God’s punishment might feel harsh. Brutal, even. But it’s not the end of the story. As we reflected in Why? Because punishment isn’t the point. Because God loves even the messiest of sinners. In Joel 2, this divine love continues to unfold. It begins with a warning: there will come a terrifying day of celestial chaos and enemies wielding intense destructive power, here to utterly wipe out everything in their way (Joel 2:2-3). Then comes a plot twist. God does not cut the sinners loose. Instead, He offers them a way to change this destiny: It’s a fantastic deal for anyone who takes this up and sincerely comes before God. Not only does punishment disappear, but God will restore the repentant sinner’s labour, joy, and even years spent under God’s punishment (Joel 2:19-25). More importantly, this. God opens His arms wide, promising all of humanity a restored relationship with Him when they return: In other words: Every single one of you The moral of the story? This is a love so massive we can hardly imagine all of it. God waits. When the sinner awakes from spiritual slumber, when the weight of his mistakes hits him squarely in the gut, when he returns to God, that’s when he shall see God’s great kindness (Joel 2:13). God will reach into the deepest abyss of shame. He will pull even the worst sinner into a hug. That destiny of dreadful judgment becomes a glorious welcome into God’s kingdom. The sinner’s heart becomes God’s home (John 14:23). What does God ask for? That our acts of repentance are genuine and from the heart. It’s easy to fool others into believing that we have changed. Deceit is easy. Theatrics are moving. We might even fool ourselves! But God cannot be fooled. There is no That’s the turning point in the sinner’s story.

Our Saviour’s love provides and restores.

I am someone who doesn’t consistently put away my things. Unfortunately, little piles of mess can lie around for Clutter has insidious effects. A cluttered environment can breed bacteria, increase our stress hormone levels, and make the essentials—sleeping and focusing—difficult. What might be a LinkedIn study of shrewd foresight was, to Jesus, an ugly desecration of God’s home. Cluttered with unholy yet normalised practices, this clutter tainted God-centred worship. It made the spiritual essentials difficult. Having done their market research, these savvy businessmen of John 2 knew how to transform their consumers’ problems into profit: - selling animals for sacrifice would mean worshippers did not need to drag these animals from home; - changing foreign currency, even at a marked-up price, would assist foreign worshippers needing to offer the right currency. These greedy businessmen, like “thieves”, exploited people’s desire to worship as a way they could quickly benefit. They preyed on equally culpable believers, who succumbed to the ease of insincere worship. Angrily, Jesus flipped tables, poured out the changers’ money (He did not care about their profit!), and drove all the animals away. The animals could have been used for sacrifice, but He did not accept them. We can reflect on these questions in prayer with our Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, who knows us better than we do, and work with Him to cleanse ourselves. - What are 1-2 practices that affect my ability to worship God reverently—even if these practices seem “normal”? - As I worship God, serve, or have fellowship, are there ways I hope to gain personal benefits? - What can I do to cleanse my worship of this practice? We don’t want to spiral to a point so dire that Jesus must step into our church/home/heart and cause a great upheaval to wake us up. Before that point comes, let’s cleanse ourselves of spiritual clutter, becoming sanctified and useful for our Master (2 Tim 2:20-21). [1] [2]

Dive into the tender, parental love of God revealed in Hosea 11's imagery.

How far will you go for God?

Persecutions will come. But will we stand?

The everlasting King will help us win our spiritual battle against this sinful world.

After a lengthy tour rich with details of God’s new temple, Ezekiel watches his guide measuring the external temple dimensions. The section ends with the image of a wall and God’s purpose for this temple: “to separate the holy areas from the common Holiness is key for God’s glory to return and fill this temple in the vision (Eze 43:2-5). After all, a lack of holiness caused God’s glory to depart from the temple. To His people, God instructs, “No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name.” (Eze 43:7) We, too, have the great honour of receiving the Holy Spirit today and becoming God’s temple (1 Cor 3:16-17). But this is more than just accommodation logistics. Being God’s temple has much to do with When God resurrected the dry bones of Israel into an exceedingly great army, being the Spirit’s temple was part of it. God declared to them, “I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live” (Eze 37:10, 14). As God’s temple, we are called to live out holiness: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Cor 3:19-20) But we are not alone, for we live when we overcome our sinful nature with the Spirit’s help (Rom 8:13). Having the answer to history’s perennial question of achieving immortality is a wondrous thing. So is witnessing God’s glory fill the temple. Thunderstruck, Ezekiel falls on his face. Isn’t it incredible that the glorious God chooses to make you His temple and home (Jn 14:23)? We need to be renewed in our sensitivity to God’s awesomeness. So shatter the shell of numbness cementing over your heart. Brush away the sediments of sin and the dust of doubt. Renew your actions through this glorious truth: God chooses to make you His temple. Let His glory be shown to the world through you.