Category Archives: Advice

Advice, Affliction, Battles, Bible, Confession, Consequences, Darkness, Encouragement, Following, God's Will, Judgment, Repentance, Scripture

DARKNESS COMES

JOEL 2:2

“A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As dawn is spread over the mountains, so there is a great and mighty people; there has never been anything like it, nor will there be again after it to the years of many generations.”

Darkness and gloom! I’ve been there. There have been a few times in my life when I felt like the world was caving in on me. Due to some bad decisions on my part, I had caused most of it. Yes, even me, Carl Willis has made some bad decisions that invited the darkness and gloom. The only way out of it was going to the Lord in repentance. He lifted me out the cave I was in.

Joel is going to be describing a rampage of locusts over the next several verses in chapter 2. These swarms of locusts were so large that they looked like dark clouds which blocked the sun. They would come in, land and begin eating anything green. They would lay their eggs and shortly after their larvae would hatch and begin eating also. This, too, was part of the judgment on Judah.

APPLICATION

Things come into our lives like these locusts. They swoop in uninvited and begin to eat everything in sight. Our emotions are gnawed away. Our physical resources may be diminished. Even our health can be taken away. What do you do in seasons like that? Who do you turn to?

There’s only one answer – Jesus. He knows what is affecting you. After all, as a child of God, anything that comes into your life goes through His hands first. Don’t you know that? So, if He has allowed it, it is to make us more like His Son. God never allows things to touch us to turn us away from Him. That would be counterproductive to His plan for our lives. He is always drawing us towards Him.

Sometimes, though, it feels like God is trying to tear us apart. Nope! He may be breaking us down, but that is only to allow Him to build us back up. Sometimes, we need large chunks knocked off to bring out the image of Jesus. Are you willing to go through the darkness and gloom, the hard times, to be made more like your Savior?

Chip away, O Lord. I want to reflect Your glory!

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Advice, Bible, Confession, Consequences, Courage, Following, Gospel, Judgment, Rescue

ALARMS

JOEL 2:1

“Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; indeed, it is near,

We’ve all heard alarm bells or sirens. When you’re driving and you hear a siren, what do you do? You immediately look around to see where it is coming from so you can get out of the way, if needed. Alarms are meant to get our attention. They are warning of us of danger, in the case of a fire alarm. They may be warning of us of approaching bad weather or a tornado. Alarms are meant to help us find safety.

Joel begins chapter two doing the same thing for the people of Judah. Trumpets that had been meant to signify times of worship are now used to send alarms. They were being warned of God’s judgment. The people should be trembling. When God warns His judgment is coming, we better take that seriously. Judah was nearing their judgment.

APPLICATION

How has the Lord warned you? Have you heard the alarms? Unfortunately, people seem to be deaf to the alarms today. God’s warnings are all around us. He is constantly reminding people of His judgment to come. The Gospel is being preached all around, but so many ignore the warnings. They simply don’t believe it is real.

Our responsibility to sound the alarm hasn’t changed. We still need to be diligent to let others know that God’s judgment is real. One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Think about your neighbors. Think about your family members. Where will they be when they face God’s judgment one day?

I have family members who need the Lord. I have neighbors who need a Savior. Will you join me in sounding the alarm before it’s too late? As long as we have breath, we need to be sharing the good news with others. Sound it loud and strong for all to hear.

Father, I will sound the alarm of Your judgment to come. Help me lead others to Your throne of grace.

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Abiding, Advice, Battles, Bible, Joy, Judgment, Modeling, Testimony

NO JOY

JOEL 1:16

“Has food not been cut off before our eyes, and joy and rejoicing from the house of our God?”

There have been times in my life when my joy thermometer didn’t register very high. Things were going wrong all around me. Every ounce of joy was gone. Nothing made me happy. I snapped at people, and it seemed everyone got on my nerves. Those are not fun times. I’ll tell you what I found in a sec.

Joel is telling Judah that they are going to experience the same thing. No joy! No rejoicing! Everything is wrong. But Joel is pointing them towards the reason why. Their disobedience. True joy never precedes obedience. Because of their disobedience to God, their joy was gone. Judgment was upon them.

APPLICATION

Those time I mentioned about me – I had the same problem. When I began to look at myself, I saw that I wasn’t spending the time I needed in prayer or in God’s Word. I was letting the worries of this life come in and choke me. I was too busy looking at myself instead of looking towards my Savior.

Have you had similar times? Take your eyes off of yourself. Dig deep in His Word. He will restore your joy. In fact, the joy never left you. His joy indwells you when come to Him as Savior. We just let stuff cover it up. Shake off all those thoughts and concentrate on what He has done for you. I promise the joy will erupt.

Joyless living is not living at all. We need to be spreading the joy of Jesus to everyone every day. They need to know we are Christians by the expressions on our faces. Our smiles should tell them. Then when they ask why we are so happy, we can tell them it’s not happiness. It’s joy, and here’s why we are joyful. Try it today.

Thank You, Lord, for restoring my joy. Thank You for giving me a joy-filled life.

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Abiding, Advice, Bible, Blessing, Comfort, Devil, Encouragement, Joy, Scripture

DEHYDRATED

JOEL 1:12

“The vine has dried up and the fig tree has withered; the pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree, all the trees of the field have dried up. Indeed, joy has dried up from the sons of mankind.

Dehydration can cause all kinds of health problems. Most people don’t drink enough water, myself included. I like to drink water. It’s just easier sometimes to grab a coke or a glass of sweet tea (okay, I’m from the South, give me a break, lol). But nothing rehydrates you like water. Your body needs it.

Joel uses the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate tree, the palm tree and the apple tree as examples. But he wasn’t really talking about trees. Look at the last phrase of the verse. “Indeed, joy has dried up…” That’s the issue. Their joy had dried up. Joyless living is no living at all. Joel knew that. God knows that. Joy is necessary for a spirit-filled life.

APPLICATION

I pray you have joy in your life right now and that you are not spiritually dehydrated. I don’t mean you have to go around shouting “joy” all the time. Nor do you have to sing out loud constantly. Real joy from Christ is inexpressible. In fact, if you are walking in joy, you probably don’t have to say a word. Everyone around you will know it. It shows on your face.

So, why do most of us walk around in the dumps? Why do we seem so defeated? Because we believe the lies of the devil. He is constantly berating us. He doesn’t like joy. He loves sorrow. He loves to suck the joy right out of your life, living you spiritually dehydrated. You can kick ole Beelzebub right in the teeth by living joyously. He hates that. And who doesn’t want to punch him in the mouth, right?

I have to admit. There are days I live victoriously and joyously and others I don’t. Every time I find myself not living in joy, it’s because I have not spent the time I needed in prayer and in His Word. Those two things will do more for your joy than anything. You don’t need to be part of some emotionally charged worship service to get joy. Just do what He expects and surrender. The joy will come. Rehydrate with joy!

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart, down in my heart. I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart, down in my heart to stay.

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Accountability, Advice, Bible, Compassion, Confidence, Courage, Devil, Encouragement, Failures, God's Will, Hope, Inspirational, Modeling, Obedience, Scripture

FAILURES EVERYWHERE

JOEL 1:10

“The field is ruined, the land mourns; for the grain is ruined, the new wine has dried up, fresh oil has failed.”

We see failures all around us. Failures of economies. Failures of nations. Failures of people. The one thing that is certain about life is failure. No one likes it, but it comes, nonetheless. So, what do you do when everything around you seems to be failing? Do you throw up your hands? Do you put your head down and just weep? No! We have a great God who is aware of the failures.

Joel continues to tell us of the failures in Judah. In today’s verse we see the fields have ruined. The land is mourning! The crops have suffered. Even the vineyards have dried up and there is no oil for use. Utter failure. Judah is a mess. Why? Because of their disobedience. God will not tolerate that. We see that in these failures.

APPLICATION

You may have experienced failures in your life. In fact, your life may be in shambles right now. Sometimes we feel like a failure. Listen, our choices can cause many of our failures. Other failures come due to no fault of our own. Whatever the cause, we have to deal with them. Guess what? The devil wants you to feel like a failure. He doesn’t want you to know your position in Christ.

Are you a believer? If so, you have no right to see yourself as a failure. Why? Because you are a child of the King. He has given you victory. The Lord of creation died to give you promise. Failure is not in God’s plan for you. God can work through those failures, but they are not His plan for you. So, don’t stay there. Walk with Him today victoriously.

I hate to fail. I have never liked it. I like to win! Always! But sometimes I mess up. Sometimes I just blow it. When I do, I come hastily to my Savior. I know I can’t do it alone. How about you? Are you in need of a “pep talk” with your Lord? He’s ready!

I will not fail as long as I walk with You, Lord. If I keep my eyes on You, You will lead me.

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Advice, Attention, Bible, Calling, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Faithfulness, Gospel, Salvation, Testimony, Witnessing

LISTEN UP

JOEL 1:2

“Hear this, you elders, and listen, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days, or in your fathers’ days?”

Each Sunday when I teach the children at the church where I serve, I have to say “listen” several times to get their attention. We have rules for children’s church to help prepare these little ones for the day when they start attending “big church.” One of those rules is “Listen Up.” In other words, tune your ears to what I’m about to say.

Joel is telling the people of Judah to listen up. He is about to give them a message. He is going to remind them of some things. He needs their undivided attention in order to get his message across. Let me correct that. It’s not his message. It’s God’s message, which makes it even that much more important.

APPLICATION

I bet you have had to tell someone to listen up, haven’t you? Have you ever been telling a story to someone and noticed they weren’t paying attention? If you have kids, I guarantee you have had to tell them to listen up. Now, listen to me. You have a message to share. People need to hear it.

We need to make sure people are listening. God’s message hasn’t changed. He still desires for all to come to Him. He still offers salvation to those who believe in His name and receive His Son as Savior. That’s a message we need to be shouting from the rooftops. Get their attention and deliver the message.

Right now, there is a lot of turmoil going on in the world. People are dying and going to hell. Believers are being persecuted for their faith. We are living in perilous times. But God is still faithful. He will deliver each and every one who turns to Him. Will you help spread the word today?

I am so thankful for the message of the cross. Give me the opportunity today to share that with someone.

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Advice, Advocate, Bible, Calling, Commands, Disciplemaking, Exhortation, God's Will, Gospel, Modeling, Obedience, Scripture

THE WORD OF THE LORD

JOEL 1:1

“The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:”

Have you ever had to convince someone that what you were saying was the truth? That can be hard sometimes. You know what you are saying is the truth, but you can’t seem to convince those who are listening. I feel that way sometimes when I preach. I have been in some places where it seemed the people were just listening to be nice. They had no intention of obeying the message God had given me to share. I don’t like that feeling.

We are beginning the book of Joel today. How exciting! I love the beginning of a new book. Vese 1 simply says, “The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:” Okay, Carl, what can we get out of that? A lot! Joel is telling us that everything he is about to share is from God. Period! He will go on to tell us how unworthy he is to give this message. But here he simply states that this is God’s message to us.

APPLICATION

How can you apply this verse to your life today? That, too, is simple. You are to be God’s mouthpiece to the world. We have His Word to share. We have the best story ever told. Joel wasn’t a priest and didn’t consider himself a prophet. He just did what God told him to do – speak His message. We are no different. God has given us an incredible message to share with the world. We need to do it.

But Carl, the world will hate me. Let me let you in on a little secret. The world already hates you. The world does not like truth. The world does not like to be told that what they are doing is not right in God’s eyes. Heck, the world does not even want to hear the name of God. And as His child, they don’t want to hear from you. Just try to stand for truth and see what happens. But that doesn’t change the fact that we still have to stand.

I want people to like me. I am a people person. But I know that there will some people who just don’t like me because of what I stand for. I have to be okay with that. I still pray for those people and do all I can to lead them to the truth. I just have to be committed to what the Lord has called me and you to do – share the truth. Ask the Lord to lead you to someone today who needs to hear it.

O Lord, my God, lead me where You want me to go. Give me the words to share.

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Abiding, Accountability, Advice, Bible, Blessing, Commitment, Direction, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Faithfulness, God's Will, Obedience, Relationships, Righteousness, Scripture, Waiting

THE WAYS OF THE LORD

HOSEA 14:9

“Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous will walk in them, but wrongdoers will stumble in them.”

I can remember my dad teaching me some things about woodworking when I was growing up. My dad could build just about anything. And when it came to refinishing furniture, he was a master. He always told me to take my time. You can’t rush the process. Applying stain, varnish and sanding takes time. He showed me how and then let me try.

God’s ways are like that. We have to follow the process. We can’t just make up our own way. Sometimes God’s ways take time. You can’t rush it. Hosea is reminding us here in the last verse of the book that we need to reflect on all he has said. He says, “the righteous will walk in them, but the wrongdoers will stumble in them.” That’s a pretty, straightforward statement.

APPLICATION

So, the question for us today is what will be choose to do. Will you take the time to understand God’s way? Are you wise? Are you discerning? I believe you are. Let me encourage you to go back and read all my blogs on Hosea in one sitting. Discover God’s way of doing things. Be patient in the process.

God’s ways aren’t always our ways. In my case, they seldom are. I want to figure it out myself. I want to get things done. I don’t like waiting. And because of that, God makes me wait a lot. He knows what I need and will do what is necessary to help me learn it. Do I like that? No! But I know He only wants what is best for me.

So, I will be patient as I learn the process, just like I was when my dad taught me how to refinish furniture. I have to follow each step and not rush it. I have to wait for the first coat of paint or varnish to dry first. I have to wait for… Well, you get the picture. It’s a process. Will you follow God’s ways today?

I am thankful, Lord, for the process even though I don’t particularly like it. I trust You.

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FRESH MORNING DEW

HOSEA 14:5

“I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily, and he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.”

Have you ever wondered where the morning dew comes from? It’s pretty amazing that seemingly out of nowhere water vapors in the air condense on surfaces to form these droplets of water we call dew. But why? Some people actually collect this morning dew and drink it. They claim it has true medicinal properties that aid the body. Perhaps it does. I don’t know. I just know it is a miracle of our God who created this event in nature.

Why all the discussion about dew? Hosea compares God to the morning dew. He says God will use the dew to refresh the lily and help the cedars grow. Just like He gives nourishment to these plants, He will nourish Israel spiritually. Without nourishment, the lily would die. Without the deep root, the cedar would perish. So would Israel without the life-giving nourishment of the Lord.

APPLICATION

You must have food and water to survive. I have seen the effects of those being withheld from someone. It is not a pretty picture. Here in America, where I live, most people have access to plenty of food and clean water. That’s not the case all over the world. One area I visit in Kenya has suffered droughts for years, resulting in lack of clean water and the decimation of their crops and livestock.

But just as serious for us is our spiritual source of “water” and “food.” We must go to the well of the Word daily to receive our nourishment. Without it, we dry up and die spiritually. The beauty of the Word is it never runs dry. We can drink and eat from it daily and share it with others, and it is still full of all we need the next day. It’s like the dew which returns day after day.

I am thankful for the fresh dew each morning. The next time I see those droplets of dew on the leaves or on my windshield, I am going to be reminded of the dew of Israel, my Lord and God. His refreshing Spirit gives me the power to face each new day. He revives my soul. I pray you will allow Him to revive you as well.

Lord, revive me again. Fill my soul with Your song.

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Advice, Affection, Bible, Compassion, Condemnation, Destruction, Evil, Godliness, Grandchildren, Horror, Idols, Scripture

THE CHILDREN SUFFER

HOSEA 13:16

“Samaria will pay the penalty for her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword, their children will be slaughtered, and their pregnant women will be ripped open.”

As a parent and grandparent, my utmost desire has always been to protect my children or grandchildren. It would bring me horror to think I ever did anything to bring harm to them. As a minister to children for over forty years, the same holds true for any children under my care. Let me suffer, but never the children.

Hosea ends this chapter with some pretty, horrible descriptions of the coming judgment against Israel. Samaria was the capital city of Israel. It had been the center of the idolatry and rebellion against God, so God’s wrath upon that city would be harsh. Hosea is predicting what the Assyrians were going to do when they came. It’s one thing to slaughter men in war, but to kill innocent children, even the unborn, was unthinkable.

APPLICATION

You are probably thinking Carl, I would never do that or tolerate that! That’s good. I didn’t think you would. But are you protecting your children’s spirits? Are you guarding them from being influenced by evil? In our world today, we have to be so diligent to monitor and protect our children from this world. They can’t live in a bubble, but we can sure keep them safe in our homes.

Are you aware of what is on your child’s phone? Are you comfortable with the video games they are playing? How about their friends? Do you know them? Do you know their parents? We can’t just take our kids to church and think that gives them some kind of holy shield the rest of the week. That’s not how it works. You must guard their minds.

As an adult, I have to guard my mind. It is so easy to get off track when I am online. One little side post or ad can divert my eyes and before I know it, I can be chasing rabbits into a hole I can’t get out of. Scripture keeps my mind focused on Him and puts that shield over my eyes. Let Jesus keep your mind pure (1 Timothy 6:11).

Lord, help me protect the innocent as well as keep my own mind pure.

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