“Never Again Will My People Be Shamed”

Then the LORD was jealous for his land and took pity on his people.

The LORD replied to them:

“I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations.

“I will drive the northern horde far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land;
its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea. And its stench will go up; its smell will rise.”

Surely he has done great things! Do not be afraid, land of Judah; be glad and rejoice.
Surely the LORD has done great things! Do not be afraid, you wild animals, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm— my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.

Joel 2:18-27

Our lives can be eaten away leaving holes like cheese or like a worm eating a leaf, or flower.

We have hope in God. He can restore us.

Satan does everything he can to make us ugly, but the Light of the World can make us beautiful – despite Satan’s best efforts.

God doesn’t remove all of our imperfections,

but He makes us beautiful by shining through them.

Our Daily Bread – April 25, 2012