Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Daily Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

12 September 2024

Reading From Joel 1-3

“And it shall come to pass afterward,
    that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
    your old men shall dream dreams,
    and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit.”

–Joel 2:28-29

     The fulfillment of this powerful prophecy given through the Prophet Joel began on the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2 and continues to be fulfilled to this day.  From Acts 2:17 we discover that this is an eschatological message, meaning that it pertains to the Last Days.  Given that the baptism in the Holy Spirit came soon after the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven, this means that the Church has been living in the End Times ever since that first endowment of power from on high.  Every day that passes is one day closer to the Second Coming of the Lord and the fulfillment of our blessed hope. 

     Once again, Yahweh demonstrates that He is no respecter of persons or culture.  He does not discriminate based on gender, for in fact male and female are reflections of His image.  Women are not inferior to men in God’s eyes because how could any aspect of His nature be inferior?  This equality revealed in Genesis, confirmed by Joel and in the New Testament by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:28-29 when he affirmed, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” 

     Every born again man or woman is called to be a prophet or a prophetess.  There are those who the Holy Spirit uses to function in a special gift of prophecy, but the Lord means for all of His sons and daughters to speak for Him more broadly.  We are called and anointed by the Holy Spirit to speak the Word of the Lord with power and authority.  In order to do this effectively, we must be faithful to spend time with Him in His Word, reading, meditating, studying, listening and sharing its truth in love.

“Lord, I pray that You would bring us along in the faith, helping us to grow in our love and understanding of You and Your truth.  Bring light to our minds and hearts.  Bless us with stillness and calm that we might hear Your voice and communicate Your Word with others.  I pray that we would take Your Word to heart and put it into action in our daily lives.  In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.”

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

–II Timothy 2:15

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

–Ephesians 4:15

Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

–I Thessalonians 5:20-28