"Afterwards" Joel 2:28-29 KJV

28 And it shall come to pass afterward, That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions: 29  And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids In those days will I pour out my spirit.

If you have any ounce of spritual awareness, you are aware that the world is getting seemingly worse as each day passes. I would lift to you that yes things are getting seemingly worse, but also things are getting better all at the same time, for it is only when something is exposed is it able to be confronted.

We have no point in prayer if we are not aware of the legislation that needs turning, we are not able to confront the sin that is becoming legal and commonly accepted if we are not made aware of it. And I would even go further to say that God uses tension to strengthen his followers and make us as alert as we need to be able to handle the ways of the world that have yet to show up. I believe God often sends us into strange and uncharted territory to show us what we are able to possess by faith in Him, therefore anytime I am exposed to something that is unfamiliar I am looking for the lesson to be learned.

And a lot of believers are not aware of the perilous times we have approached because they are so focused on this current life that they don’t consider the constant changes be made around them. People are dying in innocent blood and we are still talking about who’s getting what title and parking space, there is a world that needs your voice, but you can only be anointed when the room temperature is right and the mic is set right and the people are going with you, and while all of this is going on we have left the proven and necessary to pursue temporary gain. But wherever the Lord sends me, I’ll be there, if it becomes a street corner or a YouTube Channel. I’ll be there, because wherever God sends you, he sends his grace and ability with you.

But our preachers have drop the ball in our stance for righteousness because they rather bring the standard of God within reach versus bringing the people up to the standard God has already established. And because of this we have seen a moral decline within the Church and what is acceptable in the club is also acceptable in the Church, the attire is the same, the conversations are the same, the lighting is the same and because of this we have created a norm of church goers and not a body that represents that stature of Christ.

If we can be honest, even in your personal life you notice a moral decline and things you used to be serious about are no longer a pressing issue, you care less about the things you expose yourself to and the things you indulge in, and you’re still here physically but to be honest there is an aspect of you that’s trying to remian loyal to your sin nature. This is where the war comes in because you know you are drifting but you still have a desire to please God, a struggle requires to opposing forces and the fact that you are in a fight should encourage you enough that all is not lost and if you keep fighting there’s only one outcome for the believer, thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord, find you a neighbor on the other side of the room tell them ‘its an automatic victory’ clap your hands and shout automatic.

As we make our way to our text, we must realize that what we refuse to confront does not stay how it is but it actually grows into a bigger enemy as time goes on. It’s not a new struggle as you get older, but some of us can agree that it’s the same struggle but the intensity has increased over the years, it went from a thought to an action, curiosity to research, and now this thing has grown into a full grown person and that person is me and it has become my identity, and this is where the text makes sense because we are given the 4 stages of the destroying agency.

The Hebrew would read it this way… ‘Gnawer’s remnant, Swarners eat; Swarner’s remnant, Devourer eats; Devourer’s remnant, Consumer eats.’

And the sad thing is that this scripture shows us how we are being devoured by things because we didnt kill it in its infancy. Now we are fighting demons that could have been dealt with years ago but because we were distracted by life itself and other reasons, we didn’t see the need to fight but rather gave in to our temptations, and have to take responsibility for our dried up harvest.

Joel says in chapter 1 that the vine dried up, the fig tree languisheth, the pomegranate tree, the palm tree, the apple tree have all withered because of the sons of men. Then he says the meat offering and drink offering has ben withheld from the house of God, which shows that because we have lost something in the natural we have forsaken our spiritual commitment to the house of God. But I’m so glad that God always opens a way of restoration, that I have not lost so much that I can never recover, but it takes a response from the people in our to get a results from God.

The first he says is release a sound to let everyone know restoration is on the way, not just you but all the inhabitants, I need you to take 30 seconds and blow your trumpet to let everyone connected to you know that restoration is on the way. GO!

And here is his response, he’s sending CORN, WINE, and OIL.

Corn for the harvest you lost

Wine for a renewed spirit

Oil for your next assignment

But this is how I know that there is more to come after the suffering

He uses a specific word which is afterWARD, this means that there will be forward momentum after the last clause, in other words, what you endured was necessary to approve you for your assignment, and he had to test you to fortify you for the assignment. Tell somebody ‘he comes the pour’

He said And it shall come to pass AFTERWARD, That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.

It’s all because you survived the destruction, for he said And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, The cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, My great army which I sent among you.

And after you have suffered a little while, he will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

After he hath tried you, you shall come forth as gold.

When youve been tested

When youve been tried

It’s all so that God

can approve you for the oil

Abraham had to be tested

Moses had to be tested

David had to be tested

Even Jesus had to be tested

But it was all

To fortify them for the next

Get out of your seat

And tell somebody

You passed the test

Now here is the pour!