Giver of the Holy Spirit - Weekly Devo - 10/12

Giver of the Holy Spirit

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. Joel 2:29

It could be worse. Ever sought comfort or perspective with those words? Your pit is deep, your day is hard, but it could be worse.

Within the first verses of Joel’s short book, he implores the people to remember a time when it was worse (1:2). They couldn’t. They were in the worst of the worse!

They had trouble today. An army of locusts stripped and devastated the land. And more trouble was on the way. A human army with forces beyond number was close at hand. The day of the Lord is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it? (2:11)

In His righteous judgment, God gets to the heart of the matter—our hearts! “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity (2:12-13).

Is He calling you and me to do the same today? Return. Repent. Rend. Not with behavior modification, but a true repentance that comes from within.

To those who repent, listen to God’s great promise! “I will pour out my Spirit on all people” (2:28). In Joel we see Jesus! Jesus is the Giver of the Holy Spirit. He is the Advocate Jesus promised to send to us from the Father (John 15:26). True to His word, on Pentecost, He did just that! (Acts 2:17-21, 41)

You need comfort or perspective in your pits and on your hard days? You need power and perseverance to write a good story that points to Jesus? Think on truth! The power that raised Jesus from the dead has been poured into you! The Holy Spirit’s eternal presence is within you applying the work of Christ into your life. He is your Encourager, Teacher, Helper, Strength, Advocate, Counselor, Truth, and Guide. (Plus He’s more! Look in The Book!) He fills our hearts, shapes our desires, renews our minds, and shows us Christ.

What’s your story? In Joel Jesus is the Giver of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-29). How does His Story help you tell your story?

Get in the Book: Read the book of Joel.

You have all of the Holy Spirit. Does He have all of you? — Anne Graham Lotz