Joel 2:15-17 vividly calls the nation to engage in prayer and repentance. It instructs leaders to assemble and urges people to join, even if it means leaving their bridal chambers.
The passage emphasizes the importance of collectively crying out to God, pleading for His mercy to spare the people.
Repentance always involves adjusting what we think, how we feel, and what we do to God’s revealed will.
Since 1968, I have actively served God, but I still require daily guidance from the Holy Spirit as I read the Bible and pray.
In today’s blog article, I want to take you through my daily prayer time with the Lord and provide some insight into how He called me to adjust my attitudes and actions to His revealed will.
I have been slowly reading through the Gospel of Matthew during my morning prayer time. The Scripture passage below is from Matthew 7.1-11 in the J.B. Phillips translation of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
Don’t Criticize
Verses 1-2 – “Don’t criticize people, and you will not be criticized. For you will be judged by the way you criticize others, and the measure you give will be the measure you receive.”
I easily find myself being critical of many things, ranging from the officiating in Kansas City Chiefs football games to the behavior of politicians.
I believe that Jesus personally instructs us through His words in the New Testament. Therefore, when He advises me not to be critical, I need to take action. Dismissing His guidance as inconsequential is not an option.
Social media often triggers my critical spirit. So today, I eliminated some of the social media accounts from my phone. That’s a concrete action and a beginning to remove some triggers leading to a judgmental attitude.
Check Out the Plank
Verses 3-5 – “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and fail to notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me get the speck out of your eye’, when there is a plank in your own?
“You fraud! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you can see clearly enough to remove your brother’s speck of dust.”
I can find the speck of sawdust in the officiating of Chiefs football games or politicians whose views I disagree with.
I can find a speck of sawdust in almost anyone’s life. However, I have a difficult time being able to see something as large as a plank in my own.
The most effective way to recognize the plank in my eye is by allowing Jesus to teach me daily, as He did today. He exposes my flaws and imperfections, and through the Holy Spirit, empowers me to make the necessary changes.
No Pearls Before Pigs
Verse 6 – “You must not give holy things to dogs, nor must you throw your pearls before pigs—or they may trample them underfoot and turn and attack you.”
Dallas Willard explains that the reason for not giving pearls to pigs is that they want something to eat and they don’t eat pearls.
This concept is crucial when considering our criticism of others. If we choose to criticize, we must offer practical help, not try to feed people our pearls of wisdom.
I don’t know the names, and I certainly don’t have the phone numbers of football officials or politicians. If I did, they wouldn’t listen to me. So, why do I let a critical spirit “rent space in my head”? Is there a better way?
Jesus – On the Mainline
An old gospel song’s lyrics go, “Jesus is on the main line, tell Him what you want.” This suggests that even if politicians, officials, and others in my life aren’t interested in my thoughts, Jesus is always ready to listen.
Verses 7-8 – “Ask and it will be given to you. Search and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for you.
“The one who asks will always receive; the one who is searching will always find, and the door is opened to the man who knocks.”
I have read portions of the Sermon on the Mount so frequently that I have memorized them. It is easy for me to stop with the first couple of verses which say, don’t criticize, or to call myself a “speck inspector” while neglecting the plank in my eye.
But when we read the whole passage, we realize that Jesus wants us to substitute prayer for a critical spirit.
When faced with a national crisis, Joel did not resort to criticism. Instead, he motivated the entire nation to unite in prayer before God.
Similarly, when Jesus notices a person’s tendency to criticize, he advises us to pray instead.
His words not only encourage prayer but also emphasize the importance of persistent prayer, urging us to seek God’s guidance repeatedly for the best resolution of the situation.
God Knows and Cares
Verses 9-11 – “If any of you were asked by his son for bread would you be likely to give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish would you give him a snake?
“If you then, for all your evil, quite naturally give good things to your children, how much more likely is it that your Heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask him?”
Jesus returned to the illustration of eating. Pigs don’t eat pearls, and children don’t eat snakes. Our Heavenly Father is entirely aware of that. That’s why He tells us to pray rather than to criticize.
As we come to Him, He will grant to us the things that are needed for the situations at hand.
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross and I discuss this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 