March 13, 2002
A Locust Plague
The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Pethuel. Hear this, you elders; listen, all who live in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your forefathers? Tell it to your children and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten. Joel 1:1-4
I know that this was written about actual happenings in the days of the Israelites. However, the Lord says it has happened here, in the lifetimes of our ancestors and us. We have failed to pass the legacy of Christ to our descendents, as did our forefathers before us and theirs before them. The locusts have attacked. The power of the Lord has been stolen from the people who say they love Jesus. The locusts are demonic attacks on believers. What they have eaten are the gifts and the powers of walking and living in the Lord Jesus Christ. We, as our forefathers, are guilty of allowing this attack to occur. We have failed to tell of the wonders of the Lord. We have failed to walk in his ways. This is a call to the elders of the church to listen and to hear. We are not without hope. However, we must become aware of what the locusts have done.
First, we look to the church in Acts. We see, as time went on, the very power of the Lord being drained from the believers. As we had looked at in weeks past, we see that the apostleship has all but totally been destroyed. The people were afraid to walk with the apostles. They were contented to sit on the sidelines and watch as the apostles performed the miraculous signs and wonders of the Lord Jesus Christ, through his name. We see the gifts of the peoples begin to diminish. Prophecy ceased to be spoken. The language of the Holy Spirit became foreign. One by one the gifts of the Spirit were removed from the churches. One by one we handed them over to satan, without even realizing what he was doing. One by one, we have been left powerless.
You have heard me say it before and I shall say it again: We are not a powerless people serving a powerless God!! Wake up, church!! Stop letting satan steal that which the Lord has given to us. Stop letting the enemy win. Let us learn to be aware of what we have allowed and allow the Lord to begin to restore us.
Father, in Jesus name you give me wisdom to say what you desire to be said. Lord, prepare our hearts to hear from you. Father, in Jesus name you work through me. Let there be nothing of me and all of you. Lord in Jesus name forgive the sins of our forefathers and for the sins of our own. Lord, in Jesus name begin to show us what you desire and what it is going to take to have restored unto us the gifts that you have given. In Jesus name help us to be humble before you, amen and amen!
All rights reserved: Amy Seelbach
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