sadly we must be reminded instead of knowing de facto, that God was there. We must bring ourselves back to the mindset which David embraced that says “Where shall I flee from Your presence for it is everywhere?” (read Psalm 139) As David continues to wrestle with the thought that there is nowhere that God cannot be found, he professes that even in the womb and before he was “fearfully and wonderfully made” God was there. Oh, mighty ones, if only the world today would understand that presence of spiritual life declaring “God is in this place of heart, mind, soul and womb.” How many lives would have been spared who never say the light of day just in the last fifty-two years of Roe v. Wade? Add to that wars, domestic violence, mass shootings and politicized pandemics and the world would definitely be a different place than it is. How dare we say “God is not here” or “God is absent” or “God doesn’t care.” God has not forgotten us. We have not remembered Him.

Oh, we remember God in moments of convenience and in desperation. We whip out the God card like it is a debit card and attempt to withdraw some mercy and grace to meet a moment when we recognize we are in a deficit state of existence. We find it easier to lament and blame God for tragedy instead of accepting the hard work of being faithful to God in the face of danger. The Word of God says “Rebuke the Devil and he will flee.” Have we considered there may be a corollary word “Rebuke the Lord and you will flee”? Even when we read in scripture that God has turned His back on people, it may well be that it was the backs of the people which turned as they proceeded through life with a blind eye. And there was no blind eye, rather “there are none so blind as those who refuse to see.” That is why there is the challenge spoken of “let those with eyes to see see and ears to hear hear.” The call in Isaiah sounded like this, if you will remember, “Make the heart of this people dull, their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; otherwise they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart and return to be healed.” (Isaiah 6.10) What Isaiah was saying was not a challenge to God but a wake-up call to the people. Isaiah knew full well that if the people took a moment of clarity and submission, they would know their only hope of salvation and deliverance was found in God. Are we being that way in the world today? Are we not seeing the folly of turning a blind eye to God when we pass off the villainy of the world as “just the way it is”? Just because we refuse to acknowledge the presence of God at all times and in all places doesn’t mean that God is not here, does not see and does not care! God has made provision for the people of the world to see the truth and receive it. He has also made provision for the eternal protection of those who, in His eyes, are innocent and the victims of the guilty. I give thanks to God for those moments when He gathers “the lost” into His arms for eternal safekeeping. Without it, we would all be downcast and never see the goodness of God thus binding ourselves to the justice of God which will speak, “Away from Me for I never knew you.” (Matthew 7.23) at the Last Day.

So here in Joel as his prophecy comes to a close, there is the call of God to recognize that before, during and after God is in His place in Jerusalem on His Holy Hill. He is the refuge of faith, hope and love not just for some but for all who will call upon His Holy Name. I shudder to think of that hill now which is not a beacon of hope and truth to the world but a reminder of our brokenness and the war waged to maintain it. As Jesus said (Matthew 12.25, Mark 3.25 and Luke 11.17) “A house divided can never stand.” He refuted the claim of His accusers who declared that He was of the Devil saying “How can Satan cast out Satan and continue to stand?” (Matthew 12.26) In those teachings we may well hear the backdoor accustion of truth holding the current Temple and Governmental leadership accountable to their own reality. What were they doing to Jesus but casting Him out! Consider it this way, “How can God cast out God and continue to stand?” The reality is that He can’t and won’t. Mighty ones, we must re-hear the words of the Master who offered the accountability statement as He knelt in the dust of the Temple courtyard beside the woman caught in adultery and said to her accusers, “Let the one without sin cast the first stone.” The truth of that was “the only One who could cast the stone and carry out justice according to the Law refused to and instead offered mercy and grace.” Oh mighty ones of God, hear the words of God from Joel, “The Lord dwells in Zion.” Have eyes to see and see. Have ears to hear and hear. Have a heart to love and love. Have a mind to understand and understand. Have a voice to speak and speak. Have a will to follow and follow. Have the faith to stand and when all else is falling down around you and against you- STAND! Do not bow down to the enemy. Do not cower in fear of the one who can kill only the body. Be firm. Be forthright. Be faithful. Be confident. Rebuke the devil and he will flee. Say to this mountain “be moved to the sea” or to that plain “be lifted up.” Say to those who are downtrodden “There is hope.” Say to the overconfident and the arrogant “There is truth.” Say to the world, “God is in this place whether you like it or not, want it or not, believe it or not. Our God reigns in spirit and in truth!”

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.