Joel

Joel is my brother's name. In his house they have a Bible open up to Joel on a table near the kitchen. That is what I always think about when I hear about the book Joel. That has nothing to do with the book of Joel. I just thought I would share anyway.

One thing that kinda struck me was where he says, "For the day of the LORD is coming; Surely it is near," It made me think of how we are today, and have been for decades, possibly even centuries. In fact, it may have even started after Jesus left this earth and went back up to heaven. We say that the day of the Lord is near. How long have we been saying that though? Is it really near? Or will there be many more generations before Jesus comes back to take His saints? After all, we do not know when this will take place. I just find it interesting that we have been saying this for so long, yet we really have no idea if He will be coming back soon or not. It's something to mull over, I think.

Another thing I liked was when he said, "Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness And relenting of evil." Living in a completely imperfect world with plenty of imperfect people, it is kind of hard to imagine perfect. So, I think this verse is just a good reminder for me personally that God really IS perfect. Completely perfect. There is nothing wrong with him. He has no flaws. And He created me. He loves me. It's a crazy thought, yet completely true. It is definitely a comfort.

As a side note: I have heard the scripture "That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions."  over and over, but I never actually knew where it was located. Now I do.